Choosing a Blu-Ray player: tips and tricks. What is blu ray and how does it differ from the usual format, as well as what image quality it provides

Good afternoon, dear readers of my blog! If we already know each other, then you know that I am a sociable and sympathetic person, I have many acquaintances, relatives and friends with whom I often spend time and help them in choosing equipment. Usually in everyday life my knowledge is required spontaneously.

For example, not so long ago I met a classmate whom I had not seen for several years. He invited me to his dacha, where his parents live. In the process of pleasant tea drinking, the elderly remembered that they had somewhere a disc with a recording of our school concert. I was glad to nostalgize about my past youth, but it didn’t work out - the device either demagnetized or turned off, the video could not be played back. As it turned out, none of those present knew about blu ray - what it is, I will now tell you in more detail, but it is this format that could help preserve valuable memories.

What is it and how to eat it

The advent of DVD discs heralded a new era in digital technology. VHS tape cassettes have been replaced by compact, reliable round media. And the consumer was immediately notified that the format war was over. But it was not there, progress does not stand still and now we are offered a new high-tech device.

So what is blu ray. In simple layman's terms, this is an optical medium, information on which is written using a blue (blue-violet) beam, in contrast to infrared in the case of a DVD.

The name comes from the English phrase blue ray - blue / blue ray. But since this phrase is often used in everyday life, it could not be patented and turned into a brand as something non-unique. In order to have copyright on this development, the inventors of the new format took away the last letter from the word "blue", creating a new trademark "blue ray disc".

The first prototypes of such a media appeared relatively recently, at the end of the last century - more precisely, in October 2000 - and they entered the market a little more than 10 years ago, in 2006, competing with the HD DVD format.

Some scientific statistics

The easiest way to explain to the average person what the Blu-ray format is is by comparing it with DVD discs.

• The first thing that comes to mind is that blu ray is more spacious. If a single-layer DVD recorded with a red beam can store about 5 GB in its memory, then a Blu-ray with the same diameter can store five times more.
• Both formats come in the same size - 120 mm. But using a shorter blue beam helps compress the track pitch from 0.74 µm to 0.32 µm, fitting more information into the same area.
• With the same thickness of DVD and Blu-ray discs, the protective layer of the latter is 0.5 mm thinner.
• Blu-ray has a Durabis hard coating, DVD does not. This protective layer protects the surface of discs from scratches, making them insensitive even to dry paper towels, while they can permanently damage DVD format media.
• The Blu Ray format is capable of transferring data (eg text files, photos) at up to 36 Mbps, while DVD cannot exceed the 11 Mbps traffic limit. What to say about video and audio downloaded to a Blu-ray disc at 54 Mbps.
• Consumers, asking what is blu ray quality, do not really understand and think that it is just a disc with more memory. There would be no grand opening in this if the advantage was only in spaciousness. In fact, blue ray is a fundamentally new quality of video. Not without reason, many Hollywood film companies - Worner Bros. set an example - abandoned other formats and release their films exclusively on blu ray. You don't need to be a professional to understand that the resolution of 1920x1080 and the bit rate - the degree of stream compression - 40 Mbps are much more functional than 720/480 and 9.8 Mbps, respectively. The latter indicator is especially important, since the higher the bitrate, the better the picture.

Naturally, I did not set out all this information in detail either to my classmate, or, even more so, to his parents. Even I, a person who communicates with technology every day, cannot understand all the intricacies of the format. Here you need a professional of a narrower profile and a high level. Ordinary consumers - in the best sense of the word - only need to understand two things: Blu-ray is high quality video and more data storage than classic DVD discs.

HD DVD competition

I hope I have clearly explained to you what blu ray is and how this format differs from previous generation media, which are recorded using red and infrared (CDs) rays. However, HD DVD discs competed with him for quite some time, even Warner Brothers switched to blue ray only in 2008, and then, partly in order to stop the format war.

What are the similarities and differences between these types of carriers?

