Jump to content

Blu-ray

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from BD-LIVE)

Blu-ray
Reverse side of a Blu-ray. Unlike CD and DVD, the reflection has a blue hue. Branded colors include silver, gold, and grey.
Media typeHigh-density optical disc
Encoding
Capacity
  • 25 GB (single-layer)
  • 50, 66 GB (dual-layer)
  • 100, 128 GB (BDXL)
  • (Up to four layers are possible in a standard form BD)
Block size2 KB sector,[1] 64 KB ECC-block[2]
Read mechanism405 nm diode laser, 36 Mbit/s
Write mechanism405 nm diode laser with a focused beam using more power than for reading
Developed by
Dimensions
  • 12 cm (4.7 in) diameter
  • 1.2 mm (0.047 in) thickness[4][a]
Usage
Extended fromDVD
Extended to
ReleasedJune 20, 2006; 18 years ago (2006-06-20)

Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-definition video (HDTV 720p and 1080p). The main application of Blu-ray is as a medium for video material such as feature films and for the physical distribution of video games for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The name refers to the blue laser (actually a violet laser) used to read the disc, which allows information to be stored at a greater density than is possible with the longer-wavelength red laser used for DVDs, resulting in an increased capacity.

The polycarbonate disc is 12 centimetres (4+34 inches) in diameter and 1.2 millimetres (116 inch) thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs.[5] Conventional (or "pre-BD-XL") Blu-ray discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual-layer discs (50 GB) being the industry standard for feature-length video discs. Triple-layer discs (100 GB) and quadruple-layer discs (128 GB) are available for BD-XL re-writer drives.[6]

While the DVD-Video specification has a maximum resolution of 480p (NTSC, 720 × 480 pixels) or 576p (PAL, 720 × 576 pixels),[7] the initial specification for storing movies on Blu-ray discs defined a maximum resolution of 1080p (1920 × 1080 pixels) at up to 24 progressive or 29.97 interlaced frames per second. Revisions to the specification allowed newer Blu-ray players to support videos with a resolution of 1440 × 1080 pixels, with Ultra HD Blu-ray players extending the maximum resolution to 4K (3840 × 2160 pixels) and progressive frame rates up to 60 frames per second. Aside from an 8K resolution (7680 × 4320 pixels) Blu-ray format exclusive to Japan,[8] videos with non-standard resolutions must use letterboxing to conform to a resolution supported by the Blu-ray specification. Besides these hardware specifications, Blu-ray is associated with a set of multimedia formats. Given that Blu-ray discs can contain ordinary computer files, there is no fixed limit as to which resolution of video can be stored when not conforming to the official specifications.

The BD format was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association, a group representing makers of consumer electronics, computer hardware, and motion pictures. Sony unveiled the first Blu-ray Disc prototypes in October 2000, and the first prototype player was released in Japan in April 2003. Afterward, it continued to be developed until its official worldwide release on June 20, 2006, beginning the high-definition optical disc format war, where Blu-ray Disc competed with the HD DVD format. Toshiba, the main company supporting HD DVD, conceded in February 2008,[9] and later released its own Blu-ray Disc player in late 2009.[10] According to Media Research, high-definition software sales in the United States were slower in the first two years than DVD software sales.[11] Blu-ray's competition includes video on demand (VOD) and DVD.[12] In January 2016, 44% of U.S. broadband households had a Blu-ray player.[13]

History

[edit]
Kees Schouhamer Immink received a personal Emmy award for his pioneering contributions to the DVD and the Blu-ray Disc.

Early history

[edit]

The information density of the DVD format was limited by the wavelength of the laser diodes used. Following protracted development, blue laser diodes operating at 405 nanometers became available on a production basis, allowing for the development of a denser storage format that could hold higher-definition media, with prototype discs made with diodes at a slightly longer wavelength of 407 nanometers in October 1998.[14][15] Sony commenced two projects in collaboration with Panasonic, Philips, and TDK,[16] applying the new diodes: UDO (Ultra Density Optical),[17] and DVR Blue (together with Pioneer),[18] a format of rewritable discs that would eventually become Blu-ray Disc (more specifically, BD-RE). The core technologies of the formats are similar. The first DVR Blue prototypes were unveiled by Sony at the CEATEC exhibition in October 2000.[19] A trademark for the "Blue Disc" logo was filed on February 9, 2001.[20] On February 19, 2002, the project was officially announced as Blu-ray Disc,[21][22] and Blu-ray Disc Founders was founded by the nine initial members.

The first consumer device arrived in stores on April 10, 2003: the Sony BDZ-S77, a US$3,800 BD-RE recorder that was made available only in Japan.[23] However, there was no standard for pre-recorded video, and no movies were released for this player. Hollywood studios insisted that players be equipped with digital rights management before they would release movies for the new format, and they wanted a new DRM system that would protect more against unauthorized copying than the failed Content Scramble System (CSS) used on DVDs. On October 4, 2004, the name Blu-ray Disc Founders was officially changed to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), and 20th Century Fox joined the BDA's Board of Directors.[24] The Blu-ray Disc physical specifications were completed in 2004.[25]

The recording layer on which the data is stored lies under a 0.1 mm protective layer and on top of a 1.1 mm substrate made of polycarbonate plastic, compared to 0.6 mm on either side on DVDs. Sony also announced in April 2004 a version using paper as the substrate developed with Toppan Printing, with up to 25 GB storage.[26][27]

In January 2005, TDK announced that it had developed an ultra-hard yet very thin polymer coating ("Durabis") for Blu-ray Discs; this was a significant technical advance because a far tougher protection was desired in the consumer market to protect bare discs against scratching and damage compared to DVD, given that Blu-ray Discs technically required a much thinner layer for the denser and higher-frequency blue laser.[28] Cartridges, originally used for scratch protection, were no longer necessary and were scrapped. The BD-ROM specifications were finalized in early 2006.[29]

Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator (AACS LA), a consortium founded in 2004,[30] had been developing the DRM platform that could be used to distribute movies to consumers while preventing copying. However, the final AACS standard was delayed,[31] and then delayed again when an important member of the Blu-ray Disc group voiced concerns.[32] At the request of the initial hardware manufacturers, including Toshiba, Pioneer, and Samsung, an interim standard was published that did not include some features, such as managed copy, which would have let end users create copies limited to personal use.[33]

Launch and sales developments

[edit]

The first BD-ROM players (Samsung BD-P1000) were shipped in mid-June 2006, though HD DVD players beat them to market by a few months.[34][35] The first Blu-ray Disc titles were released on June 20, 2006: 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, Underworld: Evolution, xXx (all from Sony), and MGM's The Terminator.[36] The earliest releases used MPEG-2 video compression, the same method used on standard DVDs. The first releases using the newer VC-1 and AVC formats were introduced in September 2006.[37] The first movies using 50 GB dual-layer discs were introduced in October 2006.[38] The first audio-only albums were released in May 2008.[39][40]

By June 2008, over 2,500 Blu-ray Disc titles were available in Australia and the United Kingdom, with 3,500 in the United States and Canada.[41] In Japan, over 3,300 titles had been released as of July 2010.[42]

Competition from HD DVD

[edit]

The DVD Forum, chaired by Toshiba, was split over whether to develop the more expensive blue laser technology. In March 2002 the forum approved a proposal, which was endorsed by Warner Bros. and other motion picture studios. The proposal involved compressing high-definition video onto dual-layer standard DVD-9 discs.[43][44] In spite of this decision, however, the DVD Forum's Steering Committee announced in April that it was pursuing its own blue-laser high-definition video solution. In August, Toshiba and NEC announced their competing standard, the Advanced Optical Disc.[45] It was finally adopted by the DVD Forum and renamed HD DVD the next year,[46] after being voted down twice by DVD Forum members who were also Blu-ray Disc Association members—a situation that drew preliminary investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice.[47]

HD DVD had a head start in the high-definition video market, as Blu-ray Disc sales were slow to gain market share. The first Blu-ray Disc player was perceived as expensive and buggy, and there were few titles available.[48]

The Sony PlayStation 3, which contained a Blu-ray Disc player for primary storage, helped support Blu-ray.[49] Sony also ran a more thorough and influential marketing campaign for the format.[50] AVCHD camcorders were also introduced in 2006. These recordings can be played back on many Blu-ray Disc players without re-encoding but are not compatible with HD DVD players. By January 2007, Blu-ray Discs had outsold HD DVDs,[51] and during the first three quarters of 2007, BD outsold HD DVD by about two to one. At CES 2007, Warner proposed Total Hi Def—a hybrid disc containing Blu-ray on one side and HD DVD on the other, but it was never released.

On June 28, 2007, 20th Century Fox cited Blu-ray Discs' adoption of the BD+ anticopying system as key to their decision to support the Blu-ray Disc format.[52][53]

On January 4, 2008, a day before CES 2008, Warner Bros., the only major studio still releasing movies in both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc format, announced that it would release only in Blu-ray after May 2008.[54] This effectively included other studios that came under the Warner umbrella, such as New Line Cinema and HBO—though in Europe, HBO's distribution partner, the BBC, announced it would continue to release product on both formats while keeping an eye on market forces. This led to a chain reaction in the industry, with major American retailers such as Best Buy, Walmart, and Circuit City and Canadian chains such as Future Shop dropping HD DVD in their stores. Woolworths, then a major European retailer, dropped HD DVD from its inventory.[55] Major DVD rental companies Netflix and Blockbuster said they would no longer carry HD DVD.

Following these new developments, on February 19, 2008, Toshiba announced it would end production of HD DVD devices,[56] allowing Blu-ray Disc to become the industry standard for high-density optical discs. Universal Studios, the sole major studio to back HD DVD since its inception, said shortly after Toshiba's announcement: "While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray Disc."[57] Paramount Pictures, which started releasing movies only in HD DVD format during late 2007, also said it would start releasing on Blu-ray Disc. Both studios announced initial Blu-ray lineups in May 2008. With this, all major Hollywood studios supported Blu-ray.[58]

Ongoing development

[edit]

2005–2010

[edit]
Front of an experimental 200 GB rewritable Blu-ray Disc

Although the Blu-ray Disc specification has been finalized, engineers continue to work on advancing the technology. By 2005, quad-layer (100 GB)[59] discs had been demonstrated on a drive with modified optics[60] and standard unaltered optics.[61] Hitachi stated that such a disc could be used to store 7 hours of 32 Mbit/s video (HDTV) or 3 hours and 30 minutes of 64 Mbit/s video (ultra-high-definition television). In April 2006, TDK canceled plans to produce 8-layer 200 GB Blu-ray Discs.[62] In August 2006, TDK announced that it had created a working experimental Blu-ray Disc capable of holding 200 GB of data on a single side, using six 33 GB data layers.[63] In 2007, Hitachi was reported to have plans to produce 200 GB discs by 2009.[64]

Behind closed doors at CES 2007, Ritek revealed that it had successfully developed a high-definition optical disc process that extended the disc capacity to ten layers, increasing the capacity of the discs to 250 GB. However, it noted the major obstacle was that current read/write technology did not allow additional layers.[65] JVC developed a three-layer technology that allows putting both standard-definition DVD data and HD data on a BD/(standard) DVD combination.[66] This would have enabled the consumer to purchase a disc that can be played on DVD players and can also reveal its HD version when played on a BD player.[67] Japanese optical disc manufacturer Infinity announced the first "hybrid" Blu-ray Disc/(standard) DVD combo, to be released on February 18, 2009. This disc set of the TV series Code Blue featured four hybrid discs containing a single Blu-ray Disc layer (25 GB) and two DVD layers (9 GB) on the same side of the disc.[68]

