May 18, 2004 06:17 PM US Eastern Timezone
Blu-ray Disc Founders Open the
Door for Blu-ray Disc Association to Welcome New Members; Popular Demand Drives
Industry Group to Expand Roles and Move to the Next Level
HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2004--In response to growing industry support for the Blu-ray Disc standard, the 13 members of the Blu-ray Disc Founders today announced plans to create the Blu-ray Disc Association ("BDA"). The new entity will establish format standards and promote and further develop business opportunities for Blu-ray Disc (BD) -- the next generation optical disc for storing high-definition movies, photos and other digital content.
The Blu-ray Disc Association will invite more companies from a wider range of industries to have a role in the format creation, technology contribution, and working level BDA operations.
The Blu-ray Disc Founders -- made up of leading computer, consumer electronics and storage media companies -- will be re-incorporated into the BDA and is currently developing the membership application processes and operating procedures. The BDA will be open to companies wishing to participate in the future development of BD and to help develop, promote and establish the BD format as an industry standard for high-definition optical storage.
The addition of new members is expected to foster greater competition in the development of new products, applications and business opportunities within BD. Applications will be available in late summer and the first official meeting of the new BDA is planned for this fall. For updated information on the application process, please visit www.blu-raydisc-official.org.
The Blu-ray Disc Founders expect the new organization to facilitate the establishment of Blu-ray Disc as the new standard for next-generation high-capacity entertainment and PC-based optical storage media. Blu-ray Disc holds up to 25 gigabytes of data or high definition video on a single-layer disc and up to 50 gigabytes on a dual-layer disc. The current DVD disc holds up to 4.7 gigabytes on single-layer discs and up to 8.5 gigabytes on dual-layer discs.
The key applications of Blu-ray Disc, with its huge storage capacity, are recording and playback of high definition video. Blu-ray Disc is also suitable for a variety of applications including PC data storage and is the perfect storage medium to enable digital convergence bridging between PC applications and consumer electronics entertainment devices. The performance of Blu-ray Disc will meet the growing market demand for High Definition TV and offer new opportunities for content providers to create compelling interactive services for consumers.
"Applications like personal digital video, High Definition TV, gaming and professional document imaging will exceed the capacity and performance capability of current optical technologies," said IDC's Wolfgang Schlichting, research director of removable storage. "Next generation technologies, such as Blu-ray Disc, are well positioned for these applications that require five times the storage capacity."
About the Blu-ray Disc Founders:
The Blu-ray Disc Founders was formed in May 2002 to pursue broad acceptance of the Blu-ray Disc formats. The original members were Hitachi, Ltd.; LG Electronics Inc.; Panasonic (Matsushita Electric); Pioneer Corporation; Royal Philips Electronics; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sharp Corporation; Sony Corporation; and Thomson. The Blu-ray Founders currently consist of 13 companies including the nine original members and Dell Inc.; Hewlett Packard Company; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; and TDK Corporation. The Web site for the Blu-ray Disc Association is www.blu-raydisc-official.org.
Blu-ray Disc Founders
-- Dell Inc.
-- Hewlett Packard
-- Hitachi, Ltd.
-- LG Electronics Inc.
-- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
-- Panasonic (Matsushita Electric)
-- Pioneer Corporation
-- Royal Philips Electronics
-- Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd
-- Sharp Corporation
-- Sony Corporation
-- TDK Corporation
-- Thomson.
Contacts
Blanc & Otus
Sue Ellen Schaming, 415-856-5129
sschaming@blancandotus.com
Source: Business Wire
