NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECNOLOGY, SRINAGAR

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

SEMINAR REPORT ON BLU-RAY DISC

SUBMITTED BY :-

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 upto 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 usin g a laser with a nice colour.

INDEX
INTRODUCTION.. HISTORY OF BLU-RAY DISC.. FIRST GENERATION. SECOND GENERATION. THIRD GENERATION GLOSSARY OF TERMS LAYER SDTV. NUMERICAL APERTURE BLUE LASER OPTICAL DATA STORAGE FOR DIGITAL VIDEO INTRODUCTION PARAMETERS FOR HD VIDEO STORAGE WITH OPTICAL DISCS. OPTICAL PARA METER DISK STRUCTURE PARAMETERS DATA MANAGEMENT PARAMETERS. DIFFERENT FORMATS OF BD TWO VERSIONS OF RECORDING ONE TIME RECORDING.. RECORD MANY TIMES. BLU-RAY DISC STRUCTURE. BLU-RAY DISC CHARACTERISTICS..

LARGE RECORDING CAPACITY HIGH SPEED RESISTANCE TO SCRATCHES AND FINGERPRINTS.. CHARACTERISTICS OF IDEAL COMMUNICATION.. HOW DOES BLU-RAY DISC WORK? COMPARISONS . BLU-RAY DISC AND HD-DVD ADVANTAGES BD. OF

APPLICATIONS HIGH DEFINITION TELEPHONE RECORDING HIGH DEFINITION VIDEO DISTRIBUTION HIGH DEFINITION CAMCORDER ARCHIVING MASS DATA STORAGE. DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT AND PROFESSIONAL STORAGE REQUIREMENTS CHALLENGES . FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS.

CONCLUSION . REFERENCES

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 27 gigabytes (GB) of data on a single sided single layer 12cm CD/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 laser 0.85. In addition, by using a disc structure with a 0.1mm optical transmittance protection layer, the Blu-ray Disc diminishes aberration caused by disc tilt. This also allows for disc better readout 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 Blu-ray Disc utilizes global standard "MPEG-2 Transport Stream" compression 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 data transfer rate. They are also aiming to further enhance the appeal of the new format through developing a larger capacity, such as over 30GB on a single sided single layer disc and over 50GB on a single sided double layer disc. Adoption of the Bluray 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 a 0.85NA 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 2 hours of digital high definition video and more than 13 hours of standard TV broadcasting (VHS/standard definition picture quality, 3.8Mbps)

Easy to use disc cartridge:

An easy to use optical disc cartridge protects the optical disc's recording and playback phase from dust and fingerprints

High-speed data transfer rate 36Mbps:

It is possible for the Blu-ray Disc to record digital high definition broadcasts 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 functions and play a list playback 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 rate recording and playback of HDTV and best use of disc space

History of Bluray Disc

First 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 prerecorded, recordable and rewritable media, offering the best quality and features consumers could wish for themselves, at very low costs.

Second Generation

Although the CD was a very useful medium for the recording and distribution of audio and some modest dataapplications, 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.

Third Generation
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 Bluray Disc, the only format that offers a considerable increase in storage capacity with its 25 to 50 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 Bluray 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 Bluray Disc specification was officially announced in February 2002. Bluray 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 CDROM 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 CDR and CDRW introduced big success. 1996 DVD introduced 1999 DVD becomes mainstream 2003 BD introduce

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Layer
In Bluray 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 Bluray Disc device will first read from or record to one layer, and then refocuses on the second layer. All this is done automatically without any user interference. A double layer Bluray Disc can store upto 50 GB of data.

SDTV
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.

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.

Imageforming light waves pass through the specimen and enter the objective in an inverted cone as illustrated in Figure 1. 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 onehalf 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).

