How Does Blu-ray Work? - LaserDisc, CD, DVD, Blu-ray Explained

LaserDisc, CD, DVD, Blu-ray are all one big happy family - with the exception of HD DVD, which was disinherited for being too stubborn. This video explains how these optical discs work in practical terms.
A couple of things have been left out for the sake of simplicity and/or brevity. For instance, Blu-ray discs are layered differently from their predecessors. Where CDs have a thick transparent layer and a thin supportive back layer, Blu-ray are opposite. The transparent layer is much stronger than those of CDs due to new technologies, and with a thicker back layer BDs are stronger and cheaper to produce. Also, problems with the laser light misreading the data due to errors in the transparent material, has been reduced.
Another thing I omitted from the animation was the fact that the laser and photocell move together, across the disc. I'm still on the fence if this is interesting or important and chose to leave it out due to time restraints (my own, not the video's).
HD DVD was very short-lived, only being actively produced between 2006 and 2008, when it was abandoned and the HD DVD group was dissolved. BD had won. Ultra HD Blu-ray seems poised to supersede Blu-ray in the near future, but if you ask me it's a pretty cumbersome name, for now.
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Sources:
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[@IntoTheOrdinary]

According to a couple of commenters, the information in this video is not entirely correct. Both peaks and troughs are 0, where as the transition between both is 1. I'm still looking for more sources into this. I hope to create a better version of the animation in the near future. Thanks to all of you who kindly commented on this!

[@languagehack2193]

Any updates on this?

[@motasim8313]

@@languagehack2193 no

[@languagehack2193]

Thanks

[@motasim8313]

@@languagehack2193 np and also good luck with your life and i hope you a great life ♥

[@Zodliness]

FYI: DVD and Blu-ray discs have dual data layers, compact disc only one, which is the fundamental reason behind increased capacity, not only attributed to a finer beam resolution.

[@jace_Henderson]

What I learned from this video It’s called Blue ray because it uses a blue laser to read the discs.

[@jonnywolf1234]

according to the comment section rest of the info is incorrect, so you're good!

[@JonTheChron]

It's called Blu-Ray

[@stavros222]

You must learn binary to understand

[@suhailab3634]

Actually it doesn't use a blue laser, it Actually uses a violet laser at 405nm

[@well_as_an_expert_id_say]

@@JonTheChron that's wonderful Jon. Thanks

[@DasJott]

There is a huge mistake, a myth regarding optical discs. Pits and lands both are zeros! The 1 is represented by the transition between both. That is why the data need to be transformed in a way, that only one 1 can occur and at least one 0 is between two ones. That is called eight to fourteen modulation. You're welcome.

[@orange42]

Apart from being completely wrong, this video is great! :/ Real pity considering the amazing animation.

[@denzguir567]

You have simpsons profile picture, so your opinion doesn't count.

[@nadjetlatif6509]

@@denzguir567 what is wrong with you

[@bluex6095]

@Denz Kushnarev your life doesn’t count

[@Garvm]

Also the in’s formation in a laserdisc is not digital, but analogical

[@SuperZeromag]

I still dont understand how those data are being transferred its magic 😂

[@Nightsaberban]

xHDz 7 ikr, magic

[@taddykabba9100]

@@Nightsaberban straight up magic I wish I could say its just magic on my physics project. :(

[@SlavicUnionGaming]

Give me the magic discs please

[@yodamaster445]

It‘s „transfered“ binary.

[@nicosummer9020]

The data is transferred via a laser beam that burns it into the disc

[@diogodavid3557]

Amazing video! I can't believe this guy disappeared for 3 years without explaining to us how VHS worked

[@IntoTheOrdinary]

I know, right? Scandalous!

[@TheEpicBeeBoy]

It's because you didn't subscribe.

[@AsifAAli]

Lol. Just how VHS disappeared. 😅

[@kickerbud]

Turns out one can explain stuff in 2 mins without having to ramble for 30 mins lol. Excellent video! Thank you.

