Blu-ray Discs
Blu-ray Discs offer high-definition video and high-resolution audio, providing a superior viewing experience to DVD. However, they can only be played on devices specifically made to play Blu-ray Discs (i.e. Blu-ray players, Playstation 3, etc.). Blu-ray Discs cannot be played on standard DVD players.
Blu-ray Discs (BD) get their name from the blue-violet laser used to read the discs. The blue-violet laser uses a shorter wavelength (450 nanometers) than the red laser used to read standard DVD’s (650 nm), which allows the laser to focus in a tighter beam. As a result, almost six times more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on a standard DVD.
Blu-ray Disc competed with HD DVD in the High Definition Format War from roughly between 2000 and 2008 when the scales tipped in Blu-ray’s favor. The format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD was mainly decided by the various business alliances that formed between major film studios and retail distributors and the two High Definition formats.
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