New Disc Technologies

When talking about the future of CD duplication, DVD copying or just disc technologies in general, currently only one thing springs to mind...Blu-ray.

The name "Blue-ray comes from the colour of the laser used to read and write this type of discs i.e. blue-violet.

The Blue-ray discs can hold more data than a DVD because of its short wavelength (405nm). A DVD, which uses a red laser, has a wavelength of 650 nm.

As we know a whole DVD can hold up to 4.7 GB of data. One layer of a blue-ray disc can hold 25 GB. Dual layer Blue-ray discs can hold 50 GB. So, this gives you an idea of how far the technology has increased from our day-today DVD disc - a very long way.

It was a collection of several companies who specialise in; consumer electronics, computer hardware and motion picture production - that developed the Blue-ray disc. They are now known as the Blue-ray Disc Association.

Currently only HD DVD is competing with Blue-ray to be the leading carrier for high-definition content to consumers.

You will find Blue-ray technology in some of the latest game consoles available today e.g. Sony Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360