Game Consoles

Games Consoles

Although there is currently only one games console which contains a Blu-ray compatible drive, more are planned.

Currently, the Sony PlayStation 3™ (PS3) is produced with Blu-ray playback as standard, and often comes with a free Blu-ray movie to get you started. The console itself loads much more quickly compared to some of the less powerful standalone Blu-ray players. It also operates quietly and is widely viewed as an excellent Blu-ray player despite it being a games console in the first instance! The PS3 also has DVD upscaling ability, which is also of excellent quality. The DVD upscaling is not as good as top end upscalers which use the specialised Reon VX chipset. To make full use of the PS3 as a Blu-ray player, it is important to buy the PS3 Blu-ray remote control. This will ensure you get an optimum viewing experience compared to using the standard PS3 wireless controller.

When deciding whether to buy a PS3 or a standalone Blu-ray player, it is important to weigh up the issues regarding the software installed on the players, and the speed with which it loads discs. Obviously, if playing games is your main interest over Blu-ray, then the PS3 will obviously appeal more to you.

Computer Based Players
Recently, some new laptops and PCs are being sold with a pre-installed Blu-ray drive so you can enjoy Blu-ray movies on your PC or laptop.

The newer Sony Vaio laptops come with pre-installed Blu-ray drives, although Dell has now released a number of laptops with Blu-ray drives. Most of the large computer manufacturers are now allowing or will soon allow customers to install a Blu-ray drive to new computer systems. If you are a bit more hands on and wish to build your own computer, you can now buy a separate Blu-ray drive. Companies such as Sony, Pioneer, Asus and Lite-on are selling Blu-ray drives, and there are also dual format drives available from LG.

It is definitely worth noting that computer based Blu-ray players are quite resource hungry, and therefore there are some hardware requirements. Your computer will need plenty of RAM, and fast processor and a HDCP enabled graphics card and monitor. There is also some reliable Blu-ray software for your computer, of which WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray from Corel, PowerDVD Ultra from Cyberlink, and Arcsoft Totalmedia Theatre are probably the most reliable and least likely to crash! There is currently no appropriate software for Blu-ray on Macs, yet.

Gaming
The new generation of gaming is here in the form of Blu-ray. Blu-ray takes gaming to a new level of success. It is widely believed that Blu-ray will exert an influence over all of the gaming world which has been has been created by Blu-ray gaming technology.
Throw yourself into astonishing life-like experiences, amazing visual stimulation and personal interactivity. The capabilities of Blu-ray games developers to use High Definition images amongst other new technology will substantially better the whole gaming experience.

The PS3 allows games developers to accurately represent drama and emotion like never before. Gaming is becoming more entwined with cinema which has created a new digital art form. Using motion capture technology games developers are able to work with actors to show facial detail and accurate body movements which provides for an altogether better gaming experience.

Games on the Blu-ray PS3 will connect us to drama and intrigue more deeply than we have ever known in gaming.

Blue-ray media
As well as incredible picture quality and digital surround sound provided by Blu-ray discs and Blu-ray players, the studio business is also very thrilled by Blu-ray’s interactive possibilities.
Although there is not much talk about interactivity yet, when it becomes available on all Blu-ray players, interactivity is something that will add lots of satisfaction to watching a movie at home. However, although this is a future aim, interactivity is not yet supported by all Blu-ray players. Blu-ray has been designed to offer a more rewarding, and more refined interactive experience compared to current DVDs.

Blu-Ray interactivity has been centred around not having to pause or interrupt your movie. Pop-up menus appear on screen during the Blu-ray movie ensuring you can make changes without stopping or pausing the movie. A new more powerful interactive mode has also been recently developed, which allows your Blu-ray player to download additional content about your movie, but this requires you to have a connection to the Internet.
A good example of when this may be useful is if you need to access subtitles in your own language for a foreign Blu-ray movie.

Blu-ray will also allow picture in picture on your television, and using the fantastic new powerful interactivity, you could use the Blu-ray technology to download, for example, exclusive extras for the movie you are viewing, or director’s comments. Blu-ray recorders are becoming available and more affordable, and this will ensure that you can record movies as well, but there is currently a distinct need for more choice in Blu-ray recorders on the market.

