The video format wars have been going on for years. You’ve no doubt heard of the mainstays, like VHS and DVDs, but do you remember the brief DVD competitor HD DVD? Or how about the one-time VHS competitor Betamax? A video recording format history isn’t necessary for you to get the most out of your home theater, but you should understand the basics about the up-and-coming format that will likely send DVDs running for their money in the near future. We’re talking, of course, about Blu-Ray Discs.
Blu-Rays fought and won the battle of the next generation video recording format against HD DVDs. They are now the consumer electronics industry’s #1 disc for producing the highest quality audio and video, and by understanding a bit about how they work, you can incorporate Blu-Rays into your home theater with awe-inspiring effects.
Blu-Ray Discs (commonly known as either Blu-Rays or BDs) are optical discs that use a blue-violet laser to read and write data. This allows them to hold more than 5x the amount of data that a regular DVD can hold, and makes them ideal for high definition video – the holy grail of video quality. In fact, high-definition video, or HD, offers 5x more detail and sharpness than standard video. If you’ve seen an in-store display of a Blu-Ray player, playing a Blu-Ray Disc, hooked up to an HDTV, you understand the stunning video quality that we’re talking about. And if you haven’t, do a little window shopping this weekend and see for yourself.
A dual-layer Blu-Ray Disc can hold 50 GB of data, which translates to nine hours of HD video or 23 hours of standard definition video. They can store plenty of HD extras, like behind-the-scenes, bloopers, interviews and more. And not only can Blu-Ray Discs hold tons of stunning video, they have the ability to synch up to your Internet connection and offer you bonus features through BD-Live. Before you get too excited, remember that this requires that you have a Profile 2.0 Blu-Ray Player to access the Internet.
Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Speaking of sound, the Blu-Ray offers high-resolution audio to match that beautiful HD video as well. In addition to Linear PCM, Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Surround, which DVDs currently offer, Blu-Rays can play Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD audio formats. These are types of audio that get as close to the true theater sound as you can get with a disc meant for home theater use – and if your surround sound system is up to the task, you can immerse yourself in the dialog, sound effects and music the way the director would have wanted it.
Blu-Rays are quickly proving to please videophiles, audiophiles and average movie-lovers alike. They offer crisp video quality, superb audio and tons of data storage. If you have an HDTV and you’re still using a DVD player (or, dare we say it, a VHS player), you might want to consider making the upgrade. The Blu-Ray players on the market come in all shapes, sizes and prices, some as low as $99, and the discs can be found at most major video stores and big box stores across the country, not to mention online venues like Amazon.com.
Lauren writes for the HD Envy blog. HD Envy is a leading provider of Flat Screen TV Wall Frame solutions for home theaters. By mounting your HDTV with a flat screen TV wall frame, you will add a unique, sophisticated style to your home theater or family room. HD Envy offers flat screen TV wall frame custom creations, that you can design based on your current décor. And by following VESA industry guidelines in their construction process, HD Envy is able to offer flat screen TV wall frame options that will fit on to any brand or size of TV. Your home theater will be complete once you add a stunning flat screen TV wall frame from HD Envy.
Tags: audio/video, Blu-Ray, Home Theater
