ABSTRACT Optical discs share a major part among the secondary storage devices.

Blu-ray disc is a next generation optical disc format. The technology utilizes a blue laser diode operating at a wavelength of 405nm to read and write data. Because of the blue laser it can store enormous amount of data than was ever possible. Data is stored on a BD in the form of tiny ridges on the surface of an opaque 1.1mm thick substrate. This lies beneath a transparent .1mm protective layer. With the help of Blu-ray recording devices it is possible to record up to 2.5 hrs of very high quality audio and video on a single BD. Blu-ray also promises some added security, making ways for copyright protections. Bd can have a unique ID written on them to have copyright protection inside the recorded streams. Blu-ray Disc takes the DVD technology one step further just by using a laser with a nice color.

INTRODUCTION

Tokyo Japan, February 19, 2002: Nine leading companies announced that they have jointly established the basic specifications for a next generation large capacity optical disc video recording format called "Blu-ray Disc". The Blu-ray Disc enables the recording, rewriting and play back of up to 27gigabytes (GB) of data on a single sided single layer 12cmCD/DVD size disc using a 405nm blue-violet laser. By employing a short wavelength blue violet laser, the Blu-ray Disc successfully minimizes its beam spot size by making the numerical aperture (NA) on a field lens that converges the laser0.85.In addition, by using a disc structure witha 0.1mm optical transmittance protection layer, the Blu-ray Disc diminishes

aberration caused by disc tilt. This also allows for disc better read out and an increased recording density. The Blu-ray Disc's tracking pitch is reduced to 0.32um, almost half of that of a regular DVD, achieving up to 27 GB high-density recording on a single sided disc.Because the Bluray Disc utilizes global standard "MPEG-2 Transport Stream technology highly

compatible with digital broadcasting for video recording, a wide range of content can be recorded. It is possible for the Blu ray Disc to record digital high

definition broadcasting while maintaining high quality and other data simultaneously with video data.If they are received together. In addition, the adoption of a unique ID written on a Blu-ray Disc realizes high quality copyright protection functions. The Blu-ray Disc is a technology platform that can store sound and video while maintaining high quality and also access the stored content in an easy-to-use way. This will be important in

the coming broadband era as content distribution becomes increasingly diversified. The nine companies involved in the announcement will respectively develop products that take full advantage of Blu-ray Disc's large capacity and high-speed datatransfer rate. They are also aiming to further enhance theappeal of the new format through developing a larger capacity, such as over 30GB on a single sided single layer disc and over50GB on a single sided double layer disc. Adoption of the Blu-ray Disc in a variety of applications including PC data storage and high definition video software is being considered

Concept of the format establishment

 To realize the large capacity with 12cm disc - More than 2-hour high definition video recording - High capacity of more than 4-hour recording by double layer technology  To cope with digital broadcasting - High compatibility with digital broadcasting - To prevent illegitimate duplication of contents

 To enhance the Blu-ray Disc world - Adoption of the Blu-ray Disc in variety of media and applications

Main Features of physical format:

 Large recording capacity up to 27GB: By adopting a 405nm blue-violet semiconductor laser, with a0.85NA field lens and a 0.1mm optical transmittance protection disc layer structure, it can record up to 27GB video data on a single sided 12cm phase change disc. It can record over 2hours of digital high definition video and more than 13 hours of standard TV broadcasting (VHS/standard definition picturequality, 3.8Mbps)

 Easy to use disc cartridge: An easy to use optical disc cartridge protects the optical disc's recording and Play back phase from dust and fingerprints  High-speed data transfer rate 36Mbps: It is possible for the Blu-ray Disc to record digital high definitionbroadcasts or high definition images from a digital video camera while maintaining the original picture quality. In addition, by fully utilizing an optical disc's random accessing functions, it is possible to easily edit video

data captured on a video camera or play back pre-recorded video on the disc while simultaneously recording images being broadcast on TV.

 Recording format: Like the DVD, the Blu-ray disc uses phase change recording. This must be good news for those who plan to make the new format compatible with its wildly popular predecessor. This recording format will also makes a two-sided disc easily realizable because both writing and reading can be executed by a single pickup.

 Multiplexing: Blu-ray disc utilizes global standards like MPEG-2 Transport Stream compression technology for video and audio multiplexing. This makes it possible for a Blu ray Disc to record high definition broadcasting and other data simultaneously with video data if they are received together. Data captured on a video camera while recording images being broadcast on TV can also be edited simultaneously.

Main Features Of Logical format:

 Highly compatible with digital broadcasting : MPEG2 transport stream compression technology for video recording can record digital broadcasting including HDTV while maintaining its original picture quality.