In January 2007, Hitachi showcased a 100 GB Blu-ray Disc, consisting of four layers containing 25 GB each.[69] It claimed that, unlike TDK's and Panasonic's 100 GB discs, this disc would be readable on standard Blu-ray Disc drives that were currently in circulation, and it was believed that a firmware update was the only requirement to make it readable by then-current players and drives.[70] In October 2007, they revealed a 100 GB Blu-ray Disc drive.[71] In December 2008, Pioneer Corporation unveiled a 400 GB Blu-ray Disc (containing 16 data layers, 25 GB each) compatible with current players after a firmware update. Its planned launch was in the 2009–10 time frame for ROM and 2010–13 for rewritable discs. Ongoing development was underway to create a 1 TB Blu-ray Disc.[72]

At CES 2009, Panasonic unveiled the DMP-B15, the first portable Blu-ray Disc player, and Sharp introduced the LC-BD60U and LC-BD80U series, the first LCD HDTVs with integrated Blu-ray Disc players. Sharp also announced that it would sell HDTVs with integrated Blu-ray Disc recorders in the United States by the end of 2009. Set-top box recorders were not being sold in the U.S. for fear of unauthorized copying. However, personal computers with Blu-ray recorder drives were available. In October 2009, TDK demonstrated a 10-layer 320 GB Blu-ray Disc.[73] On January 1, 2010, Sony, in association with Panasonic, announced plans to increase the storage capacity on their Blu-ray Discs from 25 GB to 33.4 GB via a technology called i-MLSE (maximum likelihood sequence estimation). The higher-capacity discs, according to Sony, would be readable on existing Blu-ray Disc players with a firmware upgrade.[74] This technology was later used on BDXL discs.[75]

On July 20, 2010, the research team of Sony and Japanese Tohoku University announced the joint development of a blue-violet laser,[76] to help create Blu-ray Discs with a capacity of 1 TB using only two layers (and potentially more than 1 TB with additional layering). By comparison, the first blue laser was invented in 1996, with the first prototype discs coming four years later.

2011–present

[edit]
Early 4K Blu-ray release at Best Buy. A 4K Blu-ray Disc player was also released.

On January 7, 2013, Sony announced that it would release "Mastered in 4K" Blu-ray Disc titles sourced at 4K and encoded at 1080p.[77] "Mastered in 4K" Blu-ray Disc titles can be played on existing Blu-ray Disc players and have a larger color space using xvYCC.[77][78] On January 14, 2013, Blu-ray Disc Association president Andy Parsons stated that a task force was created three months prior to conduct a study concerning an extension to the Blu-ray Disc specification that would add the ability to contain 4K UHD video.[79][80]

On August 5, 2015, the BDA announced it would commence licensing the Ultra HD Blu-ray video format starting on August 24, 2015. The Ultra HD Blu-ray format delivered support for high dynamic range video that significantly expanded the range between the brightest and darkest elements, an expanded color range, a high frame rate of up to 60 frames per second for a smoother motion appearance, an increase of the supported resolution to 3840 × 2160 for a more detailed picture, object-based sound formats, and an optional "digital bridge" feature. New players were required to play this format, and they became able to play all three of DVDs, traditional Blu-rays, and the new format. New Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs hold up to 66 GB and 100 GB of data on dual- and triple-layer discs, respectively.[81]

Blu-ray's physical and file system specifications are publicly available on the BDA's website.[82]

[edit]

According to Media Research, high-definition software sales in the United States were slower in the first two years than DVD software sales.[11] 16.3 million DVD software units were sold in the first two years (1997–1998) compared to 8.3 million high-definition software units (2006–2007).[11][83] One reason given for this difference was the smaller marketplace (26.5 million HDTVs in 2007 compared to 100 million SDTVs in 1998).[83] Former HD DVD supporter Microsoft did not make a Blu-ray Disc drive for the Xbox 360.[84] The 360's successor Xbox One features a Blu-ray drive, as does the PS4, with both supporting 3D Blu-ray after later firmware updates.[85][86]

Shortly after the "format war" ended, Blu-ray Disc sales began to increase. A study by the NPD Group found that awareness of Blu-ray Disc had reached 60% of households in the United States. Nielsen VideoScan sales numbers showed that for some titles, such as 20th Century Fox's Hitman, up to 14% of total disc sales were from Blu-ray, although the average Blu-ray sales for the first half of the year were only around 5%. In December 2008, the Blu-ray Disc version of Warner Bros.' The Dark Knight sold 600,000 copies on the first day of its launch in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.[87] A week after the launch, The Dark Knight BD had sold over 1.7 million copies worldwide, making it the first Blu-ray Disc title to sell over a million copies in the first week of release.[88]

Blu-ray Disc sales in United States and Canada
Year Cumulative sales (millions)
2006 1.2[89]
2007 19.2[89]
2008 82.9[89]
2009 177.2[89]
2010 350[90]

According to Singulus Technologies AG, Blu-ray was adopted faster than the DVD format was at a similar period in its development. This conclusion was based on the fact that Singulus Technologies received orders for 21 Blu-ray dual-layer replication machines during the first quarter of 2008, while 17 DVD replication machines of this type were made in the same period in 1997.[91] According to GfK Retail and Technology, in the first week of November 2008, sales of Blu-ray recorders surpassed DVD recorders in Japan.[92] According to the Digital Entertainment Group, the number of Blu-ray Disc playback devices (both set-top box and game console) sold in the United States had reached 28.5 million by the end of 2010.[90]

Blu-ray faces competition from video on demand[93] and from new technologies that allow access to movies on any format or device, such as Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem or Disney's Keychest.[94] Some commentators suggested that renting Blu-ray would play a vital part in keeping the technology affordable while allowing it to move forward.[95] In an effort to increase sales, studios began releasing films in combo packs with Blu-ray Discs and DVDs, as well as digital copies that can be played on computers and mobile devices. Some are released on "flipper" discs with Blu-ray on one side and DVD on the other. Other strategies are to release movies with the special features only on Blu-ray Discs and none on DVDs.

Blu-ray Discs cost no more to produce than DVD discs.[96] However, reading and writing mechanisms are more complicated, making Blu-ray recorders, drives and players more expensive than their DVD counterparts.[97][98][99] Adoption is also limited due to the widespread use of streaming media.[100][101][102][103] Blu-ray Discs are used to distribute PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X games, and the aforementioned game consoles can play back regular Blu-ray Discs.

In the mid-2010s, the Ultra HD Blu-ray format was released which is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray compatible with the 4K resolution. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs and players became available in the first quarter of 2016, having a storage capacity of up to 100 GB.[104][105]

By December 2017, the specification for an 8K Blu-ray format was also completed. However, this specification was for Japan only so that it could be used by Japanese public broadcasters like NHK to broadcast in 8K resolution for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.[8]

Beyond Blu-ray

[edit]

The Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD), described in the ECMA-377 standard, was in development by the Holography System Development (HSD) Forum using a green writing/reading laser (532 nm) and a red positioning/addressing laser (650 nm). It was to offer MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC (H.264), HEVC (H.265), and VC-1 encoding, supporting a maximum storage capacity of 6 TB.[106] No systems conforming to the Ecma International HVD standard have been released.[107] The company responsible for HVD went bankrupt in 2010, making any releases unlikely.[108]

Rise of boutique labels

[edit]

A boutique Blu-ray label or specialty Blu-ray label is a home video distributor that releases films on Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format, characterized by a specific or niche target market[109] and collectable features like "limited edition" or "special edition" releases,[110] deluxe slipcases or packaging, and other materials. Examples of boutique Blu-ray labels include the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA),[111] Arrow Films,[109][111] Canadian International Pictures,[112] The Criterion Collection,[109][111][113] Kino Lorber,[111][114] Severin Films,[110][111] Shout! Factory,[109][111] Twilight Time,[109][115] Vinegar Syndrome,[110][111] and the Warner Archive Collection.[111]

Boutique Blu-ray labels, which are popular among collectors and enthusiasts of film and physical media, have been credited as a factor in a "Blu-ray renaissance" dating back to at least 2018, with some consumers choosing to purchase films on physical formats in an age of digital streaming.[110][116] Reasons some consumers prefer Blu-rays to streaming include higher video quality, the tactile nature of owning a film physically, elaborate packaging, bonus features, and the desire to own or watch films that are not available in streaming services' libraries.[116]

Physical media

[edit]
Comparison of several forms of disc storage showing tracks (not to scale); green denotes start and red denotes end.
* Some CD-R(W) and DVD-R(W)/DVD+R(W) recorders operate in ZCLV, CAA or CAV modes.
Comparison of various optical storage media
Type Diameter
(cm)
Layers Capacity
Bytes
Standard disc size, single layer 12 1 25,025,314,816
Standard disc size, dual layer 12 2 50,050,629,632
Standard disc size, XL 3 layer[117] 12 3 100,103,356,416
Standard disc size, XL 4 layer[117] 12 4 128,001,769,472
Mini disc size, single layer 8 1 7,791,181,824
Mini disc size, dual layer 8 2 15,582,363,648

Laser and optics

[edit]

While a DVD uses a 650 nm red laser, Blu-ray Disc uses a 405 nm "blue" laser diode. Although the laser is called "blue", its color is actually in the violet range. The shorter wavelength can be focused to a smaller area, thus enabling it to read information recorded in pits that are less than half the size of those on a DVD, and can consequently be spaced more closely, resulting in a shorter track pitch, enabling a Blu-ray Disc to hold about five times the amount of information that can be stored on a DVD. The lasers are GaN (gallium nitride) laser diodes that produce 405 nm light directly, that is, without frequency doubling or other nonlinear optical mechanisms.[15][118] CDs use 780 nm near-infrared lasers.

The minimum "spot size" on which a laser can be focused is limited by diffraction and depends on the wavelength of the light and the numerical aperture of the lens used to focus it. By decreasing the wavelength, increasing the numerical aperture from 0.60 to 0.85, and making the cover layer thinner to avoid unwanted optical effects, designers can cause the laser beam to focus on a smaller spot, which effectively allows more information to be stored in the same area.[119] For a Blu-ray Disc, the spot size is 580 nm.[120] This allows a reduction of the pit size from 400 nm for DVD to 150 nm for Blu-ray Disc, and of the track pitch from 740 nm to 320 nm.[119] See compact disc for information on optical discs' physical structure. In addition to the optical improvements, Blu-ray Discs feature improvements in data encoding that further increase the amount of content that can be stored.[121]

Hard-coating technology

[edit]

Given that the Blu-ray Disc data layer is closer to the surface of the disc compared to the DVD standard, it was found in early designs to be more vulnerable to scratches.[122][123] The first discs were therefore housed in cartridges for protection, resembling Professional Discs introduced by Sony in 2003. Using a cartridge would increase the price of an already expensive medium, and would increase the size of Blu-ray Disc drives, so designers chose hard-coating of the pickup surface instead. TDK was the first company to develop a working scratch-protection coating for Blu-ray Discs, naming it Durabis. In addition, both Sony's and Panasonic's replication methods include proprietary hard-coat technologies. Sony's rewritable media are spin-coated, using a scratch-resistant acrylic and antistatic coating.[124] Verbatim's recordable and rewritable Blu-ray Discs use their own proprietary technology, called Hard Coat.[125] Colloidal silica-dispersed UV-curable resins are used for the hard coating, given that, according to the Blu-ray Disc Association, they offer the best tradeoff between scratch resistance, optical properties, and productivity.[124]

The Blu-ray Disc specification requires the testing of resistance to scratches by mechanical abrasion.[119] In contrast, DVD media are not required to be scratch-resistant, but since development of the technology, some companies, such as Verbatim, implemented hard-coating for more expensive lines of recordable DVDs.

