Beginner's guide to Blu-ray

Befuddled by all this talk about Blu-ray, HD DVD, and this format-war thing? Don't panic—you're not alone. My inbox has been overflowing with messages from confused readers asking me for the Blu-ray basics. Read on for answers to your most basic Blu-ray questions.

OK, so what exactly is Blu-ray, anyway?

Simply put, Blu-ray is yet another video format, just like VHS, Beta, and DVD. It's actually part of a third wave of mass-market video formats: in the 1980s, we got VHS and Beta video tapes (with VHS eventually winning out over Beta), DVD discs arrived in the mid- to late-90s, and now, in the mid-2000s, we have Blu-ray (along with its just-vanquished competitor, HD DVD).

Sounds good. But what's the difference between Blu-ray and DVD?

Movies and TV shows on DVD look pretty darn good, especially compared to cable and VHS. But DVD video isn't high-definition quality—in fact, DVD images max out at 480p, compared to a full 1080p for Blu-ray video (making Blu-ray movies ideal for watching on your new HDTV set).

OK, so what's so special about Blu-ray discs? It's all about storage. High-definition movies require, on average, about four times as much space as do the standard-definition movies you'll find on DVD. Luckily, Blu-ray discs store about six times more data than do DVDs, and that extra room allows movie studios to cram an entire HD movie onto a single Blu-ray disc.

Interesting. But why do they call it "Blu-ray"?

Traditional DVD players and burners use red lasers to read and write data. Blu-ray drives, on the other hand, use blue-violet lasers, which operate at much shorter wavelengths and can read and write densely packed bits of information.

Now, what's HD DVD, and how does it fit into the puzzle?

Remember back in the 1980s, when VHS and Beta were duking it out on video store shelves? Same basic scenario here. HD DVD is a competing HD disc format that launched in early 2006, a few months before the first Blu-ray players arrived.

Both HD DVD and Blu-ray use blue lasers for reading and writing their respective media; however, each camp uses different methods for manufacturing their discs. In a nutshell, HD DVD makes discs that are much closer to standard DVDs, a strategy that helped speed production and lower costs, while Blu-ray went for a new, trickier manufacturing process that ended up netting more storage per disc (about 50GB for a double-layer Blu-ray disc, versus only 30GB for HD DVD).

So why did Blu-ray win the format war? Did it look better than HD DVD?

It sounds logical that Blu-ray movies might look better than HD DVD, given that Blu-ray discs can store more information than their HD DVD counterparts. But video reviewers have been hard-pressed to tell the difference—and indeed, both look equally sharp to me (chalk it up to innovations in video compression technology). Blu-ray backers have argued that the extra storage space will mean better bonus features for Blu-ray movies, but HD DVD was actually faster out of the gate with extras like picture-in-picture video commentaries and Internet-enabled features.

In the end (and in my opinion, at least), it all came down to business. Blu-ray garnered more backers and stronger movie studio support than did HD DVD, and it certainly helped that every PlayStation 3 gaming console comes with a built-in Blu-ray player. The tug of war finally ended after Warner Brothers, which initially supported both formats, decided to abandon HD DVD, a move that tilted the balance of power in Blu-ray's favor—for good. Rumors have swirled that the Blu-ray camp paid Warners millions to dump HD DVD, a charge that the studio will neither confirm nor deny.

Will Blu-ray discs work on my DVD player?

Sorry, no can do.

Darn. But will my old DVDs work on a Blu-ray deck?

They sure will—and they may actually look a bit better. Most Blu-ray players will take your DVD's 480p signal and "upscale" it to 1080p. Don't expect your old DVD movies to look like HD all of a sudden, though; the Blu-ray players is just extrapolating a 1080p picture from the 480p DVD source. That said, DVDs may look a bit sharper on your HDTV than they did before.

Are there a lot of movies available on Blu-ray?

Not compared to DVD. The last time I checked, there were about 600-odd titles available on Blu-ray, compared to tens of thousands on DVD. Of course, that'll change over time—it took the DVD format years to reach the tipping point in terms of the number of movies available. But for now, you'll have to accept the fact that your favorite movie probably isn't on Blu-ray.

How much do Blu-ray players cost?

Unfortunately, Blu-ray decks ain't cheap. They tend to average about $400, with the least expensive models going for a little over $200. I've yet to see a Blu-ray player dip below the $200 mark, although I'm hoping we'll get one before the year is out. Indeed, the best Blu-ray value out there might be the 40GB PlayStation 3, a $400 next-generation gaming console that comes with a built-in Blu-ray player. (Check out my Blu-ray buying guide for more.)

I heard that some Blu-ray players are already outdated. What's the deal?

That's true. In the rush to get Blu-ray players on the market, the first players were missing some key features: namely, Ethernet ports for downloadable updates and Internet-enabled features, and the ability to handle picture-in-picture video commentaries. (Standard audio commentaries should work just fine.) Also, these early "Profile 1.0" players can't be upgraded to the current Profile 1.1 (for picture-in picture commentaries) or the upcoming Profile 2.0 (which mandates Ethernet ports for Net-enabled features). That said, here's the good news: even older Profile 1.0 players will play the actual movies on the latest Blu-ray discs; you just won't be able to watch the new-fangled extras (which, if you ask me, get old fast). Click here for the full rundown on the various Blu-ray profiles.

What if I want to keep my DVD player? Are stores going to stop selling DVDs?

Don't worry—DVD isn't going anywhere, at least for the foreseeable future. Indeed, Blu-ray sales are relatively puny compared to DVD, and I'd expect DVD to keep its advantage for the next few years, at the very least.

But wait, I still have more questions!

Feel free to send 'em my way.