Blu ray disc

Where can I buy blu ray discs, and how much can I expect to pay for them?

As blu ray technology grows in popularity and more people are discovering its benefits, a greater number of sellers and stockists are getting on board the blu ray phenomenon. You are able to buy blu ray discs from almost all the traditional places that you would buy movies and TV shows from (video stores, gift shops and even some supermarkets).

A real sign of the times, however, is how widely available blu ray disc movies are on the internet. Sites like eBay lead the way, but there are plenty of dedicated blu ray movie stores waiting for your order.

You can expect to pay a little more than the cost of a DVD. The price of blu ray will certainly come down over the next year or so, but at the moment you will probably pay $25 to $30 for standard blu ray discs.

How much data can you fit on a blu ray disc?

There are two basic types of blu ray discs currently available on the market. A single-layer disc can hold up to 25GB of data, while a dual-layer disc can hold up to 50GB of data.

In future, it is expected that the storage capacity of blu ray will be extended to 200GB!

Blu-ray Regions

When looking for a Blu-ray disc or shopping for a Blu-ray player, one thing to take into account is the region classification system. Blu-ray regions are defined by the area that the disc or player was manufactured for, either Region A, B or C. A Blu-ray disc classed as region A will not work in a Blu-ray disc player from region B or C, and vice versa.

So how does this affect me?

The Blu-ray region system has been implemented by TV and film production companies to prohibit movies being traded internationally before being released in other countries. By imposing region codes on discs and players, people cannot simply buy a disc when on holiday or over the internet and expect it to work in their Blu-ray player back home.

What are the regions?

Region A – North, South and Central America, Japan, North and South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia

Region B – Greenland, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand

Region C – Pakistan, India, China, Rusia, Central and South Asia

Blu-ray Player

Blu-ray players are rapidly penetrating the DVD market, as they are backwards compatible – meaning they can replace the job of an ordinary DVD player as well as being a Blu-ray disc player.

This new generation optical disc format employs the latest technology to read and write Blu-ray discs. The name ‘Blu-ray’ is derived from the colour of the laser used to write to the discs. Blu-ray discs are the same physical size as DVDs, but the blue laser uses shorter wavelengths when burning a disc, and thus more data can be stored on the same sized optical disc.

Blu-ray players are also including interactive technology DVD players do not generally offer. For example, the Sony BDP-s350 is capable of displaying 1080p high definition picture at 40 megabits per second. It also has the added features of an Ethernet port allowing for internet connectivity.

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