A REPORT ON

BLU-RAY DISC

PRESENTED BY GROUP 25

SUBMMITTED TO BBA PROGRAMME FACULTY OF COMMERCE THE MAHARAJA SAYAJIRAO UNIVERSITY OF BARODA

ACKNOWLEGMENT

This project would not have been possible without the support of many people. I would like to express my gratitude to the supervisor, Prof who was abundantly helpful and offered invaluable assistance, support and guidance. Deepest gratitude are also due to the members of the committee, Associate Dr. A. R. Hingorani(programme director BBA and dean faculty of commerce),Dr.Pragnesh Shah(associate programme director),Dr.Kalpesh Shah(associate programme director) without whose assistance this study would not have been successful and all other people who directly or indirectly helped me in making my project successful.

History of Blu-ray Disc When the CD was introduced in the early '80s, it meant an enormous leap from traditional media. Not only did it offer a significant improvement in audio quality, its primary application, but its 650 MB storage capacity also meant a giant leap in data storage and retrieval. For the first time, there was a universal standard for pre-recorded, recordable and rewritable media, offering the best quality and features consumers could wish for themselves, at very low costs. Although the CD was a very useful medium for the recording and distribution of audio and some modest data applications, demand for a new medium offering higher storage capacities rose in the '90s. These demands lead to the evolution of the DVD specification and a 5-10 x increase in capacity. This enabled high quality, standard definition video distribution and recording. Furthermore, the increased capacity accommodated more demanding data applications. At the same time, the DVD spec used the same form factor as the CD, allowing for seamless migration to the next generation format and offering full backwards compatibility. Now, in the next millennium, high definition video demands a new solution. History proved that a significant 5-10 x increase in storage capacity and the ability to play previous generation formats are key elements for a new format to succeed. This new format has arrived with the advent of Blu-ray Disc, the only format that offers a considerable increase in storage capacity with its 25 to 50 GB data capacity. This allows for the next big application of optical media: the distribution and recording of high definition video in the highest possible quality. In fact, no other format can offer the data capacity of Blu-ray Disc, and no other format will allow for the same high video quality and interactive features to create the ultimate user experience. As with DVD, the Blu-ray Disc format is based on the same, bare disc physical form factor, allowing for compatibility with CD and DVD. In 1997, a new technology emerged that brought digital sound and video into homes all over the world. It was called DVD, and it revolutionized the movie industry. The industry is set for yet another revolution with the introduction ofBlu-ray Discs (BD) in 2006. With their high storage capacity, Blu-ray discs can hold and play back large quantities of highdefinition video and audio, as well as photos, data and other digital content. Blu-ray (not Blue-ray) also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson). The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. The format offers more

than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs and can hold up to 25GB on a singlelayer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc. This extra capacity combined with the use of advanced video and audio codecs will offer consumers an unprecedented HD experience. While current optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVDR, DVDRW, and DVD-RAM rely on a red laser to read and write data, the new format uses a blue-violet laser instead, hence the name Blu-ray. Despite the different type of lasers used, Blu-ray products can easily be made backwards compatible with CDs and DVDs through the use of a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical pickup unit. The benefit of using a blue-violet laser (405nm) is that it has a shorter wavelength than a red laser (650nm), which makes it possible to focus the laser spot with even greater precision. This allows data to be packed more tightly and stored in less space, so it's possible to fit more data on the disc even though it's the same size as a CD/DVD. This together with the change of numerical aperture to 0.85 is what enables Blu-ray Discs to hold 25GB/50GB. Recent development by Pioneer has pushed the storage capacity to 500GB on a single disc by using 20 layers. Blu-ray is currently supported by about 200 of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer, recording media, video game and music companies. The format also has support from all Hollywood studios and countless smaller studios as a successor to today's DVD format. Many studios have also announced that they will begin releasing new feature films on Blu-ray Disc day-and-date with DVD, as well as a continuous slate of catalog titles every month. For more information about Blu-ray movies, check out our Blu-ray movies and Blu-ray reviews section which offers information about new and upcoming Blu-ray releases, as well as what movies are currently available in the Blu-ray format. About the name Blu-ray

