<P> The plastic disc is 120 millimetres (4.7 in) in diameter and 1.2 millimetres (0.047 in) thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs . Conventional or pre-BD - XL Blu - ray discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs (50 GB) being the industry standard for feature - length video discs . Triple - layer discs (100 GB) and quadruple - layer discs (200 / 300 GB) are available for BD - XL re-writer drives . </P> <P> High - definition (HD) video may be stored on Blu - ray discs with up to 2160p resolution (3840 × 2160 pixels) and at up to 60 frames per second . DVD - Video discs were limited to a maximum resolution of 480p (NTSC, 720 × 480 pixels) or 576p (PAL, 720 × 576 pixels). Besides these hardware specifications, Blu - ray is associated with a set of multimedia formats . </P> <P> The BD format was developed by the Blu - ray Disc Association, a group representing makers of consumer electronics, computer hardware, and motion pictures . Sony unveiled the first Blu - ray disc prototypes in October 2000, and the first prototype player was released in April 2003 in Japan . Afterwards, it continued to be developed until its official release on June 20, 2006, beginning the high definition optical disc format war, where Blu - ray Disc competed with the HD DVD format . Toshiba, the main company supporting HD DVD, conceded in February 2008, and later released its own Blu - ray Disc player in late 2009 . According to Media Research, high - definition software sales in the United States were slower in the first two years than DVD software sales . Blu - ray faces competition from video on demand (VOD) and the continued sale of DVDs . Notably, as of January 2016, 44% of U.S. broadband households had a Blu - ray player . </P> <P> The information density of the DVD format was limited by the wavelength of the laser diodes used . Following protracted development, blue laser diodes operating at 405 nanometers became available on a production basis . Sony started two projects in collaboration with Philips applying the new diodes: UDO (Ultra Density Optical), and DVR Blue (together with Pioneer), a format of rewritable discs that would eventually become Blu - ray Disc (more specifically, BD - RE). The core technologies of the formats are similar . The first DVR Blue prototypes were unveiled at the CEATEC exhibition in October 2000 by Sony . A trademark for the "Blue Disc" logo was filed February 9, 2001 . On February 19, 2002, the project was officially announced as Blu - ray Disc, and Blu - ray Disc Founders was founded by the nine initial members . </P>

When was the first blu ray player released