Blu-ray Disc™

Blu-ray is the next generation optical disc format which uses blue violet laser to deliver unsurpassed storage and interactivity and unlocks the potential of HD TV and HD gaming.

Sony helped to develop Blu-ray Disc™ to meet the amazing growth in demand for technology that can integrate movies, games, computers and the internet into a single solution.

Blu-ray Disc™ technology out-performs regular DVD formats. Unmatched optical media storage allows it to hold up to nine hours of HD viewing on a dual-layer disc and five times the content of a standard DVD.

Blu-ray Disc™ is the format that can do it all and deliver functionality unlike anything you have ever known before.

Blu-ray Disc™ is the ultimate choice for your High Definition entertainment.

1080p - The Ultimate Picture Quality

Remember the first time you saw how DVD pictures looked fantastic compared with ordinary television transmissions? That’s because DVD uses a higher bit-rate than conventional TV broadcasts, and more digital information means better picture and sound quality.

It’s the same story with Blu-ray Disc™. Recording and playing back digital data at an extraordinary 40 Mbps (megabits per second), BD can effortlessly display HD1080 images at 1920x1080 line resolution with progressive scanning. This means you can look forward to better picture quality than any HDTV transmission. With the option of 24 frame output, customers have the possibility to enjoy movies exactly as the film-maker intended.

High Capacity

Blu-ray Discs™ (BD) are exactly the same diameter (12 cm) as Compact Discs and DVDs. The big difference with BD, however, is loads more storage capacity to hold High Definition content such as videos, pictures, sound and more.

To achieve this, Blu-ray Disc™ uses a blue/violet laser that’s focused to produce an incredibly small, precise pinpoint of light – five times smaller than the beam falling on the surface of a DVD.

On the disc itself, tracks of data are squeezed together twice as tightly as on a DVD. Together with the super-fine laser beam, this means that Blu-ray Disc™ can hold an incredible 25 GB of data on a single-sided, single layer disc.

A single-sided dual layer disc holds a massive 50GB of data. 25GB is enough for two and a half hours of movie entertainment in1080-line Full HD with multichannel digital surround sound plus loads of interactive features and extras thrown in.

The High Definition Audio Visual Experience

People sometimes think that High Definition is all about great-looking pictures. They’re right, but it’s important not to underestimate just how important audio is too.

Digital multi-channel sound is an absolutely central part of the cinema going experience – just imagine paying to watch the latest blockbuster without the bangs, crashes, rumbles and other effects that literally make you shake in your seat.

Sony knew from the outset that sound was going to be a vital component of Bluray, and so the format can handle up to 32 different audio streams. That means that each disc can accommodate a vast range of audio formats, from stereo right up to uncompressed 7.1 multichannel surround.

Interactivity

Aside from breathtaking picture quality and digital multi-channel surround sound, the other thing that has really excited the studio business is Bluray’s interactive possibilities.

Although it’s not yet supported by all players, interactivity is something that will add a huge amount of value to your enjoyment of a movie at home. Blu-ray has been designed to offer a more satisfying, far more sophisticated interactive experience compared to what is available with DVD.

You can make choices from pop-up menus on screen without interrupting the movie. Some players will also support an even more powerful interactive mode. If you’ve got a connection to the Internet, this will allow you to download additional content in real time from a server to enhance what’s on the disc.

For example, you could access subtitles in your own language for a foreign movie that you bought at an airport in another country. This extra dimension of interactivity also opens up fantastic new possibilities for film makers and distributors.

Imagine being able to view the webcast of an exclusive director’s commentary that’s streamed over the Internet and displayed as a picture-in-picture on your HD television screen during the movie.

Industry Support

The good news is that right now, six out of eight major Hollywood studios have committed to support Blu-ray Disc™.

That list includes Disney, 20th Century Fox, MGM, Lionsgate and Warner Home Entertainment.
The other studio name, of course, is Sony Pictures.

Only Sony can offer you the full HD entertainment experience with fantastic movies, music and games.

Enjoy unbelievable colour and detail, crystal clear audio and unbelievable creativity and interaction from a wide range of movies, fantastic new music and an ever-growing range of superb new games for PLAYSTATION®3.

Movies

The best names in the movie industry and indeed, entertainment have offered their backing for Blu-ray Disc™.

Steven Poster, President of the influential American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), has put his weight behind the new Blu-ray format. "I think the Blu-ray Disc™ is truly amazing – it poses a WOW factor that will draw movie lovers to it".

Blu-ray can touch every part of the production of movies. It can change the very culture of making and viewing movies.

Music
Blu-ray brings all of the excitement of live music right into your living room. Not only do you feel that you are right there with amazing picture quality but sound quality is like nothing you have experienced before.

Blu-ray brings you closer to the musicians you love with internet connectivity and
seamlessly integrated bonus content.

Gaming

Blu-ray simply takes gaming to new heights. A whole new world of gaming has been unlocked by Blu-ray technology. Immerse yourself in unbelievable life-like experiences, fantastic visuals and interactivity.

High Definition images, the power of the Cell Broadband Engine and the capabilities of Blu-ray Disc™ have opened up new doors for games developers. Games are becoming more and more intertwined with the world of cinema creating an entirely new digital art form. The PLAYSTATION®3 gives games developers the ability to accurately represent emotion and drama like never before.

For example, using motion capture technology they are able to work with dramatic actors to show deep facial detail and accurate body movements. Games on the PLAYSTATION®3 will engage us with the drama and intrigue of their fantastic worlds more deeply than we have ever known.

24p True Cinema

Until now, TV broadcasts and home video media like DVDs and VHS tapes have shown films faster than they were recorded due to limitations in the processing of films to the PAL (50Hz) format.

This affected picture quality and even the pitch of the actors’ voices. With 24p True Cinema, for the very first time, you can enjoy and experience the film just as the director intended.

7.1 ch Surround Sound

Uncompressed audio, in up to 7.1 ch surround sound, delivers sound beyond anything you’ve experienced before.

Special Blu-ray Discs™ capture and reproduce master-quality music and sound through the best possible playback of any HD format when using compatible media and receivers with HDMI technology.

x.v.Colour

x.v.Colour is the new standard which realises more colour in High Definition.
x.v.Colour realises 1.8 times more colour than the conventional RGB standard. The BDPS300 is the perfect playback device for Sony x.v.Colour supported HD camcorders.

More colour. More detail. More accuracy.

BRAVIA Theatre Sync

You can start your home cinema experience at the push of a button with BRAVIA Theatre Sync.

Blu-ray and HDMI

Both the PLAYSTATION®3 and BDP-S300 feature a Blu-ray Disc™ player and HDMI ports for connecting to any HD Ready TV. This means that both products can output High Definition video in the currently highest possible resolution of 1080p.

PLAYSTATION®3 and BDP-S300 owners can look forward to amazing video quality including images with incredible depth of field detail and vibrant colours with their Blu-ray movies.