Drive speeds

[edit]
BD drive speeds
Drive speed Data rate ~Write time (minutes) ~CAV Rotation speed (RPM)[126]
Mbit/s MB/s Single-Layer Dual-Layer
36 4.5 90 180 810
72 9 45 90 1,620
144 18 22.5 45 3,240
216 27 15 30 4,860
288 36 11.25 22.5 6,480
10× 360 45 9 18 8,100
12× 432 54 7.5 15 9,720
14× 504 63 6.5 13 11,340
16× 576 72 5.7 11.5 12,960

The table shows the speeds available. Even the lowest speed (1×) is sufficient to play and record real-time 1080p video; the higher speeds are relevant for general data storage and more sophisticated handling of video. BD discs are designed to cope with at least 5,000 rpm of rotational speed.

The usable data rate of a Blu-ray Disc drive can be limited by the capacity of the drive's data interface. With a USB 2.0 interface, the maximum exploitable drive speed is 288 Mbit/s or 36 MB/s (also called 8× speed).[127] A USB 3.0 interface (with proper cabling) does not have this limitation,[128] nor do even the oldest version of Serial ATA (SATA, 150 MB/s)[129] nor the latest Parallel ATA (133 MB/s) standards. Internal Blu-ray drives that are integrated into a computer (as opposed to physically separate and connected via a cable) typically have a SATA interface.[130]

More recent half-height Blu-Ray writers have reached writing speeds of up to 16× (constant angular velocity) on single-layer BD-R media, while the highest reading speeds are 12×, presumably to prevent repeated physical stress on the disc. Slim type drives are limited to 6× speeds (constant angular velocity) due to spacial and power limitations.[131][132][133]

The Blu-ray format has a write verification feature, similar to that of DVD-RAM, but brings this feature to a write-once disc for the first time. If activated, the correctness of the written data is verified immediately after being written so unreadable data can be written again. In this case, the writing speed is halved because half of the disc rotations are for writing only. "Write verification" is not an official term for the feature, only a description for what it does. The feature may be activated by default, as is the case in the disc writing utility growisofs. Deactivating write verification may be desirable to save time when mass-producing physical copies of data, since errors are unlikely to occur on physically undamaged media.[134][135]

Media quality and data integrity

[edit]

The quality and data integrity of optical media can be determined by measuring the rate of errors, of which higher rates may be an indication for deteriorating media, low-quality media, physical damage such as scratches, dust, and/or media written using a defective optical drive.

Errors on Blu-Ray media are measured using the so-called LDC (Long Distance Codes) and BIS (Burst Indication Subcodes) error parameters, of which rates below 13 and 15 respectively can be considered healthy.

Not all vendors and models of optical drives have error scanning functionality implemented.[136][137][15]

Packaging

[edit]
Blu-ray case (often blue-tinted)

Pre-recorded Blu-ray Disc titles usually ship in packages similar to, but slightly smaller (18.5 mm shorter and 2 mm thinner: 135 mm × 171.5 mm × 13 mm[138]) and more rounded than, a standard DVD keep case, generally with the format prominently displayed in a horizontal stripe across the top of the case (translucent blue for Blu-ray video discs, clear for Blu-ray 3D video releases, red for PlayStation 3 Greatest Hits Games, transparent for regular PlayStation 3 games, transparent dark blue for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games, transparent green for Xbox One and Xbox Series X games and black for Ultra HD Blu-ray video releases). Warren Osborn and The Seastone Media Group, LLC created the package that was adopted worldwide following the Blu-ray versus HD DVD market adoption choice.[139] Because Blu-ray cases are smaller than DVD cases, more Blu-rays than DVDs can fit on a shelf.

Types

[edit]

Mini Blu-ray Disc

[edit]

The "Mini Blu-ray Disc" (also, "Mini-BD" and "Mini Blu-ray") is a compact 8-centimetre-diameter (3.1 in) variant of the Blu-ray Disc that can store 7.8 GB of data in its single-layer configuration, or 15.6 GB on a dual-layer disc.[140] It is similar in concept to the MiniDVD and Mini CD. Recordable (BD-R) and rewritable (BD-RE) versions of Mini Blu-ray Disc have been developed specifically for compact camcorders and other compact recording devices.[141]

Blu-ray Disc recordable

[edit]

"Blu-ray Disc recordable" (BD-R) refers to two optical disc formats that can be recorded with an optical disc recorder. BD-Rs can be written to once, whereas Blu-ray Disc Recordable Erasable (BD-REs) can be erased and re-recorded multiple times. The current practical maximum speed for Blu-ray Discs is about 12× (54 MB/s).[142]: 1.7  Higher speeds of rotation (5,000+ rpm[124]) cause too much wobble for the discs to be written properly,[143][144] as with the 24× (33.2 MB/s) and 56× (8.2 MB/s, 11,200 rpm) maximum speeds, respectively, of standard DVDs and CDs. Since September 2007, BD-RE is also available in the smaller 8 cm Mini Blu-ray Disc size.[141][145]

On September 18, 2007, Pioneer and Mitsubishi codeveloped BD-R LTH ("Low to High" in groove recording), which features an organic dye recording layer that can be manufactured by modifying existing CD-R and DVD-R production equipment, significantly reducing manufacturing costs.[146] In February 2008, Taiyo Yuden, Mitsubishi, and Maxell released the first BD-R LTH Discs,[147] and in March 2008, Sony's PlayStation 3 officially gained the ability to use BD-R LTH Discs with the 2.20 firmware update.[148] In May 2009 Verbatim/Mitsubishi announced the industry's first 6X BD-R LTH media, which allows recording a 25 GB disc in about 16 minutes.[149] Unlike with the previous releases of 120 mm optical discs (i.e. CDs and standard DVDs), Blu-ray recorders hit the market almost simultaneously with Blu-ray's debut.

BD9 and BD5

[edit]

The BD9 format was proposed to the Blu-ray Disc Association by Warner Home Video as a cost-effective alternative to the 25/50 GB BD-ROM discs. The format was supposed to use the same codecs and program structure as Blu-ray Disc video but recorded onto less expensive 8.5 GB dual-layer DVD. This red-laser media could be manufactured on existing DVD production lines with lower costs of production than the 25/50 GB Blu-ray media.[150]

Usage of BD9 for releasing content on "pressed" discs never caught on. With the end of the format war, manufacturers ramped production of Blu-ray Discs and lowered prices to compete with DVDs. On the other hand, the idea of using inexpensive DVD media became popular among individual users. A lower-capacity version of this format that uses single-layer 4.7 GB DVDs has been unofficially called BD5. Both formats are being used by individuals for recording high-definition content in Blu-ray format onto recordable DVD media.[151][152] Despite the fact that the BD9 format has been adopted as part of the BD-ROM basic format, none of the existing Blu-ray player models explicitly claim to be able to read it. Consequently, the discs recorded in BD9 and BD5 formats are not guaranteed to play on standard Blu-ray Disc players. AVCHD and AVCREC also use inexpensive media like DVDs, but unlike BD9 and BD5 these formats have limited interactivity, codec types, and data rates. As of March 2011, BD9 was removed as an official BD-ROM disc.[153]

BDXL

[edit]
128 GB BDXL quadruple-layer disc manufactured by Sony Corporation

The BDXL format allows 100 GB and 128 GB write-once discs,[154][155] and 100 GB rewritable discs for commercial applications. The BDXL specification was finalised in June 2010.[156][157] BD-R 3.0 Format Specification (BDXL) defined a multi-layered disc recordable in BDAV format with the speed of 2× and 4×, capable of 100/128 GB and usage of UDF2.5/2.6.[158] BD-RE 4.0 Format Specification (BDXL) defined a multi-layered disc rewritable in BDAV with the speed of 2× and 4×, capable of 100 GB and usage of UDF2.5 as file system.[159] Although the 66 GB and 100 GB BD-ROM discs used for Ultra HD Blu-ray use the same linear density as BDXL, the two formats are not compatible with each other, therefore it is not possible to use a triple layer BDXL disc to burn an Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc playable in an Ultra HD Blu-ray player, although standard 50 GB BD-R DL discs can be burned in the Ultra HD Blu-ray format.

IH-BD

[edit]

The IH-BD (Intra-Hybrid Blu-ray) format includes a 25 GB rewritable layer (BD-RE) and a 25 GB write-once layer (BD-ROM), designed to work with existing Blu-ray Discs.[154][155]

Data format standards

[edit]

Filesystem

[edit]

Blu-ray Disc specifies the use of Universal Disk Format (UDF) 2.50 as a convergent-friendly format for both PC and consumer electronics environments. It is used in the latest specifications of BD-ROM, BD-RE, and BD-R.[160][161][162] In the first BD-RE specification (defined in 2002), the BDFS (Blu-ray Disc File System) was used. The BD-RE 1.0 specification was defined mainly for the digital recording of high-definition television (HDTV) broadcast television. The BDFS was replaced by UDF 2.50 in the second BD-RE specification in 2005, to enable interoperability among consumer electronics, Blu-ray recorders, and personal computer systems. These optical disc recording technologies enabled PC recording and playback of BD-RE.[162][163][164] BD-R can use UDF 2.50/2.60.[165]

The Blu-ray Disc application for recording of digital broadcasting has been developed as System Description Blu-ray Rewritable Disc Format Part 3 Audio Visual Basic Specifications (BDAV). The requirements related to the computer file system have been specified in System Description Blu-ray Rewritable Disc Format part 2 File System Specifications version 1.0 (BDFS).[166] Initially, the BD-RE version 1.0 (BDFS) was specifically developed for recording of digital broadcasts using the Blu-ray Disc application (BDAV application). But these requirements are superseded by the Blu-ray Rewritable Disc File System Specifications version 2.0 (UDF) (a.k.a. RE 2.0) and Blu-ray Recordable Disc File System Specifications version 1.0 (UDF) (a.k.a. R 1.0). Additionally, a new application format, BDMV (System Description Blu-ray Disc Prerecorded Format part 3 Audio Visual Basic Specifications) for High Definition Content Distribution was developed for BD-ROM. The only file system developed for BDMV is the System Description Blu-ray Read-Only Disc Format part 2 File System Specifications version 1.0 (UDF) which defines the requirements for UDF 2.50.[162][166] All BDMV application files are stored under a "BDMV" directory.[167][168][169][170]

Application format

[edit]
  • BDAV or BD-AV (Blu-ray Disc Audio/Visual):[162][166][171][172] a consumer-oriented Blu-ray video format used for audio/video recording (defined in 2002).
  • BDMV or BD-MV (Blu-ray Disc Movie):[160][161][162][166][172][173] a Blu-ray video format with menu capability commonly used for movie releases.
  • BDMV Recording specification (defined in September 2006 for BD-RE and BD-R).[161][174]
  • RREF (Realtime Recording and Editing Format): a subset of BDMV designed for real-time recording and editing applications.[174]
  • HFPA (High Fidelity Pure Audio): A high definition audio disc using the Blu-ray format

Media format

[edit]

Container format

[edit]

Audio, video, and other streams are multiplexed and stored on Blu-ray Discs in a container format based on the MPEG transport stream. It is also known as BDAV MPEG-2 transport stream and can use the filename extension .m2ts.[167][175] Blu-ray Disc titles authored with menus are in the BDMV (Blu-ray Disc Movie) format and contain audio, video, and other streams in BDAV container.[176][177] There is also the BDAV (Blu-ray Disc Audio/Visual) format, the consumer oriented alternative to the BDMV format used for movie releases. The BDAV format is used on BD-REs and BD-Rs for audio/video recording.[177] BDMV format was later defined also for BD-RE and BD-R (in September 2006, in the third revision of BD-RE specification and second revision of BD-R specification).[160][161]

Blu-ray Disc employs the MPEG transport stream recording method. That enables transport streams of digital broadcasts to be recorded as they are broadcast, without altering the format.[178] It also enables flexible editing of a digital broadcast that is recorded as is and where the data can be edited just by rewriting the playback stream. Although it is quite natural, a function for high-speed and easy-to-use retrieval is built in.[178][179] Blu-ray Disc Video use MPEG transport streams, compared to DVD's MPEG program streams. An MPEG transport stream contains one or more MPEG program streams, so this allows multiple video programs to be stored in the same file so they can be played back simultaneously (e.g., with the "picture-in-picture" effect).