[@jackchang4054]

The interpretation of 1s and 0s does not depend on wether it's a flat or pit, but on wether there is a change from pit to flat and vice versa, a change being 1, no change being 0

[@tahmidmainacc8392]

your answer would have been the best but you can't spell "Whether"

[@theadel8591]

Tahmid Hussain doesn’t really matter as long as the idea gets across or does it ?

[@legostar55]

Also the pit causes destructive interference to happen with the laser light so that very little light gets reflected back to the sensor.

[@louiejayfuentes8389]

Dude! That was an excellent explanation, Thank you so much!

[@IntoTheOrdinary]

Glad it helped :)

[@legostar55]

@@IntoTheOrdinary You forgot to mention that LaserDisc was an analog format

[@m7.shorts670]

@@IntoTheOrdinary yes

[@ajlpz]

@Add channel name what made it incorrect?

[@lightskinanticsjiggin8129]

Yea it was thanks

[@Jose-kn7sf]

How was creating this technology easier than Netflix?

[@MeXtSxDarKmoonX]

For physical copies, in 2006 most people didn't have Internet still, like 70% of my class didn't, the only reason I did is because I paid for it in my mother's house

[@telocho]

- laserdisc is analogue, it does not see 1s and 0s, but pits of variable length. - with introduction of DVD also dual layers came, A half transparent reflective layer.

[@Knightmessenger]

yeah but I thought the laser could only see 2 different things. A pit or a land. So it's still a binary system which seems like it would have been easy to make a chip in a player that could convert it to a digital HDMI signal on the newest ones. Pioneer actually didn't stop making laserdisc players until 2009.

[@raplopez4258]

Beautiful video, regardless of mistake. Explanation, as well as illustration, are very intuitive and conducive to learning.

[@LASERDISCDREAM]

LaserDisc is the first format that came out with movies and other interactive as well. now we have Blu-ray discs. I love the blu-ray as the high quality pictures and sound. looks perfectly better. way better. I collect LDs, CDs, even DVDs as collections. 💿💿

[@MarilouStaCruz-in6rp]

Biggest question of my life

[@michaelhawkins7389]

Actually correction: The blu ray disc actually users a Ultra Violet (purple) laser but , but they call it Blue laser to fit with the name Blu ray name , so people don't get confused

[@lifesanitch404]

Very short and enough explanation needed to understand the basic idea of Optical Disks. Thank you.

[@zhang3967]

What I'm getting in this is When burning something into a cd.. The laser literally burn holes in the cd, but the cd is so delicate that only even a tiny scratch can destroy the data stored in the cd. Only the lazers can burn those small holes in there, without actually destroying it.

[@diogodavid3557]

I might be wrong but from what I read I understood that CDs and DVDs are "burned" by pressing and not by lasers, and therefore you can't overwrite them, but on CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVD-Rs, DVD-RWs, DVD+RWs, etc, a laser is used that doesn't burn holes but rather changes the color of an ink, then the laser that will read them will detect the color change

[@SomeRandomPiggo]

@@diogodavid3557 yeah, especially with DVD-R-s the ink on them goes so dark to the reader it looks just like a pit like a professionally pressed disc

[@Dxuser5]

Year 3000: Death ray discs that use death rays.

[@Huleboer99]

Criminally underrated comment here!

[@Dxuser5]

@@Huleboer99 :)

[@Gigaheart]

VHS plz

[@IntoTheOrdinary]

Check! :D

[@masson5775]

How do game cds work then? like if it’s recorded information how can the game show different things depending on the commands of the player if the bumps on the cd don’t change?

