It’s somewhat hard to think that the Blu-ray high-definition video disc format as we know it is essentially now (almost) 20 years old with the first AACS-compliant players hitting the market in mid-2006. The winner of a format war, Blu-ray was technically superior, offering 25GB (single-layer) or 50GB (dual-layer) per-side initially and growing various features over time including interactivity, 3D formats and (much later) UHD 4K format support as well. High definition was a noticeable breakthrough with regards to image quality, but when it launched, the reaction was somewhat lukewarm with many still thinking DVD was “good enough”. This apathy did, to some extent, shorten the format war which was mostly between Blu-ray and HD-DVD (although Matt aka Techmoan will remind us all that HD-VMD was an option too), leaving Blu-ray the victor. The Sony Playstation 3 was a bit of a trojan horse, as a games console that also could double-up as a competent Blu-ray player, helping with the format’s penetration. Legitimate playback on PCs was definitely complicated due to AACS requirements resulting in software players having strict hardware requirements to ensure DRM enforcement.

Given the time that has passed, I thought it would be a good time to “remember” the Blu-ray format and discs themselves – perhaps one of the last physical-media consumer video formats on optical disc. This is especially the case as some people have a case of *wanting to collect physical media again, *perhaps suffering from subscription fatigue and wanting better quality.

Note that this post will not focus on the UHD version of Blu-ray which has a different physical format of disc and came much later … in part due to only having very few of them around. Cover and disc artwork copyright belongs to the respective studios – limited resolution watermarked examples used for documentary and illustration purposes and believed to be fair use.

My Collection

My collection of Blu-ray video discs is rather limited, mostly acquired locally from the old days of OCAU Shop-and-Swap forum members and thrift store purchases – most of the discs being well treated with a data side that is practically scratch-free thanks to the hard coating. The exception to this is Happy Feet Two 3D, which you will see later.

One that stands out, although not visually, is House of Flying Daggers, one of the first releases on the Blu-ray format. Another is the FTIsland Arena Tour 2014 which has a clear case. This one I purchased in Japan at a shrine during a “clean-up” boot-sale style event in my 2024 trip (which I still haven’t fully covered or analysed).

To be honest, this collection is rather small – in part due to the fact I simply don’t like movies and don’t watch movies in general. The reason I own these discs is more of a testament to my interest in technology and not the features themselves. I understood and loved the increased resolution and clarity of high-bitrate high-definition streams in more modern codec formats (e.g. H.264), but one thing that dissuaded me from growing the collection was the reliability of early Blu-ray players. I had a Panasonic DMP-BD35 which had its laser fail just outside of warranty after playing less than ten titles in its entirety. That was an expensive loss and some others reported failing drives on their PS3s as well, perhaps a sign of immature blue-laser technology at the time but most of my later drives have all been quite reliable perhaps with the exception of my Pioneer BDR-209DBK which also suffered an early demise.

Covers & Formats

Blu-ray video discs started their life in a format war, fighting for life mainly against HD-DVD, trying to edge its way into a market which might not have appreciated what full high-definition was. DVDs came along in the late 90s for most people, so expecting them to upgrade a decade later to a new format was perhaps a bit much for some who felt perfectly well-served by DVDs which they already understood and could economically back-up. But nevertheless, the jacket artwork for many discs pushed the high-definition aspect a lot, along with interactivity (e.g. Bonus View Profile 1.1, later BD Live Profile 2.0) and other features.

Here’s an example of another relatively early release that had a “silver” accent, imploring users to “experience high definition” whilst simultaneously boasting about how “Blu-ray disc takes you beyond high definition!” – their words, not mine. How very appropriate, for a movie titled “Into the Blue” … what a shame it’s not about Blu-ray discs …

Some of the outer jackets were printed on the inside as well – the above had this artwork and “Experience more with Blu!” It’s pretty clear this was during the height of the format war. Afterwards, it was rare to see anything printed on the inside as it would be somewhat obscured by the blue-tinted plastic of most cases. The artwork also often scaled back on the high-definition push, especially later when it became a more ordinary part of life.

While some early releases had MPEG-2 video, later releases had VC-1 but mostly H.264. Audio could be uncompressed LPCM, but Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA was also seen on commercial releases. Various other forms of Dolby, DTS and DRA were supported along with PGS subtitles. The streams were wrapped inside an .m2ts container. While some codec information sometimes showed on the jacket, it usually was not all that specific with no indications of bitrates.

When 3D stereoscopic TVs were the rage, 3D Blu-rays (Profile 5.0) were one of the only ways to obtain such content readily. Newer players supporting the stereoscopic format were necessary and rather than the original .m2ts files you might find on ordinary Blu-rays, these had .ssif files instead, which were multi-view-coded. As a result, early releases were often dual-format – providing a disc with 2D and one with 3D.

Some later releases went 3D-only, thus requiring a 3D capable Blu-ray player to play. Ultimately, while I did have a 3D TV at a time that used active shutter glasses and tried the format, it’s no wonder it never really took off. It felt more of a gimmick and the 3D effect wasn’t always pleasing depending on how the feature was edited together.

