尽管大多数人的计算机中仍有CD 和 DVD 刻录驱动器(CD and DVD burner drives)，但您可能已经购买了蓝光格式(Blu-ray format)的电影。由于(Due)成本原因，您只能看到安装在定制 PC 或戴尔或惠普(Dell or HP)等公司的高端机器上的蓝光(Blu-ray)驱动器。
如果您喜欢在电脑上看电影并且拥有高端显示器，那么这可能是值得的额外费用。但是，大多数人会花钱购买更昂贵的高清电视，因此您(HDTVs)今天购买(buy today)的大多数蓝光光盘都是用于电影的。大多数蓝光播放器是独立设备或与游戏机捆绑在一起。
如果您想开始使用蓝光光盘(Blu-ray discs)物理存储大量数据，那么您最好的选择就是在线购买外置蓝光刻录机(Blu-ray burner)。$50 on Amazon左右的价格买到一款体面的蓝光刻录机(Blu-ray burner)，它可以 14 倍速写入。这些便宜的可以让您刻录 25 GB 和 50 GB 的光盘(GB discs)。如果您多花一点钱（约 110 美元），您可以获得支持BD-XL 光盘的(BD-XL discs)外置蓝光刻录机(external Blu-ray burner)，容量高达 128 GB(GBs)。
在本文中，我将讨论不同的蓝光(Blu-ray)格式及其一些技术规格。蓝光(Blu-ray)光盘是一种快速且廉价地备份大量数据的好方法，否则这些数据需要非常大的云存储计划(storage plan)或大型外部硬盘驱动器。
2010 年我买了一台高清摄像机(HD camcorder)后，我的电脑上突然有数百 GB 的数据。第一个解决方案是将所有数据复制到 2 TB 外部硬盘驱动器。那效果很好，我仍然这样做，但是我的一个外部硬盘驱动器发生故障，并且丢失了很多视频。将所有数据存储在云中既昂贵又慢，所以我开始刻录蓝光光盘(Blu-ray discs)。
光盘的伟大之处在于，如果您照顾好它们，它们就不会在您身上失败。只要它们不被(t get)压碎，我的数据就会安全地存储在这些磁盘上很长时间。这只是在硬盘崩溃的情况下保持数据备份的另一种方法，这种情况仍然比您想象的更频繁地发生。
购买它们的另一个重要原因是在您的高清电视上观看您的(HDTV)电影收藏(movie collection)。如果您有Xbox One或PS4 控制台(PS4 console)，您可以将电影刻录到蓝光光盘上并直接播放。这实际上比尝试将您的内容从您的计算机或 NAS(computer or NAS)流式传输到您的HDTV要容易得多，这需要您所有设备之间的千兆连接。
BD-R、BD-RE 和 BD DL
蓝光(Blu-ray)刚问世时，实际上只有两种类型的光盘：可写和可重写。BD-R光盘是只写的，而BD-RE是可重写的。这些光盘的标准大小为 25 GB，并且只有一层。这些成本约为每张光盘 1 美元。
过了一会儿，双层蓝光光盘(Blu-ray discs)开始出现。就像(Just)双层DVD(DVDs)一样，这些蓝光光盘(Blu-ray discs)可以容纳两倍于普通光盘的数据量，在这种情况下可以容纳 50 GB。这些光盘要贵得多，每张光盘超过 2 美元。
BD-RE DL （50GB 和可 重写）光盘更加昂贵，每张光盘大约 3 美元。那么刻录其中一张蓝光光盘(Blu-ray discs)需要多长时间？好吧，这完全取决于刻录机的速度和光盘的大小。这是来自维基百科(Wikipedia)的图表：
BD-XL TL、BD-XL QL 和 BD-XL DS TL
现在让我们来看看真正大尺寸开始出现的新产品。2010年， (newer stuff)BD-XL 光盘(BD-XL discs)发布，它们有两种口味：三层(triple layer)(TL) 和四层 (QL)。BD-XL TL 光盘(TL disc)最多可容纳 100 GB 的数据，而BD-XL QL 光盘(BD-XL QL disc)最大容量为 128 GB。
随着更大的尺寸带来更大的价格！BD-XL TL光盘的起价约为每张 10 美元。QL 碟片(QL discs)似乎没有受到任何关注，因为我什至找不到卖它们的地方。在谈到BD-XL(BD-XL)时，似乎 100 GB 光盘(GB discs)是最受欢迎的。
BD-XL DS（双面）TL是另一种已获得蓝光光盘协会(Blu-ray Disc Association)批准的规格，最高支持200GB，但仅适用于数据中心、云计算(cloud computing)等商业用途才具有成本效益， 等等。
对于消费者来说，蓝光(Blu-ray)最多可以得到一个 BD-XL 刻录机和一个BD-XL TL 光盘(BD-XL TL disc)，最多可以存储 100 GB。一张光盘上仍然有很多数据！
超高清 4K BD-ROM