THE BLUE LASER

The laser used with the Bluray 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 blueviolet 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 and 70mA for optimum performance. For writing into the disc, the power of the laser used is about 6mW. For reading from the disc, much lesser power is required, only about 0.7mW.The GaN source can give a power of about 65mW. So, it is an ideal choice for the laser source to be used with the Bluray disc. Due to the much lower wavelength 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 varies. (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. Blue laser beams have a smaller spot size and are more precise than red laser beams, which lets data on blue laser 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 405nm than a red laser at about 650nm. A nanometer (nm) is onebillionth of a meter, one-millionth of a millimeter, and onethousandth of a micron. One inch is equal to about 25.4 million nanometers. A human hair is about 50,000nm wide.

Optical Data Storage for Digital Video Introduction

Optical data storage is commercially successful in the form of Compact Discs (CDs) for audio and software distribution and Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs) for video distribution. CDs and DVDs look very similar because the fundamental optical technology for both devices is the same. This similarity is also true for the next generation of optical data storage, which may be used for digital home theater recording and HDTV distribution. However, CDs, DVDs and next generation products are different in terms of specific optical components in the drive, in how data are managed and in details of the disk structure used to store the information. These differences allow a larger volume of data to be recorded on each successive generation. Larger data volumes translate into higher quality video and longer playing time.

Parameters for HD Video Storage with Optical Disks

Optical Parameters Disk Structure Parameters Data Management Parameters

Optical parameters include laser wavelength, objective lens numerical aperture, protective layer thickness and free working distance. Data management parameters include data rate, video format, HDTV play time and bitrate scheme. Disk structure parameters are user data capacity, minimum channel bit length and tracktotrack spacing. Optical parameter Digital information is stored on optical disks in the form of arrangements of data marks in spiral tracks. The process for exposing data marks on a recordable optical disk is shown in Fig. 1, where an input stream of digital information is converted with an encoder and modulator into a drive signal for a laser source. The laser source emits an intense light beam that is directed and focused onto the surface by the objective lens. As the surface moves under the scanning spot, energy from the intense scan spot is absorbed, and a small, localized region heats up. The surface, under the influence of heat

beyond a critical writing threshold, changes its reflective properties. Modulation of the intense light beam is synchronous with the drive signal, so a circular track of data marks is formed as the surface rotates. The scan spot is moved slightly as the surface rotates to allow another track to be written on new media during the next revolution. Data marks on prerecorded disks are fabricated by first making a master disk with the appropriate datamark pattern. Masters for prerecorded CDs and DVDs are often exposed in a similar manner to exposing data marks on recordable optical disks, except that the lightsensitive layer is designed to produce pits in the master that serve as data marks in the replicas. Inexpensive replicas of the master are made with Injection molding equipment. Readout of data marks on the disk is illustrated in Fig.2, where the laser is used at a constant output power level that does not heat the data surface beyond its thermal writing threshold. The laser beam is directed through a beam splitter into the objective lens, where the beam is focused onto the surface. As the data marks to be read pass under the scan spot, the reflected light is modulated. Modulated light is collected by illumination optics and directed by the beam splitter to servo and data optics, which converge the light onto detectors. The detectors change light modulation into current modulation that is amplified and decoded to

Fig 2

produce the output data stream. A fundamental limitation to the number of data marks per unit area is due to the size of the focused laser beam that illuminates the surface. Small laser spots are required to record and read out small data marks. More data marks per unit area translate into higher capacity disks, so evolution of optical data storage is toward smaller spot sizes. Figure 3 shows a detailed picture of the laser irradiance approaching the surface, where irradiance is defined as the laser power per unit area. Ideally, maximum irradiance is located at the recording material, along with the smallest spot size s. As the distance increases away from the ideal focus, the spot size increases and the peak irradiance decreases. A defocus distance z of only a few micrometers dramatically reduces peak irradiance and increases spot size. An approximate formula used to estimate the ideal spot size at best focus is s = /(sin ), where is the marginal ray angle of the illumination optics, as shown in Fig. 1. Spot size s is the full width of the irradiance distribution at the 1/e2 (13.5%)

irradiance level relative to the peak. The value of sin q is often called the numerical aperture or NA of the optical system.