The same motions occurred with the transition to 4K UHD Blu-ray – some were multi-format releases, others went fully UHD-only, but as I don’t have many examples of this, I won’t be covering it here.

Discs & Digital Copies

Blu-ray releases were sometimes more than just Blu-ray discs. At this time, it occupied a point in time when discs were peaking only to slowly lose favour due to their fragility and lack of convenience. Digital media players and later, more powerful mobile devices became popular and piracy was rampant, showing the world just how convenient having your media as computer files with no DRM was. Streaming was only in its nascent phase, but with increasing broadband penetration and speed, has since come to dominate the media distribution landscape. As a result, the Blu-ray disc was often accompanied by other bonuses. In this section I’ll look at the discs and the “in-case” inclusions.

Top Silkscreen Art

Many discs featured silkscreen colour printing on the top, with the Blu-ray logo occupying a section towards the bottom of the disc (e.g. on the left) but this was not always universal (e.g. on the right) depending on the studio.

In the case of 3D Blu-ray, the logo was changed to indicate this.

Not all discs had fancy silkscreen artwork – some discs were a more depressing duotone or monochrome affair either with one colour on clear substrate (silver reflective background) or in the above case.

Stamper Codes

The stamping area of Blu-ray discs often contains a number of features, including barcodes, logos and text. Sometimes there is laser-marked text as well. Different companies seem to have different formats and appearances.

The above is an example of IFPI code LY02 in a bright band.

The left shows the IFPI logo and LV88. The right is an example of L287 with (presumably) stamper numbers.

The left shows a laser etched code, with L0 presumably indicating the first layer. The right shows a specific format of stamper number with corresponding layer code.

Some discs even have the Blu-ray logo in the stamper code (left) with other laser etch codes. Otherwise, barcodes are often spotted in this region, but rarely actually used by most drives (as far as I know).

Moulding Codes

The moulding of the plastic substrate of the disc often carries an IFPI code that identifies the plant that produced it. In the case of Blu-ray, it is very subtle and is impressed into the clear portion of the disc. It’s very easy to miss and can only be seen under a microscope with directional lighting. Some are very faint and hard to see even with a microscope!

Here are examples of the stamping codes from my collection:

Interactivity

While DVD menus had full-motion video sequences, multi-audio/angle capability, stills and some program logic that allowed things as interactive as quiz games to be built, Blu-ray seemed to aspire for more. Through BD-J, Java “Xlets” can be run that have a much more complex array of capabilities rendered by the player itself, ranging up to full internet connectivity. Perhaps its complexity was part of the reason so many firmware updates were required to fix its bugginess. It’s also noted that not all users had Ethernet connectivity to their player, rendering online BD-Live content inaccessible. While originally intended for interactivity, it also found some use in implementing copy-protection schemes as well.

But as it turns out, interactivity didn’t have to come “on-disc”. There seems to be some in my collection which takes interactivity “off-disc” with flyers inside promoting exclusive content via the internet or via app. Unfortunately, as with many things that are not part of the core offering, these services are no longer available. It seems likely to me that some BD-Live content may have been lost to time as well.

It’s sad to think that even though you might have the disc in-hand, the experience you get now might not be quite the full experience as someone might have got back in the day.

Digital Copy Codes and Discs

Consumer adoption of new formats often hinges on the reality of freedom of access and back-up. While Blu-ray had a simpler three-region (A, B and C) code scheme compared to DVD, it also had a stricter encryption scheme (AACS) which made playing discs on PCs more difficult than it needed to be, and at least initially, was not easily defeated.

Combined with the rise and convenience of streaming services, plus the growing popularity of portable media consumption devices (tablets, smartphones, media players), it seemed that the disc was already feeling the pressure of potentially becoming soon irrelevant.

As a result, to “add value” (ahem, placate the consumer), quite a few releases were made in a multi-format way – a traditional Blu-ray and a “digital” copy (well, Blu-ray is digital too) which was licensed to you (as long as you had the original copy) so you could play it on your PC or other portable devices.

One example is the UltraViolet “digital locker” which, no doubt, made it sound more futuristic than Blu-ray. Titles would have a purple banner indicating that it included a Digital UltraViolet copy.

The way this worked was a printed voucher included in every case with a redemption code that would allow you to add the rights to the title to your digital locker and compatible clients could play it by pulling the encrypted data from the content provider themselves.

This is another example of a dual-format UltraViolet title.

The voucher design is different depending on the studio, in this case, it sort of resembles an Australian $5 note, at least in colour scheme.

While this may have sounded good in theory, I’m not sure many consumers were convinced. I definitely wasn’t. Online services have a habit of closing and leaving you with almost nothing – UltraViolet met its demise in 2019 with only some licenses being able to be transferred to other platforms and others presumably being lost. The codes themselves also had limited redemption but the DRM employed also meant limited compatibility – too bad if your player didn’t work with the service. While I haven’t used it myself, I can only surmise that the video quality would have been inferior to Blu-ray due to internet distribution. Ultimately, the consumer got screwed over (eventually), while the discs remain as they were … *lesson learned? *Maybe for some, but not everyone …

While UltraViolet was one scheme, others did offer a “digital copy” in a slightly more conventional way. For example, this copy of Looper has a blue banner indicating “Double Play”, advertising the presence of a digital copy that works with both iTunes and Windows Media Player (and presumably devices supporting their respective DRM schemes).

