Remember when you upgraded from your ageing VHS player to a DVD deck?
It was great, offering you an immediate leap in picture and sound quality, plus new treats like silky menu systems and (eventually) in-depth extra features.
Upgrading to the new Blu-ray Disc format is like making that VHS to DVD switch all over again. But this time it’s DVD that now looks blocky and out-of-date.
Confused? What you need is our complete guide:
Complete guide to Blu-ray: getting started
2. What products offer Blu-ray playback?
3. How much does Blu-ray hardware cost?
4. Is there regional coding on Blu-ray?
5. Which studios support Blu-ray?
Complete guide to Blu-ray: what about the alternatives?
7. Why not just buy an upscaling DVD deck?
8. Why did Blu-ray beat HD DVD?
9. Can Blu-ray decks play CDs and DVDs?
10. Will all the HD DVD discs come out on Blu-ray?
Complete guide to Blu-ray: is my television compatible?
11. What sort of display do I need?
12. Do I need a Full HD screen for Blu-ray?
14. What sound system do I need?
15. Do I need any other accessories for Blu-ray?
16. What are the different Blu-ray profiles?
17. High-def audio formats explained
Blu-ray is the next-generation HD disc format. The discs look the same as DVD, but they can be loaded with much more information.
A 90-minute movie recorded in 1080p (high-def) at 54Mbit/s requires around 29GB of storage – with a standard DVD offering a capacity of only 4.7GB, it’s clear why a new format has been launched.
A single-layer Blu-ray Disc can store around 15GB of data, and a dual-layer Blu-ray Disc (BD) can store up to 30GB. BDs use a blue-violet laser operating at a shorter wavelength than the infrared laser used by DVD. More information can therefore be crammed onto a disc because the laser beam can be focused on a smaller area.
The result is that pictures are far more detailed. Blu-ray movies are almost always encoded in a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution; DVDs are commonly encoded at 720 x 576. Therefore, Blu-ray can offer more than twice the amount of detail than DVD can.
The sound on Blu-ray is also better. The various new higher-resolution audio formats (see: High-def audio formats explained) found on Blu-ray discs offer cleaner mixes and more channels than the DVD-standard Dolby Digital and DTS formats.
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Your comments (2) Click to add a new comment
skyhawk396
May 21st
2. above was the resolution in the uk, in the united states it is actualy 6 times the clarity beacuse their dvds run at 720 by 480.
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skyhawk396
May 21st
1. Blu-ray is at least 5 times the clarity of dvd. Used to work at circuit city, so i know this one.
720 * 576 = 414,720 dots
1920 * 1080 = 2,073,600 dots
2,073,600/414,720 = 5
^_^ thanks
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