What Is Blu-ray?

Originally released in June of 2006, the Blu-ray disc (BD) — a name that derived its meaning from the blue-violet laser employed to read these discs — is a digital storage format that follows in the footsteps of the traditional DVD, which is considered insufficient for the demands of the market. The major differences between DVD and Blu-ray are that the former lacks the ability to stream in high definition (HD), constrained to 480SD, and has a limited storage capacity of 4.7GB. Blu-ray, on the other hand, is enabled for 1080p resolution (1920 x 1080) and holds anywhere from 25GB to 50GB of data, depending on whether the disc is single layer or double layer.

For the reasons outlined, many consider Blu-rays to be better than DVDs. That is generally the case if you value quality; however, it must be said that improved quality comes with a cost, and in this scenario, the cost is a literal one, with the price of your average Blu-ray being approximately £5 more expensive at retail. Of course, you will also see an increase in price if you purchase box sets or steelbooks, the latter of which are prevalent across Blu-rays.

Visually, Blu-rays can be identified by looking at their cases, which are slightly smaller than those of DVDs (135 mm × 171.5 mm × 13 mm), are more rounded, and have the format presented across the top of the case. One of the key benefits of being smaller is that a larger number of them can fit on a shelf, so film and TV fans lacking space can build a larger collection. Despite this, both formats share plastic discs of the same size (120mm in diameter).

What Is the Difference between 4K and Blu-ray?

As mentioned, Blu-ray is the successor to DVD, which reigned for over 10 years. This does raise the question of what comes after Blu-ray, and the answer to that appears in the form of 3D Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray (or 4K Blu-ray). The former was designed to translate 3D movies and TV shows to disc format (accomplished with the help of Frame Sequential 3D, which provides stereoscopic images), whereas the latter supports 4K UHD resolution (3840 x 2160).

Another common query among newcomers relates to the difference between 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray, two formats that share a similar title (and disc size) but are quite distinct. The most obvious contrast is the quality of the visuals, and this makes them incompatible with an ordinary Blu-ray player, even if some have upscaling capabilities.

What to Look for in a Blu-ray Player

The first thing that you need to consider when purchasing a Blu-ray player is the region code associated with your location: A, B, C, or FREE. Those sold in different parts of the world will only support discs authorised by the respective content provider for that region. For example, the UK is part of Region B, but the US is Region A. The sole exceptions to this rule are the aforementioned region-free Blu-rays, which don’t require any specific player.

Once you’ve established the basics, you should consider whether you’re going to be watching 3D and 4K Blu-rays. These formats require both a dedicated player and a TV that supports their output, so unless you’re content with only purchasing standard Blu-rays, you will need to invest in some high-grade (and more expensive) technology.

Before you do anything, know that certain consoles have built-in Blu-ray players. The PlayStation 3 (PS3) can play standard and 3D Blu-rays, and hardware designed for later generations (which include the PS4, Xbox One, PS5, and Xbox Series X) usually support standard and 4K UHD.