Is Blu Ray Worth The Money? - By: Matt Chang

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The industry has settled in with Blu-ray as the disk format for HDTV. Now the question that people are starting to ask is; is it time to switch to Blu-ray and get that new DVD player? Blu-ray is the new DVD format that stores movies almost exclusively in 1080p resolution. I am sure that we have all heard of HDTV, but what is 1080p? Is 1080p better than the HDTV that we will all be watching on our TV's in 2009? What is the down side of Blu-ray? What is the up side of playing the highest resolution DVD's that the industry has to offer? Before we go any further, you need to know that you need a HDTV in order to make the most of your player. Without High Definition, you will not be able to make a difference with the player and visual quality. 1080p is simply the number of original lines going across the screen, counted from top to bottom. 2008 over the air TV's were using 480i resolution, in other words 240 lines were being set over the air and the television set displayed each frame twice with a slight offset. The (i) is for interlacing and (p) is for progressive, where each frame is displayed only once at twice the resolution as the same number with the (i). Standard DVD players can output via the component connections, normally 480p and some slightly more expensive models will output 720p and even 1080p by internal processing of the 480p image on the DVD. Now you have probably heard of interlaced and progressive scans which are two methods of how these lines are displayed. Interlaced scan displays all the odd number lines first, followed by all the even number lines. Whereas a progressive scan displays all the lines sequentially from top to bottom. Remember, progressive scanning is the better method since it produces a smoother video which has a clearer image, especially with fast-moving scenes. So, if progressive is better, why would you want to settle with interlaced. One good thing about interlace is the less amount of data going through the connection. This enables a more proficient transmission of signals and to manufacturer hardware which can display the picture. You're probably wondering why everyone is singing the praises of Blu-ray and why it's the best system if you want the sharpest images? While almost all HDTV offer 720p/1080i and 1080p resolutions - only Blu-ray can deliver full 1080p content. High definition TV broadcast have a maximum resolution of 720p or 1080i. Remember your TV will display or show the best quality it can, based on the content being provided. The best Possible resolution of 1080p, also known as Full HD, is displayed with the Blu-ray player. This full High Definition format has digital sampling structure of 1920(H) x 1080(V) which operates at 24-frames per second progressively scanning. Keep in mind, other video resolutions are possible with your TV such as 720p, 1080i and so on. Just because your TV screen has 1080 lines, does not always mean it is capable of displaying 1080p. Always check to be sure. Your Blu-ray player will correspond with your TV's video parameters.