For you to understand this, you’ll have to understand that the pictures you see on TV are basically composed of small pixels tiled horizontally and vertically on the screen. The more the number of pixels on the screen, the more sharpness and clarity of image you’ll get. You’d have noticed that some larger TVs have blocky images; this is due to the lesser number of pixels the monitor supports. It can be concluded that the image clarity depends on the resolution of the TV, the size of the TV and your viewing distance.

The resolution of a monitor is usually measured by the number of horizontal lines it displays. The average DVD has a resolution of 480i, which is nothing but 720×480 pixels, whereas with progressive scanning, the output becomes sharper. You’ll have to consider that the average HDTV can display resolutions of 720p (1280×720), while the best TVs have a resolution of 1080p which is the maximum any monitor can offer. It’s clear that the average DVD doesn’t deliver what your HDTV can display.

DVD upscaling is a process by which the pixel count of the DVD output is mathematically formatted to the pixel count of an HDTV. This improves the quality of the picture, and gives a seemingly superior picture display. It just literally up scales the pixel output of the DVD to match the pixel display of the HDTV – you’re not actually getting a real HD picture though you get smoothed-out edges and the quality is better than a DVD.

Blu-Ray is a technology that replaces the DVD technology in the US. It uses better video compression and Blue Laser technology to store more data on the disk surface even though it is the exact same size as the DVD. The storage capacity of a single layer Blu-Ray disc is 25 GB, and that of a double layer is 50 GB. Blu-Ray uses light polarization technology by which more data can be incorporated onto a single disc; this accounts for the higher resolution of the video produced by the Blu-Ray recorder.

It has been established without a doubt that high definition images are possible only with a Blu-Ray disc and a player even though the upscaled DVD does a good job of providing a better video resolution than the average DVD. It’s very easy to find the difference between a Blu-Ray video output and an upscaled DVD output because even though the edges are smooth in both videos, the upscaled DVD doesn’t add data to the extra pixels that it creates, and there’s an obvious difference in colors like red and blue. It follows that the true HD experience can be obtained with a HDTV connected to a Blu-Ray player through an HDMI cable.

Firstly, and this is quite obvious, Blu-Ray is newer and not everyone owns one. The DVD has grown to be the most trusted method of movie/TV watching since its release in 1993 and its re-release in 1997, although there are few consumers that, while they have bought a DVD system, are still clinging to the classics not remastered onto DVD.

Another distinct advantage that Blu-Ray has over DVD is that it holds almost four times as much data as a regular DVD disc. The DVD has a memory capacity of 4.7GB(Gigabyte), whereas the Blu-Ray disc holds 27GB, which is a clear advantage even if you don’t understand just how much 27GBs is.

Next let’s look at the quality of the video you will receive from Blu-Ray in comparison a DVD, shall we?
The DVD offers standard definition quality of video viewing, which is what every American is used to at this point. The Blu-Ray disc offers full HD (high definition) viewing, and to those that have never experienced a Blu-Ray player for themselves, it will be quite a bit different for them.

An advantage to the Blu-Ray technology is that you don’t have to get rid of all of your DVDs like you may have had to do when you converted from VHS to DVD. The Blu-Ray player was made to be compatible with DVDs, and even enhances the standard definition quality of the discs themselves. This feature is called “backward-compatibility.”

I would have to say that the biggest turn-off for this new technology for a lot of buyers is the price of the technology itself, not to mention the Blu-Ray discs. What I would recommend for anyone that is turned-off by the price tag is that you find a friend (everyone has a friend with a Blu-Ray player) that has already purchased Blu-Ray and ask for their feedback on it–and maybe you can even sit down and see for yourself why everyone is buying up this relatively new technology.

As you can see, the only real advantages–and very, very good ones at that–this technology has over DVD is that it is viewed in full HDTV, both audio and sound. That, my friend, makes all the difference for most people. Trust me on this: if you get one you won’t ever want to go back.

In conclusion, I’d like to ask this simple question: with superb video and audio quality (both being in HDTV), how can one go wrong with purchasing one of these machines?

That is all I have to offer you, but I hope that it was just what you needed to convince yourself to go out and grab up a Blu-Ray player.

As you know, Blue-ray is the latest in high definition players with the discs being able to store 25 GB (for one side) to 50 GB (two sided) of data. This means, the movies released on Blu-ray discs can be high definition (1080p) movies which look almost as good as the movie cinema version. Even 3D movies can be watched on your PC provided you have the required system specifications such as graphics card, HDMI cable, HD display, and of course BD-ROM drive.

Considering that you have all these, what do you need in the Blu-ray player software?

