What do you think of Blu Ray?

[Rageth]

I personally believe that Blu Ray is an incredible piece of technology. It can hold more than DVDs and shows image quality superior to DVDs.

However, I also believe that it will be quite a while yet until the DVD is considered 100% obsolete. I love my DVD collection, and I don't really have a desire to replace my current DVDs with Blu Ray versions. That would feel kind of like swapping one film for the same one with a bigger price tag.

DVDs still deliver a superior cinematic experience than video tapes, and you can use them on a PC and take them with you and play it on your laptop.

Blu Ray is definately the future, but it will be a while before DVDs will disappear due to a) being cheaper, b) Blu Ray players are expensive and c) some people don't even know that Blu Rays are (seriously, I asked a middle aged woman I worked with and she had no clue what it was).

[Eris]

I honestly can't tell the difference between blue ray quality and DVD quality. So it mostly feels like a waste of money.

[Furore]

I wouldn't be surprised if Blu-Ray is suceeded by another newer disc format before it can realise it's full potential.
I say this based on some of the newer prototype disc media stories I see online. Some can hold significantly more than blu-Ray, they're just not cost effective, yet.

[Hideki Motosuwa.]

I like Blu Ray and all, but sometimes the video quality in a film looks even worse than the regular DVD version. Like Ong Bak: Thai Warrior for example. The blu ray version of that film looks like crap lol. The picture is over saturated and it's too dark in some parts of the film. Some films have grain in the background. I dunno if it was intentionally shot that way, but in Ip Man, the fight scenes in the arena had a lot of fuzz in the background. Anyways, my niece thinks blu ray just looks like a brightened up version of a regular DVD, and I think I agree with her lol XD

[Diocletian]

^ That's probably because the movie wasn't made for Blu-Ray. Do not buy any movies before 2009 and late 2008 on Blu-Ray. They were not meant to be in 1080p and will look like really terrible upscales.

[dollyy]

I'm very happy the format war is over and we can standardize this as the new single brand.

It will be great for movies and things that would have required multiple DVD's previously, but as you said, hard drives are getting so much bigger and cheaper that using it for backups or any other similar use seems impractical and illogical.

[1gn1t0r]

I guess it's awesome but so far I have not used it

[Souji Seta]

I honestly can't tell the difference between blue ray quality and DVD quality. So it mostly feels like a waste of money.

Unless you're really observant, yeap, you really can't tell the difference, even I can't tell much difference between "High Definition" and the ordinary.

But I agree that Blue-ray is undoubtedly better than DVDs but the price is still way up there! I'd take a DVD any day but a Blue-Ray? no thanks...
Expensive player + expensive CDs = major turn-off coz of wallet issues

[GameGeeks]

The reason you can't tell a difference is due to the fact most TVs at reasonable prices don't go up to 1080p. They probably go up to 720 which is regular HD. If that's the case (as it most likely is) then you wont see any difference. Though the quality may in fact be worse when forced to be played on a lower resolution. Though like Hide said, the opposite is also true. When forced into a higher resolution the quality can also take a turn for the worst. Cost is a main reason why people haven't switched yet. A new TV is at least two to three thousand dollars at the least. Though for 1080p I'm inclined to go for four thousand dollars. Couple that with a blue ray player (five to eight hundred dollars) and the price of Blu Ray discs (sixty a pop). That quickly adds up. And that's excluding things like surround speakers and the like. Most people can't afford all that. Especially in todays economy.

As for using it to store data you have things like flash drives. You can find ones that go up to thirty-two gigabytes. That's more then enough for transferring files and is easier to use and carry around. If you plan to back something up long term then you should simply invest in an external hard drive. Blu Ray would be good for games but most people don't have a Blu Ray is money and now a days most PCs come with DVD players by default. As such, there isn't more demand for it.

[chibichibichibi]

I think Blu Ray is great, because it enhances the images a lot better than DVDs. I think it'll be the future of videos. I remember back in the day when VHS was slowly transitioning into DVDs, and I remember a lot of people saying the same things they are saying now about Blu Ray. "VHS is too popular, no one will buy DVDs because they are too expensive", "Not everyone has a DVD at home, so VHS will be here".............uhhh no. I'm glad I don't have to use that VHS rewinder..omggg, it was ridiculous!

