Blu-ray Disc

Blu-ray Disc is a high-density optical disc format similar to DVD. Blu-ray is the type of disc used for PlayStation 3 games and for playing high-definition (HD) movies. In the past, there were other standards for such movies, such as the HD DVD format. Blu-ray won what is called the format war between 2006 and 2008.

A dual-layer Blu-ray disc can store up to 50GB (gigabytes) of data. This is over five times the capacity of a DVD, and over 70 times more than a CD or VCD.

The disc was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers, and released in 2006. The format was developed for recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data.

Older optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVD±R, DVD±RW, and DVD-RAM used a red laser to read and write data. The new format used a blu laser instead. This is where the name is from.