 Best data structure for disc recording: Achieving improvement of searching, easy editing functionsand play a list play back functions by adapting logical data structure making the best use of random accessing.

 File system for HDTV real time recording:

Adapting the file system which can achieve high bit raterecording and playback of HDTV and best use of disc space

1. History of Blu ray Disc

1.1First Generation When the CD was introduced in the early 80s, it meant an enormous leap from traditional media. Not only did it offer a significant improvement in audio quality, its primary application, but its 650 MB storage capacity also meant a giant leap in data storage and retrieval. For the first time, there was a universal standard for pre recorded, recordable and rewritable media, offering the best quality and features consumers could wish for themselves, at very low costs.

1.2 Second Generation

Although the CD was a very useful medium for the recording and distribution of audio and some modest data applications, demand for a new medium offering higher storage capacities rose in the 90s. These demands lead to the evolution of the DVD specification and a five to ten fold increase in capacity. This enabled high quality, standard definition video distribution and recording. Furthermore, the increased capacity accommodated more demanding data applications. At the same time, the DVD spec used the same form factor as the CD, allowing for seamless migration to the next generation format and offering full backwards compatibility.

1. 3 T hi r d G e n er a ti o n
Now High Definition video is demanding a new solution. History proved that a significant five to ten time increase in storage capacity and the ability to play previous generation formats are key elements for a new format to succeed. This new format has arrived with the advent of Blu ray Disc, the only format that offers a considerable increase in storage capacity with its 25 to50 GB data capacity. This allows for the next big application of optical media: the distribution and recording of High Definition video in the highest possible quality. In fact, no other proposed format can offer the data capacity of Blu ray Disc, and no other format will allow for the same high video quality and Interactive features to create the ultimate user experience. As with DVD, the Blu-ray Disc format is based on the same, bare disc physical form factor, allowing for compatibility with CD and DVD.

The Blu ray Disc specification was officially announced in February 2002. Blu ray Disc recorders were first launched in Japan in 2003. 1982 First working CD player developed by Philips. Philips and Sony developed CD standard 12cm disk, 74 minutes on a single spiral 1983 First CD players sold 1985 CD ROM introduced not popular at first. More powerful PCs lead to demand for multimedia, image processing and larger applications. Growth in sales brings prices down. 1990s CD R and CD RW introduced big success. 1996 DVD introduced 1999 DVD becomes mainstream 2003 BD introduced

2. Glossary of Terms
2.1 HDTV (High Definition Video) This high resolution 16:9 ratio, progressive scan format can now be recorded to standard mini DV cassettes. Consumer high definition cameras are becoming available but this is currently an expensive, niche market. It is also possible to capture video using inexpensive webcams. These normally connect to a computer via USB. While they are much cheaper than DV cameras, webcams offer lower quality and less flexibility for editing purposes, as they do not capture video in DV format. Digital video is available on many portable devices from digital stills cameras to mobile phones. This is contributing to the emergence of digital video as a standard technology used and shared by people on a daily basis.

2.2 MPEG
MPEG, the Moving Picture Experts Group, overseen by the International Standards Organization (ISO), develops standards for digital video and digital audio compression. MPEG 1 with a default resolution of 352x240 was designed specifically for Video CD and CD media and is often used in CD ROMs.MPEG 1 audio layer 3 (MP3) compression evolved from early MPEG work. MPEG1 is an established, medium quality format(similar to VHS) supported by all players and platforms .Although not the best quality, it will work well on older specification machines.MPEG 2 compression (as used for DVD movies and digital television set top boxes) is an excellent format for distributing video, as it offers high quality and smaller file sizes than DV. Due to the way it compresses video MPEG 2 encoded footage is more problematic to edit than DV footage. Despite this, MPEG2is becoming more common as a capture format. MPEG 2 uses variable bit rates allowing frames to be encoded with more or less data depending on their contents. Most editing software now supports MPEG2 editing. Editing and encoding MPEG2requires more processing power than DVD and should be done on well specified machines. It is not suitable for internetdelivery.MPEG 4 is a set of video and audio standards intended to

deliver quality video over limited bandwidths that also support a range of other media types such as text, still image and animation. MPEG 4 offers high quality, scalable streaming over a range of bandwidths, including those provided by mobile networks. The standards also include components and elements that allow the viewer to interact with the picture on the screen or to manipulate individual elements in real time. The MPEG4 format is a container for various versions called layers. There are different implementations, some of which are proprietary and not compliant with the ISO MPEG4 standard. It was initially thought that MPEG4 would become the default format for video over the internet. With support from Apple, Real Networks and others this may still be the case. However, problems over licensing costs and the lack of digital rights management in the standard made many content providers slow to embrace it. These issues are being tackled but it also faces competition from proprietary formats such as Windows Media. MPEG4 is beginning to be supported in other areas such as mobile video (3G), mobile television, set top boxes and video on demand (VOD).

