Blue Ray????

[Mikey]

Can someone explain Blue Ray to me....  I bought a couple of DVD's as gifts for the fetching Mrs. Mikey and she noted they were Blue Ray.  She didn't open them because she didn't know if they would play in our DVD player nor would she be able to return them if opened.  I have no idea what Blue Ray is.  Will it play in a regular DVD player?  I think technology has left me back deep in the woods somewhere....

[Timgod]

Hi Mikey,

Short answer...Nope, they will not work in a standard DVD player.
Remember the BetaMax / VHS wars way back when.
Well there is a new war brewing between the giant companies.
Blu Ray is battling against HD DVD. Both are high definition formats.
It is as far a jump in technology over DVD was over VHS and CD was over cassettes.
The capacity of a dual layered Blu-Ray disc is, for now at least, 50GB with 200 GB in the near future. The capacity of a dual layered HD DVD disc is 30GB

Sorry for the returns in your future.

So far there is no clear winner on the horizon so companies like LG are making combo players for both formats but they are still expensive.

Tim

[Mikey]

Thanks Tim....  Does this mean I should get rid of my 8-track casette players? 

[Timgod]

It's funny you say that. Until Tropical Storm Allison gave us 4 ft of water, I had about 50 8 tracks that were still good but no way to play them.
Mother Nature told me it was time to move on in a less than polite fashion.

Tim

[LeeAnne151]

It is my understanding that Blu Ray wins the battle and HD DVD is going the way of the Betamax.

[miguynmkoi]

  I hope not!!!

[LeeAnne151]

Sorry, it is true,  from Wikipedia:

Much like the VHS vs. Betamax format war during the late 1970s and early 1980s, HD DVD was in a "format war" with rival format Blu-ray Disc to determine which of the two formats would become the leading carrier for high-definition content to consumers. In 2008, major content manufacturers and key retailers began withdrawing their support for the format. Toshiba's withdrawal from the format ended the high definition optical disc format war, effectively making rival Blu-ray the dominant format for high definition video discs.[2] The HD DVD Promotion Group dissolved on March 28, 2008.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_DVD

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

[Jerry]

How much technology can we handle?  I have had enough!   My poor brain is overloaded!

[fredinva]

And now we have 1080P VOD by Dish network, maybe Direct too??

fred

[Mikey]

We have Dish.  What's 1080P VOD?

[fredinva]

1080P Video ON Demand

With an HD DVR you can order a 1080P movie to your DVR

The catch is, you still need a 1080P HDTV to take advantage.

fred

[Esther]

I don't even know what you are talking about. Don't care either.

[fredinva]

Not much beats watching HGTV in High Def!!!!!!

[HOWELL]

Have no idea about dish things either, but Blue-Ray disc seems to be heading towards the new laser TV's, which are supposed to have a better solution than LCD screens, plus you wont see your self in front of the laser TV.
Let technology take over the new generation.
Hey is it Nintendo wii or PS3 the one that can read Blu-Ray disc movies?

[fredinva]

Blue Ray is a Sony name, thus play station plays 'em.

fred