How to Find the Best Blu-ray Player
Blu-ray is a DVD technology that offers an enhanced visual and auditory experience along with the storage capacity for additional extras that regular DVDs do not accommodate. A single-layer Blue-ray disc can hold 25GB of data while a dual-layer disc can hold 50GB of data, which can translate to nine hours of high-definition footage or 23 hours of standard footage. This is more than five times the capacity of traditional DVDs. Blu-ray players require a high-definition television to maximize the player's capabilities and picking the proper player for your needs can take some time.
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Instructions
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Set a budget. Blu-ray players can range from $150 to $400, depending on the make and model. Establish how much you can afford to spend so you can examine the player options in that price range. Lower-priced players tend to have greater problems in playing regular DVDs, so if you're buying a player for that purpose, you may need pay a bit more for consistent quality.
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Comparison-shop to see which players are being offered by stores in your price range. Make a list of which players are offered where and write down the features of those players. There can be many options. "Bonus View" is when a player can support a "picture in picture" presentation with both pictures in high definition. BD Live enables a player to connect to the Internet to download additional extra features for a movie that are not available on the regular disc. A BD Live Ready player is one that can download the needed firmware and programming to make it BD Live compatible when it is hooked up online. Some players are more energy efficient as well and use less power when running or in standby.
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Check your TV's capabilities. Blu-ray players are limited if there is no HDTV to play them on. Write down what type of TV you have so you can check the compatibility of the player and the TV type while in the store. This will also help you determine what ports your player will need for compatibility. This can vary depending on if you want to hook the player up to a sound system and what else is hooked up to the system.
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Research your players. Talk to in-store personnel about what players have good reputations for customer satisfaction. Consumer Reports or other tech-review publications can also provide good feedback on how players perform and which ones tend to experience problems. Some discs may have features that low-end players will not be able to process (such as BD Live or Bonus View) and store employees can help you figure out if your new player can fully process the discs you will want it to play.
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Tips & Warnings
Find out about warranties and return policies so if you are not happy with your player, you have the option to return it.
References
- Photo Credit a dvd-r disc image by wayne ruston from Fotolia.com
