Blue Ray Players Blog

Blue-ray and HD DVD: The Status of the Format War

In today’s entertainment, specifically in the movie industry, there has been a  war raging since early 2006 until the present between two rival formats; Blue-ray and HD DVD. Each is supported by acknowledged heavyweights in the entertainment and technology worlds.

Supporters and Developers of the Blue-ray and HD DVD

The Blue-ray format was developed by Sony and Pioneer. As the name implies, its creation was facilitated by a Bluee laser. It stores 25 gigabytes on a single-layer DVD and 50 gigabytes on an increasingly popular double -layer DVD. It has the additional feature of processing information at a faster rate and, though the software and hardware are expensive to produce, features Java applications.

The HD-DVD format on the other hand is supported by Toshiba. It can only store 15 gigabytes on a single-layer DVD and 30 gigabytes on a double-layer DVD. Its touted advantage is that it is available free of region coding as in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Both the Blue-ray and HD DVD formats give a screen resolution 5 times that of standard DVD to give an even greater quality to movie films. This has paved the way for giving films the moniker of  blockbusters and providing a sure way for the film’s star(s) to attaining the reputation of being a superstar.

The so-called Blue-ray and HD DVD format war continues to rage and the stakes, especially in the sales front, are increasing. Toshiba has reportedly used the strategy of discounted prices to sway consumers to its side. Admittedly, Blue-ray costs more. It has countered Toshiba’s ploy by releasing the PlayStation3 whose game console allows playing Blue-ray DVDs.

Despite it being expensive compared to HD DVD, the sales of Blue-ray and HD DVD in regions outside the USA such as Australia, Japan, and Europe, has swamped its counterpart. There are even those who claim, HD DVD has lost the war.

However, there are movie productions that take sides such as Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks Animation SKG who supported HD DVD whereas Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century Fox and Disney Productions took the Blue-ray and HD DVD format. A simple explanation given by the latter producers point to the extra storage and speed that gained their nod.

Though there are those that claim DVD format war is confusing to consumers and is presenting a huge problem in the entertainment industry, for many the war is over. There are only a few pockets in the world where the “war” continues to sputter. In the final analysis, the war between Blue-ray and HD DVD is won by the former.

Defining Home Theater with an Best blue ray players

DVD’s became popular with the turn of the century, with most people upgrading as the technology became ever cheaper and they realized how good DVD’s looked compared to VHS video tapes. With skyrocketing sales of LCD and plasma televisions and several exciting new home theater technologies on their way, consumers are once again able to upgrade to an even better format than DVD. Blue ray is expected to become the dominant home video format in the next year or two, but you can purchase an Best blue ray players today to become future proof for tomorrow.

Upgrading Now Instead of Later

An Best blue ray players will enable you to start watching high definition content right now. By upgrading later, you’re only forcing yourself to watch low resolution DVD’s in the meantime, and the technology has matured past the point of finding bugs, so the Blue ray technology is very stable. Most of the popular and trusted names in home theater equipment  Samsung, Pioneer, Sony to name a few  make Best blue ray playerss already, and they’ll continue to improve their parts and lower prices as the years go on and the manufacturing processes also improve.

So what do you get with an Best blue ray players? You get the ability to not only play next generation Blueray discs with 1080p movies, but all players also play standard DVD’s, keeping your old movie collection from becoming obsolete (and don’t think that DVD’s look bad  they look good, but Blueray discs just look better!), and most even play CD’s so your Best blue ray players can also double as your stereo system.

With hundreds of popular titles to choose from, Blueray is the next gen home video format of choice, and it’s outselling its rival, HD-DVD, by six to one in some places. An Best blue ray players allows you to watch incredible looking 1080p movies such as 300 and Casino Royale, among hundreds of others, as you’ve never seen them before. See individual hairs and beads of sweat on characters, and never miss any piece of dust on screen again. The visual and audio fidelity of Blueray is the best out there, and because Blueray discs can hold 50 Gb of data as opposed to 4.7 Gb for a standard DVD, they also feature many more special and interactive features, so you can experience your favorite movies as never before possible. An Best blue ray players will recreate your home theater experience.

