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Blu ray Disc recordable

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Blu-ray Disc recordable

Blu-ray Disc Recordable (or BD-R) refers to two direct to disc optical disc recording technologies that can be recorded on to an optical disc with an optical disc recorder. BD-R discs can be written to once, whereas BD-RE (Blu-ray Disc Recordable Erasable) can be erased and re-recorded multiple times. Disc capacities are 25 GB for single-layer discs, 50 GB for double-layer discs, 100 GB for triple-layer, and 128 GB for quadruple-layer (in BD-R only).

Contents

The minimum speed at which a Blu-ray Disc can be written is 36 megabits (4.5 megabytes) per second.

Version

There are four versions of Blu-ray Disc Recordable Erasable (BD-RE) and three versions of Blu-ray Disc Recordable (BD-R). Each version includes three Parts (a.k.a. Books): Basic Format Specifications, File System Specifications, Audio Visual Basic Specifications. Each part has sub-versions (e.g. R2 Format Specification includes Part 3: Audio Visual Basic Specifications Ver.3.02, Part 2: File System Specifications Ver. 1.11, Part 1: Basic Format Specifications Ver. 1.3).

Version 1.0—RE 1.0

  • defined in 2002
  • unique BD File System (BDFS)
  • not computer compatible
  • BDAV (Blu-ray Disc Audio/Visual) application format
  • BDCP as content protection

    • Version 2.0—RE 2.0

  • defined in 2005
  • UDF 2.5 file system for computer use
  • the use of AACS
  • added Hybrid Format—defined for combined discs of BD/CD or BD/DVD. However, BD recording media (BD-RE and BD-R) are inapplicable. This book is attached to "Part 1 Basic Format Specifications" of every format, except BD-RE Version 1.
  • BD-R Version 1.0 follows this specification

    • Version 3.0—RE 3.0

  • defined in September 2006
  • camcorder (8 cm) discs added—camcorder is added as one of BD product categories
  • backward compatible with Version 2.0
  • added BDMV (Blu-ray Disc Movie) application format
  • BD-R Version 2.0 follows this specification

    • Version 4.0—RE 4.0—(BDXL)

  • defined in June 2010
  • a multi-layered rewritable in BDAV with the speed of 2× and 4×
  • capable of 100 GB and usage of UDF 2.5 as file system and Professional Device is a newly added as one of BD product categories

    • Version 1.0—R 1.0

  • defined in 2005
  • UDF 2.5 file system for computer use
  • uses AACS
  • BD-R Version 1 Part 3 is the same book as BD-RE Version 2 Part 3
  • add BD-R Low To High (BD-R LTH) standard.

    • Version 2.0—R 2.0

  • defined in September 2006
  • camcorder (8 cm) discs added—camcorder is added as one of BD product categories
  • backward compatible with Version 1
  • added BDMV (Blu-ray Disc Movie) application format
  • BD-R Version 2 Part 3 is the same book as BD-RE Version 3 Part 3

    • Version 3.0—R 3.0 (BDXL)

  • defined in June 2010
  • a multi-layered recordable in BDAV with 2× and 4× speeds
  • capable of 100/128 GB and usage of UDF 2.5/2.6 as file system and Professional Device is a newly added as one of BD product categories

    • Speed

    Note: Add extra time for disc verification phase and time for erasing the disc in the case of BD-RE.

    Pricing

    As of July 2013 (approximate pricing)

  • BD-R/RE drive US$50 and above

    • As of February 2014 (approximate pricing)

  • 6× single-layer BD-R disc (25 GB) US$0.40 each in quantity;
  • 6× double-layer BD-R disc (50 GB) US$2.40 in quantity;
  • 2× single-layer BD-RE disc (25 GB) US$1.60 in quantity;
  • 2× double-layer BD-RE disc (50 GB) US$4.57 in quantity;

    • As of February 2014 (approximate pricing)

  • 4x BD-R XL disc (100 GB) US$45 each;

    • As of November 2016 (approximate pricing)

  • 4x BD-R XL disc (100 GB) US$6 in quantity;

    • BD-R LTH (low to high)

    BD-R LTH is a write-once Blu-ray Disc format that features an organic dye recording layer. "Low To High" refers to the reflectivity changing from low to high during the burning process, which is the opposite of normal. The advantage of BD-R LTH is it can protect a manufacturer's investment in DVD-R/CD-R manufacturing equipment. The manufacturer need only modify current equipment; it need not invest in new production lines. This is expected to lower the cost of disc manufacturing.

    Old Blu-ray players and recorders cannot utilize BD-R LTH; however, a firmware upgrade can enable devices to access BD-R LTH. Panasonic released such a firmware update in November 2007 for its DMR-BW200, DMR-BR100 and MR-BW900/BW800/BW700 models. Pioneer was expected to ship the first LTH BD drives in Spring 2008. Sony upgraded the PlayStation 3 firmware enabling BD-R LTH reading in March, 2008.

    In 2011, France's Ministry of Culture and Communication conducted a study on the suitability of data archival of LTH (low to high) discs compared to HTL (high to low) discs. The data they collected indicated that the overall quality of LTH discs is worse than HTL discs.

    References

    Blu-ray Disc recordable Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA