Today, the blu ray discs are yet another revolution in technology. This new optical disc format is a proud development of the Blu Ray Disc Association (BDA) that include HP, Dell, LG, Hitachi, Apple, Samsung, Panasonic, JVC, Sony, Mitsubishi, Philips, Pioneer, Sharp, Thomson, and TDK. The BDA boasts 180 of the world’s leading consumer electronics, media and personal computer manufacturers.

HD DVDs and Blu Ray DVDs were in fierce competition some time back over which would become the successor of the DVD. Now that blu ray discs have won this battle, the focus is now on blu ray drives that support the ability to read and write the data on blu ray disks. The blu ray technology, as the name suggests, uses a blue-violet laser to read and write data unlike the current technology which uses red laser. A blue-violet laser (405nm) has a far shorter wavelength than a red laser (650nm) making it feasible to focus the laser spot with superior precision. The advantage of this is that, it permits data to be stored in less space since the data can be packed more tightly, which further, allows consumers to fit additional data on the disc even though it may be the same size as a CD or a DVD. A single-layer HD-DVD disc only store 15 GB whereas single-layer blu ray DVDs can store 25 GB which is more than 2 hours of high-definition video and 13hours hours of standard video. A dual-layer HD-DVD can hold up to 30 GB whereas dual-layer blu ray DVDs can store 54 GB which is 4.5hours of high-definition video and more than 20hours of a standard video.

However, blu ray drives are no doubt more expensive than its counterparts. Blu ray drives that can read blu ray discs as well as burn DVDs are about three times the price of standard DVD burner. And, if you want blu ray drives that will burn the blu ray media, the price increases ten times more.

There are many online shopping avenues for selecting you blu ray drives. A little research will enable you to find good bargain for your money. Some of the many manufactures of blu ray drives include BenQ, HP, LG, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung and Sony. Although it is not compulsory, the BDA allows blu ray drive manufacturing backward compatibility - reading standard DVDs and CDs in addition to blu ray discs.

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