Everyone will switch over to Blu Rays, because that's what movies are heading towards. The REAL question is how long will 3D TV last? It sounds like a failed attempt to make people pay more $..............just like smellovision.

[Souji Seta]

I think Blu Ray is great, because it enhances the images a lot better than DVDs. I think it'll be the future of videos. I remember back in the day when VHS was slowly transitioning into DVDs, and I remember a lot of people saying the same things they are saying now about Blu Ray. "VHS is too popular, no one will buy DVDs because they are too expensive", "Not everyone has a DVD at home, so VHS will be here".............uhhh no. I'm glad I don't have to use that VHS rewinder..omggg, it was ridiculous!

Everyone will switch over to Blu Rays, because that's what movies are heading towards. The REAL question is how long will 3D TV last? It sounds like a failed attempt to make people pay more $..............just like smellovision.

Well, People will only switch to Blu-Ray if the manufacturers find out a way to keep the cost down. It's just too expensive. Here in my country, you can buy a good DVD player for only 50$ (in equivalent currency), but you can't buy a blu-ray player unless you have at least 500$, the difference is obvious. Plus, a blank Blu-ray disc costs about 20$ but a blank DVD costs only about a dollar each. Right now, Blue-Ray tech is definitely reserved to the higher class people.

[Gjallarhorn]

I like Blu Ray quite a bit, but it seems more like a DVD 1.5 than the "next generation" of video media distribution, whatever that may end up being. As far as buying Blu Ray discs go, I think it's really only worth it for movies that are incredibly detailed or visually demanding...the typical movie I just get on DVD.

[GameGeeks]

Personally, I don't think the next generation of movie distribution will be on discs. I don't see discs lasting much longer in any form. In fact the next generation of players could be a lot cheaper because there wont be a need for a scanner. I envision things to start being distributed on something similar to flash drives but designed to play movies and not to transfer data. Though at first this may drive individual movie (or any media) sales up. The players themselves will be inexpensive due to the need of only needing a digital reader. Though something like that could easily be placed into a TV and remove the need of extra hardware at all. So overall it'd be cheaper then blu ray is now, at the start. And like Gjall, said Blu Ray really is just a minor upgrade, unlike DVDs from VHS.

[Diocletian]

I just found out DVDs degrade over time. Great, in ten years I'll have a whole shelf of anime DVDs that just sit there on the shelf with no rewatchability.

We need pornography on Blu-Ray. I don't know if you guys know this, but if it weren't for porn, DVD's wouldn't be as popular as they are now. VHS was still considered the better product, even in the late 90's.

On a side note: I just saw District 9 on Blu Ray. You have to be blind to not see the difference.

[Alastor1]

Well, as @GameGeek has said there is no point buying Bluray drive if you don't have 1080p or ( some ppl haven't even heard about this ) 2160p ( TV from Toshiba with built-in Cell Be microprocessor. I don't know if there are any movies with 4k resolution, i.e 2160 ... )
Otherwise you are wasting your money, make your CPU/GPU do unnecessary work - downscale ( far worse then upscale - dividing is harder then multiplying for CPU ) + color conversation in most cases. For e.g I have PS3 and few months ago was still using 640 x 480 ( 480p ) TV, well ... didn't find any difference.

[Diocletian]

I think that type of quality would just lag everything. That would mean cameras would have to have better quality then our own eyesight.

[hussymarks]

I agree, I think of it as just another DVD with more storage, just as a DVD is a CD with more storage.I'm also very happy the format war is over and we can standardize this as the new single brand.It will be great for movies and things that would have required multiple DVD's previously, but as you said, hard drives are getting so much bigger and cheaper that using it for backups or any other similar use seems impractical and illogical.

[SailorBecky]

how different is it REALLY? I've seen it advertised and i've never seen it. I don't get what's soo different about it than normal d.v.d.s you buy. Sounds like a boycott to get you to buy something more expensive. Wouldn't you need like a 3D telly or one of those very expensive t.v's which need 3D glasses to see it better anyway? I doubt you'd need a normal 'everyday' t.v! People don't even NEED 3D telly, 3D glasses, surrond sound and all these flash things these days. Seriously. Well, in my opinion anyway.

