Blu Ray 101

The headlines read: "Sony Says Blu Ray will Conquer Half the Market By 2008." Until now, you may have never have heard of the Blu Ray disc player before. Don't be alarmed, as it can be grueling to keep up with all the latest technology! The good news is that you didn't get suckered into buying an HD DVD player that is now obsolete. Here you will learn all of the basics about this new technology so that you can make up your mind as to whether it's a trend or a necessity for your household.

Few things are more confusing to the average consumer than blink-and-you-missed-it turf wars between technology firms. Toshiba and Microsoft figured that HD DVDs would be the next big thing. However, Sony's Blu Ray DVD format emerged the victor. The demise of HD DVDs has resulted in an increased demand for the more expensive Blu Ray disc player, according to recent PriceGrabber.com statistics. If you're not quite familiar with Blu Ray technology, then think of it as what DVD players were to VCRs ten years ago.

Technology changes constantly; it's the nature of the beast. Every year it seems there's a new Playstation or gaming model out. We've seen music progress from 8-tracks and DAT machines to cassette tapes, to CDs, and onto MP3s. Similarly, we've seen film move to VHS tapes and DVDs, and now high-definition DVD. There's no way to predict what will happen next and it's hard to resist the call to consumerism. One thing is for sure: Sony's Blu Ray has impressed the likes of Warner Brothers, Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount and Disney studios enough to produce all upcoming high-definition releases in the new format.

Are you wondering if you should succumb to the Blu Ray technology, or just stick with your old DVD player? The answer depends on how big a movie buff you are, really. If you're the kind of person who watches movies every week or every couple weeks and loves that home theater, high-definition, surround-sound experience, then a Blu Ray disc player is in your near future. However, if you were reluctant to dispose of your old VCR, you prefer going out to the movies, or you consider yourself to be extremely frugal, then you might choose to enjoy a friend's Blu Ray movies instead.

Blu Ray (BR) is the new format developed for optimal recording, rewriting, playing and storing of high-definition video. The world first learned about the new technology with the release of Sony's PlayStation3 in November 2006. To make more advanced games, Sony needed a way to "fit in" more data. While the DVDs in your current collection hold 9 GB of information, the Blu Ray discs are able to hold 25-50 GB, making it five times more efficient! Manufacturers like Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp and JVC (to name a few) are using a different type of laser (blue versus the traditional red) to pack more data with better precision.

When 5.0 Surround Sound first came out, it revolutionized how we heard movies and music. Blu Ray features 7.0 Surround Sound for more bumps, shouts and vibrations than ever before. Likewise, the picture quality is said to be six times better than a regular HD-DVD. The good news is that old CDs and DVDs will still work on the Blu Ray players, although all new movie releases will only work on the new Blu Ray players.

Before you get angry about having to retire the old DVD player, you should know about some of the other cool features that Blu Ray can offer. Imagine purchasing a new DVD and then downloading exciting, updated bonus material onto the rewritable storage section of the disc. The interactive nature of the Blu Ray format was a major selling feature for film studios because it allows them more creativity and personalized interaction. The developers are talking about further innovation with music discs and cell phone ring tones. So far, the best way to buy the Blu Ray technology is by purchasing a PlayStation3, which will allow you to do much more than just watch amazing high-definition movies. You'll also be able to listen to music, surf the web, store data and play video games (against the computer or another player on the console and online against multiple players). The machine starts at $399 and is the cheapest way to bring the new technology into your home.

Several days after the November 2006 release of PS3, Sony offered its first stand alone Blu Ray disc player for $300. Thanks to the new technology, the PlayStation was surpassing its rival, the Xbox360, by selling 13 million units. The Blu Ray 1.0 was your bare bones player, but it lacked ethernet ports and all of the functionality that the superior PS3 machines had. Since November, all the Blu Ray players featuring 1.1-2.0 technology and are BD-Live enabled, meaning that you can link up to the internet to download movie trailers onto the rewritable portion of your Blu Ray disc and play interactive games, as well as receive firmware updates and exclusive downloads of additional bonus material.

So just how popular is the Blu Ray? It's so popular that market analysts are speculating that Sony may not have the capacity to tackle the demand for the new media! The demand is said to be around 43 million units worldwide, but factories can only handle production for 38 million, and that's after an upgrade to their facilities. Therefore, you can expect prices to remain high until the supply side catches up with the demand. Prices on the initial players range from $400 to $1,000 but the subsequent versions are expected to be offered for around $300.

If you plan on collecting new releases and snubbing the Blu Ray; forget about it! Sony, Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount and Disney Studios have all entered exclusive agreements to release all new movies in Blu Ray format, which is roughly 75% of all releases so far. If you were one of the unfortunate ones to purchase Toshiba or Microsoft's HD DVD players, then there is not much you can do at this point but cut your losses. The "buzz gift of 2007" is slowly being pushed out of the market in favor of Sony's new media. However, there are some people who suspect that more consumers will stay out of the turf war all together and will simply download new movies.

You may be wondering how the Blu Ray phenomenon is going to ripple out through the rest of the technological world. Dell has started making Blu Ray disc drives on their PCs and laptops for under $1,000, Blu Ray CD burners are available at Best Buy for $200 (internal) - $500 (external), and Sony is even planning BR high-definition LCD televisions. Don't see BR technology as a nuisance, but rather see it as the next step of evolution, and a way of making entertainment more efficient and valuable to the consumer.

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