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What is Blu-Ray?
The PlayStation 3 as at the heart of it a Blu-Ray disc player. So, how does this differ from previous disc players?
To start off with, Blu-Ray discs hold far more than DVD's. The basic Blu-Ray disc has a 25GB capacity. That's the same as 3 DVD movies Put another way, it would give you 23 hours of normal TV and 9 hours of HD TV.
These discs aren't just about a lot more capacity for all those hi-def, 1080p compatable Blu-Ray movies. They are essential to allow the PlayStation 3 games developers imaginations to build those rich graphical games we are all waiting for.
As an example of that is about now, Resistance: Fall of Man takes up 20GB of space, so you can imagine what will be around the corner in a few years from now.
Blu-Ray is also about image quality, not just plain capacity. A standard definition PAL screen produces an image resolution of just 768x576 pixels, a basic 720p HD image comes in at 1280x720 with the full 1080p image at 1920x1080 pixels. This is four times the definition of a standard TV.
Blu-Ray vs HD DVD
| HD DVD |
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Blu-Ray |
| A standard single layer DVD can hold an impressicve 9GB of data while a dual-layer HD-DVD can hold 30GB. This is enough to hold nine hours of hi-def video. |
CAPACITY |
To Blu-Ray, 30GB is nothing. It can hold almost 70% more at 50GB on a dual-layer disc. Sony are working on producing 100GB and maybe 200GB versions of the Blu-Ray. |
| Producing an HD DVD is similar to a standard DVD. This fact makes the production processes similar and costs lower, therefore the discs are also cheaper. |
COST |
Blu-Ray technology is new so production processes need setting up. There is a cost involved as with all new technology. However, also with new technology costs will come down. |
| Who is putting their support behind HD DVD you might ask. Well Toshiba, Microsoft and Intel are the big names. There are also a few film studios, namely Paramount, Universal and Warners. |
SUPPORT |
Sony, Panasonic, DELL, Philips and Samsung are the main supporters of Blu-Ray format. In addition to this, all but one of the major film studios have put their support behind the format. |
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