Apple Joins Blu-ray Association
March 10, 2005
Cupertino, CA - Apple Computer will become a member of the Blu-Ray Disc consortium's Board of Directors.
Blu-ray is the next-generation optical disc format being developed for high definition video and high-capacity software applications. A single-layer Blu-ray disc will hold up to 25 gigabytes of data and a double-layer Blu-ray disc will hold up to 50 gigabytes of data.
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is responsible for establishing format standards and promoting and further developing business opportunities for Blu-ray disc - the next-generation optical disc for storing high definition
movies, games, photos and other digital content. The BDA has over 100 members. Its Board of Directors consists of Apple; Dell Inc.; Hewlett Packard Company; Hitachi, Ltd.; LG Electronics Inc.; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Panasonic (Matsushita Electric); Pioneer Corporation; Royal Philips Electronics; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sharp Corporation; Sony Corporation; TDK Corporation; Thomson; Twentieth Century Fox; and Walt Disney Pictures and Television.
Apple has been a leader in driving consumer adoption of DVD authoring since January 2001, with the introduction of its SuperDrive, the industry's first high-volume CD- and DVD-burning drive, and its revolutionary iDVD and DVD Studio Pro software applications. Apple is also helping bring High Definition to market with a complete line of HD content creation tools for consumers and professionals alike including iMovie HD, Final Cut Express HD and Final Cut Pro HD editing software.
Additionally the next release of Apple's QuickTime software, QuickTime 7, will feature the MPEG developed H.264 Advanced Video Codec (AVC) which has been adopted for high definition DVDs. Apple will release QuickTime 7 in
conjunction with the release of Mac OS X version 10.4 Tiger, the fifth major version of Mac OS X that will ship in the first half of 2005.
"Apple is pleased to join the Blu-ray Disc Association board as part of our efforts to drive consumer adoption of HD," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Consumers are already creating stunning HD content with Apple's leading
video editing applications like iMovie HD and are anxiously awaiting a way to burn their own high def DVDs."
The BDA was created to broaden support for Blu-ray disc, the next generation optical disc for storing High Definition movies, photos and other digital content. Blu-ray discs will have five times larger capacity than today's
DVDs, with a single-layer Blu-ray disc holding up to 25 gigabytes of data and a double-layer Blu-ray disc holding up to 50 gigabytes of data, the associatoin describes. Current DVDs hold 4.7 gigabytes on single-layer discs and 8.5 gigabytes on dual-layer discs.
For more information, visit
www.apple.com
or
www.blu-ray.com
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