MANILA, Philippines?Watching films on DVD may soon be passé with the arrival of the Blu-ray Disc.

According to the optical disc format's main proponent, Sony, the high-definition (HD) viewing experience that Blu-ray provides will attract a large number of living rooms in the country in about two years?gaining a considerable foothold against the VCD and DVD.

Blue-ray was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association, an industry consortium composed of nine leading electronic companies: Sony, Matsushita, Pioneer, Philips, Thomson, LG Electronics, Hitachi, Sharp and Samsung.

50 gigabyte memory

The name Blu-ray is derived from the blue laser used to read and write this type of disc. A two-layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 gigabytes, almost six times the capacity of a two-layer DVD, or ten and a half times that of a single-layer DVD.

Currently there are more than 1,000 Blu-ray Disc titles released in the United States.

?Blu-ray has achieved tremendous growth in Asia and the Philippines,? said Tim Meade, Vice-President for Licensing at Sony Pictures Asia Pacific. ?I think it?s going to be a couple of more years before it penetrates the mass market. But there?s such a great opportunity for this new technology.?

Sales of Blu-ray titles in the country have been on an upswing, thanks to both an upsurge in HD home entertainment systems and the penetration of Sony PlayStation 3 ?which can alternate as a Blu Ray player?in an increasing number of Philippine households.

Theater-like ambiance

A Filipino film on Blu-ray is also not farfetched, as regional authoring services are available for local producers to tap.

Blu Ray offers theater-like audio and video for high-definition home entertainment systems.

?It gives you the best picture quality, sound quality and uncompressed audio, so you could feel the room shake,? said Meade. ?It?s really the closest thing to the theatrical viewing experience. Everyone who loves going to the movies enjoy the visual and audio sensation in the theater. This is what Blue-ray is all about.?

In the Philippines, the best-selling Blu-ray titles are action films, which ?maximize the format.? These include ?Hancock,? ?Kung Fu Hustle,? and the ?Spider-Man? trilogy.

Soon to be released are Blu-ray versions of ?Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? and ?Terminator 3.?