subject: Blu Ray Drives: Costly But Effective [print this page] In the present day, the blu ray discs are the latest upheaval in technical know-how. The blu ray disc is the latest optical disc format created by the BDA (Blu Ray Disc Association) which includes TDK, Thomson, Sharp, Pioneer, Philips, Mitsubishi, Sony, JVC, Panasonic, Samsung, Apple, Hitachi, LG, Dell, and HP. The BDA boasts 180 of the world's leading consumer electronics, media and personal computer manufacturers.
HD DVDs and Blue Ray DVDs were in fierce competition some time back over which would become the successor of the DVD. With the results of blu ray discs being the winner, the attention has now been turned on the blu ray drives that will operate the blu ray discs. The blu ray technology, as the name suggests, uses a blue-violet laser to read and write data unlike the current technology which uses red laser. A blue-violet laser (405nm) which is very short in wavelength than a red laser (650nm) concentrates the laser spot with superb accuracy.
The advantage of this is that, it permits data to be stored in less space since the data can be packed more tightly, which further, allows consumers to fit additional data on the disc even though it may be the same size as a CD or a DVD. One single-layer High Definition DVD disc holds only 15 GB whilst single-layer blu ray disc can hold 25 GB which is over 2 hours of HD video and thirteen hours of normal video. A dual-layer High Definition DVD can store up to thirty GB whilst the same format blu ray DVDs can hold fifty-four GB which comes to about 4.5 hours of HD video and more than twenty hours of standard video.
Anyhow, blu ray drives are undoubtedly dearer than other standard drives. Blu ray drives that can read blu ray discs as well as burn DVDs are about three times the price of standard DVD burner. And, if you want blu ray drives that will burn the blu ray media, the price increases ten times more.
Many online shopping websites are available for you to choose your blu ray drives. A simple search will find you excellent bargain for your money. Several of the producers of blu ray drives are Sony, Samsung, Pioneer, Philips, Panasonic, LG, HP, and BenQ. Although it is not compulsory, the BDA blu ray drive manufacturing to allow backward compatibility -reading standard DVDs and CDs in addition to blu ray discs.