The inside of the jacket has a redemption code which is needed to unlock the content.

However, rather than stream this encrypted content online, they decided to press a DVD with the data instead. Look at that top-side silkscreen – absolutely nothing about the movie whatsoever … monochromatic grey … it’s almost as if they didn’t care and didn’t want to do this.

On this particular disc, we can see the Technicolor logo in the stamping area – it seems to be made with all the care of an ordinary DVD Video title …

… except it is a DVD-ROM with an auto-run program and media files for the two formats contained within.

The video files are encrypted, so you’re not going to see much playing them back, but it seems the DRM license server is long gone (at least, the Windows Media one is), so tough luck.

This wasn’t a perfect fix – while it did save the user the bandwidth of downloading the media (and the studio the cost of hosting the media files), it exposed just how insulting this digital copy was to the user. Let them buy a Blu-ray, but only let them play a “less than DVD quality” version on their devices. It isn’t just the resolution but also the bit-rate. This may have suited a portable player with a small screen, but on a proper PC, it would be an absolute disappointment.

If you thought two formats was a lot – how about three. This is how you placate someone who thinks DVD is probably good enough, but might want to give Blu-ray a try. By giving them a DVD, this may be attractive to buyers who might also have only had DVD equipment now, but might upgrade to Blu-ray later. It means that those who have mastered backing up DVDs wouldn’t be afraid of not being able to at least make legitimate backups of the movie … (*stifled coughs*)

This followed a similar scheme – a redemption code on the inside of the jacket. Interestingly, there is a notice to remind users to upgrade the firmware of their Blu-ray player – this was a common thing because of buggy firmware but also to ensure the integrity of the AACS copy protection system and compatibility with more interactive titles that took advantage of newer features such as Bonus View Profile 1.1 (local interactivity) and BD-Live Profile 2.0 (with internet-based features). This is the reason why HDMI with Ethernet became popular and Ethernet ports were on the back of many Blu-ray players.

This particular digital copy was confusingly labelled. DVD Feature Film? Not on this disc it isn’t! Digital copy? Yes.

To their credit, this is another Technicolor pressing but this is a dual-layer disc.

Similarly, it incorporates an Autorun program and contains media files for both formats. But instead of one media file each, there is also a “portable” version for lower-capability players – this means no transcoding is necessary and better compatibility could be achieved, coming at the cost of disc space.

The MediaInfo data for all of the digital copy files is in the Appendix which follows this review if you’d like to see the chosen codecs, resolution, framerate and other information.

Overall, all I can say is that the digital copies were mostly a failure – savvy consumers ripped their discs as normal once decryption software became widely available and transcoded it free of any restrictions. Less savvy consumers were likely frustrated, suffered from the limitations, some downgraded to DVD and others felt hard-done by when UltraViolet closed down.

Case Designs

Almost universally, Blu-ray library cases are blue in colour. This corresponds to the blue-laser which was part of the format – oddly enough while HD-DVD opted to use a case with the same dimensions, they opted for maroon red even though they use blue laser, perhaps a reference to being compatible with DVD (red laser) manufacturing?

Anyhow, I digress – the cases for Blu-ray discs don’t all come from the same manufacturer and often have subtle differences in design. For example, the logo design, the squariness of the edges are often a give-away. Regardless, the cases are similar in size to DVD library cases, but with rounder edges and being shorter in height. Often people refer to them as “Amaray cases”, after one of the main manufacturers, but there are a few others too. With different formats of Blu-ray, the logo is changed to reflect the format contained.

Here’s a bit of an unusual case – this one has a magnetically-actuated locking bar integrated into the case.

The lock status is shown on the side through a window. Most often used for anti-theft purposes, frequently in shops but also sometimes in libraries, it’s rare to see these outside in the open in my experience probably because special cases costed a little more than ordinary cases.

The design of the spindle has been refined – it’s no longer highly tensioned and potentially murderous as in DVD where the prongs served to try and separate the two substrate halves if you got the disc snagged on the way out. It’s usually a softer, gentler, push to release but there are different designs depending on the case.

Often details about the case would be hiding in the moulding on the spine – this case was a Viva Elite One-Time.

Here are some other designs …

Another Viva Elite case, this one marked ELVE-1C.

But perhaps the most prolific maker of cases was Amaray, whose logos can be seen everywhere – near the hub …

… and even in the corner.

The designs did change slightly over time, incorporating horizontal features in some cases. The newer cases seem to have smaller patent text in the spine section.

Where more discs needed to be accommodated, a tray was inserted which had pegs that the spine section would grip onto. These inserts were sometimes made of soft plastic …

… other times of hard plastic with fully enclosed pegs, or sometimes even had space for two additional discs.