Music

It obviously isn’t enough to have the fantastic picture quality which Blu-ray provides, because Sony has also created a sound quality like nothing you have ever previously experienced. Blu-ray brings all of the pleasure of live music right into your house and coupled with the unbelievable picture quality, you really do feel like you are actually there!

Blu-ray brings you closer to the musicians you love with internet connectivity and seamlessly integrated bonus content. Blu-ray discs will also allow for a large number of albums to be burned on to one Blu-ray disc much like Blu-ray movies will. Typically, as the market develops, consumers can expect to see up to 100GB Blu-ray discs as standard.

Is Blu-ray on PCs or laptops available yet?
Now available on the market, you will find BD-ROM, BD-R and BD-RE drives. These drives are read only, recordable and rewritable drives for PCs. However, the two market leaders in computer manufacturing, Dell and Hewlett Packard have given their support to Blu-ray, and it is expected that Blu-ray will be adopted as the new generation of optical disc format for data storage. It is anticipated that Blu-ray will replace DVDs as the preferred optical disc format.

The Key Advantages and Qualities of Blu-Ray Disc:

Blu-ray Disc technology offers these key characteristics and advantages:

With the format wars now over and Blu-ray Disc emerging as the winner, it can now enjoy full support from virtually all of the major Hollywood studios, some of the top computer brands, consumer electronics companies and the largest music companies. Obviously, the gaming companies will also take advantage of the awesome gaming experience on Blu-ray.

Blu-ray discs will have the highest capacity available on the market with discs expected soon with a capacity of up to 100GB. Even the smallest capacity Blu-ray discs will have up to five times the capacity of DVDs!

The greatest picture resolution there has ever been. Blu-ray Disc technology provides 1080p video resolution to give perfect picture quality.

The audio from Blu-ray is excellent. Blu-ray Disc has up to 7.1 channels of native, uncompressed surround sound for precise audio entertainment.

As with all new formats, it is now almost a pre-requisite that there is backward compatibility, ensuring Blu-ray Disc players will allow you to watch your existing collection of DVDs without any problems.

Blu-ray will provide much greater interactivity. It is expected that soon Blu-ray will offer interactive features including bonus features, simple and seamless menu navigation, and internet connectivity.

Blu-ray discs now employ a method of hard-coating its discs with the strongest resistance yet to fingerprints or scratches.

Blu-Ray Media

If you intend to rush out and buy a Blu-ray player, it is worth reading through the following hints.

As with DVDs, Blu-ray also has region control, although Blu-ray has only three regions, A, B and C:

Region A is categorised as the US, Canada, Japan and Hong Kong
Region B consists of Europe, Australia and South Africa
Region C is China, Russia and other countries

It is worth noting that not all studios use the region system. Warner Bros., for example, has not (yet!) released a single Blu-ray disc that is region protected. However, on the other hand, Fox has never released a Blu-ray disc that is not region-locked. The tendency is for new releases to be region-locked, and for catalogue releases to be region-free.

There are also some complicated scenarios though, where Blu-ray films released are locked eg in Region A, but the same Blu-ray film is region-free when it is available in Region B. An example of this was when the movie Eight Below by Disney was released by Buena Vista the US release was region-locked but in Australia, it was region-free.

This matters when, for example, in Australia, prices for Blu-ray movies are an average of £20 each. However, in the US, the average price for Blu-ray movies is only £13, and as low as £8 on sale. As a result of this, there are much greater sales in Region A than in Region B countries.

DVD playback will also be region-locked, using the current DVD region-locking system. However, it is possible to unlock the DVD Region systems on most Blu-ray standalones.

Blu-ray Players currently available

Standalone Blu-ray players are available from a large number of electronics manufacturers, including Sony, LG, Samsung, Panasonic and Sharp. Sony's standalone Blu-ray players are currently the most popular models on the market. The advantages of using a standalone Blu-ray player over the PS3 is that these are usually quieter (near silent). Standalones could also offer better analog output, and may also offer decoding and bitstreaming of high definition audio formats (whereas the PS3 will not bitstream).

