Blu-ray and DVD are of the same size – the diameter is 12 cm. Blu-ray supports all DVD features, but also supports more advanced navigation and much better audio and video quality. Max. capacity is 25 GB or 50 GB.
Menu
√ static, no images
√ static with images and transitions
√ dynamic content, transitions, animation
√ dynamic content, transitions, animation, picture in picture, BD-J
Video
√ HD 1920×1080 -MPEG-2 – HD, MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) a SMPTE VC-1 (WMV).
√ 99x tracks, 9x video angles for a single track
Sound
√ Linear PCM (LPCM) – up to 8 channels of uncompressed audio. (mandatory)
√ Dolby Digital (DD) – format used for DVDs, 5.1-channel surround sound. (mandatory)
√ Dolby Digital Plus (DD+) – extension of Dolby Digital, 7.1-channel surround sound. (optional)
√ Dolby TrueHD – lossless encoding of up to 8 channels of audio. (optional)
√ DTS Digital Surround – format used for DVDs, 5.1-channel surround sound. (mandatory)
√ DTS-HD High Resolution Audio – extension of DTS, 7.1-channel surround sound. (optional)
√ DTS-HD Master Audio – lossless encoding of up to 8 channels of audio. (optional)
Subtitles
√ 32 possible different subtitle tracks – regional character support (Cyrillic, Hebrew, Arabic…)
Advantages of Blu-ray
√ video resolution of up to 1920×1080 as opposed to DVD’s 720×576, more details, advanced coding and compression techniques resulting in better contrast and richer colors
√ sound quality comparable to what professional sound studios are working with, multichannel sound formats support
√ advanced menus, picture in picture, internet content, other special features