Saturday, September 27, 2008

20 Great Google Secrets

Google is clearly the best general-purpose search engine on the Web (see

www.pcmag.com/searchengines

But most people don't use it to its best advantage. Do you just plug in a keyword or two and hope for the best? That may be the quickest way to search, but with more than 3 billion pages in Google's index, it's still a struggle to pare results to a manageable number.

But Google is an remarkably powerful tool that can ease and enhance your Internet exploration. Google's search options go beyond simple keywords, the Web, and even its own programmers. Let's look at some of Google's lesser-known options.

Syntax Search Tricks

Using a special syntax is a way to tell Google that you want to restrict your searches to certain elements or characteristics of Web pages. Google has a fairly complete list of its syntax elements at

www.google.com/help/operators.html

. Here are some advanced operators that can help narrow down your search results.

Intitle: at the beginning of a query word or phrase (intitle:"Three Blind Mice") restricts your search results to just the titles of Web pages.

Intext: does the opposite of intitle:, searching only the body text, ignoring titles, links, and so forth. Intext: is perfect when what you're searching for might commonly appear in URLs. If you're looking for the term HTML, for example, and you don't want to get results such as

www.mysite.com/index.html

, you can enter intext:html.

Link: lets you see which pages are linking to your Web page or to another page you're interested in. For example, try typing in

link:http://www.pcmag.com

Try using site: (which restricts results to top-level domains) with intitle: to find certain types of pages. For example, get scholarly pages about Mark Twain by searching for intitle:"Mark Twain"site:edu. Experiment with mixing various elements; you'll develop several strategies for finding the stuff you want more effectively. The site: command is very helpful as an alternative to the mediocre search engines built into many sites.

Swiss Army Google

Google has a number of services that can help you accomplish tasks you may never have thought to use Google for. For example, the new calculator feature

(www.google.com/help/features.html#calculator)

lets you do both math and a variety of conversions from the search box. For extra fun, try the query "Answer to life the universe and everything."

Let Google help you figure out whether you've got the right spelling—and the right word—for your search. Enter a misspelled word or phrase into the query box (try "thre blund mise") and Google may suggest a proper spelling. This doesn't always succeed; it works best when the word you're searching for can be found in a dictionary. Once you search for a properly spelled word, look at the results page, which repeats your query. (If you're searching for "three blind mice," underneath the search window will appear a statement such as Searched the web for "three blind mice.") You'll discover that you can click on each word in your search phrase and get a definition from a dictionary.

Suppose you want to contact someone and don't have his phone number handy. Google can help you with that, too. Just enter a name, city, and state. (The city is optional, but you must enter a state.) If a phone number matches the listing, you'll see it at the top of the search results along with a map link to the address. If you'd rather restrict your results, use rphonebook: for residential listings or bphonebook: for business listings. If you'd rather use a search form for business phone listings, try Yellow Search

(www.buzztoolbox.com/google/yellowsearch.shtml).

Extended Googling

Google offers several services that give you a head start in focusing your search. Google Groups

(http://groups.google.com)

indexes literally millions of messages from decades of discussion on Usenet. Google even helps you with your shopping via two tools: Froogle
CODE
(http://froogle.google.com),

which indexes products from online stores, and Google Catalogs
CODE
(http://catalogs.google.com),

which features products from more 6,000 paper catalogs in a searchable index. And this only scratches the surface. You can get a complete list of Google's tools and services at

www.google.com/options/index.html

You're probably used to using Google in your browser. But have you ever thought of using Google outside your browser?

Google Alert

(www.googlealert.com)

monitors your search terms and e-mails you information about new additions to Google's Web index. (Google Alert is not affiliated with Google; it uses Google's Web services API to perform its searches.) If you're more interested in news stories than general Web content, check out the beta version of Google News Alerts

(www.google.com/newsalerts).

This service (which is affiliated with Google) will monitor up to 50 news queries per e-mail address and send you information about news stories that match your query. (Hint: Use the intitle: and source: syntax elements with Google News to limit the number of alerts you get.)

Google on the telephone? Yup. This service is brought to you by the folks at Google Labs

(http://labs.google.com),

a place for experimental Google ideas and features (which may come and go, so what's there at this writing might not be there when you decide to check it out). With Google Voice Search

(http://labs1.google.com/gvs.html),

you dial the Voice Search phone number, speak your keywords, and then click on the indicated link. Every time you say a new search term, the results page will refresh with your new query (you must have JavaScript enabled for this to work). Remember, this service is still in an experimental phase, so don't expect 100 percent success.

In 2002, Google released the Google API (application programming interface), a way for programmers to access Google's search engine results without violating the Google Terms of Service. A lot of people have created useful (and occasionally not-so-useful but interesting) applications not available from Google itself, such as Google Alert. For many applications, you'll need an API key, which is available free from
CODE
www.google.com/apis

. See the figures for two more examples, and visit

www.pcmag.com/solutions

for more.

Thanks to its many different search properties, Google goes far beyond a regular search engine. Give the tricks in this article a try. You'll be amazed at how many different ways Google can improve your Internet searching.

Online Extra: More Google Tips

Here are a few more clever ways to tweak your Google searches.