The name Blu-ray is derived from the underlying technology, which utilizes a blue-violet laser to read and write data. The name is a combination of "Blue" (blue-violet laser) and "Ray" (optical ray). According to the Blu-ray Disc Association the spelling of "Blu-ray" is not a mistake, the character "e" was intentionally left out so the term could be registered as a trademark. The correct full name is Blu-ray Disc, not Blu-ray Disk (incorrect spelling) The correct shortened name is Blu-ray, not Blu-Ray (incorrect capitalization) or Blue-ray (incorrect spelling) The correct abbreviation is BD, not BR or BRD (wrong abbreviation)

Development of Blu-ray

The Blu-ray Disc format was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers, with more than 180 member companies from all over the world. The Board of Directors currently consists of: AppleComputer,Inc. DellInc. HewlettPackardCompany Hitachi,Ltd. LGElectronicsInc. MatsushitaElectricIndustrialCo.,Ltd. MitsubishiElectricCorporation PioneerCorporation RoyalPhilipsElectronics SamsungElectronicsCo.,Ltd. SharpCorporation SonyCorporation SunMicrosystems,Inc. TDKCorporation ThomsonMultimedia TwentiethCenturyFox WaltDisneyPictures Warner Bros. Entertainment

about Blu-ray format

As with conventional CDs and DVDs, Blu-ray plans to provide a wide range of formats including ROM/R/RW. The following formats are part of the Blu-ray Disc specification: BD-ROM - read-only format for distribution of HD movies, games, software, etc. BD-R - recordable format for HD video recording and PC data storage. BD-RE - rewritable format for HD video recording and PC data storage. There's also plans for a BD/DVD hybrid format, which combines Blu-ray and DVD on the same disc so that it can be played in both Blu-ray players and DVD players.

About data storage in a Blu-ray disc

A A

single-layer dual-layer

disc disc

can can

hold hold

25GB. 50GB.

To ensure that the Blu-ray Disc format is easily extendable (future-proof) it also includes support for multi-layer discs, which should allow the storage capacity to be increased to 100GB-200GB (25GB per layer) in the future simply by adding more layers to the discs.

About video storage on a Blu-ray disc

Over 9 hours of high-definition (HD) video About 23 hours of standard-definition (SD) video on a 50GB disc.

on

50GB

disc.

About the speed of read/write data on a Blu-ray disc

According to the Blu-ray Disc specification, 1x speed is defined as 36Mbps. However, as BDROM movies will require a 54Mbps data transfer rate the minimum speed we're expecting to see is 2x (72Mbps). Blu-ray also has the potential for much higher speeds, as a result of the larger numerical aperture (NA) adopted by Blu-ray Disc. The large NA value effectively means that Blu-ray will require less recording power and lower disc rotation speed than DVD and HD-DVD to achieve the same data transfer rate. While the media itself limited the recording speed in the past, the only limiting factor for Blu-ray is the capacity of the hardware. If we assume a maximum disc rotation speed of 10,000 RPM, then 12x at the outer diameter should be possible (about 400Mbps). This is why the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) already has plans to raise the speed to 8x (288Mbps) or more in the future.

About the video codecs that Blu-ray will support

MPEG-2 - enhanced for HD, also used for playback of DVDs and HDTV recordings. MPEG-4 AVC - part of the MPEG-4 standard also known as H.264 (High Profile and Main Profile). SMPTE VC-1 - standard based on Microsoft's Windows Media Video (WMV) technology. Please note that this simply means that all Blu-ray players and recorders will have to support playback of these video codecs, it will still be up to the movie studios to decide which video

codec(s) they use for their releases.

about Blu-ray discs cartridge

the development of new low cost hard-coating technologies has made the cartridge obsolete. Blu-ray will instead rely on hard-coating for protection, which when applied will make the discs even more resistant to scratches and fingerprints than today's DVDs, while still preserving the same look and feel. Blu-ray also adopts a new error correction system which is more robust and efficient than the one used for DVDs.

