The battle between two rival high definition formats for video disks has been decided in favor of Blu-ray, which was jointly developed by Sony, Samsung, Philips and other companies. A U.S. manufacturer based in Washington State has embraced the new technology, and sees a bright future for it.
两个高清晰度影碟格式之争最终以索尼、三星、飞利浦等公司开发的“蓝光”胜出而结束。因商业前景看好，华盛顿州的一个美国制造厂家将采用这项新技术。
Last year, Erick Hansen of Blu-ray Technologies set up an independent plant in Spokane, Washington, to manufacture disks in two high definition formats, Blu-ray and HD DVD.
去年，蓝光技术公司的埃里克.汉森在华盛顿州的斯波坎市开设了一家独立的工厂，生产蓝光(Blu-Ray)和高清影碟(HD DVD)两种格式的高清晰度光盘。
Each had its backers. Toshiba had developed the HD DVD format, partnering with NEC and a number of Hollywood studios, which agreed to use the format for their high definition releases. But Blu-ray got more backers. After major retailers such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy made the switch to Blu-ray, Toshiba gave up the fight last month and said it would no longer make or market HD DVD equipment.
这两种不同格式的光盘都有强大的后台。东芝和NEC以及一些好莱坞电影公司合作研发了高清影碟(HD DVD)，而且好莱坞电影公司同意使用这种高清晰度光盘来发行他们的电影。但是蓝光格式的支持者更多。在主要零售商沃尔玛和百思买转向蓝光格式后，东芝上个月放弃跟索尼公司之争，决定不再生产或销售高清影碟(HD DVD)。
Both Blu-ray and HD DVD encode data on high-density disks using a violet-blue laser. But Hansen says Blu-ray disks hold more information, and retrieve it faster.
蓝光和高清影碟都采用紫蓝色激光把数据储存在高清晰度光盘上。但是汉森说，蓝光影碟储存量更大，读取数据更快。
"We have an analogy that we use at our facility," he explained. "We basically say, if you're a banker and you can get your money faster to a client without loss, without any problems, you're basically going to win the loan war. That's what Blu-ray does and that's what it did, and that's why anybody that actually understood the technology knew that Blu-ray would be the winner in the end."
汉森说：“我们在工厂做过类比测试。基本情况跟银行发放贷款差不多：如果你是一家银行，能够准确无误、迅速便捷地向客户提供贷款，就基本上能在贷款业务竞争中胜出。蓝光技术就能够做到这一点，这就是为什么所有了解这个技术的人都知道，蓝光将最终赢得格式之争的胜利。”
Hansen was a pioneer in the DVD business, and still produces DVDs and compact disks. In the 1990s, he manufactured them outside Los Angeles, but says costs were high, so in 2006 he chose the city of Spokane in Washington State for his new plant.
汉森是DVD行业的开拓者，并仍在生产DVD和CD。1990年代，他在洛杉矶郊外设厂生产光盘，但是由于成本过高，他于2006年把新工厂建在华盛顿州的斯波坎市。
Costs are much lower there for electrical power and workers' compensation insurance, which covers employees injured on the job. He also keeps his expenses down by working with the environment and not against it, for example, using the earth to cool the high-tech clean room where the disks are made.
斯波坎市的电费以及负担雇员工伤的保险成本要低很多。汉森还通过适应环境，而不是违背环境来降低费用。例如，让地球给他生产影碟的高技术洁净厂房降温。
"The first thing we did was, we took our clean room and put it underground. We built it in a basement," explained Hansen. "When I had the facility in California, we spent about $20,000 a month on air conditioning. Now we spend maybe $300 or $400 by building it at 65 degrees in a basement, in an environment that we could control."
汉森说：“首先我们把工厂的洁净厂房建在地下，也就是把车间建在一个地下室里。我在加州的那家工厂每个月的空调电费支出约2万美元。现在，地下室的温度在华氏65度，而且还能调控，每个月电费在300至400美元之间。”
That temperature of 18 degrees Celsius is just right for the process.
华氏65度相当于摄氏18度，正是生产影碟的最佳温度。
The disk-molding machines generate heat, which he says he puts to use.
他说，他还把生产影碟的模具机所产生的余热利用起来。
"We take that excess heat, redirect it back up into the first, second and third floors of the building (it's a four story building) and heat the rest of our building with the waste energy that we create," he said.
汉森说：“我们把余热搜集起来，然后输送到这座四层楼厂房的一、二、三楼，用我们生产过程中产生的余热为我们的厂房提供热量。”
Hansen uses water to cool the machines, and as the water heats up in the process, he pipes it through the ground to chill it naturally. He sells polycarbonate scraps from the disk making process to an automaker for tail lights.
汉森利用水来降低机器的温度，在这个过程中，水的温度上升，然后将水注入地下的冷却系统来自然冷却。他还把生产光盘过程中的聚碳酸酯下脚料出售给汽车制造厂，来做汽车尾灯。
He says new technologies are creating business opportunities for entrepreneurs like him. And he says as American companies learn to keep their costs down, they can manufacture at home, instead of outsourcing to countries like China.
汉森说，新技术为他这样的企业家提供了新的商机。他说，随着美国公司学会如何降低生产成本，他们就能在美国本土生产，而不必外包给中国等国家。
Manufacturers of Blu-ray disks and equipment must still persuade consumers to invest in high definition television sets and video players. That battle continues, while new technology such as high-speed digital downloads over the Internet may make even Blu-ray disks obsolete someday.
蓝光影碟和设备的生产厂家必须要说服顾客拿出钱来购买高清电视机和录相机，到目前为止，这一争论仍在继续；另一方面，网上高速下载等新技术也可能在未来的某一天使蓝光影碟变得落伍。 |