Just what is Blu-Ray?

What is Blu-Ray?

Simply put, Blu-Ray is the next thing after DVD. Capable of storing over five times more over that of regular single-layer DVD optical disc formats, Blu-Ray stands as the next generation of optical storage formats, ideal for the ever popular high definition standard many videos are preferred to be today.

In further understanding just what is Blu-Ray, one has to have some understanding with what digital data storage means. Digital data is basically measured in megabytes, and is basically what makes up video, audio and other electronic programs or files for personal computers, or games for gaming consoles. The "old-school" CD format is capable of storing up to 700 megabytes of data. Its following, in the form of DVD, is capable of storing up to 4.7 gigabytes of data, with dual-layer formats capable of storing up to 8.5 gigabytes of data.

Blu-ray is capable of storing up to 25 gigabytes of data, while dual-layer formats of it could store twice that, at 50 gigabytes. If you go around asking what is Blu-Ray, you are sure to get answers like it is basically DVD, only with bigger data storage capacities.

It is named as such because of the blue colored laser which is utilized in its optical reading/writing function. CDs and DVDs utilize a red colored laser. This difference in color stands as the major difference between the optical storage formats, aside from Blu-Ray's impressive data storage capacities.

But one's answers for one's what is Blu-Ray inquiry don't just stop there. Blu-Ray comes in three formats, which is basically no different from its previous counterparts. There is the BD-ROM, the BD-R and the BD-RE. The BD-ROM represents the read only class of Blu-Ray optical disc formats, which is ideal for the distribution of game software for personal computers and/or game consoles, high definition movies, and personal computer software. BD-R is the recordable format of Blu-Ray, and functions no different from the CD-R or DVD-R class of optical storage device. One could record high definition movies, or data files into a BD-R disc. The BD-RE represents the CD-RW or DVD-RW class, meaning it is the rewritable type of Blu-Ray discs.

To further supply an answer to one's what is blu-ray inquiry, Blu-Ray specifications indicate that at its base speed, or 1x, the technology could read/write data in 36Mb per second. As a standard, BD-ROMs are made to work within a 2x speed, as movies stored in a BD-ROM require a 54MB per second read speed.

So what is Blu-Ray again? Everything mentioned above.