Fig 3

Instead of focusing directly on the recording surface, optical disks focus through a protective layer, as shown in Fig.4 for a simple CDROM. The protective layer prevents dust and other contamination from directly obstructing the laser spot at the data marks. Instead, the outoffocus contamination only partially obscures the laser focus cone, and data can usually be recovered reliably. If the protective layer is scratched or damaged, it can be cleaned or buffed. As the protective layer gets thinner, the error rate increases to an unacceptable threshold due to obscuration of the laser beam. This sensitivity decreases as NA increases, due to the smaller defocus range associated with these systems. In addition, the free working distance separates the objective lens from the spinning disk. This separation protects the disk against accidental contact between the objective lens and the disk.

In order to maximize disk capacity, the optical system uses high NA and short wavelength. For maximum contamination protection, the protective layer should be as thick as possible. However, the combination of thick protective layer and high NA is not easily accomplished. High NA systems are sensitive to changes in substrate thickness and disk tilt. Manufacturing variations create thickness no uniformities, which are usually

Fig 4

a small percentage of the total disk thickness. Motor instabilities induce tilt as the disk spins. Energy from the central portion of the spot is redistributed to concentric rings, which degrade the quality of the read out signal. This Degrades the read out signal. Tilt causes coma, which is another form of aberration effect, is called spherical aberration. Sensitivity of the spot to degradation from thickness variations and disk tilt is plotted in Fig. 5 as a function of total protective layer thickness for two values of NA. In order to limit these

effects, the substrate is made as thin as possible without sacrificing contamination protection. The most conservative technology is the Video CD. Its thick protective layer, relatively low NA and long laser wavelength produce a stable system that is not very sensitive to environmental factors like dust and scratches. The ideal spot size is about 0.78/0.5 = 1.6 micrometers. Although the cover layer is thick at 1.2 mm, the sensitivity to thickness

variations and disk tilt is low because of the low NA. DVD technology uses a shorter wavelength laser, higher NA optics and a thinner protective layer. The combination of short wavelength and higher NA produce a spot size of about 1.1 micrometers. The protective layer had to be made thinner, because the sensitivity to thickness variations and disk tilt is too high otherwise. DVDs are slightly more sensitive to dust and scratches than CDs. The net effect is not great, because higher NA reduces the focal depth and DVDs have a more robust error management strategy.

The Advanced Optical Disk and BluRay systems both use a new blue laser source that emits 0.405 micrometer light. The Advanced Optical Disk system uses the same protective layer thickness as a DVD, and it uses the same NA objective lens. Due to the short wavelength, the spot size for the Advanced Optical Disk is about 0.62 micrometers. Sensitivity to dust and scratches is about the same as a DVD, as well as the sensitivity to thickness variations and disk tilt. The BluRay system uses both higher NA and thinner cover layer. The spot size is 0.405/0.85 = 0.48micrometers, which is the smallest spot size of all the technologies. However,because of the high NA, the protective layer had to be made thin to limit sensitivity to thickness variations and disk tilt. Therefore, Blu Ray disks are sensitive to dust and scratches. The free working distance is nearly is same for all technologies except BluRay. BluRay systems utilize more complicated lens systems due to the high NA, so working distance had to be reduced. The integrity of this reduced working distance is not clear at this time.

Disk Structure Parameters

The spot size created from the NA and wavelength parameters is the most important factor to determine the tracktotrack spacing and the minimum channel bit length along the track. Several channel bits are encoded into each data mark. The number of channel bits per data mark depends on the modulation scheme. The relatively large spot produces relatively large data marks and correspondingly wide tracks and large channelbit lengths. Progressively smaller spot sizes enable smaller track spacing and shorter channel bit lengths.