Similarities
To record information on Blu-ray and HD DVD, the same short blue beams with a length of 450 nm are used.	The capacity of the blu ray format is on average 1.5 times larger.
The standard disc diameter is 120 millimeters.	Unlike HD DVD, Blu-ray is not compatible with DVD. Thus, we can say that HD DVD is a buffer between old and fundamentally new digital technologies.
Both formats are single-layer and double-layer.	The HD DVD format is produced on the basis of old optical media, therefore it does not have a protective coating "Durabis".
Both formats use the same MPEG-2, Video Codec 1 and H.264 compression methods.	Blu-ray technology is constantly under development and Pioneer now releases 3- and 4-layer discs. Also, the same developer presented 16 and 20-layer media with a capacity of 400 and 500 GB, respectively, 9 years ago, but so far there is no such format on sale.

In principle, both formats are capable of providing high quality audio and video playback. But personally, I would note the longer service life of the media, if only because of the hard protective coating. The advantage of HD DVD is that it does not require the invention of new types of players to play it - because of the same “blanks”, old DVD players can be converted to this format. True, such a technique cannot afford the quality of 4k digital cinema, which Hollywood film studios have already appreciated.

What to play?

The advantages of the blu ray format are obvious to professionals, but not to every layman. The fact is that the fundamentally new technology BD-Live (Blu-ray Disc - Live), invented to expand the functionality of the media, requires a completely new type of player for playback.

So what is a blu ray player. In short, it is a reader of the corresponding type of media, capable of providing additional options.

There are three types of such players:

I want to tell you more about the latest models. Players with the BD-Live function can connect to the Internet without the mediation of a computer or laptop. These players can be connected to the World Wide Web both through a cable and using WI-FI.

To download or watch movies online, you must insert a media of a compatible format into the drive. After that, you can use the social sharing option or download the official versions of trailers, commercials and clips through the studio's websites.

On the Blu-ray player version 1.1, you can play DVD R/RW, CD R/RW, BD-R/RE and some other formats. However, 2.0 specification players may not be able to read these discs, so check this option before purchasing.

Modern technologies allow you to change the player's firmware, making it compatible with many formats. But such changes must be made by an experienced professional, otherwise there is a risk that the player will lose some of its functions.

In conclusion, I will say that not every consumer needs a player with the BD-Live function. I, for one, am quite happy with Profile 1.0. Expect soon, see you soon!

Thank you for your attention! Sincerely, Rostislav Kuzmin.

I constantly hear in conversations: Blu-ray movies, bluray music and how good they are, but I really don't understand what they are? So my question is simple, what is blu-ray?

History of Blu-Ray

Development blu-ray starts from 2000, the format was officially opened in June 2006, relying on large companies like Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Thomson, Hitachi, Matsushita, Pioneer, Philips, Mistubishi And LG Electronics . This format was developed to enable recording, dubbing and playback of high definition video ( HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. While existing optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVD+R, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM use a red laser to read and write data, the new format uses a blue-violet laser, hence the name blu-ray.

The blue-violet laser (405 nm) has a shorter wavelength than the red laser (650 nm). This allows more data to fit more compactly on a disc, even if it's the same size as a CD/DVD.

Also, this format is widely supported by the largest film studios as a receiver for today's DVD format. Seven of the eight biggest movie giants have already announced the release of their epic films on Blu-Ray, including Fox, Paramount, Sony, Lionsgate, Warner, Disney and MGM . The first films released on Blu-Ray consist of over 100 titles, including the latest hits as well as classics such as Batman Begins,Daredevil,Fantastic Four,Fifth Element,Hero,glacial period,Kill Bill,Deadly weapon,Mission Impossible,Pirates of the Caribbean,Robocop And Matrix.

In early 2008, there was a format war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD. This meant that manufacturers were divided over what type of disc to produce. Luckily for everyone but those who already bought an HD-DVD player, the problem was solved when Toshiba took HD-DVD off the market. Now there was only one format for the production of equipment and disks - this blu-ray.

