Blu-ray
At this point we’ve (most likely) all played a VHS tape in our home at one time or another; most of us have played a DVD. Now there is a newer kind of media—Blu-ray. It is better quality than both the VHS and the DVD. It’s beginning to saturate the market like it’s two predecessors—so it’s time to learn all about the Blu-ray player.

Why should I get a Blu-ray and not a traditional DVD player? They are in High Definition (HD). That’s why the picture looks so great! The resolution is 1080p (six times the resolution of a standard DVD player). Blu-ray players are the perfect way to watch movies on 1080p High Definition Televisions (HDTV), but an HDTV is not necessary to watch a Blu-ray disc. Blu-ray players have superior sound than that of a DVD player.

Screen Resolution is a way of explaining how crisp the picture looks. Usually, the resolution is described in numbers and letters. 1080p, 720p, and 1080i are the numbers that are associated with High Definition TV (HDTV). The numbers stand for the lines of pixels in the screen. The total number of pixels is measured by multiplying the lines of pixels (horizontal and vertical). For instance, when a TV is 1080p, it is actually 1920 (horizontal lines of pixels) X 1080 (vertical lines of pixels) = 2,073,600 total pixels.  The letters associated with the numbers “P” and “I” stand for progressive and interlaced. Comparing screens with the same resolutions, progressive has double the picture information than the interlaced with a more fluid and stable image. Is there a noticeable difference between 1080p and 720p? Yes, especially when watching HD and Blu-ray DVDs. The 720p image will look as if it is lacking the same quality that the 1080p has.

Buying a Blu-ray player shouldn’t be scary. Newer technology, yes… But, Blu-rays are also updatable—so they can get the latest software updates. The Blu-ray player can be plugged into the internet via Ethernet cable or updates can be downloaded from a disc. Some even have wireless internet built right in—downloading is simple!

So, how do I decide which player is for me?

Deciding which Blu-ray player best fits your needs is based on what you would like your player to do for you. Unlike many DVD players Blu-rays have many available features.

Some Blu-ray players can connect to the internet and are able to use services online like Pandora (internet radio), Netflix, and You Tube.

Some Blu-ray players are able to play CDRs and others are not—similarly, some are able to play burned DVDs, and others are not. Some brands of Blu-ray players have wireless internet capabilities.

Audio quality is a major benefit to owning a Blu-ray player as opposed to a traditional DVD player. Blu-ray players have superior sound quality due to their lossless compression format. What this means… When movies are taken from their original state—“studio master”—and transferred to a DVD sound quality can be lost. Not so when transferred to a Blu-ray. The sound quality remains in tact. This means watching a movie at home will sound as close to movie theater quality as it can get.

BD-Live is a great feature that is available only on Blu-ray players. It is a feature that allows users to access extra feature only available online. These features may include: bonus scenes, bonus view (picture-in-picture), internet chats, scheduled chats with the director, internet games, downloadable featurettes, downloadable quizzes, downloadable movie trailers, and extra storage.

Abt carries everything from basic Blu-ray models to 400 disc players.

Click here to view all Blu-Ray products
Click here to learn more about Sony Blu-Ray
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