Time Warner Cable Services: A Unbeatable Mix

When high definition TV sets first started appearing on the market about 10 years ago folks were dazzled at the sharpness HDTV delivered over regular television sets. Since that point millions of men and women have upgraded their televisions to take advantage of wide screen flicks with DVDs and high definition cable and satellite broadcasts. While some people still haven't made the leap, a recent technology breakthrough has made even HDTV fans take notice. Developed by Sony, Blu-Ray has pushed television resolutions to a new level. Just a couple years gone, nobody had a clue what format would become the successor to DVD, but now Blu-Ray has won the battle and I'll tell you why you should consider adding Blu-Ray to your home entertainment system.

Though research began almost ten years ago, Sony and its partners failed to release a final commercial product until mid 2006. The name Blu-Ray comes from the blue laser that's used to read info from a Blu-Ray formatted disc. This is in opposition to the red laser utilized to read regular DVD discs. Yet why is Blu-Ray better than current DVD formats? Although Blu-Ray discs and players don't appear any different than standard DVDs, they can store much more information that means sharper picture, improved audio, and more special features. DVDs can hold up to eight gigabytes of information while Blu-Ray discs can hold 50 gigabytes. Quite a difference. The maximum resolution of a DVD is 720x480 lines whereas Blu-Ray has a maximum of 1920x1080 (also referred to as full HD). If you have spent $1000 or more on a 1080p TV, you're really not exploiting everything the TV can deliver when watching regular DVDs.

In the beginning costs for Blu-Ray players were way above what a typical home user wanted to pay. Costs between $700 and $1000 were common for first generation Blu-Ray players. And, there had been another competing standard on the store shelves that made plenty of perplexity. Toshiba and NEC introduced their own DVD successor with the delivery of the HD DVD format. HD DVD, with a capacity of 15 gigabytes, was an improvement over standard DVDs but couldn't match the specifications of Blu-Ray. However HD DVD did have some marketplace advantages. First, they made it to the market 3 months before Blu-Ray. Second, HD DVD devices where a little cheaper to produce and had a cheaper price tag as a consequence. Finally, HD DVD had more movie studios on board at launch than Sony did which meant more movies were initially available while Blu-Ray remained scarce.

Sony had a huge ploy up their sleeve that quite possibly saved Blu-Ray from a Betamax fate. Sony incorporated a Blu-Ray player into their long awaited PlayStation 3 and sold the entire device for a little less than most stand alone players were going for at the time. Soon after, Blu-Ray began making strides until shortly it outsold HD DVD 2-to-1 by late 2007. More movie studios began to commit to the Blu-Ray standard totally, beginning with Warner Brothers in early 2008. Straight after Toshiba stopped making HD DVD players and recorders. By the end of 2008 rental firms Netflix and Blockbuster, as well as major retail outlets, announced they would no longer carry HD DVD movies. Now all major studios release their pictures on Blu-Ray. A couple have continued to produce HD DVD and Blu-Ray releases concurrently.

Costs have fallen significantly over the last few years as well. Many big brand Blu-Ray players from companies like Panasonic and LG can easily be found between $150 and $250. Blu-Ray disc recorders are in the $200 - $400 range and dropping just as quickly. For anyone who enjoys watching films at home and has already invested in a high definition TV, now is a wonderful time to have a look at adding a Blu-Ray player to your setup. Even people who might be doubtful about Blu-Ray's improvements over DVD owe it themselves to head down to their local electronics store and ask for a Blu-Ray demonstration. The picture sharpness and audio fidelity from Blu-Ray is really outstanding.

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