BLU RAY DISC

1. INTRODUCTION

Blu-ray Disc, or BD, is an optical disc that uses state-of-the-art blue-violet laser
technology to enable consumers to record high-definition TV broadcasting. Developed by
the "Blu-ray Disc Founders" group, these companies include Hitachi, LG, Matsushita,
Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and Thomson. Although Blu-ray Disc was
primarily designed to be a "consumer high definition video recording format", its very
high storage capacities and high-speed data transfer rates also make Blu-ray Disc suitable
for storage libraries and ultimately other applications.
A Blu-ray Disc has the same physical size as a DVD (12cm) but has higher data and track
densities that give it between roughly three to six times the storage capacity of a standard
4.7GB DVD-R. This feat is made possible using a 405 nm (405 billionth of a meter) blueviolet laser, actually violet-purple, (see figure 1) and an optical pickup head with a 0.85
NA (numerical aperture) lens. Because a blue-violet light laser has a shorter wavelength
(405 nm) than the red light (650 nm) used in CD and DVD systems, it allows the laser
beam to make a smaller spot on the disc surface. With each bit of data taking up less
space on the disc, more data can be stored on a 4.7-inch disc.
1st GENERATION:
Compact disc (CD): --- 650/700 MB
It is with us for over 20 years.
Wavelength of laser which reads data: 780 nm
Color of laser: Red
2nd GENERATION:
Digital versatile disc (DVD): --- 4.7 GB
It offers high quality sound and video than CD.

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Wavelength of laser which reads data: 650 nm

Color of laser: Red
3rd GENERATION:
Blu-ray disc (BD): --- 25/50 GB
-Next generation optical disc format.
-Developed by blu-ray disc association (which includes Apple, Hitachi, HP, LG,
Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony)
-Wavelength of laser which reads data: 405 nm
-Color of laser: Blue-violet
FORMAT OF BD:
It comes in four different formats:

BD-ROM (read only) :for reading recorded content.

BD-R (recordable) :for PC data storage.
BD-RW (rewritable) :for PC data storage.
BD-RE (rewritable) :for HDTV (high definition television) recording.

1.1.

TYPES OF BLUE RAY DISC

1.1.1. SINGLE LAYER :

Can hold data up to 25/27 GB that means 2 hrs of HD video or about 13 hrs of
standard video.
1.1.2. DOUBLE LAYER :
Can hold data up to 50 GB that means 4.5 hrs of HD video or more than 20 hrs of
standard video.

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2. BLU-RAY DISC RECORDING LAYER

A distinct feature of the Blu-ray Disc is the position of the recording layer within the disc.
For DVD, the recording layer is sandwiched between two 0.6-mm thick layers of
polycarbonate plastic. But the recording layer in a Blu-ray Disc sits near the surface of a
1.1-mm thick plastic substrate and is protected by a mere 0.1-mm thin cover layer. This
not only allows for better disc readout, as the laser does not have to travel far to the point
of focus, but serves to increase the recording density because the laser can be more
narrowly focused by the larger 0.85 NA lens aperture (see figure 1 above). In addition, it
minimizes tilt problems associated with substrate stresses which can occur during the
injection molding process used to produce them. This can cause the laser light to split into
two separate beams, refer to as birefringence, and if it becomes excessive, the drive
cannot read data reliably from the disc.
But having the recording layer closer to the surface has its disadvantages as it leaves the
disc exposed to accidental abrasions, dust, and fingerprint marks. To overcome this, a
specially formulated protective hard-coat is applied on top of the cover layer. This
protective coat is hard enough to prevent accidental abrasions and also allows for

dust and fingerprints to be removed from the disc by simply wiping.

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3. WHY THE NEED FOR SO MUCH CAPACITY?

High-definition video (720p or 1080i) requires five times the recording capacity of
standard definition video (480i). The actual HDTV transmission is based on a 19.4 Mbps
(Mega bits per second) digital data stream but the maximum data transfer for DVD is
about 10 Mbps. Thus, theres simply not enough bandwidth to put an HDTV program on
a recordable DVD format. To achieve the density necessary to put this amount of data on
a single-sided 12 cm optical disc, the size of the spots burned into the disc need to be
smaller. In addition, the high-definition video will need to undergo compression to be able
to store this high-definition picture.
Video and Audio Codecs

BLU RAY DISC

The Blu-ray Disc format employs MPEG-2, Video Codec 9 (VC-1 based on the Windows
Media 9 format), or H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video compression techniques in order to lower
the data rate (i.e., use less digital data) of the high-definition video. The excellent
efficiency of the latest MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 codec allow image data to be compressed
to about one-third the size achieved by MPEG-2 and replay of high quality digital images.
But regardless of the codec utilized, the idea is to compress enough to decrease the bit
rate to data capacity levels while trying to preserve the high-definition picture quality to a
reasonable standard. This allows the high-definition signal to be recorded without
excessive compression, preserving the detail of the original high-definition picture. The
audio formats for BD extend beyond the current DVD specifications to include every type
of audio codec available. Though, at this writing, the more robust DTS Digital Surround
had been selected as the audio technology of choice for Blu-ray Disc (BD).

