bluray

Blu-ray Disc, commonly known as Blu-ray or Blu-ray Disc, is an optical disc format designed for high-definition video and data storage. It was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association, with major industry partners such as Sony, Panasonic, Philips, and Samsung. The format was announced in the early 2000s and released commercially in 2006 to replace DVD for HD playback and archival storage.

A Blu-ray disc uses a blue-violet laser with a wavelength around 405 nanometers, which enables higher data density on the same 120 mm disc size. Standard single-layer discs hold 25 gigabytes, while dual-layer discs hold 50 gigabytes. There are recordable and rewritable variants (BD-R and BD-RE) and newer BD-XL formats that increase capacity to about 100–128 gigabytes.

Blu-ray supports high-definition video and a range of audio formats. Common video codecs include MPEG-2, H.264/AVC, and VC-1, with extensions such as MVC for 3D video. Audio options include linear PCM, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD, and Dolby Digital Plus. The format also supports interactive features via BD-Java (BD-J).

Typical Blu-ray discs are BD-ROMs for prerecorded content, while BD-R and BD-RE are used for recording or rewriting. Discs can be region-locked (A, B, or C) and are protected by content protection standards such as AACS and BD+. Blu-ray remains widely used for high-definition home video, while Ultra HD Blu-ray covers 4K and HDR as a later extension.