Is Blu-Ray Worth the Hype?

Many consumers are viewing the Blu-Ray phenomenon with a skeptical eye, and rightly so.  We’ve had so many different formats foisted on us over the course of our lifetimes that anything new automatically smacks of a marketing gimmick.  With Blu-Ray, however, this is simply not the case.

If you have invested in a high-definition television, it just makes good sense that your movie collection should be upgraded to match the new technology.  This is effectively what the Blu-Ray format does.  Do you remember the film looking different and higher quality when you went to see it in the theater?  That isn’t a trick your brain is playing on you.  Blu-Ray finally allows home viewers to see the movie in its original high-tech clarity. 

There is no change in the physical size of a Blu-Ray DVD from regular DVD’s.  The name of the format is derived from the blue/violet laser that is used in recording and playing back the DVD.  The blue laser operates at a lower wavelength than the standard red laser used for conventional DVD’s, which allows the Blu-Ray DVD to store a much higher capacity.  A two layer Blu-Ray DVD can store 50 gigabytes, more than six times the capacity of a standard two-layer DVD.  As of December 21st, 2008 more than 1220 movie titles are available in Blu-Ray. 

The data transfer rate is also superior in Blu-Ray technology.  HD-TV broadcasts need to be broadcast at 19.3 MbPS (megabytes per second).  Blu-Ray far exceeds that at 36-48 MbPS.  Sound is generally the same as with a conventional DVD, with DolbyDigital, DTS, and uncompressed PCM being required on all Blu-Ray players.  Support for other formats is optional, such as Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD.  The true advancement in Blu-Ray is in the resolution of the picture. 

Standard DVD players use “upscaling” technology to falsely increase the resolution of the picture.  While many newer DVD players are good at this, anyone who knows anything about graphic design knows that you just can’t get the best resolution unless you are working with the original.  The Blu-Ray format allows studios to re-record movies from the original print in such a way that there is little to no data loss.  This means that you get a far superior picture than on a conventional DVD. 

The additional data storage will also allow studios to include more special features with their DVD’s, which will allow them to more effectively market Blu-Ray DVD’s to those who may already have the movie in question in their collection.  Blu-Ray is also the format of choice for the Playstation 3 games system - this is probably one of the reasons that Blu-Ray won the format war with Toshiba, who tried to introduce their own HD discs to compete with Blu-Ray. 

After close examination, it is apparent that Blu-Ray isn’t a cheap marketing gimmick at all but a necessary upgrade to anyone’s movie collection in the age of high definition and high resolution video.  Blu-Ray home movies are a great reason to consider taking the plunge to upgrading your entire home theater system.

To find out how Blu-Ray can be integrated into your home theater setup, contact one of the experts at Simple Solutions Digital Entertainment at 561-999-4360.

Posted on January 19th, 2009

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