[GameGeeks]

The difference is in size, Blu Ray has more space and thus can hold higher quality data which takes up more room. But yeah, for 90% of what's out there it makes little difference.

[Wio]

I like the idea of a disk that can hold more data. I do not like the idea of making videos take up more space just to increase the quality a marginal degree. Blu-ray should be used to put more content on the disk, not to make the content just a bit more crisp.


I envision things to start being distributed on something similar to flash drives but designed to play movies and not to transfer data.
The thing about flash memory is that it is far more expensive than disks are. Just compare the cost of a DVD to a flash drive of equal data storage. The Entertainment Industry is not going to be able to sell movies at that price.

[Mr. Panda]

I don't have Blu-ray, but from what I've heard, the quality can only be seen on a giant screen.

[clcheapshoes520]

Blu Ray is the future

[-Batman-]

My TV is 1080p
I can tell the difference in picture quality by a great margin.
However, this is because I work at a place that sells several TV's, and I'm staring at them all day because nobody goes to Radioshack anymore unless they want a battery or a phone, so after a while you can start to tell the difference when you've got several TV's of varying quality all playing the same picture at the same time.

And truthfully, if you want a good HDTV that actually shows the difference by a much larger margin, you're going to be spending a little more than 300USD and you're going to be looking for at LEAST a 40 inch set.
Sure, I push those 300 dollar bricks to people so I can make a sale...But would I buy one of those cheap ones? Nooooooooooo. No I would not.

Buy I can see why the casual observer wouldn't notice any difference.

[Furore]

Even on the 32" 1080P screen I keep in my room so I can game in bed the difference in visual quality between a DVD and a blu-ray is highly noticeable.
Add a decent sound system and I notice the sound quality too so long as the particular movie takes advantage of higher quality sound.
I have noticed generally the higher resolution of a display device regardless of the physical size of the display device, the more you notice discrepancies in picture with DVDs being that blocky they're barely viewable on some devices with crappier upscaling.

[Uta-chan~]

I like Blu Ray quite a bit, but it seems more like a DVD 1.5 than the "next generation" of video media distribution, whatever that may end up being. As far as buying Blu Ray discs go, I think it's really only worth it for movies that are incredibly detailed or visually demanding...the typical movie I just get on DVD.

I agree with this. The next generation from videos was the DVD which successfully sold quickly and became renowned. Blu-Ray is doing great but the majority of people still use the classic DVD. There will be something newer, better in the near future which will be the generation up.

[truthillusion]

Only real difference is that a Blu-Ray holds more data, and thus has better sound quality that no one will ever notice the difference. DVDs perform the same basic video quality.

[TheAsterisk!]

DVDs still deliver a superior cinematic experience than video tapes, and you can use them on a PC and take them with you and play it on your laptop.
Why, then, not just pure files? That film distributors limit us mainly to optical media is bizarre.


Everyone will switch over to Blu Rays, because that's what movies are heading towards.
Just like no one was going to use the floppy diskette after CD-ROMs (and later personal CD burners) were introduced, eh? Or when ZIP drives came out? Pshaw.
I still have sixty-nine 3.5" diskettes, and one incredible, beautiful 5.25" diskette.
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/11/10/2180990/69_plus_1_floppies.gif
The 5.25" I don't use much, but the 3.5"s are still occasionally nifty. Heck, I was required to use one a few days ago to update a driver on another computer.
And- I might as well say it- the digital camera I used to take the picture uses a 64 MB CompactFlash card for storage. I was going to use an old Sony to take the picture, since that one can actually use floppies for storage, but its battery wasn't charged.

[RaShayRitto]

It always boggles my brain when people say they cant see a difference between SD and HD, or DVD and Blu Ray. Thats a massive pixel difference there! I'm the kind of person who has to hunt for a 720p raw of an anime and then attach someone's subtitles so I don't have to watch some subgroups 480p release (what utter nonsense)

With live action movies...yeah, 1080p doesn't give you much and the difference is only clear when you compare it directly to an SD image of the same film. With anything else, such as anime, 3D animation, or gaming....MOAR PIXELS PLEASE

[SlickStretch]

I never understood the Blu-Ray hype until I replaced my 23" tube TV with a 52" plasma with 1080p and got Lord of the Rings on Blu-Ray. The image is incredible. Also, having a disc with a capacity of over 40gb is some pretty awesome data storage. I don't believe Blu-Ray is going to be replaced any time soon, but the new 3D TVs are about to render all of your HDTV's obsolete.