最后，蓝光光盘协会(Blu-ray Disc Association)在 2015 年底宣布，新的 4K 蓝光光盘格式(disc format)将支持高达每秒 60 帧的超高清 4K视频。(Ultra HD 4K)如果您还没有听说过UHD，请在Google上搜索。
基本上，现在 4K 电视正在疯狂地销售，但您可能会遇到一些说要等到 4K UDH(hold off until 4K UDH)电视机可用时再推出。这是因为这些新的 4K 电视将支持高动态范围，这使它们能够显示更多的颜色、更多的细节和更好的亮点。
不幸的是，这些高动态范围的 4K设备要到 2016 年才会出现，而且很可能会比 700 美元的(dynamic range 4K)Vizio 4K设备贵得多。但是，据看过的人说，高动态范围的 4K 与 1080p 相比有显着差异，而很多人表示很难看出当前的 4K 集和 1080p 之间的差异，尤其是在65 英寸以下的电视(TVs)上英寸大小。
当然，你必须花很多钱。为了享受这种令人惊叹的分辨率，您需要一台具有高动态范围的 4K 电视、一台将于 2016 年推出的原生 4K 蓝光播放器以及将于 2016 年 3 月 1 日推出的全新4K UDH 蓝光光盘(4K UDH Blu-ray discs)。
目前市场上有 4K 蓝光播放器，但它们不是原生 4K，这意味着它们只是将 1080p 信号升级到 4K。原生 4K 播放器在 2016 年至少要花掉你 400 到 600 美元，但会提供真正的 4K 分辨率（只要你也购买新的 4K 蓝光UHD 光盘(UHD discs)）。
希望这能让您对蓝光技术(Blu-ray technology)及其发展方向有更多的了解。对于大多数人来说，它适用于他们的电影和电视机，也适用于那些在电脑上拥有蓝光光盘(Blu-ray disc)驱动器的人。如果您有任何问题，请随时发表评论。享受！
What is BD-R, BD-RE, BD-XL and Ultra HD Blu-ray?
Even though most people still have CD and DVD burner drivеs in their computers, you’ve probably bought a movie that is in Blu-ray format. Due to the cost, you’ll only see Blu-ray drives installed on сustom PCs or on higher-end machines from companies like Dell or HP.
If you like watching movies on your computer and you have a high-end monitor, then it might be worth the extra cost. However, most people spend money on more expensive HDTVs and therefore most Blu-ray discs you’ll buy today are for movies. Most Blu-ray players are stand-alone devices or they are bundled with gaming consoles.
If you want to start using Blu-ray discs to store large amounts of data physically, then your best option is to simply buy an external Blu-ray burner online. You can get a decent Blu-ray burner that can write at 14X speed for around $50 on Amazon. These cheaper ones will let you burn 25 GB and 50 GB discs. If you spend a little more (around $110), you can get an external Blu-ray burner that supports BD-XL discs, which go up to a whopping 128 GBs.
In this article, I’ll talk about the different Blu-ray formats and some of their technical specs. Blu-ray discs are a great way to quickly and cheaply backup large amounts of data that would otherwise require a really large cloud storage plan or large external hard drive.