Fig 6

To the user, all generations of optical disks look very similar. They all are round disks that are approximately 120 mm in diameter, have a central mounting hole and are approximately 1.2 mm thick. Through many years of experience with CDs, this format has proven effective and mechanically reliable. However, the manner in which data layers are arranged on the disk depends on the technology used. For example, the CD uses a simple 1.2 mm thick substrate, as shown in Fig. 6A. Data are recorded on only one side of the disk, through the clear 1.2 mm substrate, which also serves as the protective layer. DVDs, Warner HDDVDs and Advanced Optical Disks use the format shown in Fig. 6B, where two 0.6 mm substrates are bonded together and the data are recorded on the bond side of each substrate. DVDs also allow more two layers per side (A, B in Fig. 6B), where the layers are separated by a thin adhesive spacer. The two layers are fabricated before bonding at the same time as the individual 0.6 mm substrates. Like the CD, data are recorded and read through the clear substrates. It is likely that the Warner HDDVD and Advanced Optical Disk

will also take advantage of this multiplelayer concept. A potential implementation of the BluRay disk is shown in Fig. 6C, where the protective layers on each side are very thin at 0.1 mm. In this case, data are recorded on the substrate, which does not serve as the protective layer. Instead, a protective layer resin is spun on and hardened or a thin protective sheet is bonded on each side of the substrate. Because of the thin protective layer, the BluRay disk must also be used with a cartridge.

The only optical disk technology that plans to use a Cartridge is the BluRay system. The BluRay cartridge is necessary for contamination Protection, but the working distance of around 0.1 mm and protective layer thickness of 0.1 mm are large compared to the contact recording. The technology for making disks is very similar to existing DVD technology. Higherresolution mastering machines and finer control over the injection molding process should produce the required changes without substantially retooling the industry. The BluRay system requires the most changes of the three, including a blue laser, detector, and advanced objective lens. BluRay also requires new disk and cartridge manufacturing technology, which may be difficult to implement in a short time frame.

Data Management Parameters

The logical organization of data on the disk and how those data are used are considerations for data management. Data management considerations have important implications in the application of optical disk technology to storage for HDTV. For example, simply using a more advanced error correction scheme on DVDs allows a 30% higher disk capacity compared to CDs. Data rate, video format, bitrate scheme and HDTV play time are all data management issues.

There is a basic difference in data management between CDs and DVDs. Since CDs were designed for audio, data are managed in a manner similar to data management for magnetic tape. Long, contiguous files are used that are not easily subdivided and written in a random access pattern. Efficient data retrieval is accomplished when these long files are read out in a contiguous fashion. To be sure, CDs are much more efficient that magnetic tape for pseudorandom access, but the management philosophy is the same. On the other hand, DVDs are more like magnetic hard disks, where the file structure is designed to be used in randomaccess architecture. That is, efficient recovery of variable length files is achieved. In addition, the Original error correction strategy for CDs was designed for error concealment when listening to audio, where DVDs utilize true error correction. Later generations of optical disks also follow the DVD model. The randomaccess nature of DVDs allows very efficient methods for data compression. For example, MPEG2 with variable bit rate allows data to be read out from the disk as they are required, rather than supplying data at a constant rate. Slowly moving scenes, like love scenes or conversations, require much less information per frame than a fastmoving car chase or explosion. In these fastmoving scenes, the maximum amount of information per scene is limited only by the maximum data rate of the player. For HDTV, acceptable picture quality is obtained by using MPEG2 with a maximum data rate of about 1325 Mbps for most scenes. During a slow scene, not as many files are accessed, and much less storage area on the disk is used. This architecture leaves room on the disk for the data associated with fastermoving scenes. Fixedrate schemes, like magnetic tape, supply data at a constant rate, no matter what the requirements of the scene. During fastmoving scenes, the data stream from the tape supplies an adequate data rate. The tape speed and data rate for these devices are set by the upper limit of the scene requirements. Since the tape does not slow down during slower scenes, the data stream is padded at these times with useless information that takes up valuable storage area on the tape.