[Captian Jack sparrow]

Blue ray is just another way for the man to get more money and many Americans can't afford a blue ray player and i really can't see the difference between a regular dvd and blue.

[SirDan]

I used to say there is no difference between Blu ray and DVD, that or I couldn't tell... then I bought a Samsung 63" 3D Plasma TV and a Bluray player (Becuase of the 3D) and since then I've been buying Bluray and the difference is amazing. I used to have a 42" Sony Bravia LCD ... and it was alright but nothing like this. So there is a huge difference, and without the proper full HD television and a decent surround sound system you're just wasting your money.

[::SomeOtherCookiez::]

I bought a Blu-ray disc of Afro Samurai: Complete Murder series, didn't work on my PS3 and didn't work on my DVD player. darn machine.

[blueangel06661]

You guys are sort of silly. Has anyone mentioned the CAMERAS people are filming with are getting better and better. A single red camera [most commonly used for film sets] Cost about 25 thousand to 50 thousand. The lenses cost about 4 thousand. The media cards cost about 950 to 3 thousand. These are some REALLY high end camera's they have been using just in the last few years.

DVD's and BluRay are the same. The only difference I've noticed that in a split second in Pirates of the Caribbean you can spot a crewman in the background of a scene. For DVD it was off screen but in BluRay it was picked up.

Also if it wasn't for the ps3 coming standard with BluRay it probably would've died out. I've yet met anyone with an actual BluRay player.

[Kusuke]

A lot of people don't know, but Blu Ray being in the PS3 wasn't an accident. It was actually supposed to be the first Blu Ray device to be released, but it ended up being the Samsung BD-P1000 instead (I don't really know the reasons why). The PS3 being compatible with Blu Ray was a promotion for Blu Ray discs in general, and it worked. Since HD DVD's don't necessarily have direct console support, they faded away as far as gaming was concerned. For everything else, they have 40% more capacity, and a LARGE amount of studio and computer support. If you wanted to see a movie in full 1080p, there aren't any guarantees that your movie will come out in HD DVD. Of course regular DVD will always be available, but at the cost of resolution. There are 4 times as many studios (12) behind Blu Ray as there are behind HD DVD (3), and that was as of 2008. It may very well have changed, but the HD DVD is fighting a losing battle.

I personally like Blu Ray, and I know several people who own one (Yes, I'm including PS3's since playing Blu Rays is an intended purpose). The quality is awesome (If you're not already using other 1080p media, in which case it's no different).

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

I bought a Blu-ray disc of Afro Samurai: Complete Murder series, didn't work on my PS3 and didn't work on my DVD player. darn machine.

Where did you buy the movie or your PS3?

PS3 is Region 1, meaning it's only Region Free for games only, not for PS2 games, DVDs, Blurays, CDs nor PS1 games.

If both PS3 and movie are from the same region then I don't know what to tell you. maybe an update?
___

Also, I gotta love Bluray with my HDTV. =3

[TadashiED]

Blu-Ray is definitely one of, if not, the best way to watch 1080p videos. But the problem with Blu-Ray is that they are expensive. Not just the Blu-Ray, but if you want to watch at its full potential, you will need to buy a TV that you can support 1080p, and you will need to buy a Blu-Ray player which in total, can be very expensive, all for the sake of watching a video in higher quality.

As of now, I'll stick with DVDs...
Well, for me, I don't even watch DVDs, but rather I watch things on my laptop xD

[Videogamer555]

I think the image quality is better than DVD.

[wolfgirl90]

You guys are sort of silly. Has anyone mentioned the CAMERAS people are filming with are getting better and better. A single red camera [most commonly used for film sets] Cost about 25 thousand to 50 thousand. The lenses cost about 4 thousand. The media cards cost about 950 to 3 thousand. These are some REALLY high end camera's they have been using just in the last few years.

