Blue Ray

[malpals]

What is it please?

[Fay Mousse]

Blu Ray is a media storage format using high definition technology. An alternative to the High Definition format and is in direct competition.

Dvds you buy in blu ray format will probably not play on your standard dvd players - you need a blu ray player.

It still looks like a dvd disk however.

[Fay Mousse]

Good explanation here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc

[malpals]

That WAS quick - thank you. As a bit of a Luddite I am often puzzled by the new words or phrases that just seem to spring into our vocabulary from nowhere - ie SatNav, Blue Ray - I'll just hear the word on an advert maybe, and then have to ponder on it for days - or at least that's how it used to be until I found you knowledgable people on here!!

It also means that my DVD player will soon be obsolete!!!

[Fay Mousse]

Don't rush out and buy a new dvd player, for heavens' sake!

It is similar the the betamax versus vhs war of long ago (still have nightmares about it - guess what I bought?)

Although blu-ray may be winning the battle, the war isn't over yet.

Thankfully you can buy players that play both blu-ray and hd but they will get much much cheaper over the coming months. Most of these will play your old dvds too.

Currently dvd films in either hd or blu-ray are very expensive compared to standard dvd, and unless you have a hd tv, you won't get the benefit.

[malpals]

No - I won't rush - I never do rush to buy gadgets of any kind - I'd still be cooking on an open fire if it wasn't for my darling husband. It's not that I can't master things - I can - and usually very quickly - but only if I have to, like the digital camera for eBay selling and things like that.

Thanks again

[vehelpfulguy]

Note it is BLU RAY (not blue ray).

It is a new technology to get more data (information) on a DVD disk.

Current DVDs can hold a single feature film, or about 4.7 gigabytes of data.

Blu Ray DVDs can get about 30 gigabytes of data (or more) and can hold feature films in HIGH DEFINITION format (which take up more space).

You can buy pre-recorded films in Blu Ray format.

It is still very new technology and so the hardware and disks are still fairly expensive. You are safe with your existing DVD player for the next 5 years or so.

Note the Sony PS3 games machine comes with a Blu Ray player already built in.