Blu-ray technology has led to the introduction of high-capacity discs to meet the increasing demand triggered by the rapid growth of high-definition television (HDTV).
The name of the Blu-ray discs are derived from Blue Laser technology. The shorter laser wavelength results in a blue beam of light. While DVD media is read with red laser technology at 650 nm wavelength, the blue laser has a wavelength of 405 nm. The advantage of a blue laser with a shorter wavelength is that smaller data pits can be written, thereby increasing the amount of data of the disc.
Blu-ray discs offer three to five times as much storage space as conventional recordable DVDs, so that even high-definition videos (HD) can be recorded, played back and overwritten.