Blu-ray Disc will get an Emmy Award during the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on Jan. 6.
Being honored with the 62nd annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Award for their contributions to the Blue Laser Optical Systems for Consumer Playback will be Panasonic Corp., Royal Philips Electronics, Sony Corp., and TDK Corp.
“Panasonic is proud to have developed so many of the key technologies introduced in the Blu-ray Disc format,” said Shunji O’hara Executive Engineer, Corporate R&D, Panasonic Corporation. “These are not only optical disc technologies, such as Dual Layer 50GB discs, but also leading-edge audio visual technologies such as video compression, authoring and 3D.”
The development of the blue laser system was fundamental for consumer distribution and recording of full HiDef content on optical discs, according to The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS).
Since its introduction in 2006, over 1400 million Blu-ray pre-recorded discs, 188 million Blu-ray recordable/rewritable discs, 50 million Blu-ray players & recorders, 41 million PlayStation3 units and over 25 million Blu-ray PC readers & writers have been produced.
“Sony began development of blue laser optical technology in the late 1990s, realized the world’s first high definition recording on 20GB optical media by using blue-violet laser, and has contributed greatly to the continuous development of the Blu-ray Discformat and the business by releasing a wide variety of Blu-ray Disc devices,” said Jun Yonemitsu, Chief Distinguished Researcher and Deputy Senior General Manager of Home Entertainment Development Div., Sony Corp. “We would like to thank the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and everyone who worked together to make the format a success.”
In anticipation of the HiDef TV market adoption – Panasonic, Philips and Sony began work on a blue laser optical system in 1997, the same year the DVD disc was introduced. The companies joined forces in 2000 and initiated the Blu-ray Disc Founders in 2002, followed in 2004 by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), in which all industry key stakeholders participated to successfully launch a worldwide standard for HiDef content distribution.
Toshiba and others were focused on making a HiDef optical disc derivative of the DVD format which would come to market at the same time under the name HD DVD but after a high-profile format battle reminiscent of the Betamax/VHS war, Toshiba threw in the towel on HD DVD a short time later.
“Consumers appreciate the high quality that Blu-ray Disc delivers, so they can finally enjoy the full potential of their HDTV,” said Chris Buma, Senior Director Program Manager Standardization of Philips Electronics.
Among Blu-ray’s distinctive elements: high storage capacity, new replication technology, advanced audio and video codecs, web connectivity and interactivity, new authoring systems, and a recording system using recordable discs that allows consumers to record HiDef TV programs in their home. It also provides high capacity storage for PC and professional usage.
“With the Blu-ray recordable disc, users leverage the benefits of capacity, speed, instant access and removability,” said Hajime Utsunomiya, General Manager, SQ Research Center, TDK Corporation.