We believe that Blu-ray Disc remains the best choice in this format war, and the safest choice for consumers. It's exactly the way we see it. In other words, we are talking Go Big Blue!

Benefits of Blu-Ray

Buying Blu-ray you also get the opportunity to listen to music with a new sound format lossless multichannel Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio- which is an enhanced surround sound standard (5.1 - 7.1). Blu-ray discs are meant to replace the DVD format in the long run, with a storage capacity that is currently as high as 50GB, but could soon be as high as 200GB! Blu-ray discs have many advantages over regular DVDs. It can store 5 times more information than a regular DVD. Up to 25GB single layer and 50GB dual layer. Has high definition video 1920*1080p and high sound quality (LPCM, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD High Resolution and DTS-HD Master Audio).

What is HD DVD?

HD-DVD is short for High-Definition/Density Digital Versatile Disc. This is an optical disc format used to store high definition video. Toshiba, a multinational manufacturing company leading in infrastructure, consumer products and electronic devices, has developed HD-DVD.

What to buy HD-DVD and Blu-Ray?

Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs have been designed to compete with the existing DVD format. First, a single-layer HD-DVD can store 15GB of data, while a single-layer Blu-Ray disc can store 25GB of data. Secondly, the maximum bit rate of HD-Dvd is 36.5Mbps, while Blu-ray is 53.9Mbps. The wavelength of the laser used to burn on both HD-Dvd and Blu-ray discs is 405 nanometers. The numerical aperture of the lens that is used to focus the laser beam onto the disc is different for HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs. For HD-DVD it is 0.65 nanometers and for Blu-ray discs it is 0.85 nanometers. The frame rate of HD-DVD is 25-30 fps, while Blu-ray discs are 24 fps. While HD-DVD and Blu-ray technologies appear to be similar, they exhibit some basic differences.

HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface)

Designed Hitachi Ltd., Panasonic Corporation, Philips Consumer Electronics International, B.V., Silicon Image, Inc., Sony Corporation, Thomson S.A. And Toshiba Corporation High-Definition Multimedia interface multimedia interface ( HDMI) is the world standard for connecting HD components and bridging the gap between CE and PC products. The HDMI specification combines uncompressed high-definition video and multi-channel digital audio data into a single digital interface to provide crystal clear digital quality through a single cable. For consumers, using a single cable greatly simplifies home theater installation and eliminates the clutter of wires, home theater and system components. Most importantly, HDMI provides significant advantages over analog A/V connectivity, including the ability to transfer uncompressed digital video and audio content. It transmits all ATSC HDTV standards and supports 8-channel audio, 192kHz uncompressed and all currently available compressed audio formats. To date, more than 900 consumer electronics and PC manufacturers worldwide have adopted the HDMI standard.

What is the difference between HDMI different versions.

HDMI 1.0 combines digital video signal (standard or high definition) up to 1080p in component form (Y/Pb/Pr) and two-channel audio signal via one cable, for example between a DVD player and a TV.

HDMI 1.1 This version not only adds the ability to transmit video and two-channel audio over a single cable, but also adds the ability to transmit Dolby Digital, DTS, DVD-Audio surround signals, as well as up to 7.1 channels of LPCM audio.

HDMI 1.2 This version of HDMI provides the ability to pass SACD signals from the player to the receiver.

HDMI 1.3 This version includes both audio and video improvements. With the advent of Blu-ray and HD-DVD, digital streaming is added for the new high-definition audio formats: Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA, as well as a video stream with an expanded color gamut of up to 48 bits.

HDMI v1.4 And HDMI v1.4a Specifically, it adds 3 new features:
1-Higher resolution.
2-Fully supports 3D while 1.3 only supports 3D at 1080i.
3-Ethernet communication channel allows you to broadcast data that was previously transmitted only over a local computer network.

