Yes, BluRay is a high-def DVD. But Sony did a somewhat clever thing. Every disk is a Java program. The BluRay players are actually computers – kind of like a game system. When you put a BluRay disk into a player, it actually runs the Java program on the disk to bring up the menu system, show previews, let you jump to chapters in a movie, etc.

At the moment – this makes the bluray players kind of slow and there have been some problems because each disk is like a new software program. But eventually – they could come up with features on BluRay DVD’s that go way beyond simply watching a movie.

Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs are used to hold movies in HD. Their larger capacity allows you to fit an entire movie in HD on a single disc, whereas you’d need as many as 4 DVDs, maybe even more.

Blu-ray supports up to 1080 lines resolution whereas regular disks only support 576 (PAL format) or 480 (NTSC format).

Therefore you getter a better picture on a HD capable flat panel display when connected to a blu-ray player than on a standard player.