Business Administration Education Guide: Blu-ray Discs

You may not have heard of Blu-ray yet. It’s not a ocean cousin relation to the sting ray, its Blu-ray technology, the next advancement in entertainment storage capability. Understanding the techno geek explanations of Blu-rey probably requires a PhD, hopefully, this will be an easier explanation for us non geeks and geek hags.

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is a group of 170 entertainment and technology companies that came together to develop Blu-ray technology (some of the big guys include: Disney, Fox, Sony, Samsung, Warner Brothers, HP, Dell & Apple.)

The biggest difference between Blu-ray Disc technology and DVD technology is the type of laser used. The difference between the blue and red lasers is more than just color. The blue optical ray uses a much shorter wavelength. Again… Understanding the techno geek differences of “why?” requires 4 years in college.

The newest Blu technology holds much more space on the discs, there isn’t a need to compress the video (visual) and audio (sound) like there is on DVDs. When you compress the file to make it smaller to fit on a disc or to send in an email, you lose a lot of detail. The same happens with DVD movies. Blu-ray Disc movies give you more detail on both the audio and the video. Because you can fit so much information on both the front and back of the discs, the longer DVD movies that normally require you have two or three discs such as Lord Of The Rings, may become a thing of the past. In addition, Blu-ray Discs can be played on PlayStation 3 systems.

Here is the down side. Blu-ray Disc players are expensive because they are so new. They will come down in price as the technology becomes mainstream and more competitors build off of the Blu technology. After all, there was a time when DVD players cost $300!
Blu-ray Disc Feature Campaign:

1. Picture resolution: Provide superior picture quality.
2. Largest capacity
3. Audio possibilities: Uncompressed surround sound for crystal-clear audio entertainment.
4. Broadest industry support: More than 90% of major Hollywood studios, virtually all leading consumer electronics companies, four of the top computer brands, the world’s two largest music companies, the leading gaming companies, all support Blu-ray Disc.
5. The largest selection of high-def playback devices
6. Backward compatibility: Blu-ray Disc players will enable you to continue to viewing your existing DVD collection. No need to re buy new upgraded Blu-ray DVDs

Anyone remember when CDs were first introduced to consumers and they bragged that the CDs would last forever and couldn’t be scratched? Exactly…

Sony maintains that its Blu-ray discs are built for a lot of punishment too and a game geek boi from Joystiq decided to test that declaration. Taking freebie HD movies geek boi puts the discs through what would normally be screeching, screaming, and heartbreaking stress tests. While entertaining , I cringed through each one. That said I really don’t see most Blu-ray discs taking this much abuse in real life. Than again, the Darwin awards exist out of necessary entertainment.