Sound formats (High Definition)

Dolby Digital is a staple of DVD and 5.1 surround sound transmission. This format has an average bitrate of 640 Kbps, which is about CD quality. Dolby Digital has a 2.0, 4.0, 5.1 and 6.1 variant known as Dolby Digital EX.

DTS- Digital Theater Systems is an "alternative" DVD format. DTS is also a music format that provides surround sound at high bit rates, averaging 1.5 Mbps, and higher fidelity than Dolby Digital. DTS began as a theatrical format, on "LaserDisc" in the late 1990s. DTS is still the favorite format among home theater enthusiasts. DTS offers a 7.1 variant known as DTS-ES.

Dolby TrueHD- one of the two main lossless audio formats on Blu-ray. Supports bit depths up to 24 bits and sampling rates up to 96 kHz for up to eight channels (7.1), with higher sampling rates (192 kHz) available for soundtracks with fewer audio channels. The maximum bitrate is 18 Mbps.

DTS-HD Master Audio- more widely used than Dolby TrueHD. Supports bit depths up to 24 bits and sampling rates up to 96 kHz for up to eight channels (7.1), with higher sampling rates (192 kHz) available for soundtracks with fewer audio channels. The maximum bitrate is 24.5 Mbps.

Dolby Digital Plus rarely used on Blu-ray. This is the compressed audio bitrate. Provides significantly better quality than Dolby Digital. The maximum bitrate at the peak is 6 Mbps.

LPCM- is an uncompressed audio format, it can have up to 8 channels of audio at 48 kHz or a sampling rate of 96 kHz and 16, 20 or 24 bits. The maximum bitrate at the peak is 6 Mbps.

The evolution of the optical disc has gone through many stages over the past quarter of a century. At the moment, its pinnacle is the Blu-ray disc. The choice of players of this format is wide enough, including in order to make a mistake. How to prevent this and find a worthy BD player among the variety? As always, we will have to delve into the essence of the issue and understand what manufacturers are offering us today.

The best Blu-ray players: tips for choosing, models, prices

No matter how hard the creators of the Blu-ray format tried to protect their creation from possible copying and distribution via the Internet, file sharing sites around the world are full of compressed and uncompressed copies of high-definition discs. But no matter how many users of PCs and media players prophesy the imminent oblivion of BD players as a class of technology, the demand for them is only growing. What is the secret?

First, it's just a more familiar way of watching movies. Everyone used DVD players and DVD discs. Everyone is well aware of how to run the purchased disc on the player. Secondly, it is not convenient for everyone to download a movie in HD for several hours or even several days, but at the same time it is absolutely not burdensome to buy a BD disc. Thirdly, the video quality and menu support that you can get on a BD player is achievable only on very good, expensive media players and PCs. And, fourthly, no digital file has such a collection value as a medium in a beautifully designed package.

BD player Toshiba BDX2000

The Blu-ray format itself, as such, gives us the opportunity to watch high-definition video with a resolution of 1920x1080 and a frame rate like on a 24p film, listen to eight-channel Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD sound in studio quality, as well as download subtitles, audio tracks and bonus content from Internet using the BD Live function.

Blu-ray and everything, everything, everything

In addition to playing Blu-ray discs, BD players are capable of reading DVD discs with output resolution conversion up to 1080p. In addition, almost from the first generations, manufacturers have added the ability to work with video of the AVC-HD standard used in consumer camcorders. But the owners of even more ancient VCDs and SVCDs (if there are any among our readers) will have to put their collection aside, since discs of this type will not be played back.