Regardless of the make of case, over time, it seems the polypropylene plastic have a habit of breaking down and outgassing (or off-gassing as some might say). The flat surfaces of all of the cases, when viewed with an oblique light source, seem to have a hazy oily coating. This is not from atmospheric contamination and it exists even on freshly unwrapped new-old-stock discs. The result is that it can end up coating the data surfaces of the discs too, which can produce some reading difficulties. Cleaning this may also create new issues – it’s almost impossible (in my experience) to easily hand-clean a disc perfectly without leaving some minor scratch or a coating of dust.

Rental

*“Are you old enough to remember Blockbuster?” *I’ve seen this question asked when people are debating who belongs to which generation – I certainly remember Blockbuster, but had never been a patron of theirs. Video rental was a big business, until the internet got fast enough to eat its lunch …

Anyway, one of my thrift-shop purchases turns out to be an ex-rental from Blockbuster. No idea whether it was a forgotten rental – it still came with the artwork used for the “take home” (i.e. not the box on the shelf) copy.

It seems they saved the original jacket and art perhaps to avoid damage and increase resale value. Instead, they had their own branded insert which was printed on a DVD library case inlay sized paper. The top was intended to be folded or cut-off, as Blu-ray cases are shorter than DVD cases but are otherwise similar in dimension. The disc might start life on this side – a one-night new release.

Printed back-to-back, this cover would be flipped once the feature was in less demand, turning it into a three night new release without needing any more paper. I never knew that … but perhaps that’s simply because we were better served by Video Ezy. I didn’t know Blockbuster lasted into the Blu-ray era …

This disc has the “collar” label identifying the branch with a barcode number for the disc. Some hand-written ballpoint scrawls on the label, not original, it would seem. One thing worth noting is the “A-B-C” logo, indicating this disc to be “all-region”. This was not always the case – unlike the competitor HD-DVD which chose to have no region coding.

Quality Scans

There was another reason, aside from reminiscence, for me to revisit my Blu-ray collection. I wanted to know just how well they held up over time – are they still fully readable? How do their quality scan metrics compare to the criteria often used to judge burns? After all, pressed discs are usually considered to have very good signal quality and these discs despite being second-hand have basically been unused in my care aside from maybe a single read-out. The surfaces are nearly pristine except for the lightest outgassing on some titles – some of them are new-old-stock discs that were just unwrapped for this experiment.

To perform the scans, I enlisted my Lite-On iHBS212 with HL05 firmware, as this was my “reliable” quality scanner for 25/50GB format Blu-ray discs and reported jitter as well. Scans were performed at 2x CLV speeds, which takes quite a while, and a TRT was also performed. A summary of the scan data is shown below:

Of all discs, only the physically damaged discs reported unreadability. For such discs, the LDC Maximum as 9728 and BIS Maximum was 768, being the upper limit. Every other disc was fully readable – a testament to the quality of pressed Blu-ray discs.

Common criteria is for average LDC to be 13 or below. The average of all results had average LDC at around 21.37, many discs that have been handled do not reach such levels likely due to contamination but the new-in-wrap discs did meet this threshold. Based on this sample, perhaps even an average LDC of 40 is still not entirely alarming.

The average BIS is often recommended to be less than 0.26. The average across all samples was 0.42 and while the new-in-wrap discs met this threshold, handled discs did not. Perhaps an average BIS of 0.7 might be acceptable for handled discs.

The maximum BIS should be limited to less than or equal to 8 or less than 15 depending on who you believe. In our case, the average maximum BIS across all samples was 16.83, above both thresholds and only one of the new-in-wrap discs met the less stringent threshold. I believe this is an unrealistic target for stored or handled discs due to the likelihood that even fine dust particles can create burst errors that may exceed the thresholds. As a result, even values in the upper 20s may not cause a disc to be unreadable, but I’d be more inclined to worry if there are many broad regions of elevated BIS rather than be concentrating on the height of singular spikes. Application of the original criteria to freshly-burned and cleanly-handled discs may be appropriate however.

Jitter levels should be less than 10% – the average of the maximum jitter values was 11.71% with many discs not meeting the criteria. The average jitter across all discs was 9.45% which meant that a significant portion of discs would have met this criteria if applied on the average value. In my experience, at least regarding burned discs, good burns usually have less than 12.5% jitter or so, but even 16% is readable (but not ideal). It should be considered that individual drives may have a bit of a different opinion about jitter (sometimes showing up as similar trend but offset in absolute value) due to differences in optical channel performance or chipset differences.

Individual TRT and scan results follow –

TRT & Scan Result: March of the Penguins

A smaller single-layer title, smooth TRT and stable jitter. While errors seem to be spiky, the baseline is relatively low.

TRT & Scan Result: Into the Blue

Another single-layer title, with similar results.

TRT & Scan Result: House of Flying Daggers

A dual-layer title with an asymmetric layer break. Jitter is elevated on L1 compared to L0 while error rates only increase slightly on L1. Surprisingly, this title is a bit larger than an SL disc but nowhere near making full use of a DL disc. The amount of data feels a bit HD-DVD-ish.

TRT & Scan Result: Top Gear Polar Special

A single layer title with a few more error spikes and a slightly declining jitter. Still no problems in readback.