Codecs

[edit]

The BD-ROM specification mandates certain codec compatibilities for both hardware decoders (players) and movie software (content).[175][180] Windows Media Player does not come with all of the codecs required to play Blu-ray Discs.[181]

Video
[edit]

Originally, BD-ROMs stored video up to 1920 × 1080 pixel resolution at up to 60 (59.94) fields per second. Currently, with UHD BD-ROM, videos can be stored at a maximum of 3840 × 2160 pixel resolution at up to 60 (59.94) frames per second, progressively scanned. While most current Blu-ray players and recorders can read and write 1920 × 1080 video at the full 59.94p and 50p progressive format, new players for the UHD specifications will be able to read at 3840 × 2160 video at either 59.94p and 50p formats.

Supported video formats[182][183]
Format Resolution and
frame/field rate
Display aspect ratio
4K UHD[b] 3840 × 2160p 60 16:9
3840 × 2160p 59.94 16:9
3840 × 2160p 50 16:9
3840 × 2160p 30 16:9
3840 × 2160p 29.976 16:9
3840 × 2160p 25 16:9
3840 × 2160p 24 16:9
3840 × 2160p 23.976 16:9
HD[b] 1920 × 1080p 60 16:9
1920 × 1080p 59.94 16:9
1920 × 1080p 50 16:9
1920 × 1080p 30 16:9
1920 × 1080p 29.976 16:9
1920 × 1080p 25 16:9
HD 1920 × 1080i 59.94 [c] 16:9
1920 × 1080i 50 [c] 16:9
1920 × 1080p 24 16:9
1920 × 1080p 23.976 16:9
1440 × 1080i 59.94 [d][c] 16:9[e]
1440 × 1080i 50[d][c] 16:9[e]
1440 × 1080p 24[d] 16:9[e]
1440 × 1080p 23.976[d] 16:9[e]
1280 × 720p 59.94 16:9
1280 × 720p 50 16:9
1280 × 720p 29.976 16:9
1280 × 720p 25 16:9
1280 × 720p 24 16:9
1280 × 720p 23.976 16:9
SD 720 × 480i 59.94 [c] 4:3 or 16:9[e]
720 × 576i 50 [c] 4:3 or 16:9[e]

For video, all players are required to process H.262/MPEG-2 Part 2, H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10: AVC, and SMPTE VC-1.[185] BD-ROM titles with video must store video using one of the three mandatory formats; multiple formats on a single title are allowed. Blu-ray Disc allows video with a bit depth of 8-bits per color YCbCr with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling.[186][187] The choice of formats affects the producer's licensing/royalty costs as well as the title's maximum run time, due to differences in compression efficiency. Discs encoded in MPEG-2 video typically limit content producers to around two hours of high-definition content on a single-layer (25 GB) BD-ROM. The more-advanced video formats (VC-1 and MPEG-4 AVC) typically achieve a video run time twice that of MPEG-2, with comparable quality. MPEG-2, however, does have the advantage that it is available without licensing costs, as all MPEG-2 patents have expired.

MPEG-2 was used by many studios (including Paramount Pictures, which initially used the VC-1 format for HD DVD releases) for the first series of Blu-ray Discs, which were launched throughout 2006.[188] Modern releases are now often encoded in either MPEG-4 AVC or VC-1, allowing film studios to place all content on one disc, reducing costs and improving ease of use. Using these formats also frees a lot of space for storage of bonus content in HD (1080i/p), as opposed to the SD (480i/p) typically used for most titles. Some studios, such as Warner Bros., have released bonus content on discs encoded in a different format than the main feature title. For example, the Blu-ray Disc release of Superman Returns uses VC-1 for the feature film and MPEG-2 for some of its bonus content.[189] Today[when?], Warner and other studios typically provide bonus content in the video format that matches the feature.[citation needed]

Audio
[edit]

For audio, BD-ROM players are required to implement Dolby Digital (AC-3), DTS, and linear PCM. Players may optionally implement Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio as well as lossless 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.[190] BD-ROM titles must use one of the mandatory schemes for the primary soundtrack. A secondary audiotrack, if present, may use any of the mandatory or optional codecs.[citation needed]

Specification of BD-ROM Primary audio streams[191]
LPCM (Uncompressed) Dolby Digital Dolby Digital Plus Dolby TrueHD (Lossless) DTS Digital Surround DTS-HD Master Audio (Lossless) DRA DRA extension
Max. bitrate 27.648 Mbit/s 640 kbit/s 4.736 Mbit/s 18.64 Mbit/s 1.524 Mbit/s 24.5 Mbit/s 1.5 Mbit/s 3.0 Mbit/s
Max. channel 8 (48 kHz, 96 kHz), 6 (192 kHz) 5.1 7.1 8 (48 kHz, 96 kHz), 6 (192 kHz) 5.1 8 (48 kHz, 96 kHz), 6 (192 kHz) 5.1 7.1
Bits/sample 16, 20, 24 16, 24 16, 24 16, 24 16, 20, 24 16, 24 16 16
Sample frequency 48 kHz, 96 kHz, 192 kHz 48 kHz 48 kHz 48 kHz, 96 kHz, 192 kHz 48 kHz 48 kHz, 96 kHz, 192 kHz 48 kHz 48 kHz, 96 kHz

Bit rate

[edit]

The Blu-ray specification defines a maximum data transfer rate of 54 Mbit/s, a maximum AV bitrate of 48 Mbit/s (for both audio and video data), and a maximum video bit rate of 40 Mbit/s. In contrast, the HD DVD standard has a maximum data transfer rate of 36 Mbit/s, a maximum AV bitrate of 30.24 Mbit/s, and a maximum video bitrate of 29.4 Mbit/s.[192]

Java software interface

[edit]

At the 2005 JavaOne trade show, it was announced that Sun Microsystems' Java cross-platform software environment would be included in all Blu-ray Disc players as a mandatory part of the standard.[193] Java is used to implement interactive menus on Blu-ray Discs, as opposed to the method used on DVD-video discs. DVDs use pre-rendered MPEG segments and selectable subtitle pictures, which are considerably more primitive and rarely seamless. At the conference, Java creator James Gosling suggested that the inclusion of a Java virtual machine, as well as network connectivity in some BD devices, will allow updates to Blu-ray Discs via the Internet, adding content such as additional subtitle languages and promotional features not included on the disc at pressing time.[194] This Java version is called BD-J and is built on a profile of the Globally Executable MHP (GEM) standard; GEM is the worldwide version of the Multimedia Home Platform standard.[citation needed]

Player profiles

[edit]

The BD-ROM specification defines four Blu-ray Disc player profiles, including an audio-only player profile (BD-Audio) that does not require video decoding or BD-J. All of the video-based player profiles (BD-Video) are required to have a full implementation of BD-J.[citation needed]

Feature BD-Audio BD-Video
Grace Period[f] Bonus View BD-Live[g] Blu-ray 3D
Profile 3.0[h] Profile 1.0 Profile 1.1 Profile 2.0 Profile 5.0
Built-in persistent memory Unneeded 64 KB 64 KB 64 KB 64 KB?
Local storage capability[i] Unneeded Optional 256 MB 1 GB 1 GB
Secondary video decoder (PiP) No video Optional Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory
Secondary audio decoder[j] Optional Optional Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory
Virtual file system Unneeded Optional Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory
Internet connection capability No No No Mandatory Mandatory

On November 2, 2007, the Grace Period Profile was superseded by Bonus View as the minimum profile for new BD-Video players released to the market.[197] When Blu-ray Disc software not authored with interactive features dependent on Bonus View or BD-Live hardware capabilities is played on Profile 1.0 players, it is able to play the main feature of the disc, but some extra features may not be available or will have limited capability.[198]

BD-Live

[edit]

The biggest difference between Bonus View and BD-Live is that BD-Live requires the Blu-ray Disc player to have an Internet connection to access Internet-based content. BD-Live features have included Internet chats, scheduled chats with the director, Internet games, downloadable featurettes, downloadable quizzes, and downloadable movie trailers.[199][200][201] While some Bonus View players may have an Ethernet port, it is used for firmware updates and is not used for Internet-based content.[202] In addition, Profile 2.0 also requires more local storage in order to handle this content.[citation needed]

Profile 1.0 players are not eligible for Bonus View or BD-Live compliant upgrades and do not have the function or capability to access these upgrades, with the exception of the latest players and the PlayStation 3. Internet is required to use.[203][204][205]

Region codes

[edit]
Regions for the Blu-ray Disc standard:[206]
  Region A/1
  Region B/2
  Region C/3

As with the implementation of region codes for DVDs, Blu-ray Disc players sold in a specific geographical region are designed to play only discs authorized by the content provider for that region. This is intended to permit content providers (motion picture studios, television production companies, etc.) to enact regional price discrimination and/or exclusive content licensing. According to the Blu-ray Disc Association, all Blu-ray Disc players and Blu-ray Disc-equipped computer systems are required to enforce regional coding. However, content providers need not use region playback codes.[207] Some current estimates suggest 70% of available movie Blu-ray Discs from the major studios are region-free and can therefore be played on any Blu-ray Disc player in any region.[208]

Movie distributors have different region-coding policies. Among major U.S. studios, Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, and Sony Pictures have released most of their titles free of region-coding.[209][k][210][211][212][213] MGM and Lionsgate have released a mix of region-free and region-coded titles.[214][215] While 20th Century Fox initially released most of their titles region-coded,[216] most of their post-Disney merger content is region-free. Vintage film restoration and distribution company The Criterion Collection uses US region-coding in all Blu-ray releases, with their releases in the UK market using UK region-coding.[217][218]

The Blu-ray Disc region-coding scheme divides the world into three regions, labeled A, B, and C.

