Friday, December 12, 2008

Top Five Reasons To Buy a Blu-ray Player

Courtesy of GLMT, Inc.










5. Your DVDs are not HD. No matter what the label says. Sure upconverting DVD players make your DVDs look better but they are not HD. Don't believe it. There is a BIG difference and if you don't see it, your player is not hooked up properly.

4. Sound. If you have a surround sound system, chances are your system will benefit from the much higher data rates of the Blu-ray format out of the box. My surround system is 5 years old and it is shocking how much more dynamic the channel seperation was on blu-ray audio with old school audio codecs.

3. $140. Resist the temptation to replace that malfunctioning or lost ipod this Christmas and invest in something that you will actually use on a consistent basis. Blu-ray players are selling at a discount. $140? C'mon! Remember when you would drop $100 just for an HDMI cable.

2. Your TV Wants One. If you have an hdtv, it has been fed a diet of low bit rate cable or dish hd or low bit rate DVDs that claim they are upconverting to HD. Your TV wants a steak. Let it maximize its performance with HD.

1. Rediscover the Magic of Movie Making. When I bought my blu-ray player, I realized something. Movies are fun to watch again. Movies are brilliant. The immersive display of sound and color lend credence to the true masterpieces of American moviemaking. A blu-ray player will entertain you and your friends and family cheaply and brilliantly. Done deal.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008


Eco-Friendly Disc Not So Friendly

You can turn on your television, tune in to the radio, or even open up your web browser and you are bound to see something about going "green." We are all in the midst of a "green" generation and at Great Lakes Media Technology we've adopted the "ChooseGreen" packaging concept (made with 100% recyclable, 30% post consumer and all soy based inks on custom packaging), which has seen a HUGE increase in demand over the last few years. Anytime
energy is saved and resources are conserved, no doubt we are all for it. Researchers are now experimenting to create an eco-friendly disc, although none have been successful.

Currently there are replication companies marketing what they are calling an "eco-friendly" DVD (or flex disc). Flexible because they are 0.6mm thick as opposed to the 1.2mm thickness of a standard DVD, and environmentally friendly because only half of the plastic is needed to manufacture the disc. Unfortunately there are some serious problems with this.

1. Companies are only manufacturing 1 layer (layer 0) of the format, which happens to fall outside of the specifications for all DVD formats. As a licensee of the DVD patent groups - which is extremely important to avoid potential liability - we are disallowed to manufacture non-compliant products.

2. Compatibility with these thin discs are not good. Less than 80% compatibility.

3. The manufacturing process of this disc is no different than the standard manufacturing of a DVD.

As further research is conducted we will continue to keep our eyes open. We are constantly working towards protecting our environment, as well as providing more options to our customers.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Why so Serious? Batman Blu-ray Disc to be "Killer" App for the Format?



The Dark Night Blu-ray disc promises to be dazzling. If you are one of those "Jokers" who thinks that DVD is just fine on your 1080p Flat Screen television, this title will sure to change your beliefs.


The darks will be eerier and inkier, the explosions will be more ferocious, the entire movie will be more of spectacle on Blu-ray. If you were on the fence about Blu-ray, this title's demand for high bit rates of data, colors not possible in upconvert, and pure uncompressed sound will make your DVD feel like it is a black and white picture with Dutch subtitles.