DVD's and BluRay are the same. The only difference I've noticed that in a split second in Pirates of the Caribbean you can spot a crewman in the background of a scene. For DVD it was off screen but in BluRay it was picked up.

Er...no. They are quite different, both in video and audio quality and storage space. Sure, movie cameras have improved over the years; hell, filming in 1080p is kinda standard now since the required equipment is easy to get. However, that doesn't mean that you are going to get HD quality from your DVDs; merely filming something in HD doesn't mean that you are going to get an HD picture on a DVD. One will never be able to watch anything in HD from a DVD, not even with a HDTV (in fact, as some people have said, upscaling like that can make things worse). If you want to watch movies in HD, you need Blu-ray and an HDTV.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/kotaku/2009/04/blu-rayvsdvd.jpg

First image is with Blu-ray on a plasma TV. Second one is with Blu-ray on a regular analog TV. Third is with DVD on an analog TV. There are noticeable differences between the three, especially when the size of the screen is accounted for (the plasma is 50 inches while the analogs are 14 inches). Also notice how increasing the quality of the disc without changing the quality of the television (in the second image) actually made the video slightly worse.

[blueangel06661]

I can tell you.. Up until a few weeks ago I still watched DVD's on Analog. The picture looks NOTHING like the one on the far right.

[Kaitou Ace]

There is definitely a huge difference between HD video (blu-ray) and SD video like DVD. Most blu-ray videos also preserve the original non-interlaced format of the video, allowing standard 24p at full resolution, which makes a huge difference to the video quality. I film with a 5DmkII and while even DVD quality footage looks nice out of it, the abilities of full 1080 are quite a few steps above, and it is very easy to tell them apart visually.

As for the demo image, it is just more zoomed in, what you see on the far right one are the way the "pixels" are laid out on an analog tv, if you get up close to it, you will see the same pattern. The individual pixels are different in digital displays, and provides a much smoother image.

[Mattey]

Yo! :P Heres some pics to make the difference :P
First Pic!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3570/3783031804_3760f32e53_o.jpg Upper pic is Blue-ray, lower pic is DVD
Second Pic!
http://www.wfu.edu/~yipcw/atg/bd/images/dvd_bd.jpg Here the Lower pic is the Blue-ray :P Upper is DVD

Hopes that makes some clears up a little? :P

[YuriEcchiGirl]

I personally don't think that Blu Ray really is all that, I'm more than happy with DVDs & always will be ^^

[The Wing Man]

I was against it at first but I only like to buy bluyray, I almost have 50 of them and just love how easy it makes everything.

[ranga111]

i think blu ray moves unnaturally like the people are moving too fast :S
P.S. longboards <3

[Xieshunnuan]

Blue ray has a much bigger resolution so there for it has a better quality when you're watching it on wider screened tv.
If you can't tell the difference then that means you're tv/monitor px is pretty crappy :)

[Sir Dutchman]

To be honest... I could do without. But I got a PS3 last year, and an HDTV a bit later. So... I figured I may just as well use it. The image quality is great though. But I only buy a couple of things for eye candy... Toy Story Collection, Planet Earth and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children so far.

[kkslider55]

Well, I have no problem just buying DVDs, but I do enjoy the general extra special features that come with Blu-Rays.

[Navigator]

Well, okay I have a Playstation 3. But I don't own any BluRay.. I guess.. I don't see the point in paying extra for it.
I'm not saying I'm cheap, but I am satisfied with the picture on regular DVD's. I would rather spend the extra money
on something of more importance. I do enjoy the better picture quality of the few I have seen in BluRay..But I guess it
isn't that amazing that I think that's all I have to have now. DVD's are fine with me for now! (:

[╬Karami Mew~Meow]

I think it's a waste of money. The people I'm living with right now has it, and it's pretty stupid since it can only play blue ray DVDs -.-
It's just there to eat everyone's money and hoping to replace DVDs -_- DVDs themselves have a good enough quality

[Ghost]

I think its Awesome Clear vision Baby yeaaah

[Mang]

What do I think of bluray? Bluray is the future. Any other competition will soon become obsolete. Tech junkies with our fancy 60 inch 1080p HDTVS with Surround Sound... will know the difference between Bluray 1080p resolution w/ uncompressed audio and standard DVD 480p resolution w/ compressed audio.