Search Within a Timeframe

Daterange: (start date–end date). You can restrict your searches to pages that were indexed within a certain time period. Daterange: searches by when Google indexed a page, not when the page itself was created. This operator can help you ensure that results will have fresh content (by using recent dates), or you can use it to avoid a topic's current-news blizzard and concentrate only on older results. Daterange: is actually more useful if you go elsewhere to take advantage of it, because daterange: requires Julian dates, not standard Gregorian dates. You can find converters on the Web (such as

CODE
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.html

excl.gif No Active Links, Read the Rules - Edit by Ninja excl.gif

), but an easier way is to do a Google daterange: search by filling in a form at

www.researchbuzz.com/toolbox/goofresh.shtml or www.faganfinder.com/engines/google.shtml

. If one special syntax element is good, two must be better, right? Sometimes. Though some operators can't be mixed (you can't use the link: operator with anything else) many can be, quickly narrowing your results to a less overwhelming number.

More Google API Applications

Staggernation.com offers three tools based on the Google API. The Google API Web Search by Host (GAWSH) lists the Web hosts of the results for a given query

(www.staggernation.com/gawsh/).

When you click on the triangle next to each host, you get a list of results for that host. The Google API Relation Browsing Outliner (GARBO) is a little more complicated: You enter a URL and choose whether you want pages that related to the URL or linked to the URL

(www.staggernation.com/garbo/).

Click on the triangle next to an URL to get a list of pages linked or related to that particular URL. CapeMail is an e-mail search application that allows you to send an e-mail to google@capeclear.com with the text of your query in the subject line and get the first ten results for that query back. Maybe it's not something you'd do every day, but if your cell phone does e-mail and doesn't do Web browsing, this is a very handy address to know.
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Welcome Blu-ray Disc !

Blu-ray Disc

Blu-ray Disc
Reverse side of a Blu-ray Disc
Media type High-density optical disc
Encoding MPEG-2, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, and VC-1
Capacity 25 GB (single layer)
50 GB (dual layer)
Read mechanism 405 nm laser:
1× at 36 Mbit/s
2× at 72 Mbit/s
4× at 144 Mbit/s
6× at 216 Mbit/s[1]
8× at 288 Mbit/s
12× at 432 Mbit/s
Developed by Blu-ray Disc Association
Usage Data storage,
High-definition video
High-definition audio
and PlayStation 3 games

Blu-ray Disc (also known as Blu-ray or BD) is an optical disc storage media format. Its main uses are high-definition video and data storage. The disc has the same physical dimensions as a standard DVD or CD.

The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue laser (violet colored) used to read and write this type of disc. Because of its shorter wavelength (405 nm), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the DVD format, which uses a red (650 nm) laser. A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost six times the capacity of a double-dual layer DVD (or more than 10 times if single-layer).

During the high definition optical disc format war, Blu-ray Disc competed with the HD DVD format. On February 19, 2008, Toshiba — the main company supporting HD DVD — announced it would no longer develop, manufacture, and market HD DVD players and recorders,[2] leading almost all other HD DVD companies to follow suit, effectively ending the format war.

Blu-ray Disc was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association, a group representing consumer electronics, computer hardware, and motion picture production. As of September 20, 2008 more than 850 Blu-ray Disc titles have been released in the United States and more than 500 Blu-ray Disc titles have been released in Japan.[3][4] There is expected to be over 1200 Blu-ray Disc titles released in the United States by the end of 2008.[5]

Optical disc authoring
Optical media types
Standards
Further reading
This box: view • talk • edit
A blank rewritable Blu-ray Disc (BD-RE)
A blank rewritable Blu-ray Disc (BD-RE)

In 1998, commercial HDTV sets began to appear in the consumer market; however, there was no commonly accepted, inexpensive way to record or play HD content. In fact, there was no medium with the storage required to accommodate HD codecs, except JVC's Digital VHS and Sony's HDCAM.[6] Nevertheless, it was well known that using lasers with shorter wavelengths would enable optical storage with higher density. When Shuji Nakamura invented practical blue laser diodes, it was a sensation, although a lengthy patent lawsuit delayed commercial introduction.[7]

[edit] Origins

Philips and Sony started two projects applying the new diodes: UDO (Ultra Density Optical) and DVR Blue (together with Pioneer), a format of rewritable discs which would eventually become Blu-ray Disc (more specifically, BD-RE).[8] The core technologies of the formats are essentially similar.

The first DVR Blue prototypes were unveiled at the CEATEC exhibition in October 2000.[9] Because the Blu-ray Disc standard places the data recording layer close to the surface of the disc, early discs were susceptible to contamination and scratches and had to be enclosed in plastic cartridges for protection. In February 2002, the project was officially announced as Blu-ray,[10] and the Blu-ray Disc Association was founded by the nine initial members.

The first consumer devices were in stores on April 10, 2003. This device was the Sony BDZ-S77; a BD-RE recorder that was made available only in Japan. The recommended price was US$3800;[11] however, there was no standard for pre-recorded video and no movies were released for this player. The Blu-ray Disc standard was still years away as a newer, more secure DRM system was needed before Hollywood studios would accept it, not wanting to repeat the failure of the Content Scramble System used on DVDs.