About Blu-ray and Internet connections

No, you will not need an Internet connection for basic playback of Blu-ray movies. The Internet connection will only be needed for value-added features such as downloading new extras, watching recent movie trailers, web browsing, etc. It will also be required to authorize managed copies of Blu-ray movies that can be transferred over a home network.

Will Blu-ray support mandatory managed copy?

Yes, mandatory managed copy (MMC) will be part of the Blu-ray format. This feature will enable consumers to make legal copies of their Blu-ray movies that can be transferred over a home network. Please note that "mandatory" refers to the movies having to offer this capability, while it will be up to each hardware manufacturer to decide if they want to support this feature.

About the availability of Blu-ray products

In the cities like US or Canada you can already find Blu-ray players from Samsung, Panasonic, Sony, Philips and Pioneer available in stores, as well as a growing selection of Blu-ray movies. We also expect to see Blu-ray players from LG and Sharp, as well as a second-generation Bluray player from Samsung introduced in the near future. The first Blu-ray hardware and software should also be available in many European countries now.

About the Blu-ray products cost

As with any new technology the first generation of products will likely be quite expensive due to low production volumes. However, this shouldn't be a problem for long as there is a wide range of Blu-ray related products (players, recorders, drives, writers, media, etc) planned, which should help drive up production volumes and lower overall production costs. Once mass production of components for Blu-ray products begins the prices are expected to fall quickly. According to the Blu-ray Disc Association, the overall cost of manufacturing Blu-ray Disc media will in the end be no more expensive than producing a DVD. The reduced injection molding costs (one molding machine instead of two, no birefringence problems) offset the additional cost of applying the cover layer and low cost hard-coat, while the techniques used for applying the recording layer remain the same. As production volumes increase the production costs should fall and eventually be comparable to DVDs. Blu-ray Disc Format What Blu-ray Disc variants are available? As with CD and DVD, Blu-ray Disc media comes in pre-recorded, recordable and rewritable variants. The pre-recorded disc is called BD ROM, and usually contains movies or re-issued TV shows in High Definition format. The recordable disc is called BD R, and can be used for archival of huge amounts of data or video. The rewritable disc is called BD RE, and offers the same large capacity in a disc format that allows for repetitive usage. Can Blu-ray Disc products play DVD and CD? Although this is not a requirement of the Blu-ray Disc format, all Blu-ray Disc products will play their DVD and CD counterpart formats. Compare this to the ability of today's DVD players to play CDs. Most companies have developed laser components and pickup units being able to read CD, DVD and BD. Can Blu-ray Disc products record DVD and CD? Implementation of DVD or CD recording capability is a manufacturer's option. Currently, some Blu-ray Disc video products allow you to record DVDs as well. It is expected that most Blu-ray Disc PC drives will support the recording of CD, DVD and BD. Can I play a Blu-ray Disc on my DVD player? No. As DVD players use a red laser to read the information from a disc, they are not capable of reading the very fine pits of a Blu-ray Disc, which requires a blue laser. Furthermore, DVDVideo players lack the advanced technology to decode the High Definition picture from a Bluray Disc.

