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Blu-ray discs have a maximum capacity of 25GB and dual-layer discs can hold up to 50GB - enough for four hours of HDTV. Like HD-DVD, Blue laser discs don’t require a caddy and
players and recorders will be able to play current DVD discs. Codecs supported by Blu-ray include
H.264 MPEG-4 codec which will form part of Apple’s QuickTime 7, and
Windows Media 9 based VC-1.
The BDA says that although blue laser discs and players are already shipping in Japan, they won’t ship in
US until
end of 2005 at
very earliest. It is likely that players will be very expensive initially, compared to DVD players. In Japan, they cost
equivalent of $2000. However, as with all new technology, prices will quickly fall - particularly as Blu-ray will be competing with HD-DVD for that space under your TV.

Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher ofThe HDTV Tuner - a guide to the kit, the technology and the programming on HDTV.