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Looking for a Blu-Ray DVD Player?
I have been following closely the Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats war especially since my dad bought a player that would play the latter. I had nothing against HD-DVD because the movies in that format are really very clear, crisp and the sound gives the feeling that 'you're there' in the movie itself. However, I was thinking of the classic example of a video format war, the VHS versus Betamax competition during the 1980s.
While I was just a kid back then, I was well aware of how fierce the competition was between those two formats. The supporters of each format claim that theirs had clearer image or better sound or that it lasts longer. In my opinion, the reason why VHS won the war was not because it was the better of the two formats, but because there were more companies who supported it.
Fast forward to the present and the 'VHS versus Betamax' war has happened all over again. This time, it was Sony who proved the victor with its Blu-ray discs and Blu-ray dvd player. It is notable that Sony was the creator of the Betamax video format who lost in the preious round.
When Toshiba, the main supporter of the HD-DVD format, announced earlier this year that they will be ending their production of their discs, the major Hollywood studios who supported them, most importantly, Warner studios, followed suit. With these developments, there have been considerable rise in the sales of Blu-ray movies and especially the Blu-ray dvd player.
There are a few advantages of buying a Blu-ray dvd player and therefore playing Blu-ray movies. The disc has a larger capacity, especially if we are talking about single layer discs. The larger storage capacity means more video or picture detail can be saved on the disc resulting in better visuals and sounds. Another advantage is that virtually every Blu-ray dvd player in the market today is completely backward compatible. You can play your old DVDs and CDs with it.
One important advantage is the ability to output 1080p, currently the highest hi-def (hd) resolution, also referred to as True-HD or Full-HD. What does it mean? Well, the 1080p is the best image quality that we can get from the best quality home video players today. You can just imagine how much better this is compared to 576p output from a standard DVD. You will need to take into account that to view movies at this HD resolution you will need a HD TV that supports 1080p resolution as well.
This next advantage of the Blu-Ray format will appeal mostly to gamers. The Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) is also a high level Blu-ray dvd player. Industry experts claim that it was the PS3 that was instrumental in Blu-ray disc's success. When the PS3 was released, it showed the capabilities of the format to gamers and non gamers alike around the globe. The video games were better in terms of visuals and sounds. The gameplay is even more advanced because of the larger capacity for more files which a game developer can take great advantage of.
Two months ago, my dad bought his own Blu-ray dvd player. He chose a Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray dvd player. It was a great addition to his already stunning home entertainment system. The new high definition Blu-ray DVD format is just as easy to use as the original DVD format, so there's really no more to learn in terms of usage, though some Blu-Ray movies do come with extras that can be accessible through the internet. The internet connection can also keep your Blu-Ray player up to date with the latest specifications available.
To best way to get the cheapest Blu-Ray player is to work out what you need in a Blu-Ray player and then check out as many online shops as your can on the Internet (shopping online will generally be cheaper than stores)
once you have a list of features you want in your Blu-Ray player then you decide which models interest you most and then cross reference these models on the websites for the best possible price for the player that best fits your needs.
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