Dvd Vs Blue Ray
The War Between DVD's And Blue Ray
The show down between Blu Ray and HD DVD finally came to a halt, as Blu Ray won out after getting the most support from the major Hollywood movie companies. Blu-ray Disc was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association, and several of the leading consumer electronics manufacturers, which include Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sony, Sharp, TDK, and Thomson. HD DVD had the backing and support from Toshiba, NEC, Sanyo, and several other starting companies.
Both Blu-ray and HD DVD used the same kind of 405mm wavelength blue-violet laser, but their differences were in their optics. The Blu-ray disc contains a tighter track pitch, which is the single thread of data that spirals from the inside of the disc all the way to the outside. This means that it can hold more information on the same size disc as HD DVD, even though the laser length was the same. HD DVD discs also have a different surface layer made of clear plastic on the surface of the data, about 0.6 mm thick, which is what protects it from scratches and fingerprints. The Blu-ray discs use a much smaller layer that is only 0.1 mm thick, which allows the laser to focus at an 0.85 aperture. The aperture is the opening through which the light is admitted. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are, which is extremely important for the appearance of the image. Thus the quality of the Blu Ray dics delivered the more desirable package to the entertainment community.
The blue ray discs are more expensive to produce, but they hold more data than the HD DVDs. A special polymer hard coating called Durabis has to be applied to the blue ray discs in order to make certain they are hardy enough to protect all of the data against scratches and fingerprints that has been placed onto them and is only 0.1mm beneath its surface. This was one of the major factors that helped drive the cost of production, and ultimately the cost of blue ray movies and products up. The additional benefits though of having the data layer so close to the surface is that there is room for extra layers of data to be added to each disc.
If you are a DVD collector, and are now wondering if you need to jump on the Blu Ray bandwagon and sell your current collection, sit back and wait a while longer. The Blue Ray players are built to play all of the DVDs that are currently out there, there is no need to sell your library just yet. The prices for the Blu Ray movies, players, receivers, and other media are projected to come down in a few months. |