Blu-ray Authoring
H O P P E R P E D I A ©
-Brian Hammons
June 14, 2010: 788 hits
Blu-ray (BR) Discs are an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the standard DVD format. In 2008, Warner Bros. announced that it would release only in Blu-ray Disc after May 2008. This led to a chain reaction in the DVD industry, with major U.S. retailers such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Circuit City and Canadian chains such as Future Shop dropping HD DVD in their stores. Toshiba, the main company that supported HD DVD conceded in February 2008, and the format war was ultimately ended.
BR disks are mainly used for storing high-definition, full 1080p resolution video, PlayStation 3 video games, and other data, with up to 25 GB per single layered, and 50 GB per dual layered disc. Although these numbers represent the standard storage for Blu-ray Disc drives, the specification is open-ended, with the upper theoretical storage limit left unclear. 200 GB discs are available, and 100 GB discs are readable without extra equipment or modified firmware.
Blu-ray Disc recordable formats:
"Blu-ray Disc recordable" refers to two optical disc formats that can be recorded with an optical disc recorder. BD-Rs can be written to once, whereas BD-REs can be erased and re-recorded multiple times.
Authoring:
Optical disc authoring, including DVD and Blu-ray Disc authoring (often referred to colloquially as burning), is the process of assembling source material—video, audio or other data—into the proper logical volume format to then be recorded ("burned") onto an optical disc. Optical disc authoring requires a number of different technologies working in tandem, from the media to the firmware to the control electronics of the drive. Authoring in general is based on the use of a laser to change the reflectivity of the recording medium in order to duplicate the effects of the pits and lands created when a commercial optical disc is pressed.Emerging technologies such as holographic data storage and 3D optical data storage aim to use entirely different data storage methods, but these products are in development and are not yet widely available.
Resolution Differences:
352×576/480 (250 lines): VHS
720×576/480 (500 lines): DVD
1920×1080 (1020 lines): Blu-ray
Java Software Support:
Sun Microsystems' Java cross-platform software environment is included in all Blu-ray Disc players as a mandatory part of the standard. Java is used to implement interactive menus on Blu-ray Discs, as opposed to the method used on DVD video discs. DVDs use pre-rendered MPEG segments and selectable subtitle pictures, which are considerably more primitive and rarely seamless. The inclusion of a Java Virtual Machine, as well as network connectivity in some BD devices, allows updates to Blu-ray Discs via the Internet, adding content such as additional subtitle languages and promotional features not included on the disc at pressing time.
Authoring Software: 2010
Cross-platform: cdrkit · cdrdao · cdrtools · ISO Master · Saturn Disk Image
Windows: Alcohol 120% · Ashampoo Burning Studio · BlindWrite · CDBurnerXP · CDRoller · CDRWin · CloneCD/DVD · Daemon Tools · DiscJuggler · DeepBurner · Drag-to-Disc · Drive Letter Access · Easy Media Creator · GEAR Video · ImgBurn · InCD · InfraRecorder · IsoBuster · MagicISO · Nero Burning ROM · PowerISO · Smartripper · Ulead DVD MovieFactory · UltraISO · WinImage
Macintosh: Burn · Disk Utility · Roxio Toast · Disco
Unix-like: BashBurn · Brasero · cdrkit · cdrskin · dd · dvd+rw-tools · GEAR PRO Unix · GnomeBaker · K3b · K9Copy · X-CD-Roast
Linux: AcetoneISO · CDemu · GEAR PRO Linux · Nero Linux