Capacitieof blu-ray disc

Blu-ray Disc may have three single-sided single-layer structure capacities of 23.3GB,
25GB, 27GB, and three single-sided dual-layer structure capacities of 46.6GB, 50GB and
54GB (without flipping sides) compared to current DVDs which can hold between 4.7GB
and 9.4GB of data. However, recent press announcements had circulated that a "Hybrid"
disc was being proposed by the Blu-ray Disc Founders that would be comprised of a
double-sided single-layer containing an 8.5GB capacity standard-definition and a 25GB
capacity high-definition version.
Compatibility
Blu-ray Disc is a totally new and radical optical storage medium requiring retooling and
or construction of new disc manufacturing and replication plants. Thus, Blu-ray Disc does
not share compatibility with current DVD technologies.
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4. OUTLINE OF BLUE RAY TECH

The Blu-ray disc system not only employs a short wavelength blue-violet laser
(405nm), but also uses an objective lens with a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.85. Its
small spot size can allows 5 times higher recording capacity than a standard DVD.
The Blu-ray discs are designed with a 0.1 mm optically transparent protection layer,
which diminishes aberration caused by disc tilt, yet is durable enough to protect the
discs recording layer. The track pitch on the discs is a mere 0.32 m, nearly half that
ofthe DVD.

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Pits : spiral grooves that run from the centre of the disc to its edges
Bumps :other sides of these edges.
Track pitch :it is the distance between the two tracks (of pits) on the surface.
Pit size 0.15 microns ( more than twice as small as the pits on DVD )

Track-pitch is : 0.32 microns

Laser needed : blue-violet laser (405 nm)
Data transfer rate : 36 Mbps

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5. BLY-RAY DISC ADVANTAGE

A. Much more ROBUST than todays polycarbonate-based CD/DVDs (and HD

DVDs)
B. Hard-coating technology provides resistance to:
- Finger prints
- Marks
- Scratches
- Dust
C. Various hard coating technologies make Bly ray disc most durable and family
-friendly
D. Higher density enables better data seek times
E. Shorter to travel for same amount of data results in faster data seek
F. Better for random access of data

G. REWRITE

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BLU RAY DISC

The vertical axis shows the performance index (whether recording marks are well
written) of the recording properties called jitter. Specifically, it shows the variation
of the gap between the recording mark edge and the data clock edge. A smaller value
represents

fewer

errors

when

reading

data.

The horizontal axis shows the number of overwrite cycles. Ordinarily, jitter rapidly
worsens after a certain number of overwrite cycles due to recording layer
deterioration.
This is why Sony developed a durable
recording layer. Jitter hardly rises even
after repeated overwrites, resulting in stable
recording/playback.

H. SCRATCH GUARD

These photos on the left show the results of abrasion tests. When
abrasion rings were run on the recording surface of a DVD disc (the
outer track) to forcibly create a situation in which discs are apt to be
scratched, numerous scratches arouse on the disc without the hard coat.
Meanwhile, there were hardly any scratches found on Sonys disc with
high performance hard coat. This clearly demonstrates the high scratchresistance of Sonys high performance hard coat.
Notes 1.
Testing method conforms to JIS K7204 standards
2.

Result after one rotation of the abrasion ring

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BLU RAY DISC

I. ANTI STATIC

These photos on the left show how finely cut pieces of expanded polystyrene adhere
to disc after the surface of the discs have been wiped once by tissue paper. While
expanded polystyrene adhered to the overall surface of a disc without hard coat,
Sonys disc with high performance hard coat had virtually no expanded polystyrene
adhering to it. This is because there is extremely low electrostatic charge, making it
difficult for static electricity to be generated.

J. ARCHIVAL RELIABILITY
Clear picture can be playedback without distortionafter long archive

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BLU RAY DISC

The chart above shows the acceleration test results for Sony disc storage properties.
This error rate increase causes representation deterioration is extremely small, and a
stable

and

low

error

rate

is

maintained

even

after

long

archive.

Sony has utilized its highly reliable recording material design and thorough
manufacturing control to realize a disc that is extremely resistant to image corruption
and deterioration due to long archive.

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BLU RAY DISC

6. COMPARISON IN BUILDING BD AND DVD

Parameters

DVD

Blu-ray Disc

Capacity per layer (GB)

4.7

25

Max number of layers

Max number of sides
Substrate + cover layer (mm)
Laser wavelength (nm)
Numerical aperture
Cartridge
Hard coating needed
Complexity to read DVD
Maximum Data Rate (Mbps)
Maximum Recording Time (HDTV)

2
2
0.6 + 0.6
650
0.60
No
No
11.08 (1X)
Single-Layer Dual-Layer -

2
2
1.1 + 0.1
405
0.65
No
Yes
More complex
36.55 (1X)
2 hours
4 hours

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BLU RAY DISC

BD
Data is placed on top of a 1.1 mm thick polycarbonate layer
Doesnt suffer from BIREFRINGENCE
Doesnt suffer from DISC TILT
Hard coating is placed outside to protect from scratches or fingerprints

DVD
Data is sandwiched b/w two polycarbonate layers, each 0.6 mm thick
Suffer from BIREFRINGENCE
Suffer from DISC TILT
No such hard coating is placed

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BLU RAY DISC

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7. FEATURES OF BD
Record HDTV without any quality loss
Instantly skip to any spot on disc
Record one program while watching other on the disc
Create playlists
Edit or reorder programs recorded on disc
Automatically search for an empty space on the disc to avoid recording over a
program
Access to web to download subtitles and other extra features
And many more

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BLU RAY DISC

REFERENCE

www.wikepedia.com
www.seminartopics.com
www.bestneo.com

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