What makes the BluRay hardware & software format so unique ?

[GBaxter]

Apart from and/or in addition to the obvious (better picture quality),
what makes both the Blu Ray hardware and software format so unique and
superior to you. If there's any web links you admire (where this is very
well discussed without going into only technical reasons only), please
include any.

[Dave Ryan]

Nothing.

It's the same basic technology, just with a higher storage capacity (thanks to a shorter-wavelength laser) and better throughput in order to display high-definition images and more detailed sound.

That's it.

Not sure what you're looking for here. Maybe... I like my PS3 because it's cool-looking?

[Dimwitted]

I'm actually surprised at the question. Software wise, there's no difference between the digital media. Hardware it's just more, more rez, more money, more discs. Once the price comes down you'll see a larger uptake but nothing earth shattering. In about 10 years they'll actually stop making dvd's and it'll be all br discs but no one will care.

[mkiker2089]

Well I still think they should have stuck to early specs that on both DVD and Blu Ray had the discs in a caddy similar to floppy discs. That aside though DVD is good but it was limited by it's standards and released at a time when firmware updates were unheard of so those standards had to be set in stone. They tried to lock in the common denominator, then it got dumbed down somehow halfway through causing issues, and all along had quality compromises. The NTSC standard for example was logical at the time but they didn't leave room to improve. I'm not aware of discs that are even progressive scan even though EDTV has been around for ages. Instead the players did the conversion. We then had snake oil attempts to improve things like superbit (I still say that was a scam) and non standard but slightly compatible issues like higher than spec audio or less compressed video.

The short is that DVD was good on a normal TV but had no room to grow. It looks ok now due to digital enhancements built into players and TV's but it's no longer real. As more HDTV's sell more people are watching digital effects of what the movie should look like when BR is what the movie really is.