[edit] Blu-ray Disc format finalized

The Blu-ray Disc physical specifications were finished in 2004.[12] In January 2005, TDK announced that they had developed a hard coating polymer for Blu-ray Discs.[13] The cartridges, no longer necessary, were scrapped. The BD-ROM specifications were finalized in early 2006.[14] AACS LA, a consortium founded in 2004,[15] had been developing the DRM platform that could be used to securely distribute movies to consumers. However, the final AACS standard was delayed,[16] and then delayed again when an important member of the Blu-ray Disc group voiced concerns.[17] At the request of the initial hardware manufacturers, including Toshiba, Pioneer and Samsung, an interim standard was published which did not include some features, like managed copy.[18]

[edit] Launch and sales developments

The first BD-ROM players were shipped in the middle of June 2006, though HD DVD players beat them in the race to the market by a few months.[19][20]

The first Blu-ray Disc titles were released on June 20, 2006. The earliest releases used MPEG-2 video compression, the same method used on DVDs. The first releases using the newer VC-1 and AVC codecs were introduced in September 2006.[21] The first movies using dual layer discs (50 GB) were introduced in October 2006.[22] The first audio-only release was made in March 2008.[23]

The first mass-market Blu-ray Disc rewritable drive for the PC was the BWU-100A, released by Sony on July 18, 2006. It recorded both single and dual layer BD-R as well as BD-RE discs and had a suggested retail price of US$699.

[edit] Competition from HD DVD

Main article: High definition optical disc format war

The DVD Forum (which was chaired by Toshiba) was deeply split over whether to develop the more expensive blue laser technology or not. In March 2002, the forum voted to approve a proposal endorsed by Warner Bros. and other motion picture studios that involved compressing HD content onto dual-layer DVD-9 discs.[24][25] In spite of this decision, however, the DVD Forum's Steering Committee announced in April that it was pursuing its own blue-laser high-definition solution. In August, Toshiba and NEC announced their competing standard Advanced Optical Disc.[26] It was finally adopted by the DVD Forum and renamed HD DVD the next year,[27] after being voted down twice by Blu-ray Disc Association members, prompting the U.S. Department of Justice to make preliminary investigations into the situation.[28][29]

HD DVD had a head start in the high definition video market and Blu-ray Disc sales were slow at first. The first Blu-ray Disc player was perceived as expensive and buggy, and there were few titles available.[30] This changed when PlayStation 3 launched, since every PS3 unit also functioned as a Blu-ray Disc player. At CES 2007 Warner proposed Total Hi Def which was a hybrid disc containing Blu-ray on one side and HD DVD on the other but it was never released. By January 2007, Blu-ray discs had outsold HD DVDs,[31] and during the first three quarters of 2007, BD outsold HD DVDs by about two to one. In February 2008, Toshiba withdrew its support for the HD DVD format, leaving Blu-ray as the victor.[32]

Some analysts believe that Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console played an important role in the format war, believing it acted as a catalyst for Blu-ray Disc, as the PlayStation 3 used a Blu-ray Disc drive as its primary information storage medium.[33] They also credited Sony's more thorough and influential marketing campaign.[34] More recently Twentieth Century Fox have cited Blu-ray Disc's adoption of the BD+ anti-copying system as the reason they supported Blu-ray Disc over HD DVD.[35][36]

[edit] End of the format war

In January 2008, a day before CES 2008, Warner Brothers, the only major studio still releasing movies in both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc format, announced it would release only in Blu-ray Disc after May 2008. This effectively included other studios which came under the Warner umbrella, such as New Line Cinema and HBO, though in Europe HBO distribution partner the BBC announced it would, while keeping an eye on market forces, continue to release product on both formats. This led to a chain reaction in the industry, including major U.S. retailers such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Circuit City dropping HD DVD in their stores. A major European retailer, Woolworths, dropped HD DVD from its inventory. Netflix and Blockbuster – major DVD rental companies – said they would no longer carry HD DVDs. Following these new developments, on February 19, 2008, Toshiba announced it would be ending production of HD DVD devices,[37] allowing Blu-ray Disc to become the industry standard for high-density optical disks. Universal Studios, the sole major movie studio to back HD DVD since inception, shortly after Toshiba's announcement, said "while Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray Disc."[38] Paramount Studios, which started releasing movies only in HD DVD format during late 2007, also said it would start releasing in Blu-ray Disc. Both studios announced initial Blu-ray lineups in May 2008. With this, all major Hollywood studios now support Blu-ray.[39][40]

Former HD DVD supporter Microsoft had stated that they were not pursuing a Blu-ray Disc drive for the Xbox 360, and would instead focus on their digital downloads from the Xbox Live Marketplace.[41]

Blu-ray Disc began making serious strides as soon as the format war ended. Nielsen VideoScan sales numbers showed that with some titles, such as 20th Century Fox's "Hitman," up to 14% of total disc sales were from Blu-ray, although the average for the first half of the year was around 5%. Shortly after the format war ended, a study by The NPD Group found that awareness of Blu-ray Disc had reached 60% of U.S. households, with most experts predicting the business will take off in a significant fashion in the fourth quarter of 2008, when BD Live software and players--which offer a variety of Web-enabled features, from downloadable trailers to chat and instant-messaging functions--start hitting the market.

