TM Blu-ray Disc Guide
VAIO® Blu-ray Disc™ Disclaimers, Notes, Warnings NOTICE © 2006 Sony Electronics Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All rights reserved. This manual and the software described herein, in whole or in part, may not be reproduced, translated, or reduced to any machine readable form without prior written approval. SONY ELECTRONICS INC.
Contents What is Blu-ray Disc™ Media? ....................................................... 1 Benefits of Blu-ray Technology ....................................................... 1 Simplicity .................................................................................... 2 Storage Capacity ........................................................................ 2 Compatibility ............................................................................... 3 Flexibility and Interactivity ...........
VAIO BluRay 3rd revision.fm Page 1 Tuesday, February 6, 2007 10:48 AM Blu-ray Disc™ Guide What is Blu-ray Disc™ Media? Blu-ray Disc™ media (BD), is a revolutionary new media format developed by a group of the world’s leading consumer electronics, personal computer, and media manufacturers. The Blu-ray format was developed to meet the entertainment and storage demands of the “High Definition” era that the entire world is rapidly moving to embrace.
Simplicity Blu-ray technology makes the task of choosing which basic media type to use easy with only three different formats to choose from. They include: • BD-R (Blu-ray Disc Recordable) - Recordable format for HD video recording and PC data storage. • BD-RE (Blu-ray Disc Re-writable) - Rewritable format for HD video recording and PC data storage. • BD-ROM (Blu ray Disc Read Only Memory) - Read only format for HD movies, music, software, games, etc.
What does this mean for me? The limited capacity of DVDs results in video and audio files being compressed to fit on a disc. This causes a quality reduction in the picture and/or sound. The greater capacity of BD discs allows for pristine picture quality and virtually full spectrum audio. Compatibility Blu-ray Disc™ offers a convergence of technology and compatibility among a new generation of high definition movies, video players, video recorders, personal computers, and gaming systems.
What do I need to experience Blu-ray technology? To fully appreciate Blu-ray’s video and audio output capabilities2, you would need the following: Note: Your VAIO® computer comes equipped with a HDMI™ or DVI-D HDCP connection, depending on the model you purchased. TV / Monitor For the best experience and output to a HD TV or monitor (HDCP monitor), do the following: • Output to a high definition television/monitor using HDMI or DVI-D3 connection. • Use a Blu-ray Disc player.
Notes • The content of certain Blu-ray Disc™ movies may require a HDCP compliant monitor. If your TV/monitor has a HDMI™ connection, it should support the HDCP content protection functionality. • If you connect to your TV/monitor using DVI, check your display’s user manual to see if it is HDCP compliant. • Analog connections such as Composite and S-Video are able to output BD content, but only at standard definition resolutions.
Blu-ray Disc Compatible Programs Sony has included three Blu-ray Disc compatible software programs to the VAIO® package of factory-installed software for select VAIO personal computers. They are provided to give you the tools you need to experience Blu-ray Disc technology. The included programs are: • Roxio® Easy Media Creator — Backup up large amounts of data to recordable optical discs. • Ulead® BD DiscRecorder for VAIO — Capture, edit, and save videos in BDAV format 4.
Roxio® Easy Media Creator Roxio® Easy Media Creator is perfect for backing up large amounts of data to recordable optical discs. The version of Roxio Media Creator installed on your VAIO computer supports the creation of data discs using Blu-ray Disc™ technology. You can also protect your important music, video, and data files by using the Easy Archive feature to transfer and store files on highcapacity Blu-ray discs4.
Creating a Data Disc Before you begin If you plan to use a BD-R (write once) disc when creating a data disc, you should consider whether you want the disc left open (appendable) or closed (non appendable) at the end of a recording session. • To leave the disc open, choose the option I would like to use discs for more than one recording. Selecting this option allows you to record multiple times to a single disc. However, fewer drives may be able to read the disc.
5 If desired, type a name for your disc in the Volume Label text box located at the top of the project window. Note: If your disc already contains files and they do not display in the project window, you can add the files by clicking the Load Disc button. 6 Add files to your disc by the following methods: • Click the Add Data button and from the Select files and folders to add screen, locate and select the files/folders you wish to add.
Easy Archive The Easy Archive project lets you easily backup important files to a disc or hard drive. An Easy Archive project can be scheduled to run whenever it's convenient. Large archive projects are automatically spread across as many discs as you need. To use Easy Archive 1 From the Project Menu on the left side of the screen, click Backup. Then click Easy Archive. 2 Select a destination drive. If the destination is a disc drive, insert a blank or rewritable disc.
Additional Information Roxio® Easy Media Creator is designed to be used for both Blu-ray Disc™ and standard definition functionality such as CD burning, standard DVD burning, etc. For additional information about the Roxio Easy Media Creator features available to you, refer to the Help file 5. To open the Help file Do one of the following: • From the main menu, click Help. • Click the Help/Tutorial icon located on the Welcome banner. • Press the F1 key on your keyboard.
Ulead® BD DiscRecorder for VAIO® With Ulead® BD DiscRecorder for VAIO® you can capture, edit, and save videos in the BDAV format for use with BD-RE or BD-ROM4. Ulead BD DiscRecorder for VAIO allows you to do the following: • Capture videos and create a new BDAV project. A BD-R disc is supported only when creating a new project. • Append additional movie clips to an existing movie on your BD disc(s). A BD-RE disc is required when appending an existing BDAV project.
Before you begin Before you begin a new project, you should review the current Preferences and Project Settings. These settings can affect the properties and quality of your project results. Preferences The Preferences dialog box allows you to define or change program settings To access Preferences Click the Settings and Options icon located in the bottom left corner of the screen and select Preferences from the menu.
