Tuesday Morning – Who-ray?
Granted, my circle of friends and acquaintences is not at all representative of the population at large. In fact, it's not representative of anything. But within my limited scope, I do not know of anybody who has switched their dvd purchases and viewing over to the Blu-ray format. This grand refinement of video disc entertainment was supposed to launch the world into super-enjoyment of videos that match the quality abilities of the new HDTV, or Hi-Def television sets. But I don't see where "the world" has knuckled under like a bunch of sheeple to the crafty sales ploys of the video entertainment industry.
You see all the ads for the enhanced video discs, and many tv retailers are conveniently tossing in a free Blu-ray video disc player with a tv purchase. Just what it this Blu-ray thingy anyway? Well, Blu-ray.com (of course!) explains in simple language:
Blu-ray, (not Blue-ray) also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a new optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson). The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. The format offers more than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs and can hold up to 25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc. This extra capacity combined with the use of advanced video and audio codecs will offer consumers an unprecedented HD experience.
While current optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVD±R, DVD±RW, and DVD-RAM rely on a red laser to read and write data, the new format uses a blue-violet laser instead, hence the name Blu-ray. Despite the different type of lasers used, Blu-ray products can easily be made backwards compatible with CDs and DVDs through the use of a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical pickup unit. The benefit of using a blue-violet laser (405nm) is that it has a shorter wavelength than a red laser (650nm), which makes it possible to focus the laser spot with even greater precision. This allows data to be packed more tightly and stored in less space, so it's possible to fit more data on the disc even though it's the same size as a CD/DVD.
Blu-ray is currently supported by about 200 of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer, recording media, video game and music companies. The format also has support from all Hollywood studios and countless smaller studios as a successor to today's DVD format.
Wow! With all that firepower behind them, why haven't we all rolled over and accepted this magnificent advance of televiewing pleasure? I don't know about you, but for me the slightly (yes, slightly) improved sharpness of the HD picture just isn't worth the significantly-greater cost of the Blu-ray dvd's over the standard models. It's not like the disc sellers are adding an extra buck or two to the price, but they are jacking them up by 25% or more. I realize that there are movie afficianados out there who truly enjoy any little bit of refinement to the picture of their $5,000 tv set, but I am watching purely for some plain entertainment and a good story. And I get all that just fine now, thank you.
What about you? Have you joined the Blu-ray club yet? Do you know anyone who has? Am I just out in left field here? Inquiring minds want to know.
We'd better switch from Blu-ray to Roto-ray now and get this equipment checked out. I am going to get some more hi-def coffee brewing before we head back to the day room.
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