DVD movies began to be produce in the 1990’s, and they became the dominant home video format sometime around 2000, a position that DVD’s enjoy even today. However, with a storage capacity of only 4.7 Gb, home theater users require discs which can hold high definition content, DVD’s simply do not have the storage capacity to hold all of that data. Therefore, nine leading electronics companies, including Sony, Samsung, and Sharp, began developing a next generation movie format to hold high definition video to usher in a new era of the home theater. With the so called “blue ray” specifications finalized, the average consumer can now afford to watch movies in high definition.
Comparison
The biggest difference between the DVD (digital versatile/video disc) format and the Blue ray format is that DVD players use a red laser to read data while Blue ray players use a blue/violet laser to read data. Basically, the shorter wavelength of the blue/violet laser means that Blue ray discs can store more data in the same amount of space, resulting in a limit of 50 Gb of data as opposed to 4.7 Gb for DVD. However, this has resulted in the players being much more expensive (at least initially) than DVD players, and adoption rates have been slow because of the following reasons (besides cost).
Most of the major movie studios now support the Blue ray format exclusively over HD-DVD, so you’re much more likely to find your favorite movies on Blue ray than on its rival high definition video format. These aren’t just any movies, but your favorite movies like Platoon, Casino Royale, and Bruce Almighty. If you’re trying to decide which next generation video format to choose, just look at the Blue ray movies available to you, and the choice becomes pretty easy for anyone to make.
Developments
Through 2006 and 2007, consumers had a very difficult choice to make between HD-DVD and Blue ray. By choosing one, they risked wasting hundreds or even a thousand dollars or more on a format which might become obsolete within a few years. How would you feel if your five hundred dollar player and collection of movies worth hundreds of dollars more became obsolete because movie studios decided to choose the other format? This reason in 2006 and 2007 prevented many consumers from upgrading to a next generation video format, but the choice is becoming much easier. However, in the start of 2008, Warner Bros. Decided to go exclusively Blue ray, meaning that a majority of movie studios were now in the Blue ray camp, making the decision easier for consumers. Now you can safely buy Blue ray movies without worrying if it will become obsolete.