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What to Look for in a Blu-ray Player

Posted by Videos Gone Viral Thursday, December 17, 2009


Blu-Ray players have taken over the market of DVD players and if you are a movie fanatic then you definitely have one. Blu-Ray produces superior quality audio and video which is greatly perceptible especially when your sitting down to watch an all-time favorite. But if you do not own a HDTV then its probably best to stick with a regular DVD player.

The Blu-Ray Disc Association (BDA) set some standards back when the Blu-Ray was first introduced. But since manufacturers when hesitant to produce these risky new players, the BDA set a time frame in which the DVD industry had to achieve these standards. The earliest Blu-ray players were Profile 1.0 players which required the use of Java support which made interactive features possible, but unfortunately there wasn’t an obligation for onboard memory which is why so many Profile 1.0 players had to labor just to play a simple movie. Profile 1.0 players are no longer allowed in the markets. Then came the Profile 1.1 or the Bonus View players which included 256MB of memory and added video decoders and secondary audio to permit features like picture-in-picture. Luckily this became a requirement after October 2007, and all players since then have demonstrated very little nuisances. The Profile 2.0 or BD-Live players added internet connection and one gigabyte of storage. This allowed the Blu-Ray players to download additional content such as backgrounds and movie trailers, as well as enable games and online shopping. The extra memory aided in the performance of the player and reduced skipping and freezing. Although this wasn’t a requirement, it did pack a punch in sales and revenue.

Now that we know the history of Blu-Ray players you can start to make a rational decision when buying your very own player. First thing that you should consider is whether the player offers audio in high-deg as well as video. Most players can deliver high resolution audio by means of bit stream over HDMI to an audiovisual receivers, but only the most modern receivers have the necessary decoders and HDMI outputs. Players with there own decoders can pass high-res audio to any other receiver that has the ability to recognize and process audio via HDMI.

Keep in mind that if you have a large collection of standard definition DVD’s that some Blu-Ray players wont be able to play them. Look for a Blu-Ray player that can play all formats of DVDs. However if you plan on only watching in high-def, this factor does not apply to you.

Most Blu-ray player can offer firmware updates, which allow you to fix mechanical and technical problems you may be experiencing with you device. Firmware updates fix performance issues and add new features to the players after you have bought them. This is very important because you do not want to get stuck with a Blu-Ray player that doesn’t update because the manufacturer doesn’t offer updates. In order to update your player you will need an internet connect, possibly a wireless one rather than an Ethernet one. Many of the cheap players might not support wireless internet and will require a hardwired connection.

To get the best movie watching experience from your Blu-Ray Player you will need an HDTV with 1080p resolution, however this is not required. Most HDTV’s however are 720p, so you must buy your Blu-Ray accordingly. Your TV should support you brand new Blu-Ray player!

Sources: I. Laws and Order, II. The Car Junky, III. Videos Gone Viral

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