Blu-ray players: the best new

Model	Price, rub	Formats	Interfaces	Dimensions, mm	Weight, kg
	5500		HDMI 1.3, USB, 7.1 audio output	430x55x260	2,9
	6300	BD, DVD, CD, AVC-HD, DivX-HD	HDMI 1.3 SD	435x56x218	2,3
	7000	BD, DVD, CD, AVC-HD	HDMI 1.3, USB (BD Live only)	430x56x207	2,1
	10000	BD, DVD, CD, AVC-HD, DivX-HD	HDMI 1.3, 2x USB, SD, 7.1 audio output	430x49x249	2,6
	12000	BD, DVD, CD, AVC-HD MPEG4-HD, WMV-HD, H.264, MKV	HDMI 1.4, USB, DLNA	no data	no data
	12000	BD, DVD, CD, AVC-HD MPEG4-HD, WMV-HD, H.264, MKV	HDMI 1.4, USB, DLNA	430x43x205	1,8
	15000	BD, DVD, CD, AVC-HD MPEG4-HD, WMV-HD, H.264, MKV	HDMI 1.3, USB, 7.1 audio output	437x91x268	4,2
	20500	BD, DVD, CD, AVC-HD	HDMI 1.3, USB (BD Live only), 7.1 audio output	435x95x317	4,6

In the first generations of BD players, there were also problems with audio, at best only CD-DA was read, and any other audio, even MP3s, was very often ignored. Today, these two formats are the standard set, and in addition, WMA, Ogg, and even WAV files can be supported.

BD player Panasonic DMP-BD45EE

Some developers have gone so far with multi-format expansion that they are already striving to compete with media player manufacturers by adding the ability to read DivX, MPEG4, H264/MKV, WMV9, VC1 video files, including HD resolution, to their devices. Unfortunately, this is often accompanied by incomplete compatibility of codecs and containers, and almost always by the lack of support for suitable media.

Available and inexpensive DVD discs simply do not have the capacity to record HD content. External drives connected via USB are most often supported only in FAT32 format, which limits the file size to four gigabytes, again completely insufficient for recording Full HD video of a long duration. This does not allow to fully realize multi-format, although such players can successfully watch small HD video files, for example, trailers of new films and 720p BD rips. In a word, the Blu-ray player does not replace the media player, as, indeed, vice versa.

BD player LG BD370

Multi-format Blu-ray players are made by many manufacturers, such as LG, BBK, Samsung, Philips, JVC and even Panasonic, which adds DivX-HD support to all its new models. Sony traditionally refrains from excessive democratization of its devices, Pioneer's BD players have MPEG4 support, but like Panasonic, everyone's favorite H246 and VC1 codecs are not supported in the MKV container. Of the entire list, only LG has support for NTFS format media, which distinguishes it from competitors. BBK and Samsung also mentioned the possibility of supporting large files in the future, but have not yet implemented this feature.

network affairs

The presence of a LAN port haunts some manufacturers. Some use it to develop media player functions. So, for example, a DLNA-enabled player gets the ability to read media files from a home network, from a PC or NAS. DLNA technology can be supported by players that are completely different in price and functionality. For multi-format models, this provides an excellent opportunity to bypass the problem of incompatibility with NTFS (as Samsung did), and in Sony players, this function allows you to access only network photo archives, completely ignoring the rest of the multimedia content.

Another direction in the development of network capabilities is the support of various kinds of Internet services. Today, with the help of a BD player, you can watch YouTube videos, photos from Picasa and Flickr. Special software solutions, widgets, display the weather forecast, news, stock reports, etc. on the screen. Players of the same JVC, LG and Samsung, as well as such masters as Panasonic and Philips are ready to pamper with this. It is possible that Sony and BBK will have similar opportunities in the near future.

In addition, some developers seek to diversify the hardware of the player. The main trend is the equipment of BD players with wireless communication. Some manufacturers make it possible to work with Wi-Fi through a plug-in external USB adapter, others make Wi-Fi built into the player.

Blu-ray - it sounds!

First of all, BD players are video playback devices, so for a long time developers paid little attention to the analog audio part. It is understood that the sound is taken digitally via HDMI, and the potential will be determined by the capabilities of the receiver. About a year ago, when manufacturers of Hi-Fi equipment began to actively join the production of Blu-ray players, devices with audio preparation appeared on the market, like serious CD players. So those who want to use a BD player as a Hi-Fi component can turn their eyes to Yamaha, Aleks, Onkyo and, oddly enough, some Philips models.