Region Area
A Americas, Hong Kong, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan, Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand), Southeast Asia.
B Africa, Middle East, Southwest Asia, most of Europe (excluding Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova), Australia, New Zealand.
C Central Asia, China, Mongolia, Indian subcontinent, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova.
FREE Informal term meaning "worldwide". Region free is not an official setting; discs that bear the region FREE symbol either have no flags set or have all three flags set. Discs with no flags set may not play in some non-compliant players.
A/B/C

A new form of Blu-ray region-coding tests not only the region of the player/player software, but also its country code[citation needed], repurposing a user setting intended for localization (PSR19) as a new form of regional lockout. This means, for example, while both the US and Japan are Region A, some American discs will not play on devices/software configured for Japan or vice versa, since the two countries have different country codes. (For example, the United States is "US" (21843 or hex 0x5553), Japan is "JP" (19024 or hex 0x4a50), and Canada is "CA" (17217 or hex 0x4341).[citation needed]) Although there are only three Blu-ray regions, the country code allows much more precise control of the regional distribution of Blu-ray Discs than the six (or eight) DVD regions. With Blu-ray Discs, there are no "special regions" such as the regions 7 and 8 for DVDs.

In circumvention of region-coding restrictions, stand-alone Blu-ray Disc players are sometimes modified by third parties to allow for playback of Blu-ray Discs (and DVDs) with any region code.[219] Instructions ("hacks") describing how to reset the Blu-ray region counter of computer player applications to make them multi-region indefinitely are also regularly posted to video enthusiast websites and forums. Unlike DVD region codes, Blu-ray region codes are verified only by the player software, not by the optical drive's firmware.

As of 2017 the latest types of Blu-ray players, suitable for Ultra HD Blu-ray content, are not region-free, but Ultra HD Blu-ray disc manufacturers have not yet locked the discs to any region and they work worldwide.[220]

Digital rights management

[edit]

The Blu-ray Disc format employs several layers of digital rights management (DRM) which restrict the usage of the discs.[221][222] This has led to extensive criticism of the format by organizations opposed to DRM, such as the Free Software Foundation,[223] and consumers because new releases require player firmware updates to allow disc playback.[224][225]

High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection

[edit]

Blu-ray equipment is required to implement the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) system to encrypt the data sent by players to rendering devices through physical connections. This is aimed at preventing the copying of copyrighted content as it travels across cables. Through a protocol flag in the media stream called the Image Constraint Token (ICT), a Blu-ray Disc can enforce its reproduction in a lower resolution whenever a full HDCP-compliant link is not used. In order to ease the transition to high definition formats, the adoption of this protection method was postponed until 2011.[226]

Advanced Access Content System

[edit]
The AACS decryption process

The Advanced Access Content System (AACS) is a standard for content distribution and digital rights management. It was developed by AS Licensing Administrator, LLC (AACS LA), a consortium that includes Disney, Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Warner Bros., IBM, Toshiba, and Sony. Since the appearance of the format on devices in 2006, several successful attacks have been made on it. The first known attack relied on the trusted client problem. In addition, decryption keys have been extracted from a weakly protected player (WinDVD). Since keys can be revoked in newer releases,[227] this is only a temporary attack, and new keys must continually be discovered in order to decrypt the latest discs.[citation needed]

BD+

[edit]

BD+ was developed by Cryptography Research Inc. and is based on their concept of Self-Protecting Digital Content.[228] BD+, effectively a small virtual machine embedded in authorized players, allows content providers to include executable programs on Blu-ray Discs. Such programs can:[221]

  • Examine the host environment to see if the player has been tampered with. Every licensed playback device manufacturer must provide the BD+ licensing authority with memory footprints that identify their devices.
  • Verify that the player's keys have not been changed
  • Execute native code, possibly to patch an otherwise insecure system
  • Transform the audio and video output. Parts of the content will not be viewable without letting the BD+ program unscramble it.

If a playback device manufacturer finds that its devices have been hacked, it can potentially release BD+ code that detects and circumvents the vulnerability. These programs can then be included in all new content releases.[229] The specifications of the BD+ virtual machine are available only to licensed device manufacturers. A list of licensed commercial adopters is available from the BD+ website.

The first titles using BD+ were released in October 2007. Since November 2007, versions of BD+ protection have been circumvented by various versions of the AnyDVD HD program.[230][231] Other programs known to be capable of circumventing BD+ protection are DumpHD (versions 0.6 and above, along with some supporting software),[232] MakeMKV,[233] and two applications from DVDFab (Passkey and HD Decrypter).[234]

BD-ROM Mark

[edit]

ROM Mark is a small amount of cryptographic data that is stored separately from normal Blu-ray Disc data, aiming to prevent replication of the discs. The cryptographic data is needed to decrypt the copyrighted disc content protected by AACS.[235] A specially licensed piece of hardware is required to insert the ROM Mark into the media during mastering. During replication, this ROM Mark is transferred together with the recorded data to the disc. In consequence, any copies of a disc made with a regular recorder will lack the ROM Mark data and will be unreadable on standard players.[citation needed]

Backward compatibility

[edit]

The Blu-ray Disc Association recommends but does not require that Blu-ray Disc drives be capable of reading standard DVDs and CDs, for backward compatibility.[236] Most Blu-ray Disc players are capable of reading both CDs and DVDs; however, a few of the early Blu-ray Disc players released in 2006, such as the Sony BDP-S1, could play DVDs but not CDs.[237][238][239] In addition, with the exception of some early models from LG and Samsung, Blu-ray players cannot play HD DVDs, and HD DVD players cannot play Blu-ray Discs. Some Blu-ray players can also play Video CDs, Super Audio CDs, and/or DVD-Audio discs. All Ultra HD Blu-ray players can play regular Blu-ray Discs, and most can play DVDs and CDs. The PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 do not support CDs.[240]

Variations

[edit]

High Fidelity Pure Audio (BD-A)

[edit]

High Fidelity Pure Audio (HFPA) is a marketing initiative, spearheaded by the Universal Music Group, for audio-only Blu-ray optical discs. Launched in 2013 as a potential successor to the compact disc, it has been compared with DVD-A and SACD, which had similar aims.[citation needed]

AVCHD

[edit]
A Panasonic Blu-ray player DMP-BD60 (late 2009) compatible with AVCHD

AVCHD was originally developed as a high-definition format for consumer tapeless camcorders. Derived from the Blu-ray Disc specification, AVCHD shares a similar random access directory structure but is restricted to lower audio and video bitrates, simpler interactivity, and the use of AVC-video and Dolby AC-3 (or linear PCM) audio. Being primarily an acquisition format, AVCHD playback is not universally recognized among devices that play Blu-ray Discs. Nevertheless, many such devices are capable of playing AVCHD recordings from removable media, such as DVDs, SD/SDHC memory cards, "Memory Stick" cards, and hard disk drives.[241]

AVCREC

[edit]

AVCREC uses a BDAV container to record high-definition content on conventional DVDs.[242] Presently AVCREC is tightly integrated with the Japanese ISDB broadcast standard and is not marketed outside of Japan. AVCREC is used primarily in set-top digital video recorders and in this regard it is comparable to HD REC.[citation needed]

Blu-ray 3D

[edit]
The Blu-ray 3D logo

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) created a task force made up of executives from the film industry and the consumer electronics and IT sectors to help define standards for putting 3D film and 3D television content on a Blu-ray Disc.[243] On December 17, 2009, the BDA officially announced 3D specs for Blu-ray Disc, allowing backward compatibility with current 2D Blu-ray players,[244] though compatibility is limited by the fact that the longer 3D discs are triple-layer, which normal (2D only) players cannot read.[citation needed] The BDA has said, "The Blu-ray 3D specification calls for encoding 3D video using the "Stereo High" profile defined by Multiview Video Coding (MVC), an extension to the ITU-T H.264 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) codec currently implemented by all Blu-ray Disc players. MPEG4-MVC compresses both left and right eye views with a typical 50% overhead compared to equivalent 2D content, and can provide full 1080p resolution backward compatibility with current 2D Blu-ray Disc players."[245] This means the MVC (3D) stream is backward compatible with H.264/AVC (2D) stream, allowing older 2D devices and software to decode stereoscopic video streams, ignoring additional information for the second view. However, some 3D discs have a user limitation set preventing the disc from being viewed in 2D (though a 2D disc is often included in the packaging).[citation needed]

Sony added Blu-ray 3D support to its PlayStation 3 console via a firmware upgrade on September 21, 2010.[246] The console had previously gained 3D gaming capability via an update on April 21, 2010.[247] Since the version 3.70 software update on August 9, 2011, the PlayStation 3 can play DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio while playing 3D Blu-ray.[248] Dolby TrueHD is used on a small minority of Blu-ray 3D releases, and bitstreaming implemented in slim PlayStation 3 models only (original "fat" PS3 models decode internally and send audio as LPCM).[249] The PlayStation VR can also be used to watch these movies in 3D on a PlayStation 4.[250] As of 2018, most major home entertainment studios, such as Walt Disney Studios, Sony Pictures, MGM, and Universal Pictures had discontinued the Blu-ray 3D format in North America, but continued to produce and sell them in other regions such as South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Paramount Pictures has ceased sales and productions of 3D Blu-ray Discs all over the world, its last 3D releases being Ghost in the Shell and Transformers: The Last Knight, while Warner Bros. continued to sell and produce 3D Blu-ray Discs in North America until 2022 with their last film released on the format being Dune.[citation needed]

Ultra HD Blu-ray

[edit]

Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players. They support 4K UHD (3840 × 2160 pixel resolution) video at frame rates up to 60 progressive frames per second,[251] encoded using High Efficiency Video Coding.[251] The discs support both high dynamic range (HDR) by increasing the color depth to 10-bit per color and a greater color gamut than supported by conventional Blu-ray video by using the Rec. 2020 color space.[252]

