Product Reviews Facts and Notes

Presently, the available high definition medium is Blu-ray. Although the majority of the population is aware of this, they are not knowledgeable on the actual history.

High definition was released to the public shortly before the new millenium. With the advent of HD came the need for a suitable movie format, and Blu-ray turned out to be just that format.

High definition requires a vast amount of data to operate. All the types of media that could be purchased did not meet this need. The apparent method of increasing storage capacity was to use a blue laser.

Blue lasers already did exist, but they were prodigious and costly. The creation of blue laser diodes enabled blue lasers to be used in a commercial setting. This was the key that allowed Blu-ray and HD DVD to be developed.

After this invention, Sony and Philips started working together to create a medium which utilized the blue laser diodes. The original projects were known as Ultra Density Optical and DVR Blue. These were the prototypes to modern Blu-ray.

These predecessors were worked on for two years before, in February 2002, Blu-ray was officially announced. To promote the new format, the Blu-ray Disc Association was formed and consisted of just nine integral members.

The introduction of Blu-ray may have been a bit premature, as it was two years later that the format actually was finished. Even then, it took one more year for everything to be complete.

The genius behind Blu-ray has made it the number one HD media. Nearly every new movie released comes out on both DVD and Blu-ray. The prospects for the future look exciting as well.