What the heck is Blu ray?

Zahavah

Answer
Blu-ray is the new high definition disc that will be replacing DVDs.

The picture quality is extraordinarily better. I tested it by playing Dark Knight DVD in my dvd player and the Dark Knight BD (Blu-ray Disc) in my Blu-ray player at the same time and comparing the two. The DVD looks like it has the picture quality of a youtube video in comparison to the BD.

Blu-ray also has a number of features that are not available with DVDs and DVD players. One major one is that the Blu-ray player can connect to the internet. You may ask, why would I connect to the internet if I'm watching a movie... I could just be on my computer at the same time. That's exactly what I asked. Well, say you're watching a movie like Devil Wears Prada... and you really like one of the dresses the Anne Hathaway is wearing. You can pause, click on the dress, and be able to search for that exact dress online. Then, through your Blu-ray player, you will be able to purchase that dress. Then of course you can go back to watching your movie.

Another thing about Blu-ray is that you don't necessarily have to by BDs to use it. BDs tend to be about $10 more expensive than DVDs. Of course the BDs will have additional features that the DVDs won't have, but you can still play DVDs in your Blu-ray player. What's great is that the DVDs will look much clearer in the Blu-ray player than they do on your DVD player.

This is because the DVD player did not have the capacity to playback HD material due to a difference in the wavelength of the laser that reads the disc. DVD players use a red laser, while Blu-ray players use a blue laser (that's where the name comes from). Because the blue laser has a smaller wavelength, it can read finer details on the disc than the red laser of the DVD player could.

In short-- I totally recommend getting a Blu-ray player. It's kind of expensive right now, but in my opinion it's worth it in the long run.

What is the best Blu ray disc player?

bonbonfle

I am looking to get a blu ray disc player for my basement,Can someone tell me wich one is the best quality.Thanks

Answer
Depends what you mean by "best".

The Pioneer is arguably the best quality, but not the best performance since it's not as flexible as the PS3 --- which is widely considered the ONLY recommendable Blu-ray player right now. By the end of the year you will have more choice and prices will come down. Furthermore some of the new players will have built in support for the audio formats (e.g. DTS-HD) that you currently need to buy an new A/V receiver to support.

That said, before buying one be sure you can benefit AND are willing to pay the premium price of disks. I highly recommend a demo on a display (HDTV/HD projector) as close as possible to what you have (size, resolution) and do a comparison to a DVD of the same movie if possible AT THE SAME DISTANCE as you will use at home.

While the store demos look great (frequently animation or HD Video camera ... which look great) real life movies are not always that much of an improvement over upconverted DVDs ... and typically cost $5 - $20 more.

I'm not trying to talk you out of Blu-ray, but given the costs involved I caution you to do your homework before deciding. Many people are choosing to not buy into Blu-ray ... at least not yet. DVD isn't going anywhere soon.

See the link for examples pictures from DVD, HD Cable, SD and HD Apple TV and Blu-ray.

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Standard DVD vs Blu-ray/HD?

hec830

Not sure if this questions been asked before... What exactly is the difference between a regular dvd and a blu-ray/hd. To me, standard is fine, but is upgrading worth it?

Answer
Blu-Ray and HD DVD are competing (and incompatible) high definition (1080p) video formats. They both have identical video and audio quality and, despite claims about space/storage differences, both work for all current movies .... i.e. there IS NO DIFFERENCE.

Under the right conditions they can give stunning video and sound (some people upgrade more for the sound than the video), but depending on your equipment there may be no benefit to upgrading.

Unless you have a 40" or larger 1080p HDTV you will see little difference from HD DVD or Blu-Ray compared to a normal DVD on a good upscaling DVD player. Sound may be better if you have a good sound system and an amp/receiver capable of processing the high bitrate sound tracks.

Personally, I have a 720p/1080i front projector and a 110" screen. HD DVD has a very slight edge over normal DVD's on my Oppo DVD player ... but not enough for me to buy more HD DVD disks or retire my DVD collection. I admit sound is a bit better too, but Dolby Digital or DTS is plenty good enough.

Since pictures say a lot. See the link (caution: big images) for a visual comparison of DVD and HD DVD scenes from LOTR.

I, personally, don't find the difference compelling enough to pay $$$ to upgrade.

Hope this helps.

Should I buy a PS3 or other top of the line Blu Ray player?

E. Nigma

I'm getting ready to buy a Blu Ray player for my Sony LCD and everyone says to get a PS3. I don't play games (I guess I might a little bit if I actually had a console but I stay pretty busy without one) so should I just get a Samsung or Sony for about $30-$50 less or just say the hell with it and spend the extra dough? I want to utilize the Netflix streaming and what not...

Answer
The PS3. Best Blu ray player on the market for a bargain in comparison to others of comparable quality. Plus you get the top of the line playstation.

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Looking to buy a Blu-ray player! Having a hard time deciding if I should get the PS3, or a stand alone player?

blu ray player quality comparison image

Jason

I hear PS3 still puts out the best picture and the gaming is also a plus! but I'm not sure if its $150 dollars better then a stand alone player. Anyone have experience with both types of players? Is the picture quality difference with the PS3 noticible? Yes I know I could buy a high end stand alone but then I'm paying just as much as a PS3.

Answer
Cnet recently did a comparison of Blu-ray players, and the PS3 was included in it: http://reviews.cnet.com/best-blu-ray-players/ .

how much longer does playstation 2 have?

beautifull

i wanted to get the new limited edition white/ceramic playstation 2.
but now im finding out that in 2009, all of the disks and dvds are going to become blue ray.
i was planning on not only using it for games, but for a dvd player aswell.
so if i were to get it now, how long until i wont be able to use any old game or any old dvd on it?
thank you for your help.

