Blu-ray

[adina]

Do ya got it? Are you getting it?

Dh picked one up...waited until the holiday sales started, because they dropped way down in price. Actually, I think he got it the day after I totalled the car, so that first week in December...

We've got like 2 blu-ray movies...and probably won't buy a lot of them...the Pixar movies have a noticable difference, but regular movies, not seeing a whole lot, although I don't care enough to pay that close of attention.

Here's what we like. Our regular dvd's look way awesome thru the blu ray player. The up-converter? I think that's what it is.

Like I said, the Pixar movies look great...regular dvd movies (non-animated) look better. But I don't know if the extra cost for the blu rays is worth it. So far we have watched Pixar's Wall-E on Blu-ray, and Santa is bring the newest Batman on Blu-ray, so we'll see...

[walterick]

Do you have an HD tv? I think that makes a difference.

[another view]

I know zip about this kind of stuff - but some discs come in both Blu-Ray and DVD versions. Will the DVD player in my laptop play Blu-Ray discs? I'm thinking that if it will, I'd be better off to buy Blu-Ray when given the choice since it won't be obselete (hopefully) as soon. Blu-Ray is basically higher resolution, right?

[adina]

I think you need the blu-ray drive in your computer...I know when we ordered the new computer it was an option.

We do have the hdtv, but like I said, I don't think I'm in to that stuff enough to see a big difference between the blu-rays and the dvds. Noticed a big difference between dvd's played on the blu-ray, and dvd's played on the dvd player.

[AgingEyes]

As far as blu-ray goes, some suggest that whether it will replace DVD eventually is still a wait-and-see. The reason being most still hang on to their DVD. By the time blu-ray matures to take over, another better format might be on the way already.

What you guys think?

I don't have a blu-ray player.

[SmartWombat]

Blu-ray vs HD DVD ... it was like Betamax vs VHS all over again.
This time it seems the Playstation 3 was the killer app, having used Blu-ray Disk as its standard, and HD DVD losing out in sales.

The Blu-ray player is doing what expensive TVs have been doing, interpolating to a higher resolution and producing higher quality images than the older DVD players.

The multiple Blu-ray standards are going to be fun. BD 2.0 (replacing 1.0) should be interesting, with self-modifying content, 1G of local storage in the player, embedded Java language and LAN interfaces mandatory to download new content or updates to the security programs in the 2.0 players.
2.0 disks aren't going to work properly in 1.0 players.

I've seen stories of various versions of the Blu-ray disks including a proposed 1TB version, so I think future formats are pretty well covered for now. I'm waiting for Blu-ray recordable to go with terrestrial HD TV when the UK goes 100% digital, then I'll jump ship and abandon the DVD recorder.
For now I'm using Dual-Layer DVD for recording.

[mjs1973]

No blu ray here. No HD TV either.

[AnthonyH]

You aren't noticing a difference? Are you using an HDMI cable? The difference should be night and day.

If you buy a BluRay player, make sure it has upgradeable firmware, some Samsung buyers are learning the hard way that new discs won't play on their players.

If you don't have an HDMI, the best place to get them is Monoprice.

[JETA]

So if I have a program that burns blu-ray DVDs, I need a special burner? Do I need special DVDs?

[AnthonyH]

So if I have a program that burns blu-ray DVDs, I need a special burner? Do I need special DVDs?

You need a Blu Ray burner with Blu Ray DVD's.

[walterick]

I still watch my VHS tapes, and watch fuzzy broadcast tv (soon to be dead in February, then all I'll have is static)

[retroactiv]

I have an HDTV, and HD Cable Service. My DVD, player does a great job upconverting, that and Blu Ray movies are in some cases double than a DVD, with out double the difference in my opinion. So no I won't have a Blu Ray player unless someone throws one in my lap or they stop selling DVD's.

[another view]

The multiple Blu-ray standards are going to be fun.

That does it, I'm going back to (printed) books.

No obsolescence (planned or otherwise), no batteries, no catastrophic failure from a little bit of water, no problem if dropped, no removing it from my bag at the airport, no backwards or forward compatibility issues - sigh...

[JETA]

You need a Blu Ray burner with Blu Ray DVD's.

Thank you! I was googling my rear off about a week ago trying to figure it out.

[Anbesol]

As far as blu-ray goes, some suggest that whether it will replace DVD eventually is still a wait-and-see. The reason being most still hang on to their DVD. By the time blu-ray matures to take over, another better format might be on the way already.

What you guys think?

I don't have a blu-ray player.

Blu-Ray *will* take over DVD. The difference between blu-ray and DVD is more significant than VHS and DVD, in both quality and function. Many VHS owners were slow to take on to DVD, as will be the case with DVD to Blu-ray, but DVD will be legacy before too long. Blu-ray drives were $300-$500 last year, right now you can find one on newegg for $50, in retails for $70-$100. There is also the fact that piracy is much more difficult with Blu-Ray than DVD for many many reasons (including the HDCP standard), the industry and movie makers want this also to force the end consumer to get legitimate copies of their videos, and prevent pirates from having bootlegged copies.

It is also a much better medium for computer use, burning backups onto 18 DVD's sucks, imagine that it would be reduced to 2 blu-rays. Imagine backing up your image files to blu-ray? 4.7GB backups just sucks! Blu-ray will take over for many reasons. The image quality is a huge difference too, makes VHS and DVD look like identical twins.

640x480? Or, 1920x1080?

If there is another new and better format to come, it wont come in disc form, it would come in flash memory form, we'll have to wait until that becomes much cheaper to manufacture. When a 30GB flash drive can be manufactured for $2.75, it may be.

[juanmraz]

Blue ray is still in early age here.. not all computers have the player..PS3 already used blu ray...so no pirate in those game...rather than they use dvd or cd before.