Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray or Blu-ray Disc (BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was designed to supersede the DVD format, and is capable of storing several hours of video in high-definition (HDTV 720p and 1080p) and ultra high-definition resolution (2160p). The main application of Blu-ray is as a medium for video material such as feature films and for the physical distribution of video games for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The name "Blu-ray" refers to the blue laser (actually a violet laser) used to read the disc, which allows information to be stored at a
History of optical storage media History of optical storage media Although research into optical data storage has been ongoing for many decades, the first popular system was the Compact Disc, introduced in 1982, adapted from audio (CD-DA) to data storage (the CD-ROM format) with the 1985 "Yellow Book", and re-adapted as the first mass market optical storage medium with CD-R and CD-RW in 1988. Compact Disc is still the "de facto" standard for audio recordings, although its place for other multimedia recordings and optical data storage has largely been superseded by DVD. DVD (initially an initialism abbreviation of "Digital Video Disc," then modified to "Digital