[@fylgjafolk6803]

Basically free space optical communication. You take a laser and then a photodiode, they read whatever you have made that can emit 0s and 1s in order to stream data to a computer or device. You can essentially make an Internet with light instead of WiFi

[@TheWiseRealizer]

How do 0s and 1s make whats happening on the screen though

[@tone8301]

lol

[@Joeybadahh]

So that’s why it doesn’t work when there are scratches

[@techfrank2431]

Even though this channel is dead, this was a great explanation of how blu ray and other discs works. My favorite is blu ray and I LOVE IT!! Don't really care about 4k blu ray. I have a blu ray/DVD player that can upconvert to 4k and still looks damn great on my 4k TV. So no reason for me to buy 4k blu ray player.

[@nicosummer9020]

Anything is stored and processed as data, it’s the interpretation of that data that makes the difference ✨

[@UHFStation1]

How about double or triple layered discs? How do they work? And the difference between a writable DVD and an M-disc for archiving? I think the DVD uses an organic dye that breaks down over time?

[@nilmalnarthanawelgamage2029]

Your Advice is us the simple. Understood. Thanks.

[@HelianGamePiano]

May I ask, so how to write the bumps onto the surface of the Disc, what technique is it ? Is it able to rewrite many times ?

[@jeffw1767]

Major thanks to whoever created this video. I was wondering how all of this stuff works. You can learn almost ANYTHING on KZbin! KZbin has informational videos, science, math, travel stuff, music videos & so much more!!! 😀

[@rasmusnielsen3386]

Wow, you deserve more subscribers!

[@IntoTheOrdinary]

Thank you! ^_____^

[@hgfhghghgfhfghgfhghg538]

cause he gave false information maybe? plus he does not explain laserdisc it analog so no 1s and no 0s uploader has not got a clue

[@ehab007bob]

this channel is a hidden gem

[@hnu11stema91]

5 days ago

[@dustinhinkle2216]

How does a long section of pit, or no pit work? Like what if the disc has 3 "0"'s in a row, how does it know it's 3 of them and not just 1 since the laser only reflects once? Perhaps there is a timer?

[@jaden5507]

Please someone explain how game disc work

[@Knightmessenger]

Video on laserdisc is analog, the sound could be digital. But the laser still works pretty much the same between what is called a land or a pit. So a binary encoding system that's not digital somehow.

[@jeevanjyoti3930]

But how do computer comes to know what to play

[@alexsiryj]

How do they change the data on the disk once the disk has been encoded?

[@AiwaLover]

Eu sinto que CD tem uma sonoridade mais interessante em CD Player do que em DVD ou Bluray Player. Eu suspeito que o laser ser dedicado a um só tipo de mídia, faz essa diferença. Mais ainda, o CD tocado num mini system sempre terá um processamemto superior também em potencial, e a combinação com as caixas acústicas próprias e dedicadas do aparelho, faz diferença! Eu suspeito que o laser ser dedicado a um só tipo de mídia, faz essa diferença. O melhor mini system que eu já ouvi CD foi o Aiwa NSX V599, com surround ativo, saída óptica digital, caixas de três vias com woofer e mid-range. O áudio é realista, vivo, envolvente, em camadas, exatamente como foi gravada em estúdio. Pra mim,.esse aparelho representa a perfeição tecnológica nesse aspecto. Esse modelo deveria ser tombado como patrimônio histórico da humanidade. Infelizmente, o fim de tudo isso foi uma decisão de acionistas, investidores e capitalistas. Eu não preciso de um desses leitões separados. Um bom mini system como o que eu citei, não precisava de mais nada. E o valor não passaria de R$1.200 atualmente. Triste! Regredimos ao minimalismo! Uma prova de que o sistema não é comprometido com a verdadeira melhor tecnologia.

[@filthymcnasty5625]

What about 4 and 8 k discs.

[@HBKnowItAll]

I learned that The VHS actually tears itself down when it is in a VSR, and there is a scanner which reads the tape and it plays, much like a floppy disk.

[@Monkemyers]

Due to the fall of cds, i got myself bunch of blank cds for very cheap, 1 plate for 15 cents (if converted to usd from my currency) i still use cds btw

[@mihindu-qc6bl]

Can you do a video about how solar panels work? I saw a web article that when solar cells are made the same way optical discs are made the efficiency rate of the solar panel is increased. Can you explain that using your simple methods?

