What can a Blu-ray disc do that a DVD can't, if anything?

Question

I'm guessing the sound and picture quality is better, but is there anything else?

Answer 1

The DVD can only hold 4.7/9.4 GB of data. A Blu-Ray disc can hold 25/50 GB of data. Since HD video is about 2.5 times bigger that means that less than an hour of full HD video can be stored on a normal DVD, this doesn't even account for the menus and extra stuff that DVD's are known to have. So yes, a Blu-ray disc will have better sound and picture than a DVD and in the future there can be even more stuff on a Blu-ray disc, simply because there is more space for stuff.

Answer 2

It stores a ton more space, hence better picture quality and length. The blu-ray disc can hold between 25 and 200 gigabytes. A DVD can only hold 8.5 gigabytes. Blu-ray disc produces the true meaning of High Definition movies.

Answer 3

Here's the difference:

2.3 Why should I upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray?


The simple answer is HDTV. If you've ever seen high-definition (HD) video on an HDTV, then you know just how incredibly sharp the picture is and how vivid the colors are. In fact, HD offers five times the amount of detail compared to standard-definition (SD). The problem with today's DVDs is that they only support SD and don't have the necessary storage capacity to satisfy the needs of HD. That's where Blu-ray comes in, it offers up to 50GB of storage capacity and enables playback, recording and rewriting of HD in all of the HD resolutions including 1080p. The format also supports high-definition audio formats and lossless audio.

In addition to the greater video and audio quality, the extra storage capacity also means there will be plenty of room for additional content and special features. This combined with the new BD-J interactivity layer adopted by Blu-ray will bring the menus, graphics and special features to a whole new level. For example, you will be able to bring up the menu system as an overlay without stopping the movie, and you could have the director of the movie on the screen explaining the shooting of a scene while the scene is playing in the background. The advanced interactivity combined with the networking features of Blu-ray will also allow content producers to support new innovative features such as downloading extras, updating content via the web, and watching live broadcasts of special events.

Thanks to the greatly enhanced HD video and audio quality as well as the advanced interactivity and networking features, Blu-ray represents a huge leap forward in the DVD viewing experience and will offer consumers an unprecedented HD experience.


2.4 What is the difference between Blu-ray and DVD?


Parameters
Blu-ray DVD
Storage capacity 25GB (single-layer)
50GB (dual-layer)
4.7GB (single-layer)
8.5GB (dual-layer)

Laser wavelength 405nm (blue laser) 650nm (red laser)
Numerical aperture (NA) 0.85 0.60
Disc diameter
Disc thickness
120mm
1.2mm
120mm
1.2mm

Protection layer
Hard coating
0.1mm
Yes
0.6mm
No

Track pitch
0.32µm
0.74µm

Data transfer rate (data)
Data transfer rate (video/audio)
36.0Mbps (1x)
54.0Mbps (1.5x)
11.08Mbps (1x)
10.08Mbps (<1x)

Video resolution (max)
Video bit rate (max)
1920×1080 (1080p)
40.0Mbps
720×480/720×576 (480i/576i)
9.8Mbps

Video codecs MPEG-2
MPEG-4 AVC
SMPTE VC-1
MPEG-2
-
-

Audio codecs Linear PCM
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital Plus
Dolby TrueHD
DTS Digital Surround
DTS-HD
Linear PCM
Dolby Digital
DTS Digital Surround
-
-
-

Interactivity
BD-J
DVD-Video

Answer 4

yeah.. sound and picture is better.. menus are cooler.. you dont have jump from the movie to the "menu" screen.. the menu will be a small bar on the bottem of the screen so you can change audio and subtitle settings.. other than that.. not much.. maybe fit more extras on a single disk rather than have it span on two disks..

Answer 5

High Def and more storage space. There's some links here about it, but that's about it.