What is a Blue Ray?

Question

I heard a couple of people talk about when discussing hdtv's. Let me know what it is and it's function? How much does it cost?

Answer 1

function is the same as DVDs, but up to 50 gigabytes of storage

hi-def video, costs $14-$30

Answer 2

The name Blu-ray is derived from the blue-violet laser used to read and write this type of disc. Because of this shorter wavelength (405 nm), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the common DVD format, which uses a red, 650 nm laser. In comparison to HD DVD, which also uses a blue laser, Blu-ray Disc has more information capacity per layer (currently 25 GB, but test media is up to 33 GB). However Blu-Ray discs are expected to be more expensive than HD-DVD discs, at least initially. Sony has released 50 GB recordable BDs and will soon be releasing 50GB rewritable discs.[1] In August 2006, TDK demonstrated a Blu-ray Disc with a 200 GB capacity.[2]

The Blu-ray Disc is a similar format to PDD, another optical disc format developed by Sony (which has been available since 2004) but offering higher data transfer speeds. PDD was not intended for home video use and was aimed at business data archiving and backup, although currently it is gaining popularity as a HD video format medium and PlayStation 3 medium. The UDO format is aimed at similar purposes. Blu-ray is currently embroiled in a battle format war against the HD-DVD disc.