However, the disadvantages of a standalone Blu-ray player against a PS3 are numerous, such as the lack of ability to upgrade software profiles, and as the PS3 has supercomputer powers, it loads Blu-ray discs more quickly than the lesser computing power of standalone Blu-ray players.

Blu-ray Recorders
With more people choosing to upgrade to Blu-ray and HDTV, the need for recording high definition content like Blu-ray will increase. Blu-ray has been designed to be highly compatible with the global standard for digital broadcasting, making it easier to record onto Blu-ray discs.
There is an increased amount of data storage required for HD video, and Blu-ray uses a data transfer rate which is adequate to record and playback digital HD broadcasts while ensuring original picture quality is always preserved. Also, by using Blu-ray disc's random accessing features, it is possible to record high-definition video being broadcast on TV and at the same time, play back pre-recorded video on a disc

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Now that the format war is over, Sony is free to focus on additional Blu-ray related products, to provide various extra functionality and compatibility with other Sony products. Their latest announcements, namely the BDZ-A70 and BDZ-T90 Blu-ray recorders, will provide a very interesting feature aimed at other customers of Sony who own Sony PSP and Walkmans. The two new recorders offer users the ability to transfer the recorded video content onto their portable devices fast and easily.

Game Consoles
The Sony PS3 comes with Blu-ray playback and sometimes with a free Blu-ray movie as well! It is an excellent Blu-ray player with quicker loading compared to the less powerful standalone Blu-ray players, and the operation is fairly quiet.

The PS3 also offers DVD upscaling to an excellent quality, although there are better upscalers on the market which use the Reon VX chipset. It is also important to ensure you purchase separately the PS3 Blu-ray remote (the official one), which will make your Blu-ray experience much better.

The issues we have outlined here including software profiles and loading speed are important to your whole Blu-ray experience, so decide which of these criteria are most important to you before deciding which Blu-ray player to choose.

Computer Based Players
There are now more PCs and laptops than ever before on the market which have a Blu-ray drive pre-installed. The Sony Vaio and Dell XPS laptops both have pre-installed Blu-ray drives. Most large PC manufacturers will now allow you to add a Blu-ray drive to new computer systems. If you’re technically minded, you can also build your own by buying a Blu-ray drive. Drives are available from Asus/Lite-on/Pioneer and Sony, and LG are currently offering dual format drives.

Computer based playback has some strict hardware requirements, including a fast CPU, lots of RAM and a HDCP enabled graphics card and monitor. Currently, PowerDVD Ultra from Cyberlink, WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray from Corel and Arcsoft Totalmedia Theatre are the players of choice available for PCs.

BLU-RAY DISCS
Blu-ray Discs (BD) are exactly the same diameter (12 cm) as Compact Discs and DVDs. The major difference with Blu-ray discs, however, is loads more storage capacity. This is necessary to hold HD content such as videos, sound and more.

Briefly, the technology behind Blu-ray Disc uses a Blue/violet laser that’s focused to produce a very small pinpoint of light – five times smaller than the beam used with DVD playback.
Tracks of data are then squeezed together on the Blu-ray disc twice as tightly as on a DVD. The super-fine laser beam allows Blu-ray Disc to hold an amazing capacity of 25GB of data on a single-sided, single layer disc.
A single-sided dual layer disc holds up to 50GB of data. A single layer Blu-ray disc can hold nearly three hours of movie entertainment in 1080-line Full HD with multi-channel digital surround sound plus loads of interactive features and extras thrown in.

As well as the tremendous picture quality and digital multi-channel surround sound offered by Blu-ray players and Blu-ray discs, the studios are very excited about Blu-ray’s interactive potential.
Interactivity is not yet supported by all Blu-ray players, but it will add great value to your enjoyment of a movie. Blu-ray has been designed to offer a more rewarding and more interactive experience compared to DVD.
The availability of pop-up menus on screen without interrupting the Blu-ray movie is a long awaited feature. If the Blu-ray player has got an internet connection, some Blu-ray players will allow you to download additional footage from a server to enhance your Blu-ray experience.

Blu-ray film makers and distributors are very excited about the interactive possibilities of Blu-ray. It would be possible to eg view the webcast of an exclusive director’s commentary that’s available over the Internet and shown as a picture-in-picture on your TV screen.
More Blu-ray recorders are becoming available meaning that we will soon be able to record in HD. Currently there are not many Blu-ray recorders on the market, but this is likely to change in the run up to Christmas this year.

There is excellent support for Blu-ray from companies of all types. Nearly all major Hollywood studios have embraced Blu-ray Disc as the future in optical disc format technology.

The prominent American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has expressed its support for the new Blu-ray format.
Blu-ray also brings the thrill of live music right into your home. Not only do you feel that you are right there with amazing picture quality but the sound quality is like nothing you have experienced before. Blu-ray brings you closer to the musicians with amazing audio quality.

Gaming
When it comes to gaming, Blu-ray takes you to another level. Gaming has been changed forever by Blu-ray technology. Find life-like experiences and unbelievable visuals with gaming on Blu-ray.
HD imaging, internet broadband and the capabilities of Blu-ray Disc have excited games developers. Games are becoming more like a cinema experience, and the PS3 allows games developers to represent feelings, sentiments and drama as never before.

Blu-Ray Players

Standalone Blu-ray players are available from a large number of different electronics manufacturers, including Sony, LG, Samsung, Panasonic and Sharp. Sony's standalone Blu-ray players are currently the most popular models on the market. The advantages of using a standalone Blu-ray player over the PS3 is that these are usually quieter (near silent). Standalones could also offer better analog output, and may also offer decoding and bitstreaming of high definition audio formats (whereas the PS3 will not bitstream).

Blu-Ray Recorders

The need for recording HD content is already increasing rapidly. With more people choosing to upgrade to Blu-ray and HDTV, the need for recording high definition content like Blu-ray will increase. Blu-ray has been designed to be highly compatible with the global standard for digital broadcasting, making it easier to record onto Blu-ray discs.
There is an increased amount of data storage required for HD video, and Blu-ray uses a data transfer rate which is adequate to record and playback digital HD broadcasts while ensuring original picture quality is always preserved. Also, by using Blu-ray disc's random accessing features, it is possible to record high-definition video being broadcast on TV and at the same time, play back pre-recorded video on a disc

Why choose Blu-ray instead of DVD?

What are the differences between Blu-ray Disc and DVD?
Blu-ray Disc gives an increase over DVD capacity by up to 10 times. This is due, among other reasons, to better lens specifications, giving a much smaller focus laser on the Blu-ray players and Blu-ray recorders. This enables the recording of much smaller and higher density pits on the Blu-ray disc.
Due to the fact that the data layer on a Blu-ray Disc is placed much “closer” to the laser lens than in DVD, there is less distortion resulting in significantly improved tolerances. Hence, more precision and ultra-high storage densities are now possible on Blu-ray discs.

Will Blu-ray Disc replace DVDs?
The expectation is that when Blu-ray takes off, it will eventually result in a phase out of DVDs. The Blu-ray disc format has received so much support from movie studios who have released some movies in the Blu-ray format. Most studios will begin releasing new feature films on Blu-ray Disc as standard, and will update their existing movie titles every month with more Blu-ray discs. It is anticipated that both Blu-ray and DVD will both exist until HD TVs become more widespread.

Will I still be able to play my DVDs on Blu-ray players and Blu-ray recorders?
You won't have to worry about your existing DVD collection becoming out of date because most of the current manufacturers will release Blu-ray players and recorders which are compatible with both DVDs and CDs. Most of the Blu-ray players and Blu-ray recorders coming out will support upscaling of DVDs to 1080p. This means that existing DVD collections will look even better. The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) wants all Blu-ray Disc players and Blu-ray recorders to be backward compatible with DVDs.

