Sony is developing an iteration of the compact disc that uses a blue laser diode for the master copy. Sony claims that retail discs stamped from the Blu-authored master will boast higher fidelity all while retaining compatibility with existing players.
The theory goes that the shorter wavelength of a blue laser diode will more accurately burn the pits of audio data on the master copy. Sony claims the smaller data pits will make each bit of audio data more distinguishable to the red lasers featured in every player there is. This should lead to lower error rates and higher audio quality.
The problem with their claim is that the common CD already has a robust error correction algorithm that often gets married to hardware/software ECC in the player. The media is also encoded in the same old 16-bit/44kHz stream that every CD features, meaning no new audio quality has actually been added.
Color us as skeptical as everyone else. But, hey, maybe the blue discs will give us that airy airiness we’ve been craving.
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