Overall, the randomaccess architecture of optical disks is a much more efficient way to use the available storage area. That is, optical disks do not require as many gigabytes of user data capacity for an equivalent length and quality HDTV presentation. It is not practical to store HDTV on CDs and DVDs with MPEG 2. For CDs, special multiplebeam readout or high velocity disk dives could produce the data rate, which is an advantage of the fixedbitrate scheme. However, the play time would be only a few minutes, at best. DVDs are not capable of the 13 Mbps random data rate to support MPEG2. The Advanced Optical Disk exhibits acceptable data rate and reasonable user data capacity for up to two hours of HDTV per side compressed with variable bitrate MPEG2. Bluray has slightly higher capacity and data rate. The twohour play time for HDTV with BluRay in Table I is really a specification for realtime recording, which is not easily compressed into an efficient variablerate scheme. BluRay should easily provide two hours or longer of prerecorded HDTV per side compressed with MPEG2. MPEG2 is a technique for compressing video data and replaying the data associated with certain rules that are defined in the MPEG2 specifications. The action of the optical disk system is not to compress data or interpret the video information rules. Instead, the optical disk system only stores and retrieves data on command from the video operating system. Therefore, as video operating systems and associated compression technology become more advanced, no fundamental changes are required to the optical disk system. MPEG4 technology is an advanced video compression scheme that utilizes advanced prefiltering and postfiltering, in addition to a rulebased algorithm. Estimated improvement in compression is a around a factor of three beyond MPEG2.

Different Formats of Blueray Disc BDROM BDR BDRW BDRE : A read only format developed for prerecorded
content.

: A write once format developed for PC storage. : A rewritable format developed for PC storage. : A rewritable format developed for HDTV
recording.

Two Versions of Recording

One Time Recording

Making permanent changes to a disc. If we use BDR the material on the disc itself is changed forever. There is no way to get the material back into its old state. The recording material is crystalline in nature. As scan spot falls on the surface it changes to amorphous. We cannot change it back to crystal state.

Record Many Times

If we use a BDRW the material on the disc itself changes, but can be changed back again .We can do this as long as the material doesnt get worn out. By heating up the crystals, they change form. Now when we quickly cool them, they stay in that form itself. That is the material is changed from crystal state to amorphous state. Now, if we want to erase the BDRW, we have to make sure that we lose all the data. So we want to get rid of that amorphous state. By heating up the material again, but this time taking more time and less heat, the material gradually

wants to take its old form again, and thus the information is erased. This state is called the crystalline state. So, by very quickly heating it and very quickly cooling it, give the crystal another state (Amorphous state) which thus contains the data and by very quite slowly heating it and cooling it, we can give the crystals their old form back (crystalline state) which contains no more data. Its a constant change of phases. And so it is called as phase change recording.

Bluray Disc Structure

The structure of the BD is as shown. The 0.1mm transparent cover layer is made of a spincoated UV resin. It is formed by sandwiching a transparent layer between a protective coating and a bonding layer. This layer offers excellent birefringence. Beneath, there is a layer of Antis layer acts as a heat sink, dissipating the excess heat during the write process. A spacer layer made of ZnSSiO2 comes next. Then, the recording layer made of Ag, In, Sb, Te, Ge comes. Grooves are formed on this layer for recording reflective layer of Ag alloy falls beneath and finally a plastic substrate comes.

The key features of the technology are introduced as follows:

Highly flat and smooth cover layer:

At the high speed recording rate involved, the linear velocity of the disc reaches 20m/s or more and as a result accurate focus control becomes difficult. Various experiments showed that flatness and smoothness of the transparent cover layer have a marked influence on the focus control capability. This end is achieved by using the spin coating method for obtaining the transparent cover layer. Thus stable record ability at high speed recording is secured.

Phase change film for high speed recording:

The phase change film should have high re-crystallization speed to enable direct recording at the high linear velocities involved. A recording layer made of Ag, In, Sb, Te, Ge meets this purpose.

Super advanced rapid cooling structure:

The excess heat from the LASER irradiation causes distortion of the recorded mark edge. So, to diffuse the remaining excess heat, a transparent dielectric film of high thermal conductivity, for example, AlN is used.

Basic Bluray Disc Characteristics Large Recording Capacity

The Bluray disc enables the recording, rewriting and playback of HD video unto 27 GB of data on a single sided single layer. It is enough to put 2.5 hours of HDTV recording on it. It also can record over 13 hours of standard TV broadcasting using the VHS/ standard definition picture quality.