Why should I upgrade to Blu-ray?
Blu-ray is an improvement on existing HDTV. If you’ve ever seen HDTV then you know the picture and colours are amazingly sharp. HD provides at least five times the detail of normal TV. Currently, DVDs do not have the required storage capacity for HD. Blu-ray has provided the solution to this problem. Blu-ray discs offer up to 50GB of storage capacity. Blu-ray also supports high definition audio formats for an incredible sound quality.

As well as massively improved video and audio quality, extra storage capacity provides plenty of room for additional content and special features on Blu-ray movies. The menus, graphics and special features are also brought to a whole new level eg the menu can be shown as an overlay without stopping the movie, or you could have a Director’s explanation of a scene in a separate window on the screen while the scene is playing in the background.

The interactivity which is being built into Blu-ray will allow movie makers to add new features such as downloading extras or watching live broadcasts of special events.

Thanks to the greatly enhanced HD video and audio quality as well as the advanced interactivity and networking features, Blu-ray represents a huge leap forward in the DVD viewing experience and will offer consumers an unprecedented HD experience. Using Blu-ray recorders you will able to record in HD with Blu-ray discs.

Blu-ray for PCs and laptops?
There are now more PCs and laptops than ever before on the market which have a Blu-ray drive pre-installed. The Sony Vaio and Dell XPS laptops both have pre-installed Blu-ray drives. Most large PC manufacturers will now allow you to add a Blu-ray drive to new computer systems. If you’re technically minded, you can also build your own by buying a Blu-ray drive. Drives are available from Asus/Lite-on/Pioneer and Sony, and LG are currently offering dual format drives.

Blu-ray Disc Information
A single-layer Blu-ray disc has a storage capacity of 25GB, and dual-layer versions of the discs can hold 50GB. It is believed that as the technology progresses, it will only be a short time before 100 GB (four-layer) discs and more will be developed. This shows that Blu-ray is the new format for the long term.

Will Blu-ray succeed?

Commercial storage requirements are increasing dramatically in the world every day. For over twenty years businesses have been demanding greater capacities without having to dispose of their existing collection media and data storage. The demand for larger storage capacity will never cease and the market has been yearning for the arrival of Blu-ray.
Once Blu-ray players drop to a price close to standard definition players, it is believed that Blu-ray will become the standard optical disc format. Although currently expensive, Blu-ray player and Blu-ray recorder prices should drop by the end of 2008.

Sales of Blu-ray players, Blu-ray recorders and Blu-ray media including movies are expected to increase significantly in Britain during 2008. Blu-ray can expect huge consumer support in the year ahead. Sony are expecting its PlayStation 3 with Blu-ray capability to become the must-have gift this Christmas!

The future for Blu-ray is definitely bright!
Current costs of a Blu-ray player are below the £500 mark and are set to drop further as manufacturing volumes and efficiency increase. Blu-ray recorders for the home have recently
reduced to around £500, but with offers from competing manufacturers this will ensure that pricing will reduce over time until it is at a more acceptable level, similar to DVDs.

Also, the number of PCs and laptops that are delivered with Blu-ray drives will significantly increase. Until recently most PC and laptop manufacturers only offered Blu-ray drives with their highest priced systems. However, throughout 2008 and onwards home and business consumers will buy Blu-ray enabled PC’s and this will give approval for Blu-ray as the next generation. Blu-ray discs can be upgraded for the future by adding more layers to the discs, thus increasing capacities to up to 200GB. Blu-ray Disc is being developed with an eye on the future.

Blu-ray History

In the 1980s the CD was first introduced to the world, and represented a big jump from old tapes. There was a big enhancement in audio quality, and its 650 MB storage capacity was also a big jump in data storage. The CD was ideal for audio and some data applications, but in the 1990s came demand for a new product offering bigger storage. These needs pushed the development of the DVD and the 10 x increase in capacity. This enabled a high quality video distribution and recording facility. The DVD also offered backwards compatibility so old CDs were not obsolete.

Today the advent of HD TV and video requires a new answer. The new answer has arrived in the form of Blu-ray Disc, the only format offering such a dramatic increase in storage capacity with its 25 to 50 GB discs. This made possible the sharing and recording of HD video.