The specification for an 8K Blu-ray format was also completed by the Blu-ray Disc Association for use in Japan. More than two hours of 8K content can be recorded on BDXL discs.[8]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ This is the same as previous optical media formats compact disc and DVD. Exact composition is different as stated in the body of the article.
  2. ^ a b Only supported on UltraHD Blu-ray with HEVC video compression standard.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Field rate of interlaced video. Frame rate for interlaced video is usually half of the field rate, but may also match the field rate.
  4. ^ a b c d MPEG-2 at 1440 × 1080 was previously not included in a draft version of the specification from March 2005.[184]
  5. ^ a b c d e f These resolutions are stored anamorphically, i.e. they are stretched to the display aspect ratio by the player or display.
  6. ^ Also known as Initial Standard profile.
  7. ^ Also known as Final Standard profile.
  8. ^ Profile 3.0 is a separate audio-only player profile. The first Blu-ray Disc album to be released was Divertimenti by record label Lindberg Lyd.[195][196]
  9. ^ This is used for storing audio/video and title updates. It can either be built-in memory or removable media, such as a memory card or USB flash memory.
  10. ^ A secondary audio decoder is typically used for interactive audio and commentary.
  11. ^ Although titles released by Warner's New Line Cinema division were initially region-coded, subsequent re-releases subsequently have been region-free. Titles released by other labels on behalf of New Line are still subject to region-coding.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "White Paper Blu-ray Disc Format" (PDF). Blu-ray Disc Association. December 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 13, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  2. ^ "Data" (PDF). sutlib2.sut.ac.th. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  3. ^ Blu-ray FAQ Archived October 4, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Blu-ray.com. Retrieved on December 22, 2010.
  4. ^ "Blu-ray FAQ". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on February 14, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  5. ^ "6JSC/ALA/16/LC response" (PDF). rda-jsc.org. September 13, 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  6. ^ Butler, Harry (February 23, 2011). "Pioneer BDXL BDR-206MBK Review". bit-tech.net. Archived from the original on April 6, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  7. ^ "DVD Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers)". Jim Taylor. June 27, 2013. Archived from the original on August 22, 2009.
  8. ^ a b c Chinnock, Chris (January 22, 2018). "Blu-ray Disc Association Settles on 8K Format". Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  9. ^ "Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses" (Press release). Toshiba. February 19, 2008. Archived from the original on February 25, 2008. Retrieved February 26, 2008.
  10. ^ Yomiuri Shimbun. Page 1. July 19, 2009. Ver. 13S.
  11. ^ a b c "Blu-ray Discs reach 1.5 million sold, HDM still trails DVD's first two years". Engadget. AOL Inc. February 16, 2008. Archived from the original on February 5, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  12. ^ "Sony Buys a Facebook Spinoff to Give New Life to Blu-ray". Wired. May 27, 2015. Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  13. ^ Morris, Chris (January 8, 2016). "Blu-ray Struggles in the Streaming Age". Fortune. Archived from the original on January 9, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  14. ^ "Sony Unveils Prototype 20GB Rewritable Optical Disk". Nikkei Business Daily. October 29, 1998. Archived from the original on November 13, 1999. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  15. ^ a b c "White paper Blu-ray Disc Format" (PDF). Blu-ray Disc Founders. August 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  16. ^ ""Panasonic, Sony, Philips and TDK Awarded Emmy For Blu-ray Contribution"". Archived from the original on November 16, 2011.
  17. ^ "Sony Develops Next Generation Optical Disk Storage System For the Data Server Market". Sony. November 1, 2000. Archived from the original on July 2, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  18. ^ Williams, Martyn (October 5, 2000). "New High-Capacity DVD to Hold 22.5GB". PCWorld. Archived from the original on June 1, 2010. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  19. ^ "Sony Shows 'DVR-Blue' Prototype". CD R Info. October 11, 2000. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
  20. ^ "Blue Disc B — Trademark by Blu-ray Disc Association Universal City, CA — Serial Number: 76207670". Trademarkia. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
  21. ^ Fox, Barry (February 19, 2002). "Replacement for DVD unveiled". New Scientist. Archived from the original on August 15, 2007. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
  22. ^ "Disclosure of Specifications for Large Capacity Optical Disc Recording Format Utilizing Blue-Violet Laser "Blu-ray Disc" Begins". Sony. May 20, 2002. Archived from the original on June 3, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  23. ^ Liadov, Maxim. "Sony BDZ-S77 Recorder Review". Pricenfees. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  24. ^ "Fox trots towards Blu-ray". ITworld. October 4, 2002. Archived from the original on June 2, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  25. ^ Williams, Martyn (August 5, 2004). "New Blu-ray Details Emerge". PCWorld. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
  26. ^ "TOPPAN and Sony Successfully Develop 25GB Paper Disc" (Press release). Sony. April 15, 2004. Retrieved April 15, 2008..
  27. ^ Yamasaki, Takeshi; Toshiro Kinoshita; Masayuki Taniguchi; Tomomi Yukumoto (September 9, 2004). B. V. K. Vijaya Kumar; Hiromichi Kobori (eds.). A 25-GB paper disc based on the blu-ray structure. Optical Data Storage Topical Meeting, 2004, Monterey, California, US. Proceedings of SPIE. Vol. 5380. pp. 21–27. doi:10.1117/12.557516. S2CID 110365697.
  28. ^ "Exclusive TDK Durabis Coating Technology Makes Cartridge-Free, Ultra-Durable Blu-ray Discs a Reality". Phys.Org. January 9, 2005. Archived from the original on December 17, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
  29. ^ Smith, Tony (January 6, 2006). "Blu-ray Disc developers complete specification". The Register. Archived from the original on November 3, 2007. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
  30. ^ Dean, Katie (July 15, 2004). "Can Odd Alliance Beat Pirates?". Wired. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  31. ^ Williams, Martyn (December 14, 2005). "Toshiba Hints at HD DVD Delay". PCWorld. Archived from the original on October 5, 2007. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  32. ^ Morris, Craig (February 14, 2006). "AACS copy protection for Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD delayed again". Heise. Archived from the original on November 2, 2007. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  33. ^ Perenson, Melissa J. (March 21, 2006). "Burning Questions: No Copying From First High-Def Players". PCWorld. Archived from the original on October 9, 2007. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  34. ^ "Toshiba Starts Selling HD DVD Players in Japan". Fox News. March 31, 2006. Archived from the original on November 6, 2007. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
  35. ^ Costa, Dan (June 15, 2006). "Samsung Ships the First Blu-ray Player". PC Magazine. Archived from the original on December 6, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
  36. ^ Sony Rearranges Blu-ray Release Schedule Archived June 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. High-Def Digest, June 15, 2006.
  37. ^ Full Specs in for Warner's September 26 Lineup; Studio to Go VC-1 for Blu-ray? Archived September 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, BLU-RAY NEWS, High-Def Digest, August 30, 2006.
  38. ^ Bracke, Peter M. (October 10, 2006). "Click: Blu-ray Disc review". High-Def Digest. Archived from the original on September 14, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2007.
  39. ^ Trondheimsolistene – in folk style Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, 2L the Nordic sound website May 2008, Trondheim Soloists Wiki
  40. ^ HTForum Archived September 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine web review, Ghosts I-IV Deluxe Edition Package (HALO Twenty Six DE) Archived August 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine NIN order site May 1, 2008 Ghosts I-IV Wiki
  41. ^ "Now Available". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2008.
  42. ^ "Blu-ray/HD DVD releases in Japan". AV Watch. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  43. ^ Yoshida, Junko (March 1, 2002). "Picture's fuzzy for DVD". EE Times. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  44. ^ Yoshida, Junko (December 12, 2001). "Forum to weigh Microsoft's Corona as DVD encoder". EE Times. Archived from the original on April 5, 2004. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  45. ^ "Toshiba, NEC Share Details of Blue-Laser Storage". PCWorld. August 29, 2002. Archived from the original on November 6, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
  46. ^ "DVD Forum backs Toshiba-NEC format". The Inquirer. Incisive Financial Publishing Limited. November 28, 2003. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
  47. ^ Sweeting, Paul (July 6, 2007). "Opinion: Trust's worth". Archived from the original on August 4, 2007.
  48. ^ Katzmaier, David (June 30, 2006). "Samsung BD-P1000 Review". CNET. Archived from the original on October 21, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
  49. ^ Beaumont, Claudine (February 23, 2008). "Blu-ray Wins — Telegraph". The Telegraph (UK). London. Archived from the original on February 26, 2008. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
  50. ^ Smale, Will (February 19, 2008). "How the PS3 led Blu-ray's triumph". BBC News. Archived from the original on February 25, 2008. Retrieved February 26, 2008.
  51. ^ Prange, Stephanie (February 23, 2007). "Blu-ray Tips Scales". Home Media Magazine. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
  52. ^ "BD+ Technologies Launches Content Protection Licensing Program". BD+ Technologies, LLC. June 28, 2007. Archived from the original on March 7, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  53. ^ Singel, Ryan (February 26, 2008). "How Crypto Won the DVD War". Wired. Archived from the original on March 1, 2008. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
  54. ^ Carnoy, David. "Warner goes Blu-ray exclusively, delivering crushing blow to HD DVD". CBS Interactive Inc. Archived from the original on October 4, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
  55. ^ Bangeman, Eric (January 29, 2008). "Consumers, analysts, retailers give HD DVD the cold shoulder". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
  56. ^ "Toshiba drops out of the HD DVD war". BBC News. February 19, 2008. Archived from the original on February 23, 2008. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
  57. ^ Chmielewski, Dawn C.; Wallace, Bruce (February 20, 2008). "Blu-ray winner by KO in high-definition war". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 24, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2008.
  58. ^ "All Hollywood studios now lined up behind Blu-ray". Reuters (the Hollywood Reporter). February 21, 2008. Archived from the original on February 25, 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
  59. ^ "TDK announces 100GB Blu-ray disc". Engadget. May 19, 2005. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  60. ^ "TDK Announces 100GB Blue Laser Disc Technology". TDK. 2005. Archived from the original on November 6, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
  61. ^ "Hitachi Demos Four-Layer Blu-ray Disc Playback". cdrinfo.xom. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
  62. ^ "TDK: Ok, we're done with the 200GB recordable Blu-Ray". Engadget. April 28, 2006. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  63. ^ "TDK Announces Blue Laser Disc Technology to Support 200 GB Capacity" (Press release). TDK. August 31, 2006. Archived from the original on December 16, 2006. Retrieved November 27, 2006.
  64. ^ "Hitachi to produce 200GB Blu-ray disc in 2009". Engadget. May 20, 2007. Archived from the original on September 15, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  65. ^ Yam, Marcus (January 10, 2007). "Three HD Layers Today, Ten Tomorrow". DailyTech. Archived from the original on May 15, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2007.
  66. ^ Kallender, Paul. "JVC Develops Dual Blu-ray-DVD Disc". IDG News Service. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2004.
  67. ^ "Blu-ray/ DVD Combo ROM Disc Technology". 2006. Archived from the original on August 18, 2006. Retrieved May 30, 2006.
  68. ^ Lim, Daniel (December 19, 2008). "World's first hybrid Blu-ray / DVD disk title released in Japan". Slashgear.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  69. ^ Harada, Mamoru (January 11, 2007). "Hitachi Demonstrates 4 Layer BD Playback Using 'Standard Drive'". Techon.nikkebp.co.jp. Archived from the original on October 11, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  70. ^ Turton, Stuart (October 3, 2007). "Hitachi showcases 100GB Blu-ray disc". PC Pro. Archived from the original on June 3, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  71. ^ "Hitachi's 100GB Blu-ray disc drive". Engadget. October 3, 2007. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  72. ^ Hwang, Adam; Hsu, Jimmy (December 1, 2008). "Pioneer showcases 16-layer 400GB optical disc". Digitimes.com. Taipei. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
  73. ^ "TDK Creates 320GB, 10 Layer Blu-ray Disc | High-Def Digest". www.highdefdigest.com. Archived from the original on September 15, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  74. ^ Dreuth, Josh (January 4, 2010). "FSony, Panasonic Propose Blu-ray Capacity Increase". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2010. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  75. ^ "BD-R white paper, 5th ed, October 2010" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 7, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  76. ^ "Joint development of the world's first blue-violet ultrafast pulsed semiconductor laser". July 20, 2010. Archived from the original on July 26, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  77. ^ a b Richard Lawler (January 7, 2013). "Sony to launch 4K digital distribution network this summer, 'mastered in 4K' Blu-ray Discs". Engadget. Archived from the original on May 18, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