[@saadmanahmed860]

very insightful illustration. the animation gave a very good understanding of the mechanism. Ta Muchly

[@SlavicUnionGaming]

UHD has already replaced Regular blu ray but normally they pack a movie in both regular blu ray and UHD blu ray in one case, DVD is now a separate case

[@Mariofans-gn1lu]

not true cause there stell selling bluray

[@STEVEUNIVERSE186]

How to have hedache

[@user-ht9ov9dh3s]

*Someone In The KZbin Just Used The Toothpaste On The Cd To Clean It Up* Guess What Happened...

[@sonicfon]

Some of scratched

[@SlavicUnionGaming]

Ive tried that, using tooth paste to clean a scratched disc doesn’t really work, in fact it usually makes it worse

[@filaybull4138]

I don’t understand why they can’t put a protective layer onto the disks so they don’t break with the tiniest scratch

[@ashterrifictales7317]

What about discs for video games? How does it pick up the information that is permanently on the disc despite each play through being different and you controlling what happens?

[@jonfarah8529]

It’s unreal how you only have this many subscribers

[@hgfhghghgfhfghgfhghg538]

cause he gave false information maybe? plus he does not explain laserdisc it analog so no 1s and no 0s uploader has not got a clue

[@rajaryanigdncxhadk4090]

amazing video :D so helpful, so short yet so effectively delivered information, learnt a lot. :D

[@lonely.toaster]

I get how single use disks are burned, but how do RW disks work? aka. formatting a DVD/RW

[@qutaara3454]

OK, so... 3 years ago, this video was uploaded. But there is so many different blue ray disk on Amazon labelled as (X16, X6, X48...) • What are theese speeds? • Are they decide how much data the disk can store? • what if disk labelled X16 but rated for 128GB of storage?

[@IntoTheOrdinary]

The disk speed has to do with how fast the drive can read the disk, it doesn't affect the size of storage. Here's a Wikipedia link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray#Drive_speeds

[@qutaara3454]

@@IntoTheOrdinary thank you very much 😀

[@mastwachtel6463]

what does the 12x or 6x means on the disks?

[@yodamaster445]

The speed

[@TotallyNotSena]

Would an ultra violet laser be useful for some kind of DVD? How bigger would the storage be? So many questions ;-;

[@ladyriddle1984]

So when the laser detects a 1, how does it determine the colour and position of the puxel?

[@Henkibojj]

In case you found this video late and wonder whatever happened to the 4th generation, BDXL discs took the spot and hold 100 to 128 GB of data but requires another reader than the 3rd generation. The 3rd generation also had dual layer bluray, which can hold 50 GB without needing a 4th generation reader.

[@c.a.r.l_p2059]

I still don’t know how a combination of 0s & 1s tells the computer what image ir sound to reproduce

[@rossquinn2853]

Great video of the disc lasers one problem how to get Blu Ray disc on top on the 3d disc

[@swervings]

How the hell go they have multiplayer(game disks)

[@POOFAYMANN]

10 seconds into the video and honestly, "Laser disc" sounds way more awesome than "CD" we need to change that back, thats way better.

[@ajayj6398]

I have questions. Is it possible to rewrite the data? If do how that done?

[@HandyFox333]

I wonder. Wasn't there dual layered dvds that could hold 8 gigs? Super Smash Bros Brawl was around 8 gigs on disc.

[@matteofabbris7877]

at first they also considered dual layer dual face discs

[@verastaki]

What happened to HVD? Holographic Versatile Disc, which holds 1 to 10 T.B. (Terabytes) of data, way more than the Blu-ray disc can hold. It's a yellow disc size of a CD/DVD/Blu-ray disc. Red, blue and green lasers are used to read/write data to and from the disc. Almost 10 years ago, I thought that it would become the next generation optical disc after Blu-ray, but I didn't see that happening at all. Any idea what happened to the HVD disc?