Answer
I am confused by the question. They probably won't be many more games made but there are a million great ones to play already. You can find most of these great games for cheap on eBay or half.com. For DVDs, I wouldn't doubt it if they put newer movies on DVDs for the next 10 years.

So you might mention the jump from VHS to DVD but that one doesn't count. DVD had no rewinding, extra features, and the quality is great. DVD to Blu Ray though to me is not that big of a jump. The only difference is that you are buying a player that plays new videos at higher quality. To me, DVDs look fine enough and although Blu Ray looks nifty (not that impressed), I am not going to shell out $400 for a player, $30 per movie, and $2500 for a Tv that can play these higher quality movies when I can buy a movie for $20 at Best Buy on my $149 PS2 on my $400 TV. Also, don't trust Best Buy's comparison of DVD vs. Blu Ray. They blur that DVD side out!!!

I use my PS2 for what you described and I feel no urgency to buy the next generation for a long time. When DVDs are gone, then I can move up and buy then the Blu Ray stuff will be at the same prices as DVD hardware now.

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Is it worth spending the money to buy a blu-ray disc player, or is there really not much difference?

blu ray player quality comparison image

lahlahdips

For those who have them, let me know if it's been worth the investment or if I'd be better off waiting another year or two for the prices to drop.

Answer
I don't have a Blu-ray player but do have an HD DVD player ... which -- according to most experts -- gives virtually identical video and audio performance to Blu-ray.

I use a 720p HD projector, a 110" screen and a good 7.2 audio system for movies and HDTV. I tried HD movies and did careful comparisons and found very little difference between HD DVD and upconverted DVDs and, even before HD DVD died I decided not to buy HD DVD disks since DVDs were plenty good enough and far cheaper.

I might see more difference if I had a 1080p projector .... and someday may upgrade ... but with my current setup I'm in no hurry to buy into Blu-ray because the price premium on disks (~$10 vs the same movie on DVD) just isn't worth it.

Everything I read says Blu-ray CAN be great, but often is only a little better than DVD. Furthermore all too many movies are either not available on Blu-ray or don't really justify HD treatment (who needs an HD version of "Jackass" or "Van Wilder", or even "home movie" films like "Cloverfield" or "28 Days"?).

My conclusion is that Blu-ray is in trouble. It's evolutionary, not revolutionary. It isn't going away ... but isn't a sure thing to replace DVD as the mainstream format. Rather, it will continue to coexist with DVD as a premium priced HD alternative.

While prices will come down in the next year or so, Blu-ray will always be more expensive than DVD (more difficult and expensive to master, higher production costs, higher licensing fees).

The judgement as to how much extra it is worth to get Blu-ray quality is a personal one, but at the moment I would recommend anyone other than an "early adopter" (those who must have new technology no matter what the cost) with a 40"+ screen 1080p display and a GOOD audio system stay with DVD until prices come down significantly. The benefits of Blu-ray just are not that compelling for most consumers ... and certainly not at current prices.

Looking to buy a Blu-ray player! Having a hard time deciding if I should get the PS3, or a stand alone player?

Jason

I hear PS3 still puts out the best picture and the gaming is also a plus! but I'm not sure if its $150 dollars better then a stand alone player. Anyone have experience with both types of players? Is the picture quality difference with the PS3 noticible? Yes I know I could buy a high end stand alone but then I'm paying just as much as a PS3.

Answer
Cnet recently did a comparison of Blu-ray players, and the PS3 was included in it: http://reviews.cnet.com/best-blu-ray-players/ .

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Is playing Blue Ray movies with my PS3 going to look the same?

blu ray player quality comparison image

Ratdaddy

I am planning to buy a Sony 1080i LCD flat screen and a Blue Ray player. I see many Y!A that indicate I might be better off to buy a PS3 since it will play Blue Ray movies too.

I really like PS games and this would save me about $400. Will the game machine play at the same quality as the player itself?

Answer
The PS3 has been rated the best Blu-ray player, HOWEVER that was when stand alone players were much more expensive than they are now (under $200).

The link says the PS3 isn't the best (and that's almost a year ago).

It has several disadvantages, including being expensive (although it does more than just play Blu-ray movies so this may be acceptable); using 2x the power of a stand alone player, having mediocre video quality (particularly for DVDs) and needed accessories to be a complete player (e.g. remote). In addition it doesn't match stylewise with most HT setups. It's big advantage is its speed (the Cell processor makes load times very fast).

Bottom line ... if you like PS3 games and want to have a network media player and Blu-ray player the PS3 is good value, but it isn't the best player these days. That said, you probably won't notice unless you did an A/B comparison.

Is there much difference in picture quality between blu-ray and standard dvd video?

willgood

I have a huge dvd collection and kind of hesitant about switching to blu ray ?

Answer
Don't let the fact you've got a large collection of DVD's hold you back, BR players will play both DVD and BD (Blu-ray) disks. Don't bother to replace any of your existing DVD's with BD unless you have a couple of absolute favourites you want to enjoy in HD. I still buy both BD and DVD depending on what kind of film it is and the price. It's a simple film more about the story I'll get the DVD, especially if it's been out a while and has been reduced. If it's an action film of has big special effects I tend to go for the BD.

When buying a BD player find one that has DVD 'up-scaling', this is a feature which enhances the picture quality of standard DVD's, not as good as BD but certainly an improvement over the standard DVD in a standard DVD player that doesn't have the feature.

In regards of how BD compares to DVD in terms of picture quality is it is a marked improvement without doubt. It's similar to the jump we had from VHS tape to DVD. I used to think DVD looked good but now when I go from a BD back to DVD it looks crude in comparison. The picture has more definition, everything is sharper giving better depth perception and realism and it just looks lush like you could touch it given the right material.

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