What is the difference between blu ray players

Higher resolution makes for a sharper image, that's a given. But when it comes to colour and contrast, things are less certain. How a film is mastered for each format makes a difference to the quality. A Blu-ray version of a film could have rich, vivid colours and a finely balanced contrast, while the 4K version could look washed out and bland.

This is more of an issue when an older film that was never released in 4K, or even HD, before is remastered to take advantage of the higher-resolution format. If the remastering is done poorly, then you'll notice the problems with colour and contrast.

This technology boosts contrast, creating a greater range between bright and dark parts of the screen — to find out more, go to what is HDR TV. It's a hit and miss technology, though. When used badly it can make the picture too dark or bright, which blocks all that lovely 4K detail.

Our Blu-ray player reviews take these factors into account, so you can buy one that will make the most of your film collection. But sometimes the fault can lie with the Blu-ray itself. Which should mean higher quality. These processing technologies could feasibly be on Blu-rays and DVDs, too, but often they are saved for the 4K releases. The back of a Blu-ray box will tell you what audio formats and processing is on the disc.

But Blu-ray players and 4K Blu-ray players are usually backwards compatible with the lower-resolution discs. It's not always the case that a player will be able to play lower-resolution discs, so it's worth checking our Blu-ray player reviews or the store listing before you buy. Not a DVD player, there's really no point.

We suggest looking online to find a hack to enable it to play all regions — there are a lot of clever people figuring this stuff out on the interwebs. Just be aware that it may void the warranty. Region issues are less of an issue for Blu-ray discs but it is still possible for a Blu-ray movie purchased overseas not to be supported on your player. When comparing Blu-ray players for playing Blu-ray discs, picture quality is of little import and sound isn't really a necessary consideration because it's more likely to be affected by the other devices that the player sends digital data to, or through, such as the TV.

The big issues are ease of use and whether the player is the same brand as your TV as this will make operation and remote compatibility much easier. Playing DVDs on a Blu-ray player is a different matter. Some Blu-ray players are better than others at upscaling video from a DVD. No upscaled DVD can match Blu-ray quality, but our Blu-ray player reviews will show which are the best options. If you want to use your Blu-ray device to record TV, consider a Blu-ray recorder, however this category hasn't really taken off as people see little reason to record to an expensive Blu-ray disc when they can stream it or save it to a hard drive.

The remote control should have buttons that are sized, shaped and spaced so you can easily find and press them individually. Many DVDs also include interactive menus, additional audio tracks, and other special features. Commercial audio and video is typically encoded in a proprietary format called Blu-ray Disc Movie BDMV , although there are other formats. In addition, the way the video is compressed on the disc is better, which contributes to a better image. This features are often more advanced than DVDs can offer, and include things like pop-up menus and picture-in-picture commentary.

It also featured interactive content, very high quality audio, and video resolution up to p.