Pioneer and Panasonic BD players have a completely different solution. These companies have created protocols that minimize the jitter that occurs when digitally transferring data from a player to a receiver over an HDMI cable.

BD player Pioneer BDP-320

As a result, in a fairly modest financial bundle of a Pioneer BDP-320 BD player and a Pioneer VSX-919AH receiver with a total cost of about 30,000 rubles, you can get exceptional high-quality Hi-Fi sound comparable to a CD + amplifier set, at least the same cost . Such synchronous digital connection systems are usually used in studio equipment and in ultra-expensive Hi-End audio systems, which fully explains such an outstanding result.

Don't slow down!

The first generations of Blu-ray players had one characteristic: download times of one to two minutes were considered perfectly normal. Users got tired of this state of affairs very quickly, so pretty soon, the developers reduced this time to 30 seconds. Not so long ago, even more nimble models began to appear, capable of getting out of standby in 5-10, and some even in half a second. In such efficiency, there is a catch.

A player in a really deep stand-by, which ensures minimal power consumption, can get out of it in the same half a minute, no less. All ultra-fast start-ups are based on the fact that the player does not actually turn off and consumes almost the same amount of energy in standby mode as in the on state. Knowing this, some player manufacturers provide a choice between real and economical standby mode and the ability to quickly turn on.

Ahead of the planet

3D technology, as the main trend of AV technology, identified in 2010, of course, did not bypass the BD player. Moreover, with the advent of three-dimensionality, all BD-players were divided into two types: 2D and 3D. The difference between new and old Blu-ray players is quite simple and obvious - it's the ability to work in 3D mode.

From a technical point of view, the problem is that a special video processor is required to process a 3D image, and an HDMI v.1.4 interface is required to transfer 3D video to a visualization tool that supports this format. It is clear that the use of all players released before the advent of 3D is out of the question. At the same time, 3D players are backwards compatible and can handle normal 2D content just fine.

3D BD player Sony BDP-S470

The first 3D Blu-rays have only just begun to hit the market and a clear picture has yet to emerge. So far, models from Samsung, Panasonic and LG are presented. The first-born from Sony is on the way, a 3D model from Pioneer is expected in the fall, and other brands that have not yet had time to join the new trend will definitely offer something. Compared to conventional models, 3D Blu-ray players similar in functionality cost 30-50% more.

To each his own

The distribution of all the above properties in the variety of players on the market does not have a pronounced binding to the class and cost. There are some trends, but there are so many exceptions that it is difficult to form any clear rule. So, for example, players of the budget and middle price categories usually have multi-format, but the same omnivorousness is demonstrated, for example, by the top Philips solution. The situation is similar with Internet functions. Mostly expensive players are deprived of them, but there are also some budget models that do not have access to the global network, for example, VVK BD3000, Toshiba BDX2000, Panasonic DMP-BD45EE, Sony BDP-S360 players.

BD player VVK BD3000

In principle, a rather unambiguous trend can be called a more modest set or even a complete absence of additional functions in expensive players. If we are talking about a device with a price tag of 20 thousand rubles or more, then you can not even think about multimedia and Internet services - everything will be focused only on high-quality work with basic formats and media.

The question of image quality is quite clearly tied to the cost. Let's not hide - a BD player costing up to 8-9 thousand rubles loses to expensive models in terms of picture. But whether this difference will be proportional to the price is up to the buyer, since not everyone is ready to double the cost of the player for the sake of a slight increase in picture clarity. But there are exceptions to this as well. Panasonic's BD-players based on the proprietary UniPhier processor can easily compete with models one and a half to two times more expensive in terms of Blu-ray display quality. A similar situation with Pioneer, even the far from new budget model BDP-120 provides an excellent picture.