TRT & Scan Result: The Scorpion King 2 Rise of a Warrior

A single-layer title, exceptionally low and stable jitter even though the errors seem to be a bit elevated especially towards the outer. Most likely a result of accumulated dust and off-gassing over time, but it seems unlikely a clean would improve it that much..

TRT & Scan Result: The Scorpion King

A near symmetrical layer break on this dual-layer title, but it seems it’s anotehr one that’s only barely larger than a single-layer disc. Perhaps another one with an HD-DVD-ish amount of data. Jitter on both layers are comparable and error rates are stable across both layers.

TRT & Scan Result: Clash of the Titans 3D

A smooth readback and more filled disc – the jitter on L0 has a bit of a “wave” to it and it seems a small error spike (not severe) occurs near the layer changeover.

TRT & Scan Result: James Cameron’s Avatar

This one nearly fills out a dual-layer disc – error rate seems to be very low but LDC seems to have a “step” behaviour preferring – not sure if this is an artifact of the scanning drive. Quite exceptionally good jitter for a dual-layer disc, declining as the scan proceeds.

TRT & Scan Result: The Twilight Saga New Noon

Similar to the above but with even better jitter figures.

TRT & Scan Result: Step Up 3

A freshly unwrapped single-layer release – the error rate seems to have a flat floor with occasional very thin spikes (LDC jumping to some “step” value in spikes). Jitter is stable and decent on this disc.

TRT & Scan Result: Fast & Furious 5

A pretty smooth result overall – the errors are mostly consistent with a higher error floor on L0 compared to L1 (which is not as common to see). Jitter is quite stable.

TRT & Scan Result: Happy Feet Two 3D – Disc 1

This damaged disc was not readable in wide regions. The drive tried its best in TRT, falling back in speed, to no avail. The quality scan gives up as soon as it loses track.

TRT & Scan Result: Happy Feet Two 3D – Disc 2

The second disc of the title did no better – both seem to have been physically abused, which is not unusual considering it’s a kids title and kids may have been careless in handling the disc.

TRT & Scan Result: Transformers Dark of the Moon

A smooth readback, with a bit of an error hump in L0 and stable error rates otherwise. L0 jitter is higher than L1 but mostly stable. The distribution of errors having the hump is not attributed to any specific action on my behalf – it was a fresh disc unwrapped just prior to testing, but perhaps it might be signs of some left-over grease from a handling suction cup?

TRT & Scan Result: Looper

A smooth read but this one seems to show errors clustering towards the outer diameter. Jitter is mostly stable, L1 having slightly more jitter than L0.

TRT & Scan Result: Begin Again

A very unusual dual-layer discs that just seems to have a consistent, nearly solid layer of errors. Perhaps this disc has a smooth outgassed film on its surface forming a perfectly random layer of interference with the optical signal?

TRT & Scan Result: Breaking Bad The Final Season – D1

A smooth read and mostly consistent error rates, but elevated near the layer change and a bit higher than average. Jitter on L0 is higher than normal and “humps” towards the outer edge. I wonder if this is a stamper being worn, or perhaps something to do with the overcoat layer thickness varying on the outer layer.

TRT & Scan Result: Breaking Bad The Final Season – D2

The second disc of the set has similar characteristics, except there is no spike near the layer change.

TRT & Scan Result: FTIsland Arena Tour 2014 The Passion

Another somewhat interesting disc, as the L0 jitter seems to be higher than normal and wavers, suggesting perhaps a not-so-good stamper (wear? perhaps poorer cutting?) but L1 was just fine. Error rates seem unaffected by the wavering jitter which seems to increase a bit towards the outer edge. I wonder if that’s a sign of layer unevenness towards the outer edge.

TRT & Scan Result: Disney Big Hero 6

Another smooth read – this being an ex-rental still appeared clean to the eye, but the error rate curve suggests it may have lots of very fine particulate matter on the outer diameters. Nevertheless, the jitter declines as the test proceeds and there’s no jump around the layer change – some exceptionally good values towards the end.

Damaged Discs

In the collection, the only disc to truly fail were the two Happy Feet Two discs. This was a thrift shop purchase that was never tested to be good. A cursory look at the underside seems to show a few minor scuffs and dents – nothing which would have been problematic for a CD.

Note that while it turns up as a bit of a dark grey on my scanner, in real life they appear a shiny silver on the underside. Wikipedia seems to claim that the reflection of the disc has a *blue hue *– but I have no idea what they’re on about. None of my discs appear blue to me in any way but perhaps my eyes work differently.

Shining a light through the disc, it seems that some of the silver reflective coating seems to have developed holes, some of these apparently coincident with physical damage but others not. So far, I’d still say Blu-ray discs can be extremely reliable, provided they are handled and stored with care – don’t put them into sleeves, for example.

Conclusion

Whilst it might seem odd for me to cover Blu-ray given that it is still a format that is on the market today, the relevance of optical discs is rapidly waning for most and some local retailers had already begun a purge of physical media, offering them at steep discounts. Time really does move quickly and the thrill of high-definition has given way to ultra-high-definition (4K) in the 20 years that have since passed.

