X-bit labs

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Blu-Ray Technology under Magnifying Glass. Web-site Explains Blu-Ray Technology Basics

With the arrival of high definition video, the widely used DVD ROM optical storage format proved to be incapable of storing full length movies on a single disc. Replacements that would provide greater storage capacities have been developed, but at the end two competing next-generation formats have been developed – Blu-ray and HD DVD.

Bona Fide Reviews web-site takes a look at Blu-ray technology and explains the basics. The author compares specifications of CD ROM, DVD ROM and Blu-ray standards.

“The laser used in Blu-ray is a blue laser that has a much shorter wavelength (405nm) than a red laser (650nm) which is used to read CDs and DVDs. Since the laser is smaller and more precise it can read much smaller pits than the DVD laser. The smaller the pits, the more that can fit onto a disc, the more data the disc can hold. Below are three images of pits, one on a CD, one on a DVD, and one on a Blu-ray disc. he pits on a Blu-ray Disc are much smaller than those on a DVD and CD and they are also much closer together. This is because the track pitch on a BD has been reduced from the .74 microns of a DVD to .32 microns,” writes the author.

Because of tight competition with another next-generation optical disc storage format - HD DVD, the author makes a direct comparison between Blu-ray and HD DVD technologies.

“The main similarity between the two formats is that both will use a blue laser with a wavelength of 405nm for reading data off of the disc. The one of main differences between HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc is that it will be very cheap for manufacturers to move from making DVD to HD-DVD products. HD-DVD drives will also be backwards compatible with current DVD formats meaning everyone’s DVDs won’t become obsolete once it hits the market. It will also be cheaper to produce HD-DVD discs then Blu-ray Discs as they too are similar to the current DVD format. The primary drawback to HD-DVD is its capacity compared to that of Blu-ray. In a single-layer disc, Blu-ray can hold up to 10GB more data than HD-DVD which is a major issue when considering how much data extra features, which are commonly included on DVDs, will take up. The HD- DVD format simply may not be big enough to hold a full length movie,” concludes the web-site.

The Blu-ray is backed by Sony and Panasonic, the world’s biggest makers of electronics. HD DVD is pushed aggressively by Toshiba and NEC as well as being standardized at the DVD Forum, which represents over 230 consumer electronics, information technology, and content companies worldwide.

• Bona Fide Reviews: What is Blu-ray Disc?

Google Invests Money into AOL Ad Networks. Google, Time Warner Strike $1 Billion Deal on AOL

According to a report at CNET News.com, Google will invest $1 billion for a 5% stake in Time Warner’s America Online unit as part of a partnership that expands the company’s existing search engine deal to include collaboration on advertising, instant messaging and video.

“Under the new global advertising partnership, AOL will be able to sell all types of ads, including search, banner and display, across Google’s network, which includes Google’s own Web sites and the publisher sites that display Google-powered ads. Google’s home page and core search results page will stick with text-only ads, while graphical ads could appear on Google’s video and image search sites,” said Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of search products and user experience.

The companies said they would collaborate on online video search and showcase AOL’s premium video service within Google Video, as well as allow Google Talk and AIM instant messaging users to communicate with each other, the news-story claims.

While the cooperation of two companies is expected to be mutually beneficial, some analysts believe that Google had precise reasons to invest money in AOL.

“I don’t see it as a strategic technology deal. I see it more as a tactical advantage, especially against Microsoft. It gives Google a laboratory or testing ground for them to test new ideas about advertising. I don’t see the AOL network to be of strategic value to either Google or Microsoft,” said Safa Rashtchy, analyst at Piper Jaffray.

Google had 48% search market share in October, compared with 22%  for Yahoo, 11% for Microsoft’s MSN and 7.2% for AOL, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

• CNET News.com: Google, Time Warner Strike $1 billion Deal on AOL.