1. What is Blu-ray Disc?
Blu-ray Disc is a next-generation, optical disc format that enables the ultimate high-def entertainment experience.
Blu-ray Disc provides these key features and advantages: Maximum picture resolution. Blu-ray Disc delivers full 1080p* video resolution to provide pristine picture quality.
Largest capacity available anywhere (25 GB single layer/50 GB dual layer). Blu-ray Disc offers up to 5X the capacity of today’s DVDs.
Best audio possible. Blu-ray Disc provides as many as 7.1 channels of native, uncompressed surround sound for crystal-clear audio entertainment.
Enhanced interactivity. Enjoy such capabilities as seamless menu navigation, exciting, new bonus features, and network/Internet connectivity.
Broadest industry support from brands you trust. 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, PLAYSTATION® 3 and the leading gaming companies, all support Blu-ray Disc.
The largest selection of high-def playback devices. Blu-ray Disc is supported by many of the leading consumer electronics and computing manufacturers. That means you can maximize the use of your HDTV and your home entertainment system with the widest selection of high-def playback devices—including players, recorders, computers, aftermarket drives and the PLAYSTATION® 3 game console.
Backward compatibility**. Blu-ray Disc players enable you to continue to view and enjoy your existing DVD libraries. Disc robustness. Breakthroughs in hard-coating technologies enable Blu-ray Disc to offer the strongest resistance to scratches and fingerprints.
*HDTV required. As with other optical media devices, user factors and other circumstances may limit Blu-ray Disc playback. Some content may require HDMIcompatible TV for high-definition playback.
**Product-dependent feature.
2. Why is the format called Blu-ray Disc?
The name Blu-ray came from the fact that the laser beam which reads the data from the new discs is blue instead of red which is used for current DVDs and CDs. This new blue laser is at the heart of Blu-ray Disc technology (i.e. blue ray of light).
3. What is the difference between Blu-ray Disc and DVD?
Just as DVD meant a five to 10 times increase in storage capacity compared to CD, Blu-ray Disc represents an increase over DVD capacity by five to 10 times. This is due, among other reasons, to the usage of a blue instead of a red laser and improved lens specifications, allowing for a much smaller focus laser beam which enables the recording of much smaller and higher density pits on the disc.
Due to the fact that the data layer on a Blu-ray Disc is placed much “closer” to the laser lens than in DVD, there is less distortion resulting in significantly improved tolerances. Hence, more precision and ultra-high storage densities are now possible.
4. What is the difference between 1080i and 1080p?
Blu-ray Disc offers 1080p video resolution—HDTV video quality that far surpasses any other medium or broadcast format available today. With a resolution of up to 1920×1080 and up to 54 Mbps bandwidth (roughly double that of a normal HDTV broadcast), no other format can match the video quality of Blu-ray Disc. 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.1080i refers to the resolution of a picture with interlaced (i) fields, which fit together to form one full frame and produces an image that has a TV-like quality. 1080p refers to the resolution of the picture with progressive (p), multiple full frames, producing an image that appears more like film.
5. Will Blu-ray Disc products play my existing DVDs and CDs?
The Blu-ray Disc system uses the same 12 cm and 8 cm disc sizes to support backward compatibility with your CDs and DVDs and other optical disc formats. Therefore, it is anticipated that most Blu-ray Disc hardware products will play your existing DVDs and CDs.
6. What is an HDMI connector?
HDMI delivers uncompressed high-definition video and multichannel digital audio signals through a single cable to compatible components, producing the best Blu-ray Disc experience possible.
7. Will PLAYSTATION® 3 play Blu-ray Disc movies?
Yes! PLAYSTATION 3 is a fully functional Blu-ray Disc player, so you can watch, listen and enjoy your favorite high-def movies and music in full 1080p resolution and in as many as 7.1 channels of surround sound. Of course, that’s in addition to having the industry’s ultimate console for high-def gaming.
