What is Blu-ray??? This is a new optical disc developed by members of the world's leading AV conglomorates in consumer electronics. It allows you to view true 1080P high-definition video which is stored on 50GB dual-layer Blue Ray Discs (BD). This is now the latest format to purchase since the HD-DVD format has been declared obsolete as of January 2008.

Consumers and companies decided that BD was more beneficial than HD-DVD - possibly due to it's higher storage capacity (50G vs. 30G on dual layer disc). Most of the studios that abandoned the HD-DVD format was a large deciding factor to stop production. Warner Bros. played a big role when they left the HD-DVD format - also I think Disney played a big factor because they are the second largest media & entertainment corporation in the world, after Time Warner. I personally think it was Sony's time to overcome it's previous unsuccessful formats such as Beta, DAT, Mini-Disc, SACD etc. when comparing to the consumer world. Did you know back in the 80's that Beta had a far more superior picture quality than VHS??? Up until the introduction of DV tapes, Beta was highly used in the commercial market from the small local public broadcast studio to the corporate studios that millions of us watch everyday.

FYI: Toshiba, one of the industries largest HD-DVD manufacturers, has reported when they pulled out of the HD DVD industry they have lost  approximately $461 million dollars.

All of the major Hollywood studios are now fully supporting the BD format. This is the current list of studios and in parentheses the first format of choice (not sure with some):
Disney (Blu-Ray)
Sony Pictures (Blu-ray - obviously)
20th Century Fox (Blu-ray)
Fox (?)
HBO (?)
Lionsgate (?)
MGM (?)
New Line Cinema (HD-DVD)
Paramount (HD-DVD)
Universal Studios (HD-DVD)
Warner Bros. (HD-DVD)

Also the adult films industry such as Vivid (first adult film studio to bring title to Blu-ray) has declared all movies are now being produced in Blu-ray only. Most of the adult film studios were going to HD-DVD because Sony did not support them. The big deal why Sony did not want to support the adult film industry (even though Blu-ray was first choice) was because back in the late 70's during the VHS/BETA war, believe it or not, the porn industry was a big factor for the success of VHS. With Sony holding a "grudge", HD-DVD became "sloppy seconds" isn't that funny!!!!!

When consumers decided in the 80's that VHS became the format of choice over BETA - the commercial world decided that BETA was the better format due to it's higher picture resolution and quality. VHS was introduced in 1976 to the general market. By 1980, VHS controlled over 69% of the consumer market. So JVC's VHS format defeated Sony's BETA format with consumers.

DVD was introduced to the market after VHS had a very long run. Remember for the first time DVD was introduced in the rental market the shelf was on 1/4 of the wall and exploded to fill the entire store in 12-16 months. Using Blockbuster as an example: they now have that same shelf stored with Blu-ray discs and we will all watch it grow larger and larger within the next year. I believe the transition will take longer because VHS to DVD was a drastic change in media as opposed to DVD to BD. You still can purchase a VCR tape from a few retail stores. There will always be room for DVD's since Blu-ray players are backwards compatible and they do up convert a standard DVD to exceptional HD quality.

What the hell is 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p??? In layman's terms 1080p is the best HD resolution you can obtain and view at the moment. I am not going to get into the whole meaning between interlaced and progressive. Basically, all you need to know is that 1080p is the best you can get. If your TV is a 1080p then you need a device that can push 1080p.

If you were duped into purchasing a HDTV with 720p resolution because it was a good deal then set all your devices to push 720p. If you try to push anything else than 720p it will look like crap. Your cable, satellite, DVD player w/ upconversion, Blu-Ray player etc. should all be set to the maximum resolution your display device can handle. I have seen too many items returned to the stores because the sales person did not explain this to the customer. How many times have you seen someone return an awesome TV because they said the cable looked like crap???? Well, no duh - your still running a VCR and analog CATV at home. The GIGO rule applies "Garbage IN - Garbage OUT".