[@sumit77194]

bhai blu ray jo movie hai amazon me wo movie laptop me chla ga btao osme blu ray likha hoia ha 1080p btao bhai osme blu ray likha hain btao abhe reply me

[@richardspicer1894]

How does the disc get read. Like a record player. With a blue laser

[@JuiceboxTheShuckle]

what aboutdouble layered DVDs? In the video we only see the DVD5 (called like that for it's storage capacity being close to 5 GB), but there are also DVD9. Were those the ones discontinued in 2008?

[@NAC217]

I don't see any crests and troughs on a disc, I see only some shiny stuff on disc

[@jacksonmontgomery5518]

I would love to see how VCR works really really really because I love VCRs

[@IntoTheOrdinary]

You know it's been 2, almost 3 years since I last uploaded a video and somehow I read your comment at the exactly right moment for me to write a whole script on this exact topic 😊 so it's being worked on! (And thank you!)

[@puertoriconnect4611]

What part of the disc is read, exactly? There’s that ring in the middle and that outer ring that looks like a lighter color. Do those parts have any data?

[@sciencefollower]

Very well explained, appreciated.

[@fabiobiscia4666]

Beautiful video, excellent explanation!

[@anishgautam3121]

How is pits and flat area made in a disc.......?

[@williamjosephburns1504]

*Ayy, nice. Thanks mate. I'm "visiting" for a Computer Systems BYU-I class. Again, thanks.*

[@adityapund1592]

Hey I wanna know that ... If we copy paste any info in cd so how it work or how we get to know that if the storage if full or still remaining...... Nd how it work in pen drive also...🤔

[@doc_neel__]

Ito™ seems brother of Real Engineering™ 🔥🔥🔥

[@thisanmu724]

I don't get it why br discs can read CD if the laser area is a lot thinner, how is that possible? I mean, there could have a lot of data being missed due to the laser spot...

[@zebfolkesson8183]

how can in be possible change tha language on a dvd??? and how is it possible to scroll between the languages in the settings?

[@coydog7902]

They still make DVD’s! They sell em at target and Walmart

[@BillStreetStudios]

I buy DVDs from the fear of Netflix removing my favourite stuff, serves as a backup plan and even if I can't afford my suscription

[@argenys8]

@@BillStreetStudios i just like having physical copies

[@wickedhouston5538]

i buy blurays because dvds are for poor people

[@gh0stykins]

@@wickedhouston5538 whatever you gotta tell yourself 🙄

[@gorgeyxhuns534]

@@wickedhouston5538 I honestly think Blu-Ray is pointless. It's a disc that has a very little difference from dvd, most of my films I have in a dvd/blu-ray bundle and there is no difference except from a better video(which you can't really see if you are watching unless you are right in front of the screen) and I also find that the audio on DVD's is better. For the price of Blu-ray, it's personally not worth it and not all movies are on blu ray anyway.

[@tastemakerguidie]

do you still have floppy's for sound(s)

[@DivyanshGemini]

Very well explained👌🏻👌🏻👍🏻

[@joebender3662]

I can see how ones and zeros can give black and white pictures but how is colour encoded?

[@Joselo09111]

If that were the case, how is data written and rewritten on disks?

[@samakshmanchanda.]

What is burning disc?

[@darthsidious8926]

yes but how does that make it apper on the tv

[@cool6591]

So do they have a blue light bulb?

[@IntoTheOrdinary]

A blue laser ☺️

[@nathancruz9172]

How long does blu ray disc last?

[@GospelOfTimothy]

So I got a Sony 400 disc DVD player and the dvd laser burned out. Is it possible to replace the laser diode with a Blu-ray one so that I can read 400 Blu-ray disc? If not what would I have to do to convert a 400 disk DVD player to a 400 disc Blu-ray player? I imagine the rest of the electronics will have to be able to accept more data with a Blu-ray laser. Has anyone tried converting a DVD player to a Blu-ray player by changing the laser diodes?