8. What home theater equipment is needed for optimal Blu-ray Disc performance?
For the optimal Blu-ray Disc performance, your entertainment system should include:
Blu-ray Disc Player (Blu-ray Discs will not play on standard DVD players)
HDTV with 720p, 1080i or higher resolution
Surround sound speaker system—5.1 channel or 7.1 channel
HDMI connector cables
High-quality analog cables or digital optical cables
9. What is BD-Live?
BD-Live is a collection of online interactive features that content providers may include with a Blu-ray Disc movie to enhance your enjoyment of that movie, providing you a compelling new world of extended interactivity. BD-Live includes access to studio-specified Internet sites that provide you the ability to, for example, download current movie trailers or other exclusive content, play movie related games, enhance the content of their disc, chat with other viewers, play games with other BD-Live connected players, and much more. A computer can be a great BD-Live player because it is typically connected to the Internet and is a high performance platform with input devices specifically designed for user interactivity.
10 . What is Bonus View?
Bonus View also referred to as ‘Profile 1.1’ refers to a collection of features available on all Blu-ray player models introduced after October 31, 2007. These offer consumers the ability to enjoy Picture-in-Picture (PiP) and secondary audio features on compatible Bonus View discs. Also see Bonus View section for details, titles and more.
11 . What equipment do I need to access BD-Live?
Your Blu-ray player must have an Ethernet port and must be connected to the Internet. You will also need a Blu-ray Disc that is enabled with BD-Live functionality.
12 . Do all Blu-ray player models support BD-Live?
Not all Blu-ray players have a network connection. Please refer to your player’s instruction manual or website for further details.
13. Do all movie titles have BD-Live content?
As BD-Live has just launched, the number of available titles that support this feature will be expanding throughout this year. Please refer to the Blu-ray disc’s technical specification to find out if the disc is BD-Live enabled.
14. How do I access BD-Live?
Select the BD-Live button on the Blu-ray Disc menu to connect to the Internet and initiate the BD-Live application.
15. Do I have to register to enjoy BD-Live?
Some studios require a simple registration process that is available on the player or online.
16. Why would I want a Blu-ray Disc drive on my PC?
• PCs with Blu-ray Disc capability provide a flexible and powerful solution for watching high definition (HD) movies and experiencing BD-Live features.
• Notebook PCs allow you to enjoy the benefits of Blu-ray Disc on the road as well as in the living room.
• Blu-ray Disc on computers provides you with much larger burning and backup capacity than CD or DVD.
• The computer is an excellent platform for experiencing exciting, interactive BD-Live features, since computers typically include a wired or wireless network connection, powerful processors and extra storage space.
• The HD Camcorder market is growing rapidly. Using Blu-ray Disc on personal computers provides the best way to edit, share and archive HD content.
17 . What can I do with a computer that supports Blu-ray Disc?
1) Watch Blu-ray Disc movies in up to full 1080p HD resolution with your desktop computer or on the go with your notebook computer
2) Watch Blu-ray Disc movies at home by connecting your PC to a home theatre system, HD television, monitor, or projector (Note: HDMI or DisplayPort connections are required on the PC and the monitor).
3) Connect and interact with studio special features as well as other Blu-ray Disc movie viewers using Blu-ray Discs that feature BD-Live capabilities.
4) Play games and experience interactive bonus content that are included with Blu-ray Disc movies.
5) Back up or share up to 50GB of data on one dual layer disc. This makes it easy to back up your entire photo or music library on one disc. One 50GB Blu-ray Disc replaces up to 5 dual layer or 10 single layer DVDs.
6) Create, edit, and share HD home movies for playback on your PC, PlayStation 3, or other Blu-ray Disc player.
7) Create, view, and share your photos on your television screen at the highest resolution supported by the TV.
18 . What features in a PC are important for experiencing Blu-ray Disc?
Several features are key to fully enjoying the benefits of Blu-ray Disc including the following:
1) High Definition Display Devices
• Resolution and Color
While Blu-ray Disc movies can also be enjoyed with lower resolution displays, the best viewing experience is achieved with high definition displays at either 1920 x 1080 (full HD) or 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA) resolution to deliver the full cinematic production experience intended for the viewer. Since most new notebooks
and computer monitors sold have HD displays this means that Blu-ray Disc is not only a great experience in the home theater environment but also on the road.