While Blu-ray was technically superior and ended up winning the format war, it did so at a time when physical media’s popularity was on the decline and streaming was on the rise. Concerned about piracy and lost revenue, the AACS copy protection system and three-zone region coding was a hostile move towards the consumer, not aided by the convoluted and eventually unsupported digital copies they opted to provide to try and placate the consumer. Consumers were often reluctant to buy-in to formats which cannot be backed-up cost-effectively and this was certainly not the case at the point of introduction. Where some were apathetic to the benefits of high definition, some were not well equipped to play it, opting to buy a format they were able to handle over a new one that needed new equipment. Some releases were dual-format for this reason, providing multiple discs – a feature carried over when 3D Blu-ray (and later, UHD Blu-ray with its strengthened AACS2 copy protection, not covered here) was launched.

For the most part, original Blu-ray discs have held up well to time, assuming they were not abused and stored in their original cases. While outgassing from the plastics of the case may create a light haze on the surface, readback seems not to be significantly impaired and needless cleaning risks adding additional dirt, contaminants and scratches to the surface. By scanning pressed discs, it would seem that the LDC, BIS and jitter targets frequently espoused are perhaps a bit too conservative as real-life, handled pressed discs may not always comply. The thresholds may only be useful where fresh discs are burned and tested in a very clean environment – after handling or storage, not meeting these criteria is not necessarily an indication of trouble. The discs are sensitive to pressure on the thin overcoat facing the data layer, so deeper scratches can easily destroy the disc entirely.

There have been some reports that 4K UHD Blu-ray is not quite as trouble-free and this is not surprising based on what I know about BDXL which shares a similar recording density but are technically separate formats. The increased density really pushes the margins of the system to their absolute limits, so poor manufacturing or drives which are not in perfect adjustment can have difficulties, especially around layer change points, leading to issues where some discs may read well on some drives and not others. But as I have just one title in this format, I don’t feel it to be representative enough to be worth covering in a post.

This has been a bit of a reminiscence about Blu-ray for me, an excuse to revisit some old artifacts in my collection, but also … there’s a reason for me to cover this as you will see in the next post.

Appendix: Digital Copy File Format Data

This appendix contains the MediaInfo output for the disc-based digital copies that were shown earlier in this post. Whilst the streams are encrypted, the metadata describing the streams is mostly accurate, thus indicating to us that the quality of the digital copies to be limited to just-below standard definition.

Looper PC Format

General
Complete name               : G:\Looper.wmv
Format                      : Windows Media
File size                   : 1.26 GiB
Duration                    : 1 h 58 min
Overall bit rate mode       : Variable
Overall bit rate            : 1 519 kb/s
Maximum Overall bit rate    : 4 146 kb/s
Frame rate                  : 23.976 FPS
Encryption                  : http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir
.dll?prd=wmdrm&pver=2&os=win&sbp=newclient
Movie name                  : Looper
Encoded date                : 2012-12-17 23:25:55 UTC
Copyright                   : 2012
WM/ContentDistributor       : Roadshow Entertainment

Video
ID                          : 2
Format                      : VC-1
Format profile              : Main
Codec ID                    : WMV3
Codec ID/Info               : Windows Media Video 9
Codec ID/Hint               : WMV3
Description of the codec    : VC-1 - VC-1 Simple/Main Profile
Duration                    : 1 h 58 min
Bit rate mode               : Variable
Bit rate                    : 1 285 kb/s
Width                       : 704 pixels
Height                      : 300 pixels
Display aspect ratio        : 2.35:1
Frame rate                  : 23.976 (23976/1000) FPS
Color space                 : YUV
Chroma subsampling          : 4:2:0
Bit depth                   : 8 bits
Scan type                   : Progressive
Compression mode            : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)          : 0.254
Stream size                 : 1.06 GiB (85%)
Language                    : English (US)
Encryption                  : Encrypted

Audio
ID                          : 1
Format                      : WMA
Format version              : Version 2
Codec ID                    : 161
Codec ID/Info               : Windows Media Audio
Description of the codec    : Windows Media Audio 9.2 - 128 kbps,
44 kHz, stereo 1-pass CBR
Duration                    : 1 h 58 min
Bit rate mode               : Constant
Bit rate                    : 128 kb/s
Channel(s)                  : 2 channels
Sampling rate               : 44.1 kHz
Bit depth                   : 16 bits
Stream size                 : 109 MiB (8%)
Language                    : English (US)
Encryption                  : Encrypted

**Looper Apple iTunes Format **

General
Complete name               : G:\.DVDROM\Media\FeatureMovie
Format                      : MPEG-4
Codec ID                    : M4V  (M4V /mp42/isom)
File size                   : 1.55 GiB
Duration                    : 1 h 58 min
Overall bit rate mode       : Variable
Overall bit rate            : 1 870 kb/s
Frame rate                  : 23.976 FPS
Encoded date                : 2012-12-03 03:19:03 UTC
Tagged date                 : 2012-12-03 03:19:46 UTC
FileExtension_Invalid       : braw mov mp4 m4v m4a m4b m4p m4r 3ga
3gpa 3gpp 3gp 3gpp2 3g2 k3g jpm jpx mqv ismv isma ismt f4a f4b f4v