Capture Preferences Click OK to start DV capture Displays a confirmation message before performing the actual capturing process. Stop tape once capturing stops Automatically stops the connected capture device in your computer once the program stops capturing. Project Settings From the Project Settings dialog box, you can Change MPEG Settings and customize your Video Save options, which include General and Compression settings.
6 From the Capture Video screen, select the capture device from the Source drop-down list. 7 Select the Capture Mode. Choose from Fixed duration, Marked duration, or Full DV tape. 8 Select the Video format. For HDV camcorder, MPEG2 is the only option. For DV camcorder, choose between MPEG, AVI, and SD BDAV-High Quality. 9 Use the video controls to locate the starting point of the video you want to capture. 10 Click the Capture Video icon to start capturing the video.
The selected files open in the program video clip list located at the bottom of the window. To import DVD videos (non-copyrighted only) into your movie 1 Start Ulead® BD DiscRecorder for VAIO®. From the Windows® Taskbar, click the Start button. Then point to All Programs, Ulead BD DiscRecorder, and click Ulead BD DiscRecorder. 2 Click New/Append Disc. 3 Select the New Project option, and click Next to continue.
Burning to a BD disc To burn a project to a BD disc 1 When you finish reviewing and editing the video files on the New/ Append Disc window, and are ready to burn the video files to a BD disc, click Next to open the Preview and Finish window. From here you can select to format a BD disc, if necessary, and then choose to assign burning options such as assigning a volume label, disc name, and a disc burner.
5 Make sure your BD drive appears (defaults) in the Select burner text box. 6 Click Disc Information to view information about the BD disc inserted in the BD drive. (Optional step) 7 Click Next to continue to the Program screen. From the Program screen, you can open existing projects and capture/import new HDV or DV content for viewing and editing. When complete, click Next to go to the Preview and Finish screen. 8 Review the Burn Options.
4 Click Straight to Disc, and then click Next. Your HDV or DV device connected to your computer displays in the Source text box. 5 Select the Capture mode from the drop-down list. Options include: Fixed duration, Marked duration, or Full DV tape. 6 Click the Show/Hide Options Panel for access to additional settings. 7 Click Burning Options to enter the Volume label and Disc name. 8 Click Format Disc, if necessary. A BDAV disc must be formatted for rewritable discs.
InterVideo® WinDVD® BD for VAIO® InterVideo® WinDVD® BD for VAIO® is an easy-to-use software BD player combining the features of a standard BD player with advanced functionality, such as time-stretching, zooming, panning, and thumbnail bookmarks only possible on a software BD player3. The WinDVD BD for VAIO player supports playback of Blu-ray Disc technology2. Play your BD discs in WinDVD BD for VAIO and take advantage of the advanced playback features that it offers.
2 Start InterVideo WinDVD BD for VAIO from any of the following: Windows® Taskbar • From the Windows Taskbar, click the Start button and point to All Programs, InterVideo WinDVD, and then click InterVideo WinDVD BD for VAIO. Media Center a From the Windows Taskbar, click the Start button, and then click Windows Media Center on the Start menu. Media Center opens. b From the Media Center Start menu, select VAIO, and then WinDVD BD. Media Center will minimize to allow WinDVD BD for VAIO PC to run.
Frequently asked Questions Question Answer What are the Blu-ray Disc™ formats? BD-ROM—Read only format for HD movies, music, software, games, etc. BD-R—Recordable format for video recording and PC data storage. BD-RE—Recordable format for video recording and PC data storage. Question Answer Question Answer What kind of data can be stored on a Blu-ray disc. Any form of data available on a personal computer can be stored to a Blu-ray Disc, including text documents, images, video files, and audio files.
Question Answer How much data can I fit on Blu-ray Disc™ media? A single layer disc can hold 25 GB1. A dual layer disc can hold 50 GB1. Blu-ray Disc includes support for multi-layer discs, which should allow for storage up to 100 GB1 - 200 GB1 of data in the future. Question Answer How much video can I fit on a Blu-ray Disc? Up to 9 hours of high definition (HD) video on a 50 GB1 disc. Up to 23 hours of standard definition (SD) video on a 50 GB1 disc.
Question Answer What video codecs will Blu-ray support? MPEG-2 - enhanced for HD, also used for playback of DVDs and HD recordings. MPEG-4 AVC - part of the MPEG-4 standard also known as H.264 (High Profile and Main Profile)2. SMPTE VC-1 - standard based on Microsoft® Windows® Media Video (WMV) technology2.
Question Answer What audio codecs will Blu-ray support? Linear PCM (PLPCM) - offers up to 8 channels of uncompressed audio. Dolby® Digital (DD) - format used for DVDs, offers 5.1 channel surround sound. Dolby Digital Plus (DD+) - extension of DD, offers increased bitrates and 7.1 channel surround sound. Dolby TrueHD - extension of MLP Lossless, offers lossless encoding of up to 8 channels of audio. DTS Digital Surround - format used for DVDs, offers 5.1 surround sound.
Blu-ray Disc™ Guide Footnotes 1 One GB equals approximately one billion bytes, a portion of which may be used for disc management functions 2 As with other optical media devices, circumstances may limit compatibility or prevent Blu-ray disc playback. VAIO computers may not support movie playback on packaged media recorded in AVC or VC1 formats at high bit rates. VAIO desktop systems require a compatible high-definition display for high definition playback.
© 2006 Sony Electronics, Inc.
