Blu-Ray vs DVD | The difference is clear
Resolution:
The simple fact is, Blu-ray far exceeds DVD in terms of resolution. If you check out our screen capture below, this gives a clear image of just what the difference looks like. Before we get into the specifics, it’s good to understand something;Blu-ray and a well-mastered DVD can look very similar if you’re sitting far enough away from the screen. There is a point at which our eyes lose the ability to render additional detail. The truth is, though, most of us sit pretty close—or our TVs are big enough for us to notice the difference.
1080p resolution (also called high definition) is what is possible on the Blu-ray Disc format, compared with DVD’s 576i resolution. To break it down further, you get 1920×1080 pixels on a Blu-ray—that’s 2,073,600 pixels, whereas DVD only delivers just 414,720 pixels. That means Blu-ray is exactly 5x the resolution of DVD. Imagine watching just a 1/5 rectangle on your big screen TV and then stretching that across the rest of the surface area; that’s what you’re essentially doing every time you watch a DVD.
Compatibility:
DVD Players – Blu-ray discs cannot and will not play in a standard DVD player, because the red laser used in DVD players is too large to read the tiny grooves in a Blu-ray disc.
Blu-ray Players – All Blu-ray players currently on the market (including the Playstation 3+4) are backwards compatible and will still play standard DVDs. However, the DVD image displayed, while still decent, will not be high definition quality like a Blu-ray disc.
Blu-ray vs DVD Broken Down by Specs:
Features/Specs |
DVD |
Blu-ray Disc |
| Storage(single/dual layer) | 4.7GB/8.5GB | 25GB/50GB |
| Laser type | 650nm (red laser) | 405nm (blue laser) |
| Video bit rate | 9.8Mbps | 40.0Mbps |
| Data transfer rate | 10.08Mbps | 54.0Mbps |
| Video resolution | 720×576 | 1920×1080 (1080p) |
| Video codecs | MPEG-2 | MPEG-2 MPEG-4 AVC SMPTE VC-1 |
| Audio codecs | Linear PCM Dolby Digital DTS Digital Surround |
Linear PCM Dolby Digital DTS Digital Surround Dolby Digital Plus Dolby TrueHD DTS-HD |
| Interactive Features | DVD-Video | BD-J (BD-Java) |
What about Video on USB ?:
Resolution – Currently our Dance Comp videos are recorded in HD 720p. This is a version of High Definition that is highly compatible with mobile devices, Computers, Laptops and Televisions with USB ports. The pixel size of our USB files are 1280×720, almost twice that of a DVD.
Why not 1080p? – Our experience has found that HD720p is the most versatile video format. Some computers experience lag and audio-sync issues when playing back 1080p footage also some Mobile devices and Televisions do not support 1080p and will either downscale to fit the screen or will not play at all.