According to Singulus Technologies AG, Blu-ray is being adopted faster than the DVD format was at the same period of its development. This conclusion was made due to the fact that Singulus Technologies has received orders for 21 Blu-ray dual-layer machines during the first quarter of 2008, while 17 DVD machines of this type were made in the same period in 1997.[42]

[edit] Technical specifications

Type Physical size Single layer capacity Dual layer capacity
Standard disc size 12 cm, single sided 25 GB (23.28 GiB) 50 GB (46.56 GiB)
Mini disc size 8 cm, single sided 7.8 GB (7.26 GiB) 15.6 GB (14.53 GiB)

[edit] Laser and optics

Blu-ray Disc uses a "blue" (technically violet) laser operating at a wavelength of 405 nm to read and write data. Conventional DVDs and CDs use red and near infrared lasers at 650 nm and 780 nm respectively.

The blue-violet laser's shorter wavelength makes it possible to store more information on a 12 cm CD/DVD sized disc. The minimum "spot size" on which a laser can be focused is limited by diffraction, and depends on the wavelength of the light and the numerical aperture of the lens used to focus it. By decreasing the wavelength, increasing the numerical aperture from 0.60 to 0.85 and making the cover layer thinner to avoid unwanted optical effects, the laser beam can be focused to a smaller spot. This allows more information to be stored in the same area. For Blu-ray Disc, the spot size is 580 nm.[43] In addition to the optical improvements, Blu-ray Discs feature improvements in data encoding that further increase the capacity. (See Compact disc for information on optical discs' physical structure.)

[edit] Hard-coating technology

Because the Blu-ray Disc data layer is closer to the surface of the disc, compared to the DVD standard, it was at first more vulnerable to scratches. The first discs were housed in cartridges for protection.

TDK was the first company to develop a working scratch protection coating for Blu-ray Discs. It was named Durabis. In addition, both Sony and Panasonic's replication methods include proprietary hard-coat technologies. Sony's rewritable media are spin-coated with a scratch-resistant and antistatic coating. Verbatim's recordable and rewritable Blu-ray Disc discs use their own proprietary hard-coat technology called ScratchGuard.

[edit] Recording speed

Drive speed Data rate Write time for Blu-ray Disc (minutes)
Mbit/s MB/s Single Layer Dual Layer
1× 36 4.5 90 180
2× 72 9 45 90
4× 144 18 23 45
6× 216 27 15 30
8×* 288 36 12 23
12×** 432 54 8 15

* On August 8, 2008, Japanese electronics company Buffalo announced that it will ship the first 8x Blu-ray burners in Japan starting from September 2008.[44]

** Theoretical

[edit] Software standards

[edit] Codecs

Codecs are compression schemes that store audio and video more efficiently, optimizing for either low space usage or quality per megabyte. There are both lossy and lossless compression techniques.

The BD-ROM specification mandates certain codec compatibilities for both hardware decoders (players) and the movie-software (content). For video, all players are required to support MPEG-2, H.264/AVC, and SMPTE VC-1. MPEG-2 is the codec used on regular DVDs, which allows backwards compatibility. H.264/AVC was developed by MPEG and VCEG as a modern successor of H.263 . VC-1 is another MPEG-4 derivative codec mostly developed by Microsoft. BD-ROM titles with video must store video using one of the three mandatory codecs. Multiple codecs on a single title are allowed.

The choice of codecs affects the producer's licensing/royalty costs, as well as the title's maximum runtime, due to differences in compression efficiency. Discs encoded in MPEG-2 video typically limit content producers to around two hours of high-definition content on a single-layer (25 GB) BD-ROM. The more advanced video codecs (VC-1 and H.264) typically achieve a video runtime twice that of MPEG-2, with comparable quality.

MPEG-2 was used by many studios, including Paramount Pictures (which initially used the VC-1 codec for HD DVD releases) for the first series of Blu-ray discs that were launched throughout 2006. Modern releases are now often encoded in either H.264/AVC or VC-1, allowing film studios to place all content on one disc, reducing costs and improving ease of use. Using these codecs will also free many GB of space for storage of bonus content in HD (1080i/p) as opposed to the SD (480i/p) typically used for most titles. Some studios (such as Warner Bros.) have released bonus content on discs encoded in a different codec than the main feature title; for example the Blu-ray release of Superman Returns uses VC-1 for the feature film and MPEG-2 for bonus content (presumably because it is simply ported from the DVD release).

For audio, BD-ROM players are required to support Dolby Digital, DTS, and linear PCM. Players may optionally support Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, as well as lossless formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. BD-ROM titles must use one of the mandatory schemes for the primary soundtrack. A secondary audiotrack, if present, may use any of the mandatory or optional codecs.