Before Upgrading Learn What Blue Ray Is

With the confusion over the current format war between HD-DVD and Blue ray, the average consumer is unlikely to know specific strengths and selling points for either of them. To learn what Blue ray is, you have to understand the technology that makes it work, what movie studios endorse this format, and some other points that will be covered below. Especially if you are looking to upgrade, you will definitely want to learn what Blue ray is to make an informed decision.

Red Versus Blue Lasers

When a person asks,  what is Blue ray? they probably don’t know that the answer lies within the question itself. The average consumer is unlikely to be able to tell the difference between a Blue ray and DVD disc because they’re the same shape and size. However, a Blue ray player uses a blue (and violet) laser to record and read data, be it video, audio, or any other type of data found on optical media, hence the name  Blue ray. Because the technological processes to achieve this require much smaller and finer equipment, the initial costs of Blue ray are higher than DVD’s. However, as the manufacturing process matures, the costs will come sharply down over the following years.

As a point of comparison to learn what Blue ray is, think of it to a standard DVD as a personal computer to a calculator. Both the PC and calculator can perform math, but the PC is much more powerful. Just like that example, both DVD’s and Blue ray discs play movies, but Blue ray is capable of doing that much better by playing better video and audio.

While learning what Blue ray is, it is also useful for the consumer to understand which major movie studios support the format. Some popular titles are only available on HD-DVD, while many others are available on Blue ray. As of January 2008, a person with a Blue ray player won’t be able to get the hit 2007 blockbuster Transformers on Blue ray, while the hit James Bond flick Casino Royale is available only on Blue ray (however, all movies are still released on standard DVD; these comparisons are just for next gen video formats). There are hybrid players which can play both movie formats, but some movies are only available on one format or another. Ultimately, you should now know what Blue ray is to help you decide when you want to upgrade and to which format.

High Definition Fever With the Blue-ray Disc Player

High Definition Television or HDTV has made great strides in recent years. Superpowers in the technology industry have entered into a frantic race in their pursuit of creating the most advanced disc player with the intent of producing topnotch quality video mode that will bring the most excellent and most realistic images be it in the home theater or in cinemas.

DVD is Not High Definition

Irregardless of the success of DVD, it is not a high definition format. This means to say that although it is superior in resolution and image quality as compared with the VCR, it can only attain 50% of the resolution of HDTV.

The Blue-ray disc player is capable of outputting video signals at the same rate as that in cinemas thus the impression felt by a viewer is the same as that in a theater or cinema when in fact, the viewer is within the confines of the abode.

Upscaling is a process by which the pixel count of the DVD signal output is matched to the physical pixel count of an HDTV thus sharply defining and increasing the quality of images. Ordinary DVDs can be upscaled by the disc player to 1080p through HDMI output connections. This results to a better detail and color consistency.

The Blue-ray disc player is compatible audio codec and Dolby Digital Plus as well as DTS Digital Surround for an immersive, engaging sound stage. It can be started at a very fast rate, within 10 seconds.

Users are also allowed to operate the Blue-ray disc player by remote control. Inputs are automatically switched to the player thus abolishing the hassle of having to be in physical contact with the controls to initiate operations.

Much publicized among these disc players is the Sony’s PS3. It has been described as very sleek, compact, high-speed, etc. In summary, this Blue-ray disc player answers all the consumers’ questions and gives a lot more, not to mention the affordable price tag as compared to others.

Another is the Sony BDP S1 Blue-ray Disc Player which allows high definition playback of the discs. Standard DVDs can also be played back in an upscaled setting. Current DVDs are not rated as obsolete since they can be played back with this disc player.

Thus one can see very clearly the efforts that are being made to bring the customers perfect entertainment in terms of highly defined images whether this is in the cinemas or theaters in towns or cities or within the comforts of one’s own home cinema. It has gone a long way and there is no end in sight in the search for innovations and further improvements to perfect the visual experience.