Blu Ray Deals

Blu Ray deals

Blu-Ray is now recognised around the world as the standard high definition format for DVD. Blu-Ray DVD players and Blu-Ray discs are now available at an affordable price and there is a huge choice of each - even Blu-Ray DVD recorders are available in Japan and will be in the UK in a matter of time. Here you can find all the best online retailers in the UK - just click on a link to see what's on offer.

It's Very Important to bear in mind that the format war between Blu-Ray and its rival HD DVD is now over, and you can now safely buy Blu-Ray products in the knowledge that the format is here to stay.

Amazon Blu-Ray Deals

Blu Ray players at Amazon

Amazon are one of the biggest online retailers in the UK and their choice of Blu-Ray DVD players and Blu-Ray discs certainly lives up to that reputation. Click on the Amazon logo to see what's on offer.

Comet Blu-Ray Deals

Blu Ray players at Comet

Comet's slogan is 'We Live Electricals', and they've got Blu-Ray deals from Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and LG - with Free Delivery on orders over £150. Click on the Comet logo to see what's on offer.

Direct TVs Blu-Ray Deals

Blu Ray players at Direct TVs

Direct TVs is owned by BuyitDirect, one of the largest e-tailers in the UK. In 8 years of trading they have built up a superb reputation for selling high quality hardware at low prices whilst delivering excellence in customer service. Click on the Direct TVs logo to see what's on offer.

John Lewis Blu-Ray Deals

Blu Ray players at John Lewis

John Lewis is one of the most trusted brands on the high street, and all of the customer service reaasurance that brings extends to their online store too. Check out their range of Sony, Panasonic and Samsung Blu-Ray deals by clicking on the John Lewis logo.

Dixons Blu-Ray Deals

Blu Ray players at Dixons

Dixons is part of the DSGI group and stocks a range of Blu-Ray DVD players with a Price Match Promise, where they'll match a genuine price given from a number of competing sites. Click on the Dixons logo to see all of the Blu-Ray deals on offer.

Pixmania Blu-Ray Deals

Blu Ray players at Pixmania

Pixmania stock a large range of Blu-Ray DVD players from just over £100 to just over £600. Pixmania are the number one seller of audio-visual products in France and are growing in the UK, with over 40,000 products. Click the Pixmania logo to visit their site.


 

About the Blu-Ray HD DVD Format War

Between 2000 and 2002 two new formats emerged to supercede the DVD as the main optical disc storage medium - Blu-Ray and HD DVD. Blu-Ray was so-called because it uses a blue laser instead of a red laser to write to and read from the disc - as a blue laser has a shorter wavelength it's possible to fit more data on the disc and increase storage. A dual layer Blu-Ray disc can store 50GB of data, nearly six times the data that can be stored on an equivalent DVD. The 'HD' HD DVD stands for High Density, and this format, while also mainly using a blue laser, could only store 15GB per layer (so 30GB on a dual layer disc compared to 50GB with Blu-Ray) - an improvement on DVD but not as much as Blu-Ray.

Storage capacity was not the only reason for Blu-Ray winning the war however, in the end it came down to the backing received by each format from the hardware manufacturers, DVD distributors and film studios. Regarding manufacturers the two camps can be summarised as Sony developing Blu-Ray and Toshiba HD DVD, although some manufacturers released dual format machines before Toshiba conceded defeat and withdrew the HD DVD format but they were understandably expensive and now no longer available. Here are some key turning points in Blu-Ray's emergence as the leading format;

  • January 2008 - Woolworths drops HD DVD in favour of Blu-Ray They may not be around any more but they backed the right horse in the DVD race. The BBC reported a swing towards Blu Ray around this time too.
  • February 2008 - Netflix and Best Buy choose Blu-Ray The DVD rental company with around 10 million subscribers and the company that accounts for over 20% of the electrical retail market in the USA are pretty hard to argue with.
  • February 2008 - Wal Mart dumps HD DVD The names just get bigger, and as you would expect very soon after that...
  • February 19th 2008 - Toshiba announces it will discontinue production of HD DVD

Of course the last thing anybody wants is a long and drawn out format war like the one between VHS and Betamax video - bad for the consumer who doesn't want to commit to the wrong format and by extension bad for the manufacturers as not enough people will buy, a real catch 22.

Find out about Blu Ray regions here.