Blu-ray has been the de facto standard for High Definition video movies for quite some time now. There have been many questions though, such as what is Blu-ray? Why should I upgrade? Here are some answers.
What is Blu-ray? The short answer is that Blu-ray is an optical storage medium and is more advanced than DVD in many ways. Regular DVDs use a red laser to read and write the data to the discs. Blu-ray, as the name implies, uses a blue-violet laser. This uses a shorter wavelength for focusing the laser thus allowing more information to fit into the same amount of space. In general Blu-ray discs can hold 25GB for single layer discs and 50GB for dual layer discs. This is about five times the storage space of regular DVDs. Blu-ray discs can also handle advanced video and audio formats providing a better viewing experience, thanks to the higher storage capacity.
Something to remember, though, is that Blu-ray is a new media format and requires new hardware. While your current DVD player won’t play Blu-ray disks, Blu-ray players are backwards compatible and will play your DVD collection.
Why should I upgrade? Why or when to upgrade is generally quite subjective. It’s all about you. There is a simple question you can ask yourself to help answer this: do I have a High Definition TV (HDTV) or do I plan to purchase one? If you answer no, then you probably don’t need a Blu-ray player as many of the key benefits will not be noticeable. If you answer yes, a Blu-ray player might be a good choice for you. The main benefits of a Blu-ray player are video and audio quality. These will only really been seen on an HDTV. DVD really opened up the possibilities for high-quality in-home video presentation, but audio still had to be compressed in order to accommodate a DVD’s more limited storage. With the advent of Blu-ray and its significantly increased data storage capacity, the audio no longer has to be compressed allowing for a much richer in-home movie experience. Truly, if you like watching movies then Blu-ray can provide an experience that is second only to going to the movie theater.
Another benefit to most Blu-ray players is that they will upconvert your regular DVD movies to near HD quality. DVDs are encoded at 480 lines of resolution. The up-conversion process creates an output picture that is 720 or 1080 lines of resolution, dramatically enhancing the picture’s appearance. This means that you don’t need to replace your movie collection with Blu-ray disks, but you may want to upgrade your favorites and be wowed by them as if for the very first time! In addition to a dramatically changed audio and video experience, Blu-ray adds new features that are sure to impress. The latest and greatest Blu-ray players feature internet connectivity, both wired and wireless. This allows for features like BD-Live. BD-Live content can included internet chats, games, and downloadable featurettes just to name a few. This connectedness also allows your player to proactively install new firmware updates developed by manufacturers so that your Blu-ray player is always up-to-date for the latest content.
So, that’s it. It’s really your decision to upgrade, but Blu-ray is the future of in-home video. You may find what Blu-ray offers irresistible, so we invite you to check it out!
Karina-BBY
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