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Will Blu-ray be the ultimate video format?

Home entertainment enters new era

by Dave Young, News2

April 29, 2008

DENVER (KWGN) — Remember the Laser Disc?

It was supposed to open up a whole new world for watching home entertainment in the '70s, but never really took off.

Now they say it's descendant, the Blu-ray has finally got it right.

From the earliest days of home entertainment, improvements have come slowly.

But the transition from VHS to DVD back in 1997 was an overnight sensation because the formats were so radically different.

Now there's Blu-ray.

"On a daily basis we have customers that come in and ask about Blu-ray," says James Robinson, a multi media expert with Best Buy, "And what this new technology is, what it means to them."

Buyers like Dwight Larsen this year will purchase an estimated 19 million Blu-ray players, including stand alone set tops and Play Station 3 consoles.

"I think the price of 'em will come way down," says Larsen,"And make 'em much more affordable for you know the average person to watch at home and that's why I'm looking at 'em now. "

LIke so many who already own HDTVs, he's waited for a clear format choice to make the leap.

"It's basically a much much better format disc," Best Buy's Robinson told us while viewing a demo movie, "You get a better picture, you get better audio out of it and significantly better. I mean the difference between VHS to DVD is very close to the jump that we've gone from DVD to Blu-ray, it's that big. "

For the first time, Hollywood can deliver movies to your HDTV the way they were shot.

"The true high definition format that they have is 1080p," explained Robinson while we looked at a large screen HDTV playing a Blu-ray disc. "And now, for the first time, Blu-ray is also capable of putting it out in 1080p. "

Regular DVDs were 480 single lines of resolution, while Blu-ray is one thousand 80 lines progressively scanned or 1080p.

"When you took at VHS tape and you put it next to a DVD player and you could see how much better your television looked for the first time," said Robinson, who helps customers get the right fit for their home use.

"Now for the first time you're really able to see what the difference between what a DVD is capable of doing..and what a Blu-ray is capable of doing," Robinson added.

But only if you have high definition multi-media interface, or HDMI cables, an HDTV set and a surround sound system for the full audio experience.

The Blu-ray disc allows five times the memory storage capacity of a DVD, carrying far more information for better video and audio.

That memory capacity will expand with improved technology allowing you to update your player without buying a new one.

"We're still in the early stages of what Blu-ray's capable of," explained Robinson, "So as Blu-ray, the discs themselves expand so can the players."

But it will still play all your old DVDs, even make them look a little better.

"I'm just kind of wondering how much better could it get," said shopper Larsen, "Because this is just amazing. "

And like HDTVs, the price of Blu-ray machines will likely come down while features improve.

But a word of caution in the short term.

Since the format war ended, some Blu-ray prices have been going up.

And newer, improved models are about to flood the market so you may want to let prices settle down before running out and buying one right now.