High Speed
It has a data transfer rate of 36 Mbps. Because of this high speed transfer rates it can also record the data in very little time. In a perfect environment it would take about 2.5 hours to fill the entire BD with 27 GB of data. More than enough transfer capacity for real time recording and playback.

Resistant to Scratches and Fingerprints

The protective layer is hard enough to prevent accidental abrasions and allows fingerprints to be removed by wiping the disc with a tissue.

Characteristics of Ideal Communication

1.

Speed: The blue laser technology will allow DVD

recording devices to record data at a speed of 36Mbps. Developing companies such a TDK also stated that they will be able to increase the recording speed up to 72Mbps and 144Mbps. Developing companies such as Toshiba and NEC have been working on this technology and have already developed the blue laser standard.

2.

Reliability: Storage mediums used by blue laser

burners will provide high reliable backup at affordable prices. Media types will provide a 50 year data life. They will also employ a new dual shutter cartridge to minimize contamination and protect valuable data stored on a disc.

3. Quality: Media storage devices using this technology will have a quality
similar to the quality of red laser storage devices. Optical discs have to be used in a safe way. They should be in the case they come in or in the device using it. This is to avoid scratching of the discs which can cause data on a disc to be unreadable. Laser printers would me more precise than regular laser printers that use red laser, because of the shorter wavelength that blue laser has. 4. Ease of Use: DVD recording devices are very simple to use. Even children can use them. There are no complexities to the use of blue laser recording devices. They are used just like any regular red laser DVD recording device. An easy to use optical disc cartridge protects the optical disc's recording and playback phase from dust and fingerprints.
5.

Cost: The price of an optical disc recording device using

blue ray will start off with a high price tag around $1700. Just like any computer related devices that are new the price will decrease as time passes. It has a high storage capacity which is up to 60 GB on a dual sided DVD.

Safety

and

Security: Blue laser light helps in

detecting some chemical and biological weapons because it causes them to give off light. So it could be used in airports and other places that have security screening to detect such a weapon.

How does Blu-ray disc work? History of Technology

The challenge to write more information on disk Shiju Nakamura is credited with inventing the blue diode laser and blue, green, and white LEDs. Nakamura was working at Nichia Chemical Industries in Japan when he developed the blue laser in 1995.

Description of how this technology works

Blue lasers have a wavelength of 405 nanometers, shorter than that of red lasers, which have a wavelength of around 650 nanometers and are used for reading and writing DVD and CD discs. The shorter wavelength means that the laser can register smaller dots on a disc and more data can be stored. As a result, blue laser technology has been adopted for the development of next-generation optical discs. 1. Using double infrared frequency to create the wavelength for blue light. 2. A blue laser operates in the blue range of the light spectrum, ranging from about 405nm to 470nm. 3. Most blue laser diodes use indium, gallium nitride as the material to create the laser light. 4. Blue laser beams have a smaller spot size and are more precise than red laser beams, which lets data on blue laser optical storage discs be stored more densely.

5. 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 applied to the disc, in the size of the pits the laser makes on an optical disc. 6. Laser beams with larger spot sizes typically create larger pits than those with smaller pit sizes.

Comparisons
While current optical disc technologies such as CD, DVD, DVDR, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW use a red laser to read and write data, the new format uses a blue laser instead, hence the name Blu-ray. The benefit of using a blue laser is that it has a shorter wavelength (405 nanometer) than a red laser (650 nanometer), which means that it's possible to focus the laser beam with even greater precision. This allows data to be packed more tightly on the disc and makes it possible to fit more data on the same size disc. Despite the different type of lasers used, Blu-ray Disc Recorders will be made compatible with current red-laser technologies and allow playback of CDs and DVDs.The following diagram shows the comparison between different storage Techn.

Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD

The HDDVD format, originally called AOD or Advanced Optical Disc, is based on much of todays DVD principles and as a result, suffers from many of its limitations. The format does not provide as big of a technological step as Bluray Disc. For example, its prerecorded capacities are only 15 GB for a single layer disc, or 30 GB for a double layer disc. Bluray Disc provides 67% more capacity per layer at 25 GB for a single layer and 50GB for a double layer disc. Although the HDDVD format claims it keeps initial investments for disc replicates and media manufacturers as low as possible, they still need to make substantial investments in modifying their production equipment to create HDDVDs. But whats more important is that HDDVD can be seen as just a transition technology, with a capacity not sufficient for the long term. It might not offer enough space to hold a High Definition feature along with bonus material in HD quality and additional material that can be revealed upon authorization via a network. When two discs are needed, this will degrade the socalled cost benefit substantially. It is even possible that the HDDVD specification will be followed up by a renewed version of the technology within a few years, requiring media manufacturers to upgrade their existing production lines again, and consumers to replace their existing playback/recording equipment. On the other hand, the Bluray Disc format was designed to be a viable technology for a period of at least 10 to 15 years.

Also on the application layer, the HDDVD format incorporates many compromises. As the capacity is not likely to be sufficient to encode a fulllength feature plus additional bonus materials using the MPEG2 format, different and stronger encoding formats need to be used. Although Bluray Disc offers these advanced codec as well, the disc has such high capacity that publishers can still use the MPEG2 encoding format at bit rates up to 54 Mbit/sec. As MPEG2 is the defacto standard used in almost any industry involved in digital video (DVD, HDTV, digital broadcast), many authoring solutions are available. Chances are high that a full line MPEG2 encoding suite is already available, which can be used with no or minor adaptations to encode High Definition content for Bluray Disc. But perhaps the most important factor for the success of Blu ray Disc is its overwhelming industrywide support. Almost all consumer electronics companies in the world (combined market share of about 90%) and the worlds two largest computer companies support the Bluray Disc format

13. Advantages The main advantages of the Blu ray disc are
More storage capacity on a disc of the same size

The data storage capacity on a Bluray disc is 27GB on a single layer and 54GB on dual layer, which is about five to six times the capacity of a DVD. It would mean about 2.5 hours of HDTV video and about 13 hours of SDTV video. High data transfer rate.

The basic data transfer rate in Bluray disc is about 36Mbps which is about three times that of a DVD and thirty times that of a CD.

 Available in different versions like ROM, R and RE

The BD is available in different versions like the ROM (write once), R (read only), RE (rewritable). Backward compatible

The BD drives are designed to be backward compatible, i.e. CDs and DVDs work equally well with the BD drives. Strong content protection The features of the content protection system are Format Developed with Input from Motion Picture Studios. Strong Copy Protection. Renewability with Renewal Key Block and Device Key. Enhanced Encryption Algorithm: AES 128 bit. Physical Hook against Bit by Bit Encrypted Content Copy. Titlebased Expandable Content Control File. Production Process Control Works against Professional Piracy. Public Key Based Authentication in PC Environment. Compatible with analog and digital transmission

The BD fares well with analog as well as digital transmission. It offers the only means to the recording and reproducing of digital HDTV video. Format for encoding analog signals also, called SESF (Self Encoded Stream Format) is also incorporated into the BD.

 Higher disc life

In the case of ordinary discs, the disc life is less fir the rewritable versions, as rewriting is done repeatedly to one area of the disc most probably, the inner perimeter. This limits the disc life. But, the BDFS(Bluray Disc File Structure is designed so as to avoid this problem, by using a system that uses free disc spaces with equal frequency.

15. Applications
High Definition Television Recording High Definition Video Distribution High Definition Camcorder Archiving Mass Data Storage Digital Asset Management and Professional Storage

The Bluray Disc format was designed to offer the best performance and features for a wide variety of applications. High Definition video distribution is one of the key features of Bluray Disc, but the formats versatile design and topof theline specifications mean that it is suitable for a full range of other purposes as well.