Video #1
ID                          : 1
Format                      : AVC
Format/Info                 : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile              : Constrained Baseline@L3
Format settings             : 1 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC      : No
Format settings, Reference  : 1 frame
Codec ID                    : drmi / avc1
Codec ID/Info               : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                    : 1 h 58 min
Bit rate                    : 1 353 kb/s
Width                       : 640 pixels
Height                      : 360 pixels
Display aspect ratio        : 2.39:1
Frame rate mode             : Constant
Frame rate                  : 23.976 (23976/1000) FPS
Color space                 : YUV
Chroma subsampling          : 4:2:0 (Type 2)
Bit depth                   : 8 bits
Scan type                   : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)          : 0.245
Stream size                 : 1.12 GiB (72%)
Language                    : English
Encoded date                : 2012-12-03 03:18:58 UTC
Tagged date                 : 2012-12-03 03:19:46 UTC
Color range                 : Limited
Color primaries             : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics    : BT.709
Matrix coefficients         : BT.601
Conformance errors          : 1
AVC                        : Yes
General compliance        : Bitstream parsing ran out of data to
read before the end of the syntax was reached, most probably the
bitstream is malformed (frame [0..1023], time
[-00:00:00.042..00:00:42.626], offset [0x644D94..0x12BB0F5])
Codec configuration box     : avcC

Video #2
ID                          : 6
Format                      : JPEG
Codec ID                    : jpeg
Duration                    : 1 h 58 min
Bit rate mode               : Variable
Bit rate                    : 1 268 b/s
Width                       : 640 pixels
Height                      : 270 pixels
Display aspect ratio        : 1.85:1
Frame rate mode             : Constant
Frame rate                  : 0.001 FPS
Color space                 : YUV
Chroma subsampling          : 4:4:4
Bit depth                   : 8 bits
Compression mode            : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)          : 7.338
Stream size                 : 1.81 MiB (0%)
Language                    : English
Default                     : No
Encoded date                : 2012-12-03 03:18:58 UTC
Tagged date                 : 2012-12-03 03:19:46 UTC
Menu For                    : 2,3
ColorSpace_ICC              : RGB

Audio #1
ID                          : 2
Format                      : AAC LC
Format/Info                 : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                    : drms-40 / mp4a-2
Duration                    : 1 h 58 min
Source duration             : 1 h 58 min
Bit rate mode               : Constant
Bit rate                    : 128 kb/s
Channel(s)                  : 2 channels
Channel layout              : L R
Sampling rate               : 44.1 kHz
Frame rate                  : 43.066 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode            : Lossy
Stream size                 : 106 MiB (7%)
Source stream size          : 106 MiB (7%)
Language                    : English
Default                     : Yes
Alternate group             : 1
Encoded date                : 2012-12-03 03:18:58 UTC
Tagged date                 : 2012-12-03 03:19:46 UTC
Encryption                  : iTunes
Fallback From               : 3
Menus                       : 5,6

Audio #2
ID                          : 3
Format                      : AC-3
Format/Info                 : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID                    : drms / ac-3
Duration                    : 1 h 58 min
Source duration             : 1 h 58 min
Bit rate mode               : Constant
Bit rate                    : 384 kb/s
Sampling rate               : 48.0 kHz
Compression mode            : Lossy
Stream size                 : 326 MiB (21%)
Source stream size          : 326 MiB (21%)
Language                    : English
Default                     : Inherited From: 2
Alternate group             : 1
Encoded date                : 2012-12-03 03:18:58 UTC
Tagged date                 : 2012-12-03 03:19:46 UTC
Encryption                  : iTunes
Fallback To                 : 2
Menus                       : 5,6

Text
ID                          : 4
Format                      : EIA-608
Codec ID                    : p608 / c608
Duration                    : 1 h 50 min
Source duration             : 1 h 50 min
Bit rate mode               : Variable
Bit rate                    : 93 b/s
Frame rate                  : 0.363 FPS
Stream size                 : 75.2 KiB (0%)
Source stream size          : 75.2 KiB (0%)
Language                    : English
Forced                      : No
Encoded date                : 2012-12-03 03:18:58 UTC
Tagged date                 : 2012-12-03 03:19:46 UTC

Menu
ID                          : 5
Format                      : Timed Text
Codec ID                    : tx3g
Duration                    : 1 h 58 min
Language                    : English
Encoded date                : 2012-12-03 03:18:58 UTC
Tagged date                 : 2012-12-03 03:19:46 UTC
Bit rate mode               : CBR
Menu For                    : 2,3
Source duration             : 7118118
Source frame count          : 12
Source stream size          : 144
Stream size                 : 144
00:00:00.000                : Chapter_01
00:09:06.000                : Chapter_02
00:21:08.000                : Chapter_03
00:30:39.000                : Chapter_04
00:39:08.000                : Chapter_05
00:49:17.000                : Chapter_06
01:00:18.000                : Chapter_07
01:10:13.000                : Chapter_08
01:18:08.000                : Chapter_09
01:26:07.000                : Chapter_10
01:37:00.000                : Chapter_11
01:50:47.000                : Chapter_12
Bit rate mode               : Constant

