So I guess everyone is looking into getting the next level of DVD players that are out on the market…BluRay and HD DVD. I was curious about how they work and how much they cost and let me tell you something, they are not cheap!! A basic HD DVD player will put a nice $500 dent on your wallet. I think that’s nuts. You think that’s high? How about $1000 for an entry level BluRay DVD player by Sony and Samsung. I think that’s ridicules to spend that kind of money on a piece of technology that will be replaced in about 4 to 7 years. LG decided to come out with a DVD player that has both formats which I think is cool, but it did get some bad reviews about sound, and other complications. The price of one of those is $1200. Give me a break!! They show all kinds of advertisements to show you how great they are and how they work and don’t get me wrong the picture is amazing! HD DVD and BluRay promise to give you six times more resolution than the normal DVD. Lately there has been a war between BluRay and HD DVD. Some movie studios want this type, some prefer the other type, and the reason why is because producing movies on those DVD formats is really expensive. If you visit your local Best Buy orCircuit
City, you’ll notice the large selection of HD DVD and BluRay movies that are currently out. When it comes to HD DVD movies, I didn’t really notice a big price difference with normal DVD. But there is a difference between the normal DVD and BluRay…some up to $20 difference. I compared HD DVD and BluRay and I didn’t really see that big of a difference. The reason why BluRay is more expensive is because the DVD itself has more capacity…up to 50GB which is a lot of space, compared to the HD DVD which holds up to 23GB. Keep in mind though this kind of technology will allow you to do more than just watch a movie. More features can be stored, the ability to support full 7.1 surround sound compared to 5.1. The downfall of this technology requires the next level of wiring, so guess what, be ready to dash out another $50 to $100 on an HDMI cable. HDMI stands for High Definition Multimedia Interface. Rumor has it that HDMI cables will give you amazing picture and sound compared to Component cables (Red, Blue, and Green). Plus, HDMI is only one cable, which means you don’t need separate cables for audio because its all built in. Some say there is no great difference between the two cables, some say you should get HDMI if you want to take full advantage of the HD content. To me, there is no difference. The highest level of HD resolution right now is 1080p… (p) stands for Progressive which gives you a sharper clearer picture. Then there is 1080i…. (i) stands for Interlaced. Take a picture and cut it into 1080 lines. Then put the even ones together, after half a second, put the odd ones together. This will give you a less sharp image but will still have the HD look. I can go on and on about the different levels but im sure you don’t want to read forever. If you buy an HD DVD or BluRay player and an HDMI cable, guess what, you’re going to need a HDTV. Those come in different names and sizes, the biggest one being Samsung which is a 109” Plasma which is about $100,000. Yes that’s right, 100 Grand for a TV. I can buy me a house with that for crying out loud. If you’re planning on going HD, I’d wait a little bit more because prices are starting to go down which is good. I currently have an Xbox 360 and you can buy an optional HD DVD player for $200 which I think is more reasonable. I tried it out and it looks great. Saved myself $300. I don’t really need the best thing to enjoy movies, but hey it would be nice to have that kind of technology. I recommend waiting until Christmas time. Prices will be very low. Happy Shopping!