BD player Philips BDP9500

As for the ability of a BD player to replace a DVD player, the situation is completely different. There are quite a few budget models, such as the Toshiba BDX2000 and BBK BD3000 players, that scale DVDs very well, greatly enhancing detail and overall picture quality. Expensive models, such as Yamaha BD-S1900, Philips BDP9500, Denon DVD-1800BT players, are no less excellent at playing DVDs, any Pioneer players perfectly cope with the task of playing standard definition.

Choice

If the choice of a functional set is easy to do by visiting the official websites of manufacturers and using our catalog of equipment, you can only evaluate the image quality visually. The best option is a direct comparison of several players on the same content.

This is not so difficult to implement, just find a store or salon that sells the models of interest. The main difference in image quality lies in the clarity and purity of the picture. To do this, ask your sales consultant to turn off the picture enhancement systems on your TV so that they do not mask possible problems with the players you are comparing. When viewing, pay attention to the clarity of the image, legibility of small details. A small level of digital noise, imperceptible from a viewing distance, can be considered acceptable. The main selection criterion is the overall impression of viewing, it is definitely worth choosing the player whose picture is the most comfortable for you.

The disk standard was developed jointly by Hitachi, LG, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, and Thomson. It has become the default disk standard for storing high definition content and digital data. But first there was competition with HD-DVD, a format supported by Toshiba and NEC. Blu-ray was also supported by Fox, Disney, and Warner Bros.

What is the name of the format

The name of the format is like "blue beam". This name is justified by the fact that a blue laser beam is used to read and write to a disk. In comparison, when reading and writing DVD discs, a red beam is used.

The wavelength of the blue laser beam is 405 nanometers. Its focus is more precise than that of a red laser beam. As a result, much more information can be stored on the same disk space with a radius of 12 cm. Discs of this format do not differ in size and shape from DVDs.

According to the rules of the English language, the word for "blue" is: blue. The name Blu-ray lost one letter in order to be able to patent the technology.

Blu-ray specifications

For re-recording on a disc, the Blu-ray format uses the same phase change technology as the DVD format. The storage capacity of a standard Blu-ray disc is large enough to fit a copy of an entire hard drive on a typical computer.

Initially, the format held 27 gigabytes on one side of the disc and 50 gigabytes on dual-layer discs. Single-sided Blu-ray discs store up to 13 hours of standard-format video, as opposed to single-sided DVDs, which only hold up to 133 minutes of video.

In July 2008, Pioneer announced that it had developed a way to store up to 500 gigabytes on a 20-layer Blu-ray disc. But these discs are not planned to be released to the market in the near future.

The data transfer rate on Blu-ray discs is 36 megabits per second. This is enough to record high quality video.

Blu-ray media cannot be played on conventional CD and DVD players because such devices are not equipped with a special violet-blue laser for reading.

If your Blu-ray player is equipped with a laser for reading DVDs and CDs, you can play all three disc formats on it.

Blu-ray players are available from manufacturers such as Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung, and Sony. The Playstation 3 is also equipped with a Blu-ray driver.

Blu-ray discs are distinguished by picture and sound quality. On such media, the picture is more saturated, there is no effect of squares. The Blu-ray format allows you to output sound to 7 speakers, unlike DVD, which has a maximum of five channels. This is a great solution for modern cinemas.

For several years, the Blu-ray format has been the main media for multimedia, so the choice of Blu-ray players is quite wide. Let's look at all the nuances so that you can choose a decent BD player.

Blu-ray players in a very short period of time have become the main component of the home theater, which can transmit high-resolution images and uncompressed multi-channel audio. The advantages of Blu-ray disc players allow you to unleash the functionality of your home entertainment system and get the most out of your favorite movies in Full HD and .

Why is a Blu-Ray disc better than a downloaded file from the web?

• a simple and familiar way to watch movies on a disc;
• no need for a broad Internet channel to download a movie in HD or Ultra HD;
• always the best video quality and menu support, which are available only on expensive media players;
• collectible value of the media in a beautiful package.