2. 3

G i g a b yt e (G B )

A gigabyte equals about 1,000 megabytes (MB). A Blu ray Disc capable of recording 50 GB therefore stores about 50,000Megabytes

2. 4

L a ye r

In Blu ray Disc, data is recorded on a single side of the disc. However, a disc can store two data layers, both at the same side. The readout or recording laser of the Blu ray Disc device will first read from or record to one layer, and then re focuses on the second layer. All this is done automatically without any user interference. A double layer Blu ray Disc can store up to 50GB of data.

2.5

SDT V It stands for Standard Definition Television. Generic term used for conventional television sets, based on the NTSC or PAL standards. SD television consists of 480 to 570 visible lines.

2.6

Numerical Aperture and Resolution

The numerical aperture of a microscope objective is a measure of its ability to gather light and resolve fine specimen detail at a fixed object distance.

Image forming light waves pass through the specimen and enter the objective in an inverted cone as illustrated in Figure1. A longitudinal slice of this cones of light shows the angular aperture, a value that is determined by the focal length of the objective. The angle is one half

the angular aperture (A) and is related to the numerical aperture through the following equation: Numerical Aperture (NA) = n (sin ) Where n is the refractive index of the imaging medium between the front lens of the objective and the specimen cover glass, a value that ranges from 1.00 for air to 1.51 for specialized immersion oils. Many authors substitute the variable for in the numerical aperture

equation. From this equation it is obvious that when the imaging medium is air (with a

refractive index, n = 1.0), then the numerical aperture is dependent only upon the angle

whose

maximum value is 90. The sin of the angle , therefore, has a maximum value of 1.0 (sin90 = 1), which is the theoretical maximum numerical aperture of a lens operating with air as the imaging medium (using dry microscope objectives).

2.7 THE BLUE LASER

The laser used with the Blu ray disc has a wavelength of 405nm.Though the red and the green lasers were discovered much earlier, it was only in 1996 that the blue laser was discovered. Actually, the wavelength 405nm would correspond to the blue violet part of the visible light, in the spectrum. This achievement is attributed to the efforts of Shuji Nakamura of Nichia Corporation, Japan. The device utilizes a GaN diode as its laser source. The operating current is kept between 60mA and70mA for optimum performance. For writing into the disc, the power of the laser used is about6mW. For reading from the disc, much lesser power is required, only about 0.7mW.The GaN source can give a power of about65mW. So, it is an ideal choice for the laser source to be used with the Blu ray disc. Due to the much lower wave length involved, the amorphous mark size (bit size) is small, leading to higher storage capacity on disc of the same size, about five to six times the capacity of a DVD.

A blue laser operates in the blue range of the light spectrum, ranging from about 405nm to 470nm. Most blue laser diodes use indium gallium nitride as the material to create the laser light, although the amount of indium included in the material v a r i e s . (Some blue laser diodes use no indium.) Some

manufacturers create blue LEDs (light-emitting diodes), which create light in a manner similar to lasers with silicon

carbide.B l u e l a s e r b e a m s h a v e a s m a l l e r s p o t s i z e a n d a r e m o r e p r e ci s e t h a n r e d l a s e r b e a m s , wh i c h l e t s d a t a o n b l u e l a s e r optical storage discs be stored more densely. The spot size of a laser beam is one determining factor, along with the materials in the optical disc and the way the laser is applie d to the disc, in the size of the pits the laser makes on an optical disc. Laser beams with larger spot sizes typically create larger pits than those with smaller

pit sizes. Blue lasers are desirable because blue light has the shortest wavelength among visible light. A blue laser operates at a shorter wavelength of about 405nmthan a red laser at about 650nm. A nanometer (nm) is one-billionth of a meter, one-millionth of a millimeter, and one-thousandth of a micron. One inch is equal to about 25.4 million nanometers. A human hair is about 50,000nm wide. Blue Laser Development Shiju Nakamura is credited with inventing the blue diode laser a n d b l u e , g r e e n , and wh i t e LEDs. Naka mura wa s wo r k i n g at blue