• Playback Speed. Your blu-ray player and graphics card is of no use to you if your software doesn’t support the playback speeds required by the movie disc. Choose one which offers the best speed.
• Blu-ray 3D. Blu-ray 3D movies are being released. Think how awful it would be if you have Blu-ray player and software but still can’t enjoy the 3 dimensional effect. Your software would be better if it can support the 3-D format.
• Audio. Though most of the times video play back won’t be a problem for the software, the audio quality might be. Hence do check that it has high definition audio support (such as HDMI 1.3 or higher).
• Backward Compatible. The existence of HD discs does not mean that DVD’s and video CD’s are done with. You would want to make sure the software plays the older discs and formats.
• BD-Live and Bonus View. If the software supports BD-Live and Bonus view, you could get on the internet for chats with director, downloadable games etc.
• Regular Automatic Updates. The software companies keep releasing software patches and updates for your software which make the software better. Sometimes, your software won’t play a particular movie because the software was not updated. It would be helpful if the Blu-ray player software that you have regularly checks for updates and does the update automatically, so that you don’t have to manually go the website and download the update, which is a tedious job.
• Auto Play. It would also help if the software opens on its own when you play the disc. While this is not a necessity, it is useful. Most software does that, but some do not.

While the player software that came with your Blu-ray drive may have some of these features, not all the features that are in a full blown software version is available in them. Hence a better option is often to buy software from third party companies.

Blu-ray is simply referring to the way the information is read from the media (disc). Blu-ray discs have up to 20 layers of information stored on the same sized DVD as used by standard DVD players. Blu-ray players can read that information because of the blue-violet laser that has a shorter wavelength. Standard DVD players have a red laser that has a larger wavelength, limiting the player’s ability to read the more compressed data on the Blu-ray disc.

Is There A Visible Difference In Quality?

Many say that they cannot tell the difference in video quality between a standard DVD and a Blu-ray. Blu-rays and Blu-ray players are also more expensive.

The key is in how the media is being viewed. An HDTV is a must for viewing Blu-rays. Blu-rays were developed for playback in a high-definition environment.

Are Blu-Ray Players Compatible With DVD Disks?

Yes, most players play both formats and some are upgraded to make DVDs look even better. Depending on the video processors being used, this upgrade to the DVD playback can occur in the TV itself or in the player. This is done by converting the frame to a high-definition scale; making it fit the high-definition television and appear clearer.

So Is Blu-Ray Worth The Extra Money?

The answer depends on who you talk to. Most viewers report a better image when viewing a Blu-ray movie. However, viewing a standard DVD and a Blu-ray on the same television that is not high-definition would result in minimal gains.

Manufacturers can cram lots of extra content on the Blu-ray discs so if you like the special features and commentaries, Blu-ray is a good choice.

Another selling point for Blu-ray is that viewers get their movies faster. Movies are being released on different schedules and often Blu-ray discs are available first.

The history of the blu-ray disc first takes us back to 1998. By this time, HDTV sets were starting to make their first appearances. The only problem was that there was not any way to record and play HD content. There was also no storage medium for HD content. In 1998, it was a well-known fact that by using shorter wavelengths, it would enable more storage on a disc. The only problem was that there had never been a standardized storage format created. Professor Shuji Nakamura of the University of California invented the blue laser diodes and made the first major breakthrough towards the invention of blu-ray technology.

In February of 2002, the Blu-ray Disc Association was founded. This was a group of people that were from the fields of electronics, computers and motion pictures. This group is credited for the development of the blu-ray disc format. During the first few years of developing blu-ray discs, there were problems. The data recording layer, during this time, was placed very close to the disc surface. Because of this, the disc was susceptible to scratches and contamination. Therefore, these early blu-ray discs had to be protected by cartridges. TDK was the first company to come up with a hard coating polymer that protected the disc and eliminated the need for cartridges. Soon, Panasonic and Sony followed suit and also developed hard-coating protectors.

Also around the 2002 time frame, the DVD forum (developed DVD and HD DVD) began dividing and arguing about the development of the blue laser technology. Only after a month, the DVD forum announced that they would be creating their own blu-ray solution. HD DVDs hit the shelves shortly after this announcement. The sale of HD DVDs got off to a good start and blu-ray discs began slower. However, the blu-ray disc became successful in the competition against other storage formats and won the battle of the blu-ray vs. HD DVD in the end.

Around the summer of 2006 was when the first blu-ray players were sold. Soon after this, the first blu-ray titles were released. Since the blu-ray discs held such a high storage capacity and were extremely efficient in the storage of HD data, they dominated the markets.

Now, with even newer technology, quad-layer blu-ray discs have been produced. Mini blu-ray discs have also been developed and can hold 7.5 GB of storage. By the end of 2008, over 1200 blu-ray titles had been released just in the United States. As the blu-ray disc becomes even more popular and has more titles out today, we are confident in the bright future of blu-ray technology.