Blu-ray Disc

The Blu-ray Disc is a specification of the Blu-ray Disc Association that uses one of three video codecs (H.264, MPEG-2, VC-1) and one of several audio codecs (AAC, MP3, etc). In 2005, a group of companies announced the introduction of the Blu-ray Disc (BD) format, the next generation in optical storage. The format offers an immense storage capacity (up to 50GB) that is perfect for high definition video recording and distribution, as well as for storing large amounts of data. The format shares the same form factors as existing CD and DVD optical discs allowing for backwards compatibility. In 2005, the Blu-ray Disc Founders announced the creation of the Blu-ray Disc Association to support the Blu-ray Disc ad-hoc standard that was first introduced in 2002. In February 2002, a large group of companies announced the introduction of the Blu-ray Disc (BD) format, the next generation in optical storage. The new format offers up to 50 GB of storage immense storage capacity (up to 50GB) with data transfer rates that accommodate 1080p High Definition video playback. Blu-Ray Disc shares the same form factors as CD and DVD optical discs allowing for backwards compatibility playback of CDs and DVDs in Blu-Ray players.