It’s somewhat hard to think that the Blu-ray high-definition video disc format as we know it is essentially now (almost) 20 years old with the first AACS-compliant players hitting the market in mid-2006. The winner of a format war, Blu-ray was technically superior, offering 25GB (single-layer) or 50GB (dual-layer) per-side initially and growing various features over time including interactivity, 3D formats and (much later) UHD 4K format support as well. High definition was a noticeable breakthrough with regards to image quality, but when it launched, the reaction was somewhat lukewarm with many still thinking DVD was “good enough”. This apathy did, to some extent, shorten the format war which was mostly between Blu-ray and HD-DVD (although Matt aka Techmoan will remind us all that HD-VMD was an option too), leaving Blu-ray the victor. The Sony Playstation 3 was a bit of a trojan horse, as a games console that also could double-up as a competent Blu-ray player, helping with the format’s penetration. Legitimate playback on PCs was definitely complicated due to AACS requirements resulting in software players having strict hardware requirements to ensure DRM enforcement.
Given the time that has passed, I thought it would be a good time to “remember” the Blu-ray format and discs themselves – perhaps one of the last physical-media consumer video formats on optical disc. This is especially the case as some people have a case of *wanting to collect physical media again, *perhaps suffering from subscription fatigue and wanting better quality.
Note that this post will not focus on the UHD version of Blu-ray which has a different physical format of disc and came much later … in part due to only having very few of them around. Cover and disc artwork copyright belongs to the respective studios – limited resolution watermarked examples used for documentary and illustration purposes and believed to be fair use.
My Collection
My collection of Blu-ray video discs is rather limited, mostly acquired locally from the old days of OCAU Shop-and-Swap forum members and thrift store purchases – most of the discs being well treated with a data side that is practically scratch-free thanks to the hard coating. The exception to this is Happy Feet Two 3D, which you will see later.
One that stands out, although not visually, is House of Flying Daggers, one of the first releases on the Blu-ray format. Another is the FTIsland Arena Tour 2014 which has a clear case. This one I purchased in Japan at a shrine during a “clean-up” boot-sale style event in my 2024 trip (which I still haven’t fully covered or analysed).