Blu-ray Disc for Video What is the quality of Blu-ray Disc video? Blu-ray Disc offers HDTV video quality that far surpasses any other medium or broadcast format available today. With High Definition video with a resolution of up to 1920x1080 and up to a 54 Mbit/sec bandwidth (roughly double that of a normal HDTV broadcast), no other format can match Blu-ray Disc's video quality. Furthermore, due to the overwhelming capacity of a Blu-ray Disc, no tight compression algorithms that may alter the picture quality are required, as with other formats that offer less recording space. Depending on the application, Blu-ray Disc also supports other video formats, including standard definition TV. How much video will fit on a Blu-ray Disc? As with DVD, this depends on the decisions on the usage of video bandwidth, the number of audio tracks and other criteria made by the author of the disc. Furthermore, the choice of the used codec also influences playback time. On average, a single-layer disc can hold a High Definition feature of 135 minutes using MPEG-2, with additional room for 2 hours of bonus material in standard definition quality. A double-layer disc even extends these numbers up to 3 hours in HD quality and 9 hours of SD bonus material. Using any of the advanced codecs, these numbers can even be significantly increased. Do I need an HDTV to use Blu-ray Disc? In order to view a Blu-ray Disc, you need a TV that is HD-Ready, that is: equiped with an HDMI input port. How does Blu-ray Disc region coding work? Contrary to DVD, the Blu-ray Disc region coding system divides the world into only 3 regions, called regions A, B and C. The usage of region coding on a Blu-ray Disc movie title is a publisher's option. A Blu-ray Disc player will play any movie title that does not have region coding applied, plus all titles of its corresponding region. Blu-ray Disc for Data How does the capacity of a Blu-ray Disc compare to other media? A Blu-ray Disc can hold up to 50 gigabytes of data. This compares to about 10 recordable DVDs (or 5 double-layer DVDs), or around 70 recordable CDs. As a result, Blu-ray Disc is the ideal, cost-effective, removable storage medium for the storage of large amounts of data and video. What kind of data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc? Any form of data available on a PC can be stored to a Blu-ray Disc, including text documents, images, video and audio files. Using the appropriate software or operating support, a Blu-ray Disc can offer the functionality of a large removable hard disk drive. Can I record video to a Blu-ray Disc using a PC? Yes. Using the appropriate software, you can edit standard or High Definition video (for example from a camcorder) and then record it to a Blu-ray Disc. When recorded in the Blu-

ray Disc video format, the end result can be played in a Blu-ray Disc player connected to a TV.

BD Key Characteristics - Broadest Industry Support - Lifespan - Content Protection - Cost - Capacity - Robustness of Disc Broadest Industry Support History has shown that unified industry support for a particular format is most likely to lead to success. Therefore, the participation of the world's most renowned consumer electronics manufacturers and IT companies are leading in the success of the best standard for nextgeneration storage: Blu-ray Disc. Blu-ray Disc is supported by leading hardware manufacturers across the CE and IT fields from the U.S., Europe, Japan and Korea, including Dell, HP, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Matsushita (Panasonic), Mitsubishi, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and Thomson/RCA. Finally, major blank media manufacturers including TDK are supporting the Blu-ray Disc format as the successor of DVD. This broad industry support will lead to a broad selection of Blu-ray Disc products, including home video decks, PC drives, PCs line-fitted with Blu-ray Disc drives and blank media, to be available when the format is launched in the various regions in the world. Lifespan The Blu-ray Disc format is designed to stay relevant for at least 10 to 15 years. Its high storage capacity of 25 to 50 GB allows for the best-possible High Definition video quality and satisfies even the most demanding data storage needs. As we have seen with DVD in the past, most premium titles require two discs. This is why Blu-ray Disc incorporates the additional storage space that is required for a High Definition feature film including bonus bonus material in the new standard from the beginning. Formats with a lesser capacity are only suitable as interim solutions, requiring them to be replaced much sooner than a format that takes tomorrow's data storage needs into account from day one. This will of course require multiple investments in production equipment, and will lead to increased consumer confusion. Content Protection Blu-ray Disc provides some of the strongest copy protection methods ever developed for any consumer format. It makes Blu-ray Disc the best choice for any content publisher wanting assurance that their valuable assets are protected from piracy. Based on feedback from the