For users recording digital television programming, the recordable Blu-ray Disc standard's initial data rate of 36 Mbit/s is more than adequate to record high-definition broadcasts from any source (IPTV, cable/satellite, or terrestrial). BD-Video movies have a maximum data transfer rate of 54 Mbit/s, a maximum AV bitrate of 48 Mbit/s (for both audio and video data), and a maximum video bitrate of 40 Mbit/s. This compares to HD DVD movies which have a maximum data transfer rate of 36 Mbit/s, a maximum AV bitrate of 30.24 Mbit/s, and a maximum video bitrate of 29.4 Mbit/s.[45]

[edit] Java software support

Main article: BD-J

At the 2005 JavaOne trade show, it was announced that Sun Microsystems' Java cross-platform software environment would be included in all Blu-ray Disc players as a mandatory part of the standard. Java is used to implement interactive menus on Blu-ray Discs, as opposed to the method used on DVD video discs, which uses pre-rendered MPEG segments and selectable subtitle pictures, which is considerably more primitive and less seamless. Java creator James Gosling, at the conference, suggested that the inclusion of a Java Virtual Machine as well as network connectivity in some BD devices will allow updates to Blu-ray Discs via the Internet, adding content such as additional subtitle languages and promotional features that are not included on the disc at pressing time. This Java Version is called BD-J and is a subset of the Globally Executable MHP (GEM) standard. GEM is the world-wide version of the Multimedia Home Platform standard.

[edit] Region codes

Regions for Blu-ray standard A: East Asia (except Mainland China and Mongolia), Southeast Asia, North America, South America and their dependencies. B: Africa, Southwest Asia, Europe (except Russia and Kazakhstan), Oceania and their dependencies. C: Central Asia, East Asia (Mainland China and Mongolia only), South Asia, central Eurasia and their dependencies.
Regions for Blu-ray standard[46]

Blu-ray Discs may be encoded with a region code, intended to restrict the area of the world in which they can be played, similar in principle to the DVD region codes, although the used geographical regions differ. Blu-ray Disc players sold in a certain region may only play discs encoded for that region. The purpose of this system is to allow motion picture studios to control the various aspects of a release (including content, date, and in particular price) according to the region. Discs may also be produced without region coding, so they can be played on all devices. The countries of the major Blu-ray manufacturers (Japan, Korea, Malaysia) are in the same region as North America. As of early 2008, about two-thirds of all released discs were region-free.[47]

Major studios have different region coding policies. Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios have released all of their titles region free.[48][49] Sony Pictures and Warner Bros have released most of their titles region free, but titles released by Warner's New Line division are region-coded.[50][51] Lionsgate and Walt Disney Pictures have released a mix of titles that were region free and region coded.[52][53] 20th Century Fox has released all but one of their titles region coded.[54]

In the Blu-ray region coding system, the United States is placed in region A while regions B and C are used for countries which can experience localization delays before U.S. titles are officially released. The opposite, though, is sometimes true and a few new titles such as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Running Scared were released in certain European countries before the U.S. release.[55] In response to the DVD region system, multi-region and region-free DVD players became dominant in certain markets; certain Blu-ray player models have been modified to allow for playback of Blu-ray and DVD discs with any region code.[56]

[edit] Digital rights management (DRM)

The Blu-ray Disc format employs several layers of digital rights management.[57][58]

AACS decryption process
AACS decryption process

Advanced Access Content System (AACS) is a standard for content distribution and digital rights management. It is developed by AS Licensing Administrator, LLC (AACS LA), a consortium that includes Disney, Intel, Microsoft, Matsushita (Panasonic), Warner Bros., IBM, Toshiba and Sony.

Since appearing in devices in 2006, several successful attacks have been made on the format. The first known attack relied on the trusted client problem. In addition, decryption keys have been extracted from a weakly protected player (WinDVD). New releases will use new, uncompromised keys.[59] However, now (August 2008) all decryption keys are available on the Internet.[citation needed]

BD+ was developed by Cryptography Research Inc. and is based on their concept of Self-Protecting Digital Content.[60] BD+ is effectively a small virtual machine embedded in authorized players. It allows content providers to include executable programs on Blu-ray Discs. Such programs can:[57]

  • examine the host environment, to see if the player has been tampered with. Every licensed playback device manufacturer must provide the BD+ licensing authority with memory footprints that identify their devices.
  • verify that the player's keys have not been changed.
  • execute native code, possibly to patch an otherwise insecure system.
  • transform the audio and video output. Parts of the content will not be viewable without letting the BD+-program unscramble it.

If a playback device manufacturer finds that its devices have been hacked, it can potentially release BD+-code that detects and circumvents the vulnerability. These programs can then be included in all new content releases.

The specifications of the BD+ virtual machine are available only to licensed device manufacturers. A list of licensed adopters is available from the BD+ website.

The first titles using BD+ were released in October 2007. Players from Samsung and LG had problems playing back those titles until the manufacturers updated their firmware, but this problem was later identified as being related to BD-Java use, not BD+.[61] BD+ protection was fully circumvented with the release 6.4.0.0 of AnyDVD HD program.