What is Blu-ray Disc?
Following the long war between Sony and Toshiba for the new generation of optical disc format, Sony’s Blu-ray Disc won the race in February 2008. Blu-Ray Disc enables the ultimate HD experience.

The name Blu-ray comes from the Blu-ray laser beam which reads and writes the data from the new Blu-ray discs. The laser beam is blue instead of red. The blue laser is at the heart of Blu-ray technology. The name comes from Blue as in the laser colour, and Ray as in optical ray.
The Blu-ray format was created to enable Blu-ray recording, Blu-ray rewriting and Blu-ray playback of HD video, and data storage. Blu-ray discs offer more storage capacity than DVDs and can hold up to 25GB on a single-layer Blu-ray disc and 50GB on a dual-layer Blu-ray disc.

HD film and television offers unequalled picture and sound quality and a large increase in the sale of HD TVs shows the users’ wish to move to the better visual experience. Companies such as the BBC already have some projects created for HD transmission.

The high storage capacity which Blu-ray presents, enables consumers to be able to record, view and store HD images using a Blu-ray player in their PC or laptop, or watch a Blu-ray film on their standalone Blu-ray player at home.

Games companies

The integrated Blu-ray player in the PS3 has aided in the launch of Blu-ray. In the first 6 months following their release Sony sold 1.3 million PS3 consoles in Europe alone.

Other Blu-ray users:

Recently, Blu-ray has been implemented in central government and police departments. Blu-ray is the new generation of HD technology. From best quality HD video to cutting edge computer and gaming applications, Blu-ray disc means you can watch HD movies, have the best ever gaming experience, and get better storage capacity. The most significant step ever in the development of media is Blu-ray.

What format will Blu-ray discs be available in?

Blu-ray plans to follow the route of DVDs and will provide a range of formats including ROM/R/RW. The following formats are part of the Blu-ray Disc specification:

BD-ROM - read-only format for distribution of HD movies, games, software, etc.
BD-R - recordable format for HD video recording and PC data storage.
BD-RE - rewritable format for HD video recording and PC data storage.

What is the data storage capacity of a Blu-ray disc?
A single-layer Blu-ray disc can hold 25GB.
A dual-layer Blu-ray disc can hold 50GB.
In the future simply by adding more layers to the Blu-ray discs the capacity can be increased to up to 200GB.

What is the difference between 1080i and 1080p?
Blu-ray Disc offers 1080p video resolution—HDTV video quality that far surpasses any other medium or broadcast format available today. With a resolution of up to 1920x1080 and up to 54 Mbps bandwidth (roughly double that of a normal HDTV broadcast), no other format can match the video quality of Blu-ray Disc. Furthermore, due to the overwhelming capacity of a Blu-ray Disc, no tight compression algorithms that may alter the picture quality are required, as with other formats that offer less recording space. Depending on the application, Blu-ray Disc also supports other video formats, including standard-definition TV.
1080i refers to the resolution of a picture with interlaced (i) fields, which fit together to form one full frame and produces an image that has a TV-like quality. 1080p refers to the resolution of the picture with progressive (p), multiple full frames, producing an image that appears more like film.

FAQ

When will I be able to buy Blu-ray products?
You will be able to buy Blu-ray products from this website very shortly.
Blu-ray players from Samsung, Panasonic, Sony, Philips and Pioneer are currently available in High Street stores, and an ever increasing number of Blu-ray movies are also available. We will see Blu-ray players and recorders from LG and Sharp introduced in the near future.

Will Blu-ray products be very expensive?
The Blu-ray Disc Association advises that the cost of producing Blu-ray Disc media will eventually be no more costly than the current cost of producing a DVD. As sales volumes increase the production costs of Blu-ray products will fall and be similar to DVDs.

