Blu-ray Disc (also abbreviated as BD) is an optical disc storage medium which was created by Sony to hold high-definition movies and TV shows on discs that range from 25GB (single-layer) to 50GB (dual-layer). At best, Blu-ray delivers video resolution of 1920 (W) x 1080 (H) — more simply referred to as 1080p.
The “p” in terms of video formats refers to “progressive” scans rather than “i” for “interlaced.” Blu-ray Disc was created to supersede the standard-definition (480p) DVD format. New, larger Blu-ray formats (BDXL) include 100GB and 128 GB storage capacity.
As well as Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS Digital Surround audio formats, Blu-ray Discs can support uncompressed LPCM, lossless DTS-HD Master Audio and lossless Dolby TrueHD, and can support object-based DTS:X and Dolby Atmos.
Blu-ray Disc is superseded by Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc, which at 3840 (W) x 2160 (H) provides 4-times the megapixels as 1080p. Why? Because you not only double the height or width in the calculations, you double both. Hence, Ultra HD (also referred to UHD) has been given the name 4k.
For the latest on Blu-ray Disc releases, see our Blu-ray Disc News category.