[@CatJuiceSays]

that's amazing didn't know 4th gen blue ray is coming

[@mr.ethanol3806]

What makes these dots different from other data? How does it knows what is it on there by reading those dots? The distance and length between them?

[@matteofabbris7877]

the surface is splitted in sectors, and there's some kind of table working as a "map" for every file inside, so that the reader can start reading from the desired point. Technology connections made several (long) videos describing the precise mechanism and all the format variants.

[@MM-321]

Flash drives are so cheap now days I don't think Ultra blue ray is going to make it

[@JamesAbela]

I think it will, but only as a way to sell movies and PS5 games...

[@dlarge6502]

They tried selling movies on flash drives a few years ago. It flopped.

[@michaelr8189]

I doubt it would happen if it could. Flash drives usually have a slow read/write speeds and would be expected to transfer 15-100GB files without much buffer. Even if a flash drive can reach those speeds and capacity, it would likely still be cheaper to produce discs.

[@gorgeyxhuns534]

@@JamesAbela Not really, Blu-ray still isn't as popular as DVD. Not all movies are released on Blu-Ray and that is the problem with them.

[@JamesAbela]

@@gorgeyxhuns534 you are right because they've tried to sell Blu-ray as a theatre replacement experience. I feel that most Blu-ray will be used in next-gen consoles because not everyone has an amazing internet experience. If PS5 has Ultra-HD then maybe it'll happen.

[@abdheshsingh-x8f]

PLEASE upload, megnatic tape, megnatic disk, solid memory based video from old to new genration

[@alejandromarino7003]

Excellent video. It would be great if you did the VHS one

[@ericphantri96734]

We can enscrypt 01 into 1-99 then resolution compression into less physical area and if 1-99999 then rgb can store entire 10000 years data in 1 cd

[@JoshuaArrieta]

Excellent and To the point video!

[@disrael2101]

hey, why have you stopped creating such videos? also, can you make on how ssd and hard drive work? thanks!

[@techfrank2431]

Here we are in 2022 and still no new videos. Yeah.....unfortunately this channel is dead.

[@johnnyg1237]

So it’s pretty much the back of the disc that matters?

[@IntoTheOrdinary]

Well, it -is- where the data is kept XD The other end is great for printing letters and for keeping the whole disc sturdy.

[@Knightmessenger]

The side of the disc that has content encoded on it is what matters. Laserdiscs are designed to be double sided but some movies didn't have anything on one side of a multi disc set. DVD and blu ray often have pretty labels but have the same option to use both sides for double capacity. Because bluray has so much storage capacity, I don't know of any dual sided discs but there are several dvd's that used both sides. Most often this was when a movie had a widescreen and fullscreen version on the same disc.

[@mepuluk]

If you record a VHS tape with digital data like in a DVD what would happen? If recording mp3 format songs into a cassette tape would the cassette hold more songs?

[@skylovescars69420]

1. You can’t, that’s not how VHS works. D-VHS exists, a digital version of VHS, but those are rare and expensive. 2. Yes, you can absolutely record MP3s to cassette. It will not make it take up any less room, as the storage of the tape relies on the speed of the tape.

[@yahiagadouche883]

best channel so far

[@nobody8685]

UltraHD BD isn't the 4th generation. Since they are still on BDs but Dual-Layer of 50GB or even Tri-Layer of 100GBs. Same as DVD has the Dual-Layer of around 8GBs, they are simply multiple layered (the oldie but goldie solution). As for the 4th gen, most probably is under work somewhere to make it affrodable for the masses. (and yeah, probably already exists)

[@Pheicou]

I still don’t understand why someone once told me you cannot resurface a scratched blu ray disc.

[@nliberty]

Well, LaserDisc is actually THE first generation optical disc.

[@KillerDream1024]

Ziet er weer prachtig uit!

[@IntoTheOrdinary]

Dank je wel!