BD-ROM Mark is a small amount of cryptographic data that is stored separately from normal Blu-ray Disc data. Bit-by-bit copies that do not replicate the BD-ROM Mark are impossible to decode. A specially licensed piece of hardware is required to insert the ROM-mark into the media during replication. Through licensing of the special hardware element, the BDA believes that it can eliminate the possibility of mass producing BD-ROMs without authorization.

[edit] Player profiles

The BD-ROM specification defines four Blu-ray Disc player profiles which includes an audio only player profile (BD-Audio) that does not require video decoding or BD-J.[62] All three of the video based player profiles (BD-Video) are required to have a full implementation of BD-J, but with varying levels of hardware support.

Feature BD-Audio BD-Video
Grace Period [d] Bonus View [e] BD-Live
Profile 3.0 [c] Profile 1.0 Profile 1.1 Profile 2.0
Built-in persistent memory No 64 KB 64 KB 64 KB
Local storage capability[a] No Optional 256 MB 1 GB
Secondary video decoder (PiP) No Optional Mandatory Mandatory
Secondary audio decoder[b] No Optional Mandatory Mandatory
Virtual file system No Optional Mandatory Mandatory
Internet connection capability No No No Mandatory

^ a This is used for storing audio/video and title updates. It can either be built in memory or removable media, such as a memory card or USB flash memory.
^ b A secondary audio decoder is typically used for interactive audio and commentary.
^ c Profile 3.0 is a separate audio only player profile. As of 2008-06-26, only one known Blu-ray record has been released and it has been confirmed to work on the PS3.[63][64]
^ d Is also known as Initial Standard profile.
^ e Is also known as Final Standard profile.

On November 1, 2007, the Grace Period Profile was superseded by Bonus View as the minimum profile for new BD-Video players released to the market.[65] When Blu-ray software authored with interactive features dependent on Bonus View or BD-Live hardware capabilities are played on Profile 1.0 players they will be able to play the main feature of the disc but some extra features may not be available or may offer limited capability.[66]

Except the LG-BH100, the LG-BH200, the PlayStation 3, and the Samsung BD-UP5000, Profile 1.0 players can not be upgraded to be Bonus View or BD-Live compliant.[67][68][69]

[edit] Backward compatibility

Though not compulsory, the Blu-ray Disc Association recommends that Blu-ray Disc drives should be capable of reading standard DVDs and CDs for backward compatibility.[70] A few early Blu-ray Disc players released in 2006 could play DVDs but not CDs (the LG BH100, Pioneer BDP-HD1, and Sony BDP-S1)[71][72][73]

[edit] Ongoing development

Front of an experimental 200GB rewritable Blu-ray Disc
Front of an experimental 200GB rewritable Blu-ray Disc

Although the Blu-ray Disc specification has been finalized, engineers continue working to advance the technology. Quad-layer (100 GB) discs have been demonstrated on a drive with modified optics (TDK version) and standard unaltered optics ("Hitachi used a standard drive.").[74][75] Hitachi stated that such a disc could be used to store 7 hours of 32 Mbit/s video (HDTV) or 3.5 hours of 64 Mbit/s video (Cinema 4K). Furthermore TDK announced in August 2006 that they have created a working experimental Blu-ray Disc capable of holding 200 GB of data on a single side, using six 33 GB data layers.[76]

Also behind closed doors at CES 2007, Ritek revealed that they had successfully developed a High Definition optical disc process that extends the disc capacity to 10 layers. That increases the capacity of the discs to 250 GB. However, they noted that the major obstacle is that current reader and writer technology does not support the additional layers.[77]

JVC has developed a three-layer technology that allows putting both standard-definition DVD data and HD data on a BD/DVD combo. If successfully commercialized, this would enable the consumer to purchase a disc which could be played on current DVD players, and reveal its HD version when played on a new BD player.[78] This hybrid disc does not appear to be ready for production and no titles have been announced that would use this disc structure.

In January 2007, Hitachi showcased a 100 GB Blu-ray Disc, which consists of four layers containing 25 GB each.[79] Unlike TDK and Panasonic's 100 GB discs, they claim this disc is readable on standard Blu-ray Disc drives that are currently in circulation, and it is believed that a firmware update is the only requirement to make it readable to current players and drives.[80]

As of April, 2008 a joint licensing agreement for Blu-ray Disc has not yet been finalized.[81] A joint licensing agreement would make it easier for companies to get a license for Blu-ray Disc without having to go to each individual company that owns a Blu-ray Disc patent. For this reason a joint licensing agreement was eventually made for DVD by the DVD6C Licensing Agency.[82]

[edit] Variants

[edit] Mini Blu-ray Disc

The Mini Blu-ray Disc (also, Mini-BD and Mini Blu-ray) is a compact 8cm (~3in) diameter variant of the Blu-ray Disc that can store approximately 7.5 GB of data. It is similar in concept to the MiniDVD. Recordable (BD-R) and rewritable (BD-RE) versions of Mini Blu-ray Disc have been developed specifically for compact camcorders and other compact recording devices.[83]

[edit] BD9/BD5 Blu-ray Disc

BD9 and BD5 are lower capacity variants of the Blu-ray Disc that contain Blu-ray compatible video and audio streams contained on a conventional DVD (650 nm wavelength / red laser) optical disc. Such discs offer the use of the same advanced compression technologies available to Blu-ray discs (including MPEG-4-AVC/H.264, SMPTE-421M/VC-1 and MPEG-2) while using lower cost legacy media. BD9 uses a standard 8152MB DVD9 dual-layer disc while BD5 uses a standard 4482MB DVD5 single-layer disc.[84]

BD9/BD5 discs can be authored using home computers for private showing using standard DVD±R recorders. AACS digital rights management is optional.[85] The BD9/BD5 format was originally proposed by Warner Home Video, as a cost-effective alternative to regular Blu-ray Discs.[86] It was adopted as part of the BD-ROM basic format, file system, and AV specifications. BD9/BD5 is similar to 3× DVD for HD DVD.

