Blu-ray discs are fast becoming the standard for high quality video; most video libraries and film distributors are fast adopting Blu-ray. Blu-ray players are becoming as much of a necessity for your home entertainment system as DVD players were a few years ago.

What is Blu-Ray?

Blu-ray is the upcoming standard for video storage. Blu-ray discs allow you to store much more digital information on the one disc.  Here’s a summary of the storage capacities of those formats:

Disc Type                Storage Capacity
CD                    0.7 GB
DVD                    4.7 GB
Blu-Ray Disc                25 GB

Even though you can get good audio and visual from DVDs, there is simply not enough space on the one DVD disc to provide both Full HD picture resolution (1920x1080 pixels) as well as the faithful reproduction of sound on multiple channels (for surround sound) that you might get in the movie theatre. Instead what happens is that the picture resolution is reduced and some sound fidelity is sacrificed in order to fit 150 odd minutes worth of movie on the one DVD.

With Blu-ray discs and movies, there is no longer the need to compromise.  With the right television and home sound system, you can experience the same sound and picture quality you would get at the cinema from the comfort of your own home.

What should I look for in a Blu-ray player?

Here’s a rundown of some of the terminologies you should be aware of before buying a Blu-ray player:

HDMI

This stands for “High Definition Multimedia Interface”, and you will be wanting to ensure that your player can support at least version 1.3.  The great thing about HDMI is that it allows you to transmit High Definition Video and Audio all through a single cable. This ensures that:
-    You are getting the best digital picture possible
-    Setting up and connecting your Blu-ray player is very easy
-    There will not be a big mess of cables behind your TV

True High Definition 1080p at 24/60 fps

Many of you interested in Blu-ray will probably already be aware of the importance of resolution to the quality and detail in a video or movie.  Blu-ray video is usually recorded at the maximum 1080p resolution, so getting a player capable of processing that resolution is a must.

What is less widely known is that frame rates also affect the smoothness of the movement in the picture, and that faster is not necessarily always better.  Almost all movies are still recorded on film at 24 frames per second (fps).  To play 24fps on equipment outputting at 60fps actually causes a slight distortion in the flow of the picture.  On the other hand many HD televisions are not capable of processing 24fps visual data.  For this reason it is important that the player you buy supports both 24fps and 60fps output.

Support for your Home Theatre System

To ensure that you experience the best homer theatre experience you will need to make sure that your Blu-ray player is capable of fully exploiting the High Definition lossless audio on most Blu-ray discs.
There are three types of digital audio found under Blu-ray discs:
-    1) Uncompressed PCM (good)
-    2) DolbyTrueHD (better)
-    3) DTS HD MA (best).  
When the player you have your eyes on supports all three, or perhaps only two but is at the right price, you will know you are close to the right choice.

Multiple format compatible

OK sure, even if I have you convinced that Blu-ray will indeed completely revolutionise your movie viewing experience, you aren’t going to just throw away all your old DVDs, VCDs and CDs.  It is worthwhile making sure that the Blu-Ray Player you buy will enable you to play back older discs.  Some also enable you to listen to MP3 music, browse JPG photos and watch AVI files that have been burned onto disc.

Multi-region playback

As many of you are sure to be aware, many DVD players are locked so that discs purchased in another part of the world will not work on them.  Despite this restriction, many DVD players eventually came out that managed to work around it and are capable of playing discs from all regions.  There are some Blu-ray players that also have the capability of playing Blu-ray discs from multiple regions.  If Blu-ray discs from overseas are cheaper on Amazon.com than you can buy locally, this feature would be worth your while exploring.

Profile 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 and 3.0

These are different types of Blu-ray players with slightly different capabilities.  Briefly they are (with later profiles supporting all features of those before it):
1.0 – Play all existing and future Blu-ray movies
1.1 – “Picture in picture” capabilities
2.0 – “Bonus Features” downloaded from the internet

Firmware upgradeable

It is hard to predict exactly what new protocols will be adopted by movie makers and companies in the future.  By looking out for Blu-ray players that are firmware upgradeable, you know then that your unit will have some degree of flexibility in adapting to emerging standards.

Conclusion

There are several factors to take into account when buying a Blu-ray player. We think the most important features to look out for is that the player has HDMI output and also supports discs from multiple regions. We suggest that you conduct your own research before making any consumer electronics purchases. There is a lot of information on the internet (and some great bargains too).

At Kogan Direct , we think we have the best value for money Blu-ray player in Australia. Please visit www.kogan.com.au for more information.