After I bought an HD camcorder back in 2010, I suddenly had hundreds of gigabytes of data sitting on my computer. The first solution was to copy all that data to a 2 TB external hard drive. That worked great and I still do that, but one of my external hard drives failed and I lost a lot of video. Storing all that data in the cloud was too expensive and slow, so I started burning Blu-ray discs.
The great thing about discs is that they won’t fail on you if you take care of them. As long as they don’t get crushed, my data will be safely stored on those discs for a very long time. It’s just another way to keep your data backed up in case of hard drive crashes, which still happen more often than you would think.
Another great reason to buy them is for watching your movie collection on your HDTV. If you have a Xbox One or PS4 console, you can burn your movies onto a Blu-ray disc and play them directly. This is actually a lot easier than trying to stream your content from your computer or NAS to your HDTV, which requires a gigabit connection between all your devices.
BD-R, BD-RE and BD DL
When Blu-ray first came out, there were really only two types of discs: write and rewriteable. BD-R discs are write-only and BD-RE are rewriteable. The standard size for these discs are 25 GB and they only have one layer. These cost about $1 per disc.
After a while, the dual layer Blu-ray discs started to appear. Just like dual layer DVDs, these Blu-ray discs could hold double the amount of data as regular discs or 50 GB in this case. These discs are significantly more expensive at more than $2 per disc.
A BD-RE DL (50GB and rewriteable) disc is even more expensive coming in at around $3 per disc. So how long does it take to burn one of these Blu-ray discs? Well, it all depends on the speed of your burner and the size of the disc. Here is a chart from Wikipedia:
BD-XL TL, BD-XL QL, and BD-XL DS TL
Now let’s get to the newer stuff where the really big sizes start to come in. In 2010, BD-XL discs were announced and they come in two flavors: triple layer (TL) and quadruple layer (QL). A BD-XL TL disc can hold up to 100 GB of data and a BD-XL QL disc maxes out at 128 GB.
Along with the bigger size comes a bigger price! The BD-XL TL discs start around $10 per disc. It doesn’t seem like the QL discs ever gained any traction because I can’t even find a place that sells them. Seems like the 100 GB discs are the most popular when talking about BD-XL.
BD-XL DS (double-sided) TL is another specification that has been approved by the Blu-ray Disc Association, which will support up to 200 GB, but it will only be cost-effective for commercial uses like data centers, cloud computing, etc.
For consumers, the most you can get with Blu-ray is a BD-XL burner and a BD-XL TL disc, which can store up to 100 GB. That’s still a lot of data on one disc!
Ultra HD 4K BD-ROM
Lastly, the Blu-ray Disc Association announced at the end of 2015 that new 4K Blu-ray disc format will support Ultra HD 4K video up to 60 frames per second. If you haven’t heard about UHD yet, Google it.
Basically, 4K TVs are selling like crazy nowadays, but you might have come across a few that are saying to hold off until 4K UDH sets become available. That’s because these new 4K TVs will support high dynamic range, which allows them to show more colors, more details, and better highlights.
Unfortunately, these high dynamic range 4K sets aren’t coming until 2016 and will most likely be way more expensive than your $700 Vizio 4K set. However, according to the people who have seen it, 4K with high dynamic range makes a significant difference over 1080p, whereas a lot of people say that it’s hard to see the difference between a current 4K set and 1080p, especially on TVs less than 65 inches in size.
Of course, you’ll have to blow up a lot of money. In order to enjoy this awesome resolution, you’ll need a 4K TV with high dynamic range, a native 4K Blu-ray player coming in 2016 and the new 4K UDH Blu-ray discs, arriving on March 1st, 2016.
There are currently 4K Blu-ray players on the market, but they are not native 4K, meaning that they simply take a 1080p signal and upscale it to 4K. A native 4K player will set you back at least $400 to $600 in 2016, but will offer true 4K resolution (as long as you buy the new 4K Blu-ray UHD discs too).
Hopefully, this gives you a little more background into Blu-ray technology and where it is going. For most people, it’ll apply to their movies and TV sets, but also for those who own Blu-ray disc drives on their computers. If you have any questions, feel free to comment. Enjoy!