[Emphasis]

Blu-Ray is awesome. I've got nothing more to say.

[GrimStride™]

I don't really see the big difference between a Blu Ray and a regular 700mb disk aside from the capacity(hence the better quality). Just another data carrier - same shape and size . Maybe the topic should be about "the evolution of the disk" or something of the sort ... just sayin'

The future ? For a few years until we get a Purpl Ray which will again be the exact same thing but will carry 1 tb of data instead of 50 gb

[Kaitou Ace]

Well the primary benefits are of course the image quality, and that blu-ray disks are much tougher to scratch. If I am buying a movie, blu-ray gets preference, I don't think I've even bought a DVD for two years now.
As for the format after that? Who knows... might not even be one, companies seem to want to move to a digital distribution system, as its easier to impose restrictions that way.

[Archaic Devices]

I have to admit, blu-ray DVDs are high quality and the way of the future (for now at least), but I just don't like them. Blu-ray DVDs just mean I have to go out and buy another DVD player that can play them, although I probably won't considering we barely use DVDs. In fact, I use VHS more than DVDs >_>;

[Anoleis]

My only real quarrel with blu-rays is that the discs are not blue. That was such a buzz kill.

[GameGeeks]

Um, I think the word ray means it refers more to the laser then the disc itself.

[Anoleis]

Um, I think the word ray means it refers more to the laser then the disc itself.
And? Still doesn't change that I wanted blue discs. It just was really disappointing to see a regular silver disc in the case.

Anyways blu-ray makes movies look pretty. 9/10 of our collection of videos is now worthless, due to being on VHS. However, we bought Romancing the Stone on Blu-ray, and it is far better looking than it ever was on VHS.

[GameGeeks]

Blue Ray's quality is only really noticeable on TVs around fifty inches. On smaller TVs there's no difference in quality between Blue-Ray and regular DVDs. So if you have a small TV save yourself some money and buy DVDs.

[Kaitou Ace]

Blue Ray's quality is only really noticeable on TVs around fifty inches. On smaller TVs there's no difference in quality between Blue-Ray and regular DVDs. So if you have a small TV save yourself some money and buy DVDs.


I have to disagree there, so long as the tv is 720p or 1080p, you'll see the difference at anything over 24 inches, even from quite a ways away. 50 is nowhere near the minimum to tell the difference between SD and HD. I've played blu-rays on my 22" computer monitor in the past (which goes up to 1080p) and the difference is rather obvious.

[GameGeeks]

I have to disagree there, so long as the tv is 720p or 1080p, you'll see the difference at anything over 24 inches, even from quite a ways away. 50 is nowhere near the minimum to tell the difference between SD and HD. I've played blu-rays on my 22" computer monitor in the past (which goes up to 1080p) and the difference is rather obvious.I have two TVs. A 48" in the main room which goes up to 1080pi and a 24" in my bedroom which only goes up to 720pi. Saw no difference on the small TV when watching the same movie whether it be DVD or Blue Ray.

[Gizoku]

I never really caught on to the bluray thing, nor can I see the difference (my eyes are that bad lol)
The only thing I see are two discs with the same movie one's $25 and a fancy cover and case, while the other one is $15 with your regular recycled case and cover.
The blurays may have the extra features now, but thats what Youtube's for

[aether]

I don't see the real difference really, but my brother did and he said it looked as though the show was filmed in the quality of the editorial section if you know what I mean it didn't look right apparently

[Eruibar]

When I think of blu ray, I am reminded of the zip drive. Do you remember those? They were the new hot data storage solution between floppy disks and thumb drives. Sure they were better than floppies, but not by a whole lot, and the next big technology (thumb drives and SD cards) cam along so soon that those of us that wasted money on it felt sort of silly in the end. I don't see enough of a difference between DVD and blu ray to want to chuck the extra cash at it, and I am very suspicious of it being a new zip drive.

[╠-The Neo-╣]

Blu-Ray is amazing! I had my doubt at first due to its price but like stated, Uncompressed audio, High resolution video makes up for that. Plus the discs are really resistant. I once accidently stepped on one that had the data portion facing the down and slipped on it and it slid across the floor. I looked at the disc and not a single scratch or smudge.