Sun joins Blu-ray Disc camp for next-generation DVD

Sun Microsystems, the creator of Java technology, has joined the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and now sits on its the board of directors.

Alan Brenner, vice president of the mobility group of Sun Microsystems, said the format offered a “compelling, interactive entertainment and gaming platform that leaps substantially past current DVD standards.”

Sun Microsystems said it would develop ways to include Blu-ray technology into its Java platform and provide interactive capabilities that would create new opportunities for content vendors who used Blu-ray for their movies, games or other content.

Sun joins the more than 170 members of computing, consumer electronics, media, manufacturing, gaming and entertainment companies that are now supporting the Blu-ray Disc platform. This includes Apple, Dell, HP, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Mitsubishi Electric, Panasonic (Matsushita Electric), Pioneer, Royal Philips, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, Sony, TDK, Thomson, Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures and Television and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Victor Matsuda, chairman of the BDA's Global Promotion Committee and vice president of Sony’s Blu-ray Disc group, said Sun had already played a key role in some of the new interactive features included in the Blu-ray specification.

Blu-ray Disc is a next-generation optical disc format being developed for HD video and high-capacity software applications. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 25GB of data and a double-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 50GB of data.

For more information, visit www.sun.com.