15.4 Mass Data Storage

In its day, CDR/RW meant a huge increase in storage capacity compared to traditional storage media with its 650 MB. Then DVD surpassed this amount by offering 4.7 to 8.5 GB of storage, an impressive 5 to 10 times increase. Now consumers demand an even bigger storage capacity. The growing number of broadband connections allowing consumers to download vast amounts of data, as well as the ever increasing audio, video and photo capabilities of personal computers has lead to yet another level in data storage requirements. In addition, commercial storage requirements are growing exponentially due to the proliferation of email and the migration to paperless processes. The Bluray Disc format again offers 5 to 10 times as much capacity as traditional DVD resulting in 25 to 50 GB of data to be stored on a single rewritable or recordable disc. As Bluray Disc uses the same form factor as CD and DVD, this allows for Bluray Disc drives that can still read and write to CD and DVD media as well.

16. Requirements
1) Blue laser 2) Detector 3) Advanced objective lens 4) New disk and cartridge manufacturing technologies

17. Challenges High cost

The technology is not that popular and hence, the price of the BD recorders and players available in the market is very high.

HD-DVD
The HDDVD (High Definition DVD) based on the Advanced Optical System championed by Toshiba and NEC is the primary rival to BD in the market. Though its data storage density is lower, it has lower manufacturing costs also, which may prove challenging to the Bluray disc.

Future Developments
Efforts are progressing on many fronts to make the Bluray discs, players and recorders cheaper. On 15 April 2004 for instance, Sony and Toppan Printing announced the successful development of a Bluray Disc that is 51% (by mass) composed of paper, which could reduce production costs and improve its environmental friendliness. The cost would come down as BD becomes more and more popular. TDK has been researching the hard coat technology that will provide protection against fingerprints and scratches. Colloidal silica dispersed UVcurable resin is being used for the researches and results are encouraging.

Figure shows the cross section of the disc being developed.

Conclusion
In conclusion the Blue-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. Blue lasers have a shorter wavelength, which means the laser beam can be focused onto a smaller area of the disc surface. In turn, this means less real estate is needed to store one bit of data, and so more data can be stored on a disc. This will be important in the coming broadband era as content distribution becomes increasingly diversified. Companies involved in the development will respectively make products that take full advantage of Blueray Disc's large capacity and high-speed data transfer rate. They are also aiming to further enhance the appeal of the new format through developing a larger capacity, such as over 30GB on a single sided single layer disc and over 50GB on a single sided double layer disc. Adoption of the Blue-ray Disc in a variety of applications including PC data storage and high definition video software is also being considered. There is a lot of talk about blue-laser-based systems being focused around high-definition television, which has heavy data needs. But Blue-ray Disc groups are also considering development of write-once and read-only formats for use with PCs.

Prototype blue-laser-based optical disc systems have been around for more than a year. However, one problem has hampered development of commercial systems: cost. A sample blue-laser diode currently costs around $1000, making consumer products based on the parts unrealistic. However, Nichia, the major source for blue lasers, is expected to begin commercial production this year and the price of a blue-laser diode is expected to tumble once the company begins turning them out in volume. The DVD forum may or may not invite the blueray light into is era but the 27GB disc is not far off in practically disturbing the DVD wave.

REFERENCES

Research Papers:

Wobble-address format of the blu-ray disc. By S. Furumiya, S. Kobayashi, B. Stek, H. Ishibashi, T. Yamagami, K. Schep: Presented at ISOM/ODS Hawaii, July 2002 .
1)

Millipede- Nanotechnology Entering Data Storage, By P. P. Vettiger, G. Cross, M. Despont, U. Drechsler, U. Drig, B. Gotsmann, W. Hberle, M. A. Lantz, H. E. Rothuizen, R. Stutz, and G. K. Binnig:
2)

34 GB Multilevel-enabled Rewritable System using Blue Laser and High NA Optics. By H. Hieslmair, J. Stinebaugh, T. Wong, M. ONeill, M. Kuijper, G. Langereis: Published at ISOM/ODS Hawai, July 2002.
3)

Websites:
http://www.licensing.philips.com/ http://www.almaden.ibm.com/st/disciplines/storage/