N i c h i a C h e mi c a l I n d u s t r i e s i n J a p a n w h e n h e d e v e l o p e d t h e

laser in 1995. Its a technology many large corporations had been trying to develop for several years. Nakamura had worked with LEDs and lasers for several years b e f o r e t a c k l i n g b l u e l a s e r s i n t h e l a t e 1 9 8 0 s . B e c a u s e m o s t research at the time focused on using zinc selenide as the laser material, Nakamura decided to work with gallium nitride. He spent two years perfecting a technique for growing highquality gallium nitride crystals, something other researchers had been unable to achieve. Finally, Nakamura had the materials necessary to create blue LEDs, which he did in 1993. He followed with green LEDs and a b l u e l a s e r d i o d e i n t h e n e x t f e w y e a r s . H e s a y s t h e b i g g e s t commercial use for blue lasers should be DVD players. Putting Blue Lasers to Work Blue lasers could appear in a variety of business applications, i n c l u d i n g h i g h d e n s i t y D V D s , l a s e r p r i n t e r s , a n d l i g h t i n g situations. HD DVDs:

HD

(high-definition)

DVDs

using

blue

laser

light

c o u l d l e a d t o f i v e o r s i x t i me s t h e s t o r a g e c a p a c i t y p o s s i b l e using red laser light on a DVD. Blue laser light could create HDCDs, too. Because blue lasers can increase the capacity of optical discs by five-fold or more, they give manufacturers a few options

fort h e i r d i g i t a l f i l e s . M a n u f a c t u r e r s c o u l d c h o o s e t o

b u r n addi ti onal

data

onto

the

disc

wh i l e

keeping

the

sa me

d i g i t a l q u a l i t y , p o t e n t i a l l y ma k i n g C D s c o n t a i n i n g 5 0 t o 7 5 s o n g s . Manufacturers also could choose to use blue laser to increase the quality level of the video or audio recording. Keep in mind that nearly all DVDs using the MPEG-2 standard automatically contain some compression of the video file, which allows the f i l e to fit on the disc. With an HD DVD,

m a n u f a c t u r e r s c o u l d choose to use no compression on the video file, which should improve file quality. Light bulbs:

W i t h g r e e n a n d r e d l a s e r s a l r e a d y a v a i l a b l e , d e v e l o p me n t o f a b l u e l a s e r wo u l d b e t h e f i n a l p i e c e o f t h e laser puzzle among primary colors. By using all three colors of lasers, a researcher could create a device that would mix the laser light and create white light, which, at some point, could replace the common light bulb. If you combine red, green, and blue laser light, you can produce light with greater

brilliancea n d g r e a t e r e f f i c i e n c y t h a n c u r r e n t l y i s a v a i l a b l e w i t h fluorescent lights. Creating LEDs in this manner can be of particular help in areas where light bulbs are expensive and difficult to replace. An LED can burn for several times as long as a light bulb for about one-fourth the operating cost because most of the LEDs energy is i n v o l v e d i n c r e a t i n g l i g h t , r a t h e r t h a n c r e a t i n g h e a t e n e r g y . Traditional light bulbs create a lot of heat along with the light. LEDs already are used in many traffic lights, where traditional b u l b s u s u a l l y l a s t l e s s t h a n o n e y e a r , c a n b e t o u g h t o s e e i n sunlight, and fail suddenly. LEDs in a traffic light should last at least five years, remain highly visible in sunlight, and gradually fade in intensity rather than failing suddenly.

Medicine: S c i e n t i s t s a l r e a d y a r e e xp e r i me n t i n g wi t h b l u e l a s e r s i n d i s c o v e ring certain types of cancer. Using an researchers have had some endoscope, finding

success

tumorsu s i n g a b l u e l a s e r l i g h t i n s i d e t h e p a t i e n t s s t o m a c h a n d intestinal tract. Printing:

Laser printers using blue laser light would be more user e d t s precise l a s e r than l i g h t . todays B e c a u s e laser o f b l u e

smaller

and which

printers, l a s e r

l i g h

s m a l l e r wa v e l e n g t h , t h e l a s e r me c h a n i s m i n s i d e a p r i n t e r t h

a t u s e s blue laser light could be smaller, leading to smaller printers. Print resolution using blue lasers would be at least double that of todays top laser printers, too; some researchers estimate r e s o l u t i o n a s s h a r p a s 2 , 4 0 0 d p i i n a b l u e l a s e r p r i n t e r . B l u e laser could play a role in full-color scanners and fax machines, too. Security:

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, fears have increased over additional attacks using biological or chemical weapons. However, blue laser light causes some chemical and biological agents to give off light, even though those agentsa r e i n v i s i b l e t o t h e n a k e d e y e , w h i c h m i g h t l e t s e c u r i t y screening personnel spot a biological agent during a routine search or as the agent comes through customs.