Why should I opt for Blu-ray?
1. Blu-ray is fully supported by the largest electronics manufacturers such as Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and Pioneer.
2. With the PS3’s built in Blu-ray drive, more people will have access to Blu-ray technology.
3. Blu-ray has full support from seven of the biggest film studios that have a huge catalogue of back titles, and continue to make new films for release on Blu-ray. These incorporate Warner Bros, Disney/Buena Vista, 20th Century Fox, Columbia/Tri-Stars and Sony Pictures.
4. Large IT manufacturers including Apple and Dell will be adding support for Blu-ray.
5. The capacity of Blu-ray discs is unmatched.

What advantages are there to Blu-ray?
1. Immaculate Picture - 6X resolution of DVD
Blu-ray Disc is the finest home video technology ever used.

Technically, the picture quality depends on bit rates, which are measured in Mbps (megabits per second). Standard DVDs deliver 8Mbps, but Blu-ray will deliver up to 48Mbps! That is an astonishing leap in the picture quality from DVD to Blu-ray.

2. Finer Sound Quality - up to 7.1 channels lossless audio
Your music videos will have never sounded better! And now most big concerts and music videos will be recorded in HD and available on Blu-ray.

3. The extra storage capacity of Blu-ray discs allows the bigger HD files to be stored giving best picture and sound quality possible.
4. Interactivity Like Never Before
The interactivity of Blu-ray is unrivalled. With some new movie releases, there is currently availability of bonus features and live updates built around your disc content, which could be downloaded online to be watched on Blu-ray. The integration with gaming includes linking to the Sony PSP and walkmans, and obviously the Blu-ray compatibility with the PS3. There will also be full internet connectivity through some Blu-ray players.

6. Excellent backward compatibility with DVDs
Blu-ray Discs are the same size as standard CDs and DVDs which will support backward compatibility with your existing collections.

7. Blu-ray is future proof!

Offering so many functions and so much compatibility with other electrical items, Blu-ray Disc is providing a very good platform for use in the home. Not only movies, but also gaming, music, internet connectivity and unrivalled file storage, Blu-ray is very versatile.

Do I need an internet connection for Blu-ray to work?
The simple is answer is No, basic playing of any Blu-ray movies does not need an internet connection. However, you will need an internet connection if you want to download extras, or use the internet, etc.

What equipment do I need for the finest Blu-ray Disc experience?
For the best possible Blu-ray experience, your setup should include the following:
1 HDTV with 720p, 1080i or higher resolution
2 Blu-ray Player
3 HDMI connector cables
4 Digital optical cables or top-quality analogue cables
5 Surround sound speaker system—5.1 channel or 7.1 channel

What Blu-ray products can I buy today?
There are currently some standalone Blu-ray players and Blu-ray recorders available to buy, and and there are also Blu-ray drives available in many new PCs and laptops. Not forgetting the Sony’s PS3 games console which features a Blu-ray player as standard.

What is the storage capacity of a Blu-ray disc?
Depending on whether you buy a single layer or dual layer disc, the capacity is 25GB or 50GB, compared to 7GB on DVDs.

Am I able to buy a multi Blu-ray burner so I can burn more than one disc at a time?
There are entry level Blu-ray duplication systems available on the market which will duplicate Blu-ray discs. For the commercial market there are also high end systems for industrial use, For personalisation of duplicated Blu-ray discs, the blank Blu-ray Discs are also available with a printable surface.

Will my normal home PC be Blu-ray compatible or will I need to buy other things as well?

Blu-ray drives are available for PCs and are also being shipped with some new PCs. Recording Blu-ray HD data requires a PC with at least 16x DVD recording which will then support 4x Blu-ray recording. To get the most out of retail Blu-ray titles your PC will need an HDCP compatible graphics card and monitor. For optimum performance you will also need a high spec PC and graphics card.

Will there be region encoding with Blu-ray as with DVD?
Yes. The world has been divided into 3 regions, A, B and C, broken down as follows:.

A US, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia
B Europe (EU), Africa, Middle East, Australia
C China, India, Russia, Rest of the World

How do I know which movies are available on Blu-ray?

All Blu-ray movies that have been officially announced will soon be listed on our site, however with 7 out of the top 8 movie broadcasters announcing their support for Blu-ray as the next generation, most new movies will be available soon on Blu-ray.