  78. ^ Seamus Byrne (May 1, 2013). "Sony 'mastered in 4K' Blu-rays a mixed blessing". CNET. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  79. ^ Melissa J. Perenson (January 14, 2013). "Blu-ray looks ahead to 4K". PC World. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
  80. ^ Gareth Halfacree (January 16, 2013). "Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs being researched by the BDA". expertreviews.co.uk. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
  81. ^ "Blu-ray Disc Association to Commence Licensing of Ultra HD Blu-ray". Business Wire. agent@blu-raydisc.info. August 5, 2015. Archived from the original on August 8, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  82. ^ "General". blu-raydisc.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  83. ^ a b Gallagher, Brian (February 20, 2008). "High-Definition Sales Far Behind Standard DVD's First Two Years". MovieWeb. Watchr Media. Archived from the original on September 10, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  84. ^ Ricciuti, Mike (March 18, 2008). "Report: Microsoft says no Blu-ray for Xbox 360". CNET News. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
  85. ^ Lawler, Richard (July 23, 2014). "PS4 will add Blu-ray 3D support next week". Engadget. AOL Inc. Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  86. ^ Lawler, Richard (July 23, 2014). "Xbox One's next update makes it easier to keep up with friends, and play Blu-ray 3D". Engadget.com. Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  87. ^ "Disc Sales: 'Dark Knight' Tops 600K On Release Day". High-Def Digest. December 11, 2008. Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  88. ^ "Disc Sales: 'Dark Knight' Blu-ray Breaks 1M First-Week Barrier". High-Def Digest. December 17, 2008. Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  89. ^ a b c d "DEG Year-end 2009 Home Entertainment Report" (PDF). The Digital Entertainment Group. January 7, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 16, 2010. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
  90. ^ a b "DEG Year-end 2010 Home Entertainment Report" (PDF). The Digital Entertainment Group. January 6, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  91. ^ "Blu-ray is Being Adopted Much Faster Than DVD 11 Years Ago". InfoNIAC.com. June 9, 2008. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
  92. ^ Shilov, Anton (December 10, 2008). "Sales of Blu-ray Disc Recorders Leave Behind Sales of DVD Recorders in Japan". xbitlabs.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
  93. ^ Richtel, Matt; Stone, Brad (January 5, 2009). "Blu-ray's Fuzzy Future". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 4, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  94. ^ Ryan Nakashima. Hollywood hopes an ensemble cast boosts Blu-ray Archived December 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Associated Press. December 14, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
  95. ^ Kukiewicz, Julia (January 7, 2009). "U.S. Which UK DVD Rental Sites Offer Blu-ray Rental?". choosedvdrental.co.uk. Archived from the original on September 9, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  96. ^ Watson, Stephanie (October 16, 2004). "How Blu-ray Discs Work". Archived from the original on December 20, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  97. ^ Silva, Robert (January 4, 2021). "What You Need to do Before You Buy a Blu-ray Player". Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  98. ^ "Blu-ray Disks (BD) - blue laser optical disk technology". September 21, 2011. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  99. ^ Heinzman, Andrew (July 19, 2019). "Are DVD and Blu-Ray Players Still Worth Buying? – Review Geek". Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  100. ^ "Why Blu-ray is Still Better Than Streaming Today - HomeTheaterReview". HomeTheaterReview. February 20, 2013. Archived from the original on November 5, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  101. ^ Marterello, John (March 13, 2019). "The State of Streaming Video vs. Blu-ray Discs". The Mac Observer. Archived from the original on May 8, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
  102. ^ Suderman, Peter (December 27, 2016). "Why DVDS and Blu-rays remain essential in the age of streaming". Vox. Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  103. ^ Whitten, Sarah (November 8, 2019). "The death of the DVD: Why sales dropped more than 86% in 13 years". CNBC. Archived from the original on March 29, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  104. ^ Wilcox, James K. (October 9, 2015). "Ultra HD Blu-ray Players Probably Won't Arrive Until 2016". Consumer Reports. Archived from the original on December 27, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  105. ^ Welch, Chris (November 11, 2015). "The first 4K Blu-rays are coming early next year, but they all really suck". Archived from the original on December 10, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  106. ^ "What's New". August 23, 2004. Archived from the original on October 9, 2004. Retrieved October 9, 2004.
  107. ^ "Maxell focuses on holographic storage". CNET News.com. November 28, 2005. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2007.
  108. ^ "Holographic storage bites the dust". ZDNet. Archived from the original on January 2, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  109. ^ a b c d e Kozak, Oktay Ege (December 5, 2017). "The Best Boutique Blu-ray Distributors (Who Aren't Criterion)". Paste. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  110. ^ a b c d Mack, Andrew (June 6, 2023). "Crowdfund This: Boutique, New Doc Chronicles The Rise of Specialty Distributors". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  111. ^ a b c d e f g h Jarvis, Henry (August 12, 2022). "10 Best Boutique Blu-Ray Brands". CBR.com. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  112. ^ Hertz, Barry (January 5, 2023). "One year into bucking digital trends, boutique Blu-ray label keeps fighting for Canadian cinema". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  113. ^ DeFore, John (August 19, 2009). "In Stores This Week: DVDs". Austin-American Statesman. Austin, Texas. p. D2. Retrieved June 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  114. ^ Marsh, Calum (July 13, 2019). "Saturday Feature: 'Those with loaded guns and those who dig'". National Post. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. p. WP7. Retrieved June 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  115. ^ Kehr, Dave (May 18, 2012). "Idealistic Lawmen Taking Crime Very Personally". The New York Times. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  116. ^ a b Raferty, Brian (December 12, 2018). "Streaming Isn't Everything, and Blu-rays Are Back to Prove It". Wired. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  117. ^ a b "9. Disc Capacity". hughsnews.ca. Archived from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  118. ^ "3. Laser Diodes for Blu-ray Discs". sony.net. Archived from the original on March 16, 2010.
  119. ^ a b c "White paper, Blu-ray Disc, 1.C Physical Format Specifications for BD-ROM, 5th Edition" (PDF). Blu-ray Disc Association. March 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  120. ^ Singla, Naveen; O’Sullivan, Joseph A. "Influence of Pit-Shape Variation on the Decoding Performance for Two-Dimensional Optical Storage (TwoDOS)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 11, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2011.
  121. ^ Cai, Kui (2007). "Introduction" (PDF). Design and Analysis of Parity-Check-Code-Based Optical Recording Systems (Thesis). pp. 1–16. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  122. ^ "White paper, Blu-ray Disc Format, General" (PDF). Blu-ray Disc Founders. August 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 12, 2009. Retrieved April 16, 2009.
  123. ^ "White Paper Blu-ray Disc Format, 1.C Physical Format Specifications for BD-ROM" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  124. ^ a b c "White Paper Blu-ray Disc Format, General, 5th Edition" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 11, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  125. ^ "Blank Blu-ray Media: Blu ray Recordable (BD-R, BD-R LTH) / Rewritable (BD-RE) Discs, Blu-ray DVD". Verbatim. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  126. ^ "The Authoritative Blu-ray Disc (BD) FAQ – Recording and reading speed". Hugh's News. Archived from the original on December 23, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2020. At this early stage anticipating anything is merely speculation but it's possible to make some informed predictions. From a practical perspective, spinning an optical disc at 10,000 RPM has long proven the realistic limit for half-height drives and 5,000 RPM for slim-types.
  127. ^ "USB 2.0, Hi-Speed USB FAQ". Everythingusb.com. February 2007. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  128. ^ "SuperSpeed USB 3.0 FAQ". Everythingusb.com. November 17, 2008. Archived from the original on April 30, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  129. ^ "Serial ATA: High Speed Serialized AT Attachment" (PDF). www.serialata.org. Serial ATA Working Group. January 7, 2003. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 7, 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  130. ^ "How To Install A Blu-ray Burner". ComputerShopper.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  131. ^ "View All Discontinued LG Burners & Drives". LG USA. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  132. ^ "Manual". Archived from the original on September 4, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  133. ^ "Computer Drives". Pioneer Electronics USA. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  134. ^ Blu-ray Disc notes for dvd+rw-tools - Defect management comes with a performance penalty: most units will typically record at about 1/2 of the advertised media speed. This is because such units will spend every second revolution verifying the newly recorded data for defects. growisofs allows for SRM recordings without spare area through "undocumented" -use-the-force-luke=spare:none option
  135. ^ xorriso - man pages section 1: User Commands - "Formatting activates Defect Management which tries to the expense of half speed even with flawless media."
  136. ^ "Blu-Ray Writing Quality Tests Vol 2". www.cdrinfo.com. CDR info. June 19, 2009. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  137. ^ "Blu-ray Disc (BD) – InfoTip Kompendium". kompendium.infotip.de (in German). Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  138. ^ "Blu-ray Case Information". cd-info.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  139. ^ "Blu-ray Case Patent". cd-info.com. Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  140. ^ "Blu-ray Disc – The Scoop". Acronova Technologies Inc. Archived from the original on January 20, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  141. ^ a b "Verbatim to Launch World's First Mini BD Media". Archived from the original on April 24, 2013.
  142. ^ "Blu-ray FAQ". Archived from the original on October 4, 2006. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  143. ^ Japanese Journal of Applied Physics: Regular papers & short notes. Publication Board, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics. 2007. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  144. ^ Optical Data Storage. Optical Society of America. 2006. ISBN 978-0-8194-6357-9. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  145. ^ Hitachi First in Industry to Release Blu-ray Disc Camcorder Archived August 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Naoki Asakawa, Nikkei Electronics, Nikkei Business Publications, August 3, 2007.
  146. ^ "Pioneer and Mitsubishi Develop Low cost BD-R Discs Using Organic Recording Layers". CDRInfo.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2008. Retrieved March 26, 2008.
  147. ^ Taiyo Yuden, Mitsubishi and Maxell Release First LTH BD-R Discs Archived February 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine cdrinfo.com
  148. ^ PS3 firmware update v2.20 available – added support for LTH BD-R Archived March 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine afterdawn.com
  149. ^ Verbatim/MKM certified BD-R LTH type media makes performance leap to 6X Archived September 13, 2012, at archive.today reuters.com
  150. ^ "BD9 Licensing Further Delays The Launch of Blu-ray Burners". cdrinfo.com. April 11, 2006. Archived from the original on November 6, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
  151. ^ "Quick Blu-ray content (BD, BD-5 and BD-9) authoring guide (PS3+PowerDVD)". Archived from the original on March 4, 2008. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
  152. ^ "Mini Blu-ray Disc: Guide for mini-Blu-ray-Disc Authoring". Archived from the original on July 12, 2008. Retrieved August 19, 2007.
  153. ^ "White Paper Blu-ray Disc Format General, 3rd Edition" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 13, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  154. ^ a b "BDXL Spec Upgrades Blu-ray Storage to 128GB". April 6, 2010. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  155. ^ a b McGlaun, Shane (April 6, 2010). "Blu-ray Disc Association Unveils 128GB Specification". DailyTech.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  156. ^ "Format Specification – R3 Format Specification (BDXL™)". www.blu-raydisc.info. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  157. ^ "128GB BDXL Blu-ray Disc specification finalized... and fabulous!". Engadget. June 25, 2010. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  158. ^ "R3 Format Specification (BDXL)". Blu-ray Disc Association. Archived from the original on June 30, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  159. ^ "RE4 Format Specification (BDXL)". Blu-ray Disc Association. Archived from the original on June 28, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  160. ^ a b c "R2 Format Specification". Blu-ray Disc Association. Archived from the original on August 26, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  161. ^ a b c d "RE3 Format Specification". Blu-ray Disc Association. Archived from the original on July 1, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  162. ^ a b c d e "Blu-ray: All Books: As of December 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  163. ^ "RE1 Format Specification". Blu-ray Disc Association. Archived from the original on July 1, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2010.
