Blu-Ray is essentially the next generation DVD, developed by Sony to give an incredible high-definition picture with a huge storage capacity. This capacity allows for the high-def image as well as brilliant state-of-the-art sound quality. You’ll be watching films and TV shows like never before.

On Blu-Ray disc you’ll get incredibly detailed and sharp images that are impossible to see on standard TVs and DVDs, giving a picture quality that is so much more vivid and realistic. Talking technology, the picture quality on Blu-Ray is a massive 1080p, compared to 480p for standard DVDs. This means a Blu-Ray picture is made up of 1080 lines, compared to the DVD standard resolution of 480 lines. These 600 extra lines with give you those life-like images.

Standard DVDs have 4GB of storage, whereas Blu Ray has a huge storage capacity of 25GB per disc, so you’ll notice the massively increased quality. Blu Ray comes from the blue-violet laser in the player itself, which is far thinner than the standard red laser in standard DVD players. This thinner laser allows the disc to store far more information.

Firstly you’ll need a Blu-Ray player. This can either be one of the standalone Blu-Ray players, or you can play Blu-Ray discs on Sony Playstation 3 consoles. You’ll also need a HD-Ready TV, as standard TVs are unable to show high-definition images. Remember Blu-Ray discs cannot be played on standard DVD players, however once you get a Blu-Ray player you’ll be able to play your standard DVDs on it.

Yes, Blu Ray disc is completely compatible with Sony Playstation 3 consoles, so you can combine DVD and gaming entertainment. However you will still need a HD-Ready TV to appreciate the high-definition picture.

More and more movies are currently being made available on Blu Ray, along with TV shows. You’ll notice old classics being continuously released, so keep an eye out on zavvi.co.uk to know when your favourite film will be coming out, or sign up for the Blu-ray newsletter in your account.

Storage Capacity per disc - 25GB Single Layer, 50GB Dual Layer
Picture Resolution - 1080p
Sound Formats - Can be mastered up to 7.1, including PCM, Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby Digital Plus
Regional Coding - A - North America, South America, East Asia except for China, B - Europe and Africa
C - China, Russia
Compatible With - Blu-ray Disc Players, Playstation 3 Console