• Connectivity
It is recommended that Blu-ray Disc-equipped PCs intended for use with home theater systems, high definition televisions, monitors, and projectors support HDMI or DisplayPort or DVI connections with HDCP support. Some notebooks or all-in-one systems might support Blu-ray Disc playback only
on their own internal displays.
2) Blu-ray Disc optical drive and playback software that can play Blu-ray Disc movies.
If you plan to purchase a Blu-ray Disc drive separately from your computer and want to know if your computer is capable of playing back Blu-ray Disc movies, there are software tools available that will test your system configuration and inform you if it can provide the required performance.
3) PCs with a recordable Blu-ray Disc drive and disc burning software can burn BD-R (write-once) and BD-RE (rewritable) discs. This can be a terrific backup option as well as long term storage for HD home movies. Note: Some computer Blu-ray Disc drives are designed only to read (i.e., play) Blu-ray Disc movies, while others can both read and write.
4) Blu-ray Disc authoring software for creating and editing HD content and burning discs that are playable in compatible Blu-ray Disc players.
5) Graphics processor designed specifically for the demanding high video bit rate (up to 40Mbits/sec) and other Blu-ray Disc movie features like picture-in-picture. Look for GPUs that specifically indicate support for Blu-ray Disc.
6) Surround-sound audio output capability, surround sound support in the playback software and surround speaker configuration are recommended for the best listening experience.
19 . Will my current computer support Blu-ray Disc?
Several software vendors offer a free downloadable system evaluation tool.
Visit the following URLs for more information:
Cyberlink Blu-Ray Support
Corel Win DVD
Arcsoft DVD Guide (Download)
20 . What is the storage capacity of a Blu-ray Disc?
The physical size is the same as a DVD or CD. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc can hold 25GB. A dual-layer disc can hold 50GB, with a “GB” equal to one billion bytes.
21 . What read/write speeds are available?
The 1x transfer rate for a Blu-ray Disc drive is 4.5 MB/sec. All drives support at least “2x” transfer rate (9 MB/sec), with some recent models supporting up to 8x, or 36 MB/sec. Blu-ray Disc has the potential for much higher speeds in the future. For comparison, a 40x CD-ROM delivers about 6 MB/sec. This means that your data can be written to the disc much faster when using a Blu-ray Disc drive than a CD or DVD.
22 . When will I be able to get a BD-Live capable player for my PC?
If you have a Blu-ray Disc drive in your computer, and that computer is connected to the internet and your player software contains BD-Live capability, you are able to take advantage of BD-Live features delivered on Blu-ray Discs from content providers. BD-Live compatible player software is shipping now from a number of software vendors.
23 . What vendors are shipping (or have announced) Blu-ray Disc-enabled computers and products?
Multiple vendors are selling Blu-ray Disc enabled computers today. Several companies are selling internal and external Blu-ray Disc drives that support many OS Platforms including Windows XP, Vista, MacOS and Linux.
24 . What is the current availability of application software for playback, recording and editing?
At the time of this writing, we are aware that at least the following companies are selling Blu-ray Disc software applications:
Playback:
• Corel (Windows)
• CyberLink (Windows)
• Arcsoft (Windows)
Burning/Backup:
• Sonic Solutions/Roxio (Mac/Windows)
• NCH (Mac/Windows)
• Nero (Windows)
• CyberLink (Windows)
• Corel (Windows)
• ArcSoft (Windows)
Editing/Creation:
• Arcsoft (Windows)
• Corel (Windows)
• CyberLink (Windows)
• Nero (Windows)
• Roxio (Windows)
25 . How does regional coding work in the computer space? Is playback s/w sensitive to regional coding?
Much like DVD, all Blu-ray Disc players are required to support region playback coding regardless of the type of player (i.e., hardware or software). Use of region playback codes is optional for content providers, and not all titles use them. The Blu-ray Disc format specifies only three regions (A, B and C), while DVD had eight, thereby expanding the geographical size of each region. The region of any region-protected Blu-ray Disc purchased should match the region of the world for which the player is configured. Like any Blu-ray Disc player, Blu-ray Disc-equipped computer systems are required to support regional coding. Computer systems can be reset to a different region up to five times to accommodate relocations to different parts of the world.