Panasonic, Philips, Sony and TDK will be honored with the 62nd annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Award during the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) for their contributions to the Blue Laser Optical Systems for Consumer Playback which was announced by The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) on October 25th.

The development of the blue laser optical systems was fundamental for the distribution and recording of full HD content on optical discs at consumer price levels.

Since its introduction in 2006, over 1400 million Blu-ray pre-recorded discs, 188 million Blu-ray recordable/rewritable discs, 50 million Blu-ray players & recorders, 41 million PlayStation 3 units and over 25 million Blu-ray PC readers & writers have been produced.

"Sony began development of blue laser optical technology in the late 1990s, realized the world's first high definition recording on 20GB optical media by using blue-violet laser, and has contributed greatly to the continuous development of the Blu-ray Disc format and the business by releasing a wide variety of Blu-ray Disc devices," said Jun Yonemitsu, Chief Distinguished Researcher and Deputy Senior General Manager of Home Entertainment Development Div., Sony Corporation. "We would like to thank the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and everyone who worked together to make the format a success."

"Consumers appreciate the high quality that Blu-ray Disc delivers, so they can finally enjoy the full potential of their HDTV", said Chris Buma, Senior Director Program Manager Standardization of Philips Electronics. "And now, as the Blu-ray 3D format begins to take off, that potential is even greater."

"Panasonic is proud to have developed so many of the key technologies introduced in the Blu-ray Disc format. These are not only optical disc technologies, such as Dual Layer 50GB discs, but also leading-edge audio visual technologies such as video compression, authoring and 3D", said Shunji O'hara Executive Engineer, Corporate R&D, Panasonic Corporation. "It is a great pleasure to see consumers around the world enjoying an advanced AV lifestyle with Blu-ray Disc devices."

In anticipation of the high-definition television (HDTV) market adoption - Panasonic, Philips and Sony have been working on a blue laser optical system already since 1997. In 2000 the companies joined forces and initiated the Blu-ray Disc Founders in 2002, followed in 2004 by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), in which all industry key stakeholders participated to successfully launch a worldwide standard for high definition content distribution.

High storage capacity, new replication technology, advanced audio and video codecs, web connectivity and interactivity and new authoring systems were key innovations for Blu-ray Disc. In addition to this, a recording system using recordable discs is another important technology of the Blu-ray Disc format. It allows consumers to record HD broadcasting programs in their home. It also provides high capacity storage for PC and professional usage. Since the early age of Blu-ray standardization, Panasonic, Philips, Sony and TDK as optical media manufacturers have been working on the development of recordable Blu-ray discs.

The four companies will accept the Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at the award ceremony on January 6th 2011 during the CES in Las Vegas - Nevada.