Blu-Ray
Tilly Masterson 007
UKPosts: 1,472MI6 Agent
I've heard of several new DVD releases that are in Blu-Ray. What exactly is Blue-Ray?
The first time I heard about it was with a version of CR when it was released not that long ago.
The first time I heard about it was with a version of CR when it was released not that long ago.
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Unfortunately, you cannot play BluRay DVD's in your standard DVD player. In order to play them, you must purchase a BluRay player. Various companies including Sony, Panasonic, Sharp and Samsung all make BluRay players. Sony's Playstation 3 videogame console can also play BluRays. Also, if you really want to see the jump in visual fidelity that BluRay can provide, you need to invest in one of the newer high-definition televisions as older TV's cannot display movies at the high resolutions BluRay supports.
As you can see, going BluRay can get to be expensive. Also, at this time the number of titles available is relatively small compared to the standard definition DVD's you're more familiar with. New movies from most studios are being released but older catalog titles are slower in coming out.
Still, if you're a videophile then it's really hard to go back to standard DVD's after you've seen a film in high-definition. Everything is clearer, more colorful and the amount of additional detail on the screen give the picture an almost 3D quality.
Casino Royale is currently the only Bond movie available in BluRay. None of the other films have been announced yet though I'd hazard a guess that their inevitable arrival on BluRay will conincide with the home video release for Quantum of Solace.
Had been looking at TV's and players for a long time and could't really tell the difference between High Def picture and a regular picture. We went ahead and bought the blu-ray Casino Royale disc and screened it on a high def unit at "Best Buy". We were pretty familiar with CR'07 and figured we could tell if the upgrade would be worthwhile.
The difference was actually quite stunning. Small detail on the picture was very clear. The pattern on the Madagascar shirt, the various small logos on the side of the jumbo jet, and the objects on the table and outside the window on the Montenegro train, really crackled. That direct comparison really made up our minds.
The blue-ray player also upgrades regular DVD's so they look sharper. The new re-mastered Ultimate Collection Bond discs look pretty good - so close to the blue ray that I would probably NOT buy a blue-ray edition of them.
Lots of money.... is it worth it? If you are a real movie nut that cares about a good picture - you bet! For a casual viewer, would't waste the time or cash.
I for one am glad blue ray appears to have won the "high def" DVD war, but you take your chances with these new technologies and who knows in another year a new advance may replace blue-ray.
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
This seems to be the case for a lot of people when watching upconverted DVDs. In this case I would recommend that rather than shelling out big bucks for a blu-ray player, just buy an upconverting DVD player. These might even upconvert DVDs better than a blu-ray player for all I know (since these are specifically designed with that purpose in mind). The upconverted DVDs I've seen look very close in quality to blu-ray and I'm assuming that the upconverting technology will only improve.
This is one of the reasons I'm not so sure that blu-ray will ever become a big hit with the majority of movie watchers. Technology that can upconvert DVDs makes blu-ray seem a little less special and the price of blu-rays (and lack of selection at this point) make standard DVDs a perfect option for most people. Not to mention the "new, supercool, better than blu-ray" stuff that is bound to crop up in a few years.
I've watched several standard def movies and their BluRay counterparts including 2001, Bladerunner and Casino Royale on the same TV (a 52" Sony Bravia LCD) thru my PS3 and a very good Panasonic upconverter. In all three cases the BluRay produced a much sharper image with more depth, detail and richer colors.
Standard DVD's are natively encoded at a resolution of 720x480 whereas Blurays are encoded at 1920x1080. The upconverter can sharpen the image but it can only do so much given the limited data stored on the DVD in the first place. It's akin to taking a picture with your digital camera at its highest resolution, then taking one at a lower resolution and blowing it up thru Photoshop - the results will still be pretty good, but never as good as that original image at the higher res.
As 7289 says, if you're not a videophile then the added punch that BluRay offers may be lost on you. But if you want to see the best image possible and have a nice hi-def TV, then you'll notice a big difference.
The prices of the players are too relatively high (between $400 and $600) and even the software is anywhere from 20% to 40% higher. One of the good things that came out of the HD-DVD / BluRay format war was that prices did come down much more quickly and that trend needs to continue. DVD didn't have a real competitor and it took much much longer to really penetrate the home market. Standard DVD's didn't really go mainstream until players dropped below the $200 and movies below $20 and I wouldn't expect BluRay to have much chance of getting beyond the videophiles until it has comparable pricepoints.
The studios also have to really ramp up production of more catalog titles that take advantage of the format. They need more killer apps like the Star Wars movies and other titles that really show off the format. Now that there appears to be one definitive format going forward, that will hopefully start to happen.
Hi-def DVDs also won't really take off until there are more hi-def TV's to view them on. Now that more and more people are buying those fancy LCDs and plasmas, they're going to hopefully want to show off that set with the best possible picture.
As to the whole digital downloading thing, I'm really not convinced that it will ever truly replace real media that you can hold in your hands. For real movie fans, commercial DVD's just have way too many features (multiple audio tracks, documentaries, still galleries, etc.) that digital downloads just can't provide. The bandwidth isn't there right now for much of the world and the infrastructure for such high volume downloading is still many years away. It's definitely way more convenient than renting videos from a video store and as a rental medium it definitely has a future. But when it comes to owning movies, I just think most people are always going to want something tangible rather than an amorphous license that entitles you do download.
All just my opinion, of course.