[edit] AVCREC

See also: HD REC

AVCREC is an official[87] lower capacity variant of the Blu-ray Disc used for storing Blu-ray Disc compatible content on conventional DVD discs. It is being promoted for use in camcorders, distribution of short HD broadcast content and other cost-sensitive distribution needs. It is similar to HD REC for HD DVD.

Note that AVCREC is not the same as AVCHD content stored on DVD. The latter is a media independent format and is used presently in tapeless camcorders that record onto DVD and Blu-ray disks, as well as onto SecureDigital and MemoryStick memory cards. Playing back AVCHD content on a Blu-ray player may require modification of AVCHD directory structure, but does not require re-encoding of video files themselves.[88]

[edit] Blu-ray Disc recordable

Main article: Blu-ray Disc recordable

Blu-ray Disc recordable refers to two optical disc formats that can be recorded with an optical disc recorder. BD-R discs can be written to once, whereas BD-RE can be erased and re-recorded multiple times. The theoretical maximum speed for Blu-ray Discs is about 12× as the speed of rotation (10,000 rpm) causes too much wobble for the discs to be read properly, similar to the 20× and 52× respective maximum speeds of DVDs and CDs.

Since September 2007, BD-RE was also available in the smaller 8 cm Mini Blu-ray Disc diameter size.[83][89]

On September 18, 2007, Pioneer and Mitsubishi co-developed BD-R LTH ("Low to High" in groove recording), which features an organic dye recording layer that can be manufactured by modifying existing CD-R and DVD-R production equipment, significantly reducing manufacturing costs.[90]

In February 2008, Taiyo Yuden, Mitsubishi and Maxell released the first BD-R LTH Discs,[91] and in March 2008, Sony's PlayStation 3 gained official support for BD-R LTH Discs with the 2.20 firmware update.[92]

Unlike the previous releases of 120 mm optical discs (i.e. CDs and DVDs), Blu-ray recorders hit the market almost simultaneously with Blu-ray's debut (at least in Japan).

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Samsung ML-2010 monochrome laser printer

Samsung India has recently introduced in India Samsung ML-2010 monochrome laser printer targeted at small office or corporate setting that offers razor sharp images with 1,200 x 600 dpi effective print resolution.

samsung-ml-2010-laser-printerThe Samsung ML-2010 monochrome laser printer is designed using a bright white plastic front and soft gray sides and back. The affordable Samsung ML-2010 monochrome alser printer offers printing speed of up to 20 ppm in A4 or 17 ppm in Letter and supports print resolution of up to 1,200 x 600 dpi effective output.

Ideally suited for small offices, students, SOHO users, and SMB users the new Samsung ML-2010 black and white laser printer is equipped with Samsung 150 MHz Processor and has 8-MB internal RAM (Max. 8-MB) and features USB v1.1 interface and is compatible with USB v2.0 port.

The Samsung ML-2010’s clean, compact design and large monthly duty cycle make it ideal for anyone with limited office space. In addition, the Samsung ML-2010 monochrome laser printer also features a toner save button and offers a monthly duty cycle of 5,000 pages. Laser printer also provides a heavy-duty clear plastic cover to shield the paper from spills and help keep dust out of the printer’s interior.

The control panel on ML-2010 laser printer consists of a chrome button and two tiny LEDs. The button allows you to switch between automatic feed for plain paper and manual mode for hand-feeding envelopes into the one-page auxiliary slot. The LEDs indicate when the printer is ready to print, when it’s busy processing a job, or if printing is stalled because of a paper jam or an empty input paper tray.

The Samsung ML-2010 laser printer holds upto 150-sheet in a Multi Purpose input Tray, and output bin can hold upto 100-sheets face down. Besides the laser printer also offers media size of 76 x 127 mm (3×5 inch) to 216 x 356 mm (8.5×14 inch). The laser printer can handle all sorts of print media including transparencies, labels, post cards, and envelopes for direct printing and has yield of about 3,000 Pages @ ISO 19752 5% Coverage using single cartridge.

With less than 10 second warm-up time, the new Samsung ML-12010 monochrome laser printer is about 5.5 kgs in weight with dimensions of 358 x 299 x 217 mm (14.1 x 11.8 x 8.5 inch).

Samsung ML-2010 laser printer produces long lasting monochrome prints that are smudge and water resistant and razor sharp with 1,200 x 600 dpi resolution. The unit is equipped with 8-MB of total internal memory (maximum 8-MB) and is fully compatible with Windows (98/ME/2000/XP), Macontosh and Linux (Red Hat, Caldera, Mandrake, Slackware, SUSE and Turbo Linux) operating systems.