Currently, the Blu-ray format allows you to watch high-definition video in 1920 × 1080 and 3840 × 2160 resolutions, as well as, while you can have Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD eight-channel studio-quality sound, not to mention subtitles, audio tracks and bonus content from the Internet using the BD Live feature.

Support for 4K or UtraHD resolution

Many today purchase premium ones, but do not have an Ultra HD player that would provide them with materials in 4K resolution. Samsung, Sony, LG and Panasonic are bringing UHD Blu-ray players to the market in 2016, it remains only to wait for the right discs.

To view video on these BD players, you will need a 4K TV with interface support. Movie resolution on UHD Blu-ray is up to 3840 × 2160 pixels with a wider color gamut, support for high dynamic range and high frame rates. Dual-layer discs will hold up to 66 GB, three-layer - up to 100 GB. By the way, 4K players will support regular Blu-ray discs. Plus, they are developing the ability to broadcast the contents of disks to several devices on a home network.

Don't confuse Blu-ray players with 4K upscaling capability with devices that have full UltraHD support and are just appearing in European markets.

In addition to playing Blu-ray discs, BD players can:

• convert standard definition (480i) DVD format to resolution (1080p);
• support audio standards: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby True HD 7.1, DTS-HR and DTS-Master Audio 7.1, Dolby Digital Plus 5.1, DTS 5.1 and DTS-HD 5.1;
• scale content in Full HD (1080p) to Ultra HD (2160p) resolution;
• play audio in CD-DA, DVD-Audio, MP3, WMA, Ogg and WAV format;
• play MOV, AVCHD, DivX, DivX-HD, AVI, MPEG4, H264/MKV, H265/MKV, WMV9, VC1 video files;
• be equipped with a set of connectors: HDMI, analog, optical and coaxial outputs, Ethernet and USB ports;
• support the connection of external drives via USB with support for the NTFS file system.

Not every player supports all of these high-quality formats. For example, DTS, Dolby Digital, and PCM are basic, while the rest are optional. If high-quality sound is very important to you, then you should consider this when choosing a BD player.

Networking

Many BD players are equipped with wired (LAN-port) and wireless (Wi-Fi) interfaces for network access and are capable of playing multimedia files from a home network, from a PC or. If your player is equipped with this technology, you can watch movies in real time over the network from another device without downloading files. It should be noted that DLNA technology can be supported by quite different BD players in terms of price and functionality, but be careful with the type of supported files. No less interesting are the network capabilities of Blu-Ray players, such as support for various kinds of Internet services, up to full functionality.

The LAN port on select models not only allows you to view Internet content for Blu-ray discs, but also provides IP control for third-party device controllers, firmware updates and web browser support.

Smart TVs, media players and set-top boxes are trying to replace BD players, but true movie connoisseurs prefer to collect films not on home servers, but on Blu-ray discs, which is probably why this equipment is still in demand. Blu-ray players are capable of acting as a network device, a professional decoder, and are also one of the most important components.

Standard set of Blu-ray player interfaces

Sound playback

In addition to the main Dolby Digital and DTS formats, Blu-ray discs also support Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, which allow you to listen to 8-channel uncompressed sound. Some Blu-ray players can decode both of these formats, or transfer them digitally to an external A/V receiver for decoding.

Of course, BD players are direct video playback devices, but players from the brands Cambridge Audio, Denon, Marantz, Harman Kardon, Yamaha, Aleks, Onkyo and Philips can be used with Hi-Fi acoustics. For example, Blu-ray players from Pioneer and Panasonic use special protocols that minimize the jitter that occurs when digital data is transferred from the player to the receiver via an HDMI cable. Thus, a fairly inexpensive bundle of a BD player and a receiver can give high-quality Hi-Fi sound comparable to a CD + amplifier set.

3D technology

3D technology is also present in many BD players, as the required HDMI v1.4 interface is ubiquitous, while 3D players are backwards compatible and can handle normal 2D content just fine. Do not forget that the TV must also have 3D support and you will also need 3D glasses.