[Leica] RE: OT backup software

[dean at tbc.t-com.ne.jp (Dean)]

Hey!

On another list, someone just posted this, which I think is a cut and
paste itself from a blurb on the web site - have to admit, I didn't
follow the link (which is right at the bottom).

Just thought I'd toss it out there for your information. I store my data
in plastic sheets and shoe boxes ;-)

Sooner,
Dean
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Blu-ray Disc

Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD) is the name of a
next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by ten leading
consumer electronics companies (Hitachi, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic,
Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and Thomson). The format was
developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition
television (HDTV), which isn't possible with todays VCRs. Blu-ray makes
it possible to record over 2 hours of HDTV, or more than 13 hours of
SDTV on a 27GB disc. There are also plans for higher capacity discs that
are expected to hold up to 54GB of data.

While current optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVD-R, DVD+R,
DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM use a red laser to read and write data, the
new format uses a blue laser instead, hence the name Blu-ray. The
benefit of using a blue laser is that it has a shorter wavelength (405
nanometer) than a red laser (650 nanometer), which means that it's
possible to focus the laser beam with even greater precision. This
allows data to be packed more tightly on the disc and makes it possible
to fit more data on the same size disc. Despite the different type of
lasers used, Blu-ray Disc recorders can be made backwards compatible
with current red-laser technologies and allow playback of CDs and DVDs.

As more and more households upgrade to HDTV to enjoy the benefits of
digital television, the consumer demand for recording HDTV programming
will rise. Blu-ray was designed with this application in mind and uses
the same MPEG-2 Transport Stream compression technology which is the
global standard for digital television, so it will be highly compatible
with recording of HDTV broadcasts. To handle the increased amount of
data required for HDTV, Blu-ray employs a 36Mbps data transfer rate,
which is more than enough to record and playback HDTV while maintaining
the original picture quality. In addition, by fully utilizing an optical
disc's random accessing features, it's possible to playback video on a
disc while simultaneously recording high-definition video.

Blu-ray is expected to replace VCRs and current DVD technology within a
few years. The format is also likely to become a standard for PC data
storage and high-definition movies in the future.

http://www.blu-ray.com/info





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