Samsung has ensured that ML-2010 laser printer’s Manuals, answers to FAQs, and printer drivers are available on Samsung’s Web site.

samsung-ml-2010-laser-printer

Samsung ML-2010 Monochrome Laser Printer Features

  • Monochrome laser printing
  • Printing speed: Up to 20 ppm in A4 (17 ppm in Letter)
  • Up to 1,200 x 600 dpi effective output
  • First Page Out Time - 10 seconds
  • Samsung 150 MHz Processor
  • 8-MB internal RAM (maximum 8-MB)
  • USB v1.1 interface (Compatible with USB v2.0 port)
  • Windows Fonts
  • Monthly duty cycle of 5,000 pages
  • Toner save button
  • 150-sheet Multi Purpose Tray Input Capacity
  • 100-sheet Face Down Output Capacity
  • Media Size - 76�127 mm (3×5 inch) - 216�356 mm (8.5×14 inch)
  • Special Media - Transparencies, Labels, Post cards, Envelopes
  • Yield - 3,000 Pages @ ISO 19752 5% Coverage
  • Dimension (WxDxH) - 358 x 299 x 217 mm (14.1 x 11.8 x 8.5 inch)
  • Weight - 5.5 Kg
  • Compatible with Windows 98/Me/2000/XP, Various Linux OS including Red Hat, Caldera, Debian, Mandrake, Slackware, SuSE and Turbo Linux


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Top 10 Tips to Speed up ur Windows Vista !

2. Turn off Remote Differential
Remote Differential measures the changes in files over a network to transfer them with minimal bandwidth rather than transferring an entire file that has previously been moved. By constantly checking for file changes, this service can hinder system .

To disable this service:

* Open Control Panel
* Switch to Classic View
* Select Program Features
* Choose Turn features on and off
* Scroll down and uncheck Remote Differential

3. Turn off Automatic Operation
real-time protection against malware continues to run despite having Automatic operation disabled.
To disable this feature:

* Open Control Panel
* Select
* Choose Tools from the top menu
* Select Options
* Uncheck Auto Start at the bottom of the window

4. Turn off Automatic
Vista and its always-on defragment feature isn’t really that necessary and can cause system slow down. Just remember to run a manually every week or so.

To disable this:

* Click Start then Computer
* Right Click the C: Drive
* Select the Tools Tab
* Uncheck Run on a schedule

5. Add a 2GB or higher USB Flash drive to take advantage of Ready Boost (Additional Cache)
Ready Boost is Microsoft’s name for using a USB thumb/flash drive to provide some quick access the operating system can use as extra RAM. The Ready Boost system can significantly improve system .

To set this up:

* Insert a USB Flash Drive (preferably 2GB or more)
* Click Start then Computer
* Right Click the USB Drive in My Computer
* Select the Ready Boost Tab
* Choose Use this device
* Select as much space as you can free up for RAM usage vs. Storage

6. Turn off
background services can use a large amount of system resources. If you don’t use the Hibernate feature on a regular basis you may want to disable it to give Vista a boost.
To disable :

* Select the Control Panel then Power Options
* Click Change Plan
* Click on Change Advanced Power
* Expand the Sleep selection
* Expand the Hibernate After selection
* Crank the selector down to zero
* Click Apply

7. Turn off System Restore
Analysis and restore point creation by Vista can eat a fair amount of system resources. Disabling this service will obviously mean the system restore feature in Vista will not be available in the event of a system crash. Change this at your own risk.

* Control Panel>System
* Click System Protection on the left panel
* Uncheck the main system drive
* Agree to the confirmation

8. Disable User Access Control (UAC)
This much-loathed new Vista feature attempts to protect your system from malware infection by making you manually confirm a whole host of everyday user operations. While it doesn’t directly impact , it can be annoying and might be more hassle than good.

To disable User Access Control:

* Click Start then Control Panel
* Select User Accounts
* Select Turn on or off
* Uncheck Box
* Restart as recommended

9. Disable excess Services that Auto-Launch at
Just like XP, Vista ships with all kinds of services enabled that load at and may never be used by most users.
To see what loads at and disable the ones you likely won’t be needing (they can always be started manually later):

* Click Start then Control Panel
* Select Administrative Tools
* Choose System Configuration
* Click the Services Tab
* You can safely deselect:
- Offline Files (unless you’re using Offline File Sync)
- Tablet PC Input Service (unless you have a tablet PC)
- Terminal Services
- Search (If you have already disabled )
- Fax (unless you’re using a fax modem)

10. Disable Excess Features
ships with other features that are listed separately in the Vista operating system from the services.
You can view and disable these features by:

* Clicking Start then Control Panel
* Select Program Features
* On the left panel, select Turn Features on or off
* You can safely deselect:
- Service
- Remote Differential
- Tablet PC Optional Components
- DFS Replication Service
- Fax & Scan (unless you use a modem for faxing)
- Meeting Space (unless you use the Live Meeting Service)

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