  164. ^ "RE2 Format Specification". Blu-ray Disc Association. Archived from the original on July 1, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2010.
  165. ^ "R3 Format Specification (BDXL)". Blu-ray Disc Association. Archived from the original on June 30, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  166. ^ a b c d "White Paper: Blu-ray Disc Format: 3. File System Specifications for BD-RE, R, ROM, August 2004" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 24, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  167. ^ a b Videohelp.com What is Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD? Archived April 30, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved on July 26, 2009.
  168. ^ "White paper, Blu-ray Disc Format, 2.B Audio Visual Application, Format Specifications, for BD-ROM Version 2.4, May 2010" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  169. ^ "Application Definition, Blu-ray Disc Format, BD-J Baseline Application and Logical Model Definition for BD-ROM, March 2005" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  170. ^ "Advanced Access Content System (AACS) Blu-ray Disc Recordable Book, Revision 0.951" (PDF). September 28, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 7, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  171. ^ "R1 Format Specification". Blu-ray Disc Association. Archived from the original on July 2, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  172. ^ a b "Blu-ray: All Books: As of June 2010" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  173. ^ Jim Taylor; Mark R. Johnson; Charles G. Crawford (November 21, 2005). DVD Demystified: BD-MV. McGraw Hill Professional. ISBN 9780071423960. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  174. ^ a b "White Paper: Blu-ray Disc Rewritable Format: Audio Visual Application Format Specifications for BD-RE Version 3.0" (PDF). March 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  175. ^ a b "White paper Blu-ray Disc Format – 2.B Audio Visual Application Format Specifications for BD-ROM" (PDF). Blu-ray Disc Association. March 2005. p. 15. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2009.
  176. ^ AfterDawn.com Glossary – BD-MV (Blu-ray Movie) and BDAV container Archived December 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved on July 26, 2009.
  177. ^ a b AfterDawn.com Glossary – BDAV container Archived December 9, 2012, at archive.today, Retrieved on July 26, 2009.
  178. ^ a b Blu-ray Disc Association (March 2008) BD-RE – Audiovisual Application Format Specification for BD-RE 2.1 Archived February 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (PDF), Technical White Papers – BD RE Archived May 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved on July 28, 2009.
  179. ^ Blu-ray Disc Association (August 2004) Blu-ray Disc Format, White paper Archived June 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (PDF) Page 22, Retrieved on July 28, 2009.
  180. ^ "Technical White Papers — BD ROM". Blu-ray Disc Association. Archived from the original on January 10, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
  181. ^ "Microsoft Community". microsoft.com. Microsoft. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  182. ^ "White Paper: Blu-ray Disc Read-Only Format: 2.B Audio Visual Application Format Specifications for BD-ROM Version 2.5" (PDF). Blu-ray Disc Association. July 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 28, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  183. ^ "White Paper: Blu-ray Disc Read-Only Format (Ultra HD Blu-ray): Audio Visual Application Format Specifications for BD-ROM Version 3.0" (PDF). Blu-ray Disc Association. July 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  184. ^ "White Paper: Blu-ray Disc Format: 2.B Audio Visual Application Format Specifications for BD-ROM" (PDF). Blu-ray Disc Association. May 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved November 30, 2008.
  185. ^ Williams, Martyn (September 2, 2004). "Blu-ray Disc To Support MPEG-4, VC-1". Pcworld.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  186. ^ DeBoer, Clint (April 16, 2008). "HDMI Enhanced Black Levels, xvYCC and RGB". Audioholics. Archived from the original on May 11, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  187. ^ "Digital Color Coding" (PDF). Telairity. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 7, 2014. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  188. ^ Statistics Page Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Blu-rayStats.com. Retrieved on December 22, 2010.
  189. ^ Fitzgerald, Shawn (April 23, 2008). "Superman Returns Review (Blu-ray)". TheHDRoom. Archived from the original on October 18, 2011. Retrieved October 27, 2011.
  190. ^ Palenchar, Joseph (April 10, 2006). "1st HD DVD Players To Decode All Mandatory, Optional Audio Codecs". TWICE.com. Archived from the original on April 9, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  191. ^ "White paper Blu-ray Disc Format" (PDF). Blu-ray Disc Association. April 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  192. ^ "What is Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD?". Archived from the original on April 30, 2006. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  193. ^ Foote, Bill; Moll, Erik. "Java Technology Goes to the Movies: Java Technology in Next-Generation Optical Disc Formats" (PDF). 2005 JavaOne conference, Session TS-7091. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  194. ^ Shankland, Steven (June 26, 2005). "Java to appear in next-gen DVD players". CNET. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  195. ^ Lysvåg, Christian (May 29, 2008). "Music on Blu-ray". Music Information Centre Norway. Archived from the original on June 1, 2008. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  196. ^ Fruhlinger, Joshua (May 28, 2008). "First Blu-ray record, Divertimenti, released". engadget. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
  197. ^ Ault, Susanne (October 7, 2007). "Blu-ray Disc Assn. promotes new Bonus View". Archived from the original on December 18, 2008.
  198. ^ Zyber, Joshua (November 23, 2007). "High-Def FAQ: Blu-ray Profiles Explained". highdefdigest.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  199. ^ Bracke, Peter (October 28, 2008). "Tinker Bell (Blu-ray)". highdefdigest.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  200. ^ Zyber, Joshua (November 11, 2008). "Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Blu-ray)". highdefdigest.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  201. ^ Brown, Kenneth (November 9, 2008). "Kung Fu Panda (Blu-ray)". highdefdigest.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  202. ^ "Sony BDP-BX1 player specifications" (PDF). August 5, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  203. ^ Moskovciak, Matthew (September 9, 2008). "Blu-ray Profile 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 explained—Ask the Editors". CNET. Archived from the original on November 2, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  204. ^ Rothman, Wilson (October 24, 2007). "Samsung's Already Awesome HD Disc Hybrid BD-UP5000 Upgraded to Profile 1.1 (Bye Bye Format Bitching)". Gizmodo.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  205. ^ Profile 1.1 Archived December 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, afterdawn.com, December 22, 2010.
  206. ^ "Blu-ray Disc for Video". Archived from the original on June 2, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2009.
  207. ^ "How does regional coding work in the computer space?" Archived September 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine us.blu-raydisc.com FAQ Retrieved October 24, 2009.
  208. ^ "Latest Confirmed Region Free Blu-rays" Archived October 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 24, 2009.
  209. ^ "Blu-ray Disc Statistics Warner". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2008.
  210. ^ "Blu-ray Disc Statistics Paramount". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2008.
  211. ^ "Blu-ray Disc Statistics Universal". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2008.
  212. ^ "Blu-ray Disc Statistics Sony". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2008.
  213. ^ "Blu-ray Disc Statistics Disney". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2008.
  214. ^ "Blu-ray Disc Statistics MGM". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
  215. ^ "Blu-ray Disc Statistics Lionsgate". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2008.
  216. ^ "Blu-ray Disc Statistics 20th Century Fox". Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2008.
  217. ^ "Help – The Criterion Collection (20.)". Archived from the original on February 20, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  218. ^ "Help – The Criterion Collection (11.)". Archived from the original on February 20, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  219. ^ "First Region Free Blu-ray Players Available" Archived September 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine engadgethd.com. Retrieved October 24, 2009.
  220. ^ "Region-Free 4k UHD Blu-ray Players: Fact or Fiction?". 220 Electronics. Archived from the original on July 3, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
  221. ^ a b "Blu-ray Disc Next-Generation Optical Storage: Protecting Content on the BD-ROM" (PDF). Dell. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 31, 2007. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
  222. ^ Ajima, Kosuke (March 29, 2006). "Overview of BD-ROM security" (PDF). Blu-ray Disc Association Content Protection Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 7, 2007. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
  223. ^ Lee, Matt (March 24, 2006). "Don't buy HD-DVD or Blu-ray disks". FSF. Archived from the original on June 26, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  224. ^ Northrup, Laura (September 6, 2013). "Samsung's Disposable Blu-ray Player Won't Play New Blu-rays". Consumerist. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  225. ^ Lang, Brent (April 29, 2010). "'Avatar' Blu-rays Have Some Buyers Seeing Red". The Wrap. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  226. ^ "Advanced Access Content System ("AACS") Adopter Agreement" (PDF). June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  227. ^ "Response to Reports of Attacks on AACS Technology". AACS. April 16, 2007. Archived from the original on April 30, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
  228. ^ Content Protection – BD+ and Blu-ray Archived November 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine from cryptography.com
  229. ^ US application 2010169663, "Systems and Methods for Detecting Authorized Players", published July 1, 2010, assigned to CYBERLINK CORPORATION 
  230. ^ Murph, Darren (November 7, 2007). "SlySoft's latest AnyDVD beta cracks BD+". engadget. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  231. ^ Kingsley-Hughes, Adrian (March 19, 2008). "SlySoft cracks Blu-ray BD+ encryption". ZDNet. Archived from the original on August 18, 2010. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  232. ^ "DumpHD – a HD-DVD / Blu-ray Decrypter – Doom9's Forum". doom9.org. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  233. ^ Seff, Jonathan (January 20, 2010). "Blu-ray ripping on the Mac". Macworld. Archived from the original on July 31, 2010. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  234. ^ Gordon, Whitson (June 9, 2010). "The Hassle-Free Guide to Ripping Your Blu-ray Collection". Lifehacker. Archived from the original on July 21, 2010. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  235. ^ "Advanced Access Content System (AACS) Blu-ray Disc Pre-recorded Book, Revision 0.912" (PDF). July 27, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2006. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  236. ^ "Can Blu-ray Disc products play DVD and CD?". Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved January 25, 2009.
  237. ^ "LG BH100 Blu-ray/HD DVD player". Archived from the original on September 2, 2008. Retrieved August 30, 2008.
  238. ^ "Pioneer BDP-HD1". Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2007.
  239. ^ "Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray Disc Player — Product Profile". Archived from the original on September 24, 2008. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
  240. ^ "PlayStation Support". support.playstation.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  241. ^ "AVCHD Information Web Site press releases". Archived from the original on April 19, 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
  242. ^ "AVREC Format Specifications". Archived from the original on March 17, 2009.
  243. ^ "Blu-ray brains create 3D taskforce". reghardware.co.uk. May 20, 2009. Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
  244. ^ Chabot, Jeff (December 17, 2009). "3D specifications finalized for Blu-ray, to hit market next year". HD Report. Archived from the original on March 23, 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  245. ^ "Blu-ray Disc Association Announces Final 3D Specification". Business Wire. December 17, 2009. Archived from the original on December 20, 2009. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  246. ^ "PS3 System Software Update (ver 3.50)". September 21, 2010. Archived from the original on September 24, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
  247. ^ Lempel, Eric (April 21, 2010). "PS3 goes 3D on 10 June [2010]". PlayStation Blog. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
  248. ^ Lempel, Eric (August 9, 2011). "PS3 System Software Update (v3.70)". PlayStation.Blog. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
  249. ^ Allen, Danny (August 21, 2009). "So, The PS3 Slim Can Bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio After All?". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  250. ^ Kidwell, Essa (April 4, 2019). "How to get the best 3D Blu-Ray experience with PlayStation VR". AndroidCentral. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  251. ^ a b "4K Blu-ray discs arriving in 2015 to fight streaming media". CNET. September 5, 2014. Archived from the original on October 13, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  252. ^ Smith, Michael D. (July 2016). "Ultra HD Blu-ray Format Video Characteristics". SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal. 125 (5): 14–27. doi:10.5594/JMI.2016.2563078. ISSN 2160-2492. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
[edit]