content industry and taking a cue from the lessons learned by other formats, the Blu-ray Disc format incorporates a robust copy protection mechanism, which not only relies on implementation at the playback device, but which also includes precautions at replicator level, which will be strictly controlled. Unlike the voluntary implementation of CSS protection in DVD, the copy protection mechanism for Blu-ray Disc is mandatory and will be governed by strict licensing procedures. Cost Blu-ray Disc is developed to offer the best long-term profitability model for content providers. Although it might require a nominal investment in advance, it provides greater and longer-term profit potential. This is because the format is designed to last for a period of at least 10 to 15 years. Due to its enormous storage capacity, short-erm replacement of the technology is unnecessary, unlike other format proposals that might require less investment in advance, but higher investments in the long term due to the replacement of the technology when it becomes outdated. At comparable volumes, Blu-ray Disc production costs are within 10% of DVD production costs, although a Blu-ray Disc offers 5-10 x the capacity. It is by far the cheapest format measured in cost per GB. Since Blu-ray Disc requires fewer slots in a replication line compared to other formats, it will bring costs on par with DVD, or even cheaper, much sooner. Production facilities can produce many more Blu-ray Discs in the same time period as DVDs. Also, contrary to some rumors circulating, Blu-ray Discs do not require cartridges for any of the format variations (BD ROM, BD RE, and BD R). Capacity The Blu-ray Disc format offers the highest capacity of any consumer media format to date, also greatly surpassing the capacity of other format proposals. Blu-ray Disc's huge capacity allows not only for the highest quality High Definition video to be recorded at large bitrates (thereby eliminating the need for tight compression that could affect picture quality), it also opens the doors to new and existing applications. Think of extra sessions on a disc that could be unlocked when a user's Blu-ray Disc player connects to the Internet to validate authorization. Or what about bonus material and special features that will eventually also be recorded in High Definition quality? With Blu-ray Disc's large capacity, these extras can be included in high quality on the same disc, so there is no need for separate bonus discs to accompany the movie title. Only Blu-ray Disc will be able to offer these value-added options. Robustness of Disc As the result of recent breakthroughs in the development of hard coating for Blu-ray Disc, the discs offer much stronger resistance to scratches and fingerprints than other existing and proposed formats. Hard-coated Blu-ray Discs do not require a cartridge and can be used as a bare disc, similar to DVD and CD. This avoids extra production costs, and allows for small form factor applications, such as the implementation of Blu-ray Disc drives in a notebook computer. The hard-coating technology is used for BD ROM discs, giving them the same bare disc look and feel consumers know from DVD, and it can be applied to rewritable and

recordable Blu-ray Discs as well.

building a Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray discs not only have more storage capacity than traditional DVDs, but they also offer a new level of interactivity. Users will be able to connect to the Internet and instantly download subtitles and other interactive movie features. With Blu-ray, you can: record high-definition television (HDTV) without any quality loss instantly skip to any spot on the disc record one program while watching another on the disc create playlists edit or reorder programs recorded on the disc automatically search for an empty space on the disc to avoid recording over a program access the Web to download subtitles and other extra features Discs store digitally encoded video and audio information in pits -- spiral grooves that run from the center of the disc to its edges. A laser reads the other side of these pits -- the bumps -- to play the movie or program that is stored on the DVD. The more data that is contained on a disc, the smaller and more closely packed the pits must be. The smaller the pits (and therefore the bumps), the more precise the reading laser must be. Unlike current DVDs, which use a red laser to read and write data, Blu-ray uses a blue laser (which is where the format gets its name). A blue laser has a shorter wavelength (405 nanometers) than a red laser (650 nanometers). The smaller beam focuses more precisely, enabling it to read information recorded in pits that are only 0.15 microns (m) (1 micron = 106 meters) long -- this is more than twice as small as the pits on a DVD. Plus, Blu-ray has reduced the track pitch from 0.74 microns to 0.32 microns. The smaller pits, smaller beam and shorter track pitch together enable a single-layer Blu-ray disc to hold more than 25 GB of information -about five times the amount of information that can be stored on a DVD. Each Blu-ray disc is about the same thickness (1.2 millimeters) as a DVD. But the two types of discs store data differently. In a DVD, the data is sandwiched between two polycarbonate layers, each 0.6-mm thick. Having a polycarbonate layer on top of the data can cause a problem called birefringence, in which the substrate layer refracts the laser light into two separate beams. If the beam is split too widely, the disc cannot be read. Also, if the DVD surface is not exactly flat, and is therefore not exactly perpendicular to the beam, it can lead to a problem known as disc tilt, in which the laser beam is distorted. All of these issues lead to a very involved manufacturing process.

BD Applications - High Definition Television Recording - High Definition Video Distribution - High Definition Camcorder Archiving - Mass Data Storage - Digital Asset Management and Professional Storage The Blu-ray Disc format was designed to offer the best performance and features for a wide variety of applications. High Definition video distribution is one of the key features of Blu-ray Disc, but the format's versatile design and top-of-the-line specifications mean that it is suitable for a full range of other purposes as well.