A supposedly superior format of DVD that gives better visual and sound effects from DVDs that cost about three times as much as ordinary DVDs.
If you remember the arguments about Betamax versus VCR ~ Blue Ray is one side of a debate about what follows DVD.
TBH given my aging hearing and sight I doubt that I would notice much difference for the extra money but gadget freaks love it ... until something else comes along.
Not quite as you describe hound…
New High Definition TVs can display up to 1,080 horizontal lines whereas the old telly standard we’ve had for what, forty years or so could only show 625 lines.
The old DVD standard of which you speak could only produce 576 horizontal picture lines so a new standard was required that could match the quality of new HD televisions.
There has already been a battle similar to the betamax VHS one that we remember well. This time the two players (snigger) were HD DVD and Blu-Ray DVD, both backed by different Japanese manufacturers and film studios.
The ‘battle’ has been won recently by Blu-Ray.
Blu-Ray offers five times the storage of a normal DVD which allows high definition video and audio storage. A Blu-Ray disc can display (on the appropriate TV or projector) 1,080 non-interlaced horizontal picture lines and multiple audio tracks plus loads of extras.
The difference between a normal DVD and HD DVD is absolutely staggering, almost twice the resolution of an old DVD – even the hound’s old eyes will notice the difference.
Modern players (like my new Sony) can also ‘upscale’ standard definition (SD) DVDs to the 1080 standard too.
Soon all DVDs will be released as Blu-Ray and the price will fall dramatically.
