Blu-ray Discs

So, before you all rush out and buy your HD DVD players, you might want to stop and consider the benefits of Blu-ray. Blu-ray is perhaps a little less appreciated than the regular HD DVD format. Probably because it’s got a bit of catching up to do. While HD DVDs have been available to UK consumers since spring 2006, Blu-ray machines have been slower in hitting the shelves – but with good reason.

Blu-ray is a truly astonishing format; not just because of the crystal clear sound and vision, but because, as a data storage medium, it’s unparalleled in the domestic market. Consider this: conventional SD DVD discs can hold about 130 minutes of film; Blu-ray discs can hold anything up to 13 hours – on a single disc! (That’s 27 gigabytes of information.)

Consider the possibilities: Blu-ray is the perfect home recording format. Viewers can record entire seasons of their favourite programmes on a single disc. Commercially available discs can be crammed with extra material which will easily outstrip the current packages of extras afforded by SD DVD discs).

Blu-ray is backed by Sony, who’ve carried out the lion’s share of the research and development (with support from Apple, Samsung and Dell and backing from entertainment industry giants MGM, Disney and Twentieth Century Fox). Perhaps unsurprisingly (given Sony’s involvement) it’s the format of choice for music enthusiasts. Blu-ray gives higher quality music playback at the rate of 640 kbits per second, compared with 448 kbits per second for the HD format.

Blu-ray offers DVD enthusiasts a real alternative to HD. New discs, players and Blu-ray recorders are coming onto the market all the time and Blu-ray is gaining fans fast. So consider the future: Sony aren’t about to rest on their laurels: 27 gigabytes? Pah! 50GB machines are already in development. That would make for a single DVD disc with as much or more storage potential as many PC hard drives and mp3 players.

So before you make your choice, consider the benefits of Blu-ray…