Using Blu-Ray Discs For Photography and Videography

For photographers and videographers, the main challenge to the job is archiving their work. Not that it is very difficult. In fact, with the popularity of the DVD, deleting files from your hard drive can be done without any feelings of loss.

DVDs, however, are limited in their storage capacity. On average, the DVD can only store up to 4.7 gigabytes of data on a single layer of disc. A dual layer disc twice the amount of data. Enter the Blu-ray disc or BD. The BD is the only recordable and re-writeable media storage that is miles ahead of the DVD in terms of capacity. A typical BD stores up to 25 gigabytes of data on a single layer and up to 50 gigabytes of data on a dual layer. Now that's a lot of storage.

Aside from the storage capacity, the good thing about BD's is that you can record data at a faster speed than DVD technology. It also has more interactive features; BD movie titles, for example, typically feature on screen menus and bonus materials.

BD Writers For You

There are some PC's on the market that can read and write Blu-ray discs as well as DVDs and CDs. With these PCs, blue lasers, red and infra-red lasers have the same pathway.

Panasonic was the first electronics company to offers BD recorders with playback capabilities. These were the Blu-ray DMR-BR100 and the DIGA DMR-BW200. Both BD recorder models are able to write high resolution images and video on single layer and double layer discs at four times the speed of DVD recorders. The DMR-BW200 model features a total of seven TV tuners for digital and analogue broadcasts. Users can record two TV programs simultaneously with the DMR-BW200.

Panasonic BD writers are built in with a video converter so you can still record high quality files when converting files from High Definition (HD) to Standard Definition (SD) for storage on DVD discs. They can also convert SD files to HD files.

BD Technology

The first Blu-ray discs were first introduced in 2006 after years of development by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). The BDA is a group of 170 electronics and media companies. BD technology has the support of movie companies and gaming companies.

The forerunners of the BD technology were the UDO (Ultra Density Optical) and DVR Blue, which were developed by Philips and Sony. Both are formats rewritable discs that would eventually evolve into the Blu-ray disc.

It was in June 2006 that the world first came to know of BD-ROM players. Sony first released the BD rewritable drive (BWU-100A) for personal computers on July 18, 2006. The first movies written on dual layer Blu-ray discs came to the market in October 2006. Audio-only BDs were released in March 2008. The prices of Blu-ray disc players can be prohibitive to the mass of consumers (some devices fetch as high as $699). But with its growing popularity, the prices are expected to come down.