Transformers 3 Apple iTunes Format

General
Complete name               : G:\DVDROM\Media\FeatureMovie
Format                      : MPEG-4
Codec ID                    : M4V  (M4V /mp42/isom)
File size                   : 2.24 GiB
Duration                    : 2 h 34 min
Overall bit rate mode       : Variable
Overall bit rate            : 2 074 kb/s
Frame rate                  : 23.976 FPS
Encoded date                : 2011-08-28 08:11:00 UTC
Tagged date                 : 2011-08-28 08:12:36 UTC
FileExtension_Invalid       : braw mov mp4 m4v m4a m4b m4p m4r 3ga
3gpa 3gpp 3gp 3gpp2 3g2 k3g jpm jpx mqv ismv isma ismt f4a f4b f4v

Video #1
ID                          : 1
Format                      : AVC
Format/Info                 : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile              : Constrained Baseline@L3
Format settings             : 1 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC      : No
Format settings, Reference  : 1 frame
Codec ID                    : drmi / avc1
Codec ID/Info               : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                    : 2 h 34 min
Bit rate                    : 1 554 kb/s
Width                       : 640 pixels
Height                      : 354 pixels
Display aspect ratio        : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode             : Constant
Frame rate                  : 23.976 (23976/1000) FPS
Color space                 : YUV
Chroma subsampling          : 4:2:0 (Type 2)
Bit depth                   : 8 bits
Scan type                   : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)          : 0.286
Stream size                 : 1.68 GiB (75%)
Title                       : Main Program
Language                    : English
Encoded date                : 2011-08-28 08:10:37 UTC
Tagged date                 : 2011-08-28 08:12:36 UTC
Color range                 : Limited
Color primaries             : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics    : BT.709
Matrix coefficients         : BT.601
Conformance errors          : 1
AVC                        : Yes
General compliance        : Bitstream parsing ran out of data to
read before the end of the syntax was reached, most probably the
bitstream is malformed (frame [0..1023], time
[-00:00:00.042..00:00:42.626], offset [0xAD425A..0x13BA4E7])
Codec configuration box     : avcC

Video #2
ID                          : 6
Format                      : JPEG
Codec ID                    : jpeg
Duration                    : 2 h 34 min
Bit rate mode               : Variable
Bit rate                    : 4 075 b/s
Width                       : 640 pixels
Height                      : 266 pixels
Display aspect ratio        : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode             : Variable
Frame rate                  : 0.002 FPS
Minimum frame rate          : 0.002 FPS
Maximum frame rate          : 0.004 FPS
Color space                 : YUV
Chroma subsampling          : 4:4:4
Bit depth                   : 8 bits
Compression mode            : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)          : 11.968
Stream size                 : 5.34 MiB (0%)
Title                       : Chapter Images
Language                    : English
Default                     : No
Encoded date                : 2011-08-28 08:10:38 UTC
Tagged date                 : 2011-08-28 08:12:36 UTC
Menu For                    : 2,3
ColorSpace_ICC              : RGB

Audio #1
ID                          : 2
Format                      : AAC LC
Format/Info                 : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                    : drms-40 / mp4a-2
Duration                    : 2 h 34 min
Source duration             : 2 h 34 min
Bit rate mode               : Constant
Bit rate                    : 128 kb/s
Channel(s)                  : 2 channels
Channel layout              : L R
Sampling rate               : 44.1 kHz
Frame rate                  : 43.066 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode            : Lossy
Stream size                 : 140 MiB (6%)
Source stream size          : 140 MiB (6%)
Title                       : Stereo Audio
Language                    : English
Default                     : Yes
Alternate group             : 1
Encoded date                : 2011-08-28 08:10:38 UTC
Tagged date                 : 2011-08-28 08:12:36 UTC
Encryption                  : iTunes
Fallback From               : 3
Menus                       : 5,6

Audio #2
ID                          : 3
Format                      : AC-3
Format/Info                 : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID                    : drms / ac-3
Duration                    : 2 h 34 min
Source duration             : 2 h 34 min
Bit rate mode               : Constant
Bit rate                    : 384 kb/s
Sampling rate               : 48.0 kHz
Compression mode            : Lossy
Stream size                 : 424 MiB (19%)
Source stream size          : 424 MiB (19%)
Title                       : Surround Audio
Language                    : English
Default                     : Inherited From: 2
Alternate group             : 1
Encoded date                : 2011-08-28 08:10:38 UTC
Tagged date                 : 2011-08-28 08:12:36 UTC
Encryption                  : iTunes
Fallback To                 : 2
Menus                       : 5,6

Text
ID                          : 4
Format                      : EIA-608
Codec ID                    : p608 / c608
Duration                    : 2 h 32 min
Source duration             : 2 h 32 min
Bit rate mode               : Variable
Bit rate                    : 129 b/s
Frame rate                  : 0.297 FPS
Stream size                 : 144 KiB (0%)
Source stream size          : 144 KiB (0%)
Title                       : Captions
Language                    : English
Forced                      : No
Encoded date                : 2011-08-28 08:10:38 UTC
Tagged da