I’m a big believer in physical media, but unlike Batman, I have my limits. I know all about the value and popularity of DVDs, but I don’t want to keep adding movies to my collection that I won’t watch very often. The reason for this is the DVD format itself and the fact that it’s stuck at 480p. For many people, that’s fine, and thanks to TV upscaling, you can get a much better image than you could years ago, but upscaling only takes you so long.
Upscaling isn’t some magical thing that makes your DVD look like a 4K Blu-ray, and I don’t think you should go into it thinking like that. It’s fine to watch those DVDs that are already in your collection, but if you’re adding a brand-new 2026 DVD into your collection and planning to watch it on your 4K TV, then you need to keep your expectations in check. I recently grabbed a 75-inch 4K TV, and that size makes the DVD problem even more apparent. I don’t think I’ll be adding a DVD to my collection ever again.
Blu-ray and DVD technology
Trivia challenge
From spinning discs to high-definition glory — how much do you really know about Blu-ray and DVD?
HistoryHardwareFormatsCapacityStandards
In what year was the DVD format officially launched for consumer use?
That’s right! DVD was officially launched in Japan in November 1996, before rolling out to North America in 1997. The format was developed by a consortium of major electronics companies including Sony, Panasonic, and Philips.
Not quite — DVD launched in Japan in November 1996. It then made its way to North American markets in 1997, quickly displacing VHS as the dominant home video format over the following years.
What colour laser does a standard Blu-ray player use to read discs?
Correct! Blu-ray players use a blue-violet laser with a wavelength of 405nm. This shorter wavelength compared to the red laser used in DVDs allows data to be packed much more densely on the disc surface.
The answer is blue-violet, with a wavelength of 405nm. This is actually what gives Blu-ray its name. The shorter wavelength compared to the red laser in DVDs is what enables the significantly higher storage capacity.
What is the storage capacity of a standard single-layer Blu-ray disc?
Spot on! A single-layer Blu-ray disc holds 25GB of data. Dual-layer discs double that to 50GB, while newer BDXL triple-layer discs can hold up to 100GB, making them ideal for 4K Ultra HD content.
The correct answer is 25GB for a single-layer Blu-ray disc. Dual-layer discs hold 50GB, which is why most feature films are released on dual-layer media to accommodate high-bitrate video and lossless audio tracks.
Which format did Blu-ray defeat in the high-definition disc format war of the mid-2000s?
Exactly right! Blu-ray defeated HD DVD in a format war that concluded in early 2008. The turning point came when Warner Bros. announced it would exclusively support Blu-ray, prompting Toshiba to discontinue HD DVD shortly after.
The correct answer is HD DVD, backed primarily by Toshiba and Microsoft. The format war ended in February 2008 when Toshiba officially discontinued HD DVD after Warner Bros. threw its exclusive support behind Blu-ray.
What is the maximum video resolution supported by a standard Blu-ray disc (not Ultra HD)?
That’s correct! Standard Blu-ray supports up to 1080p (Full HD) resolution at up to 60 frames per second. It was a massive leap over DVD’s 480p standard definition, and helped drive widespread adoption of HD televisions.
Standard Blu-ray tops out at 1080p Full HD resolution. This was a significant upgrade over DVD’s 480p and helped establish the format as the premium home video choice — until 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray arrived to raise the bar again.
Which company originally developed the DVD format alongside JVC, Sony, and others?
Correct! Philips was one of the founding members of the DVD Consortium alongside Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi, JVC, and others. Philips had already co-developed the CD format with Sony, so its involvement in DVD was a natural progression.
The answer is Philips, which co-developed the DVD standard alongside Sony, Panasonic, JVC, and Hitachi among others. Philips had significant experience in optical disc technology, having previously co-invented the CD with Sony back in the early 1980s.
What laser wavelength does a standard DVD player use to read discs?
Well done! DVD players use a red laser with a wavelength of 650nm. This is shorter than the 780nm infrared laser used in CD players, allowing DVDs to store more data, but longer than Blu-ray’s 405nm laser which enables even denser storage.
DVD players use a 650nm red laser. For comparison, CD players use a 780nm infrared laser, while Blu-ray uses a 405nm blue-violet laser. The progression to shorter wavelengths is what has driven increases in optical disc storage capacity over the decades.
What does the acronym ‘BD-ROM’ stand for in Blu-ray terminology?
Correct! BD-ROM stands for Blu-ray Disc Read-Only Memory. It is the standard format used for commercially pressed Blu-ray movies and games, as opposed to BD-R (recordable) or BD-RE (rewritable) formats used for home recording.
BD-ROM stands for Blu-ray Disc Read-Only Memory. This is the pre-pressed, non-recordable format you find on commercial movie and game releases. The Blu-ray family also includes BD-R for write-once recording and BD-RE for rewritable discs.
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DVDs and big TVs don’t mix
Just a bad combination
The thing about DVD is that it’s locked at a certain pixel count. Bigger TVs keep pushing the boundaries on how many pixels can be displayed, and that means DVDs are just being stretched very thin, and you’re taking something that would have a lot better pixel density, and therefore a better image, on a smaller screen and blowing it up to where it’s completely exposed. From a distance, you might be able to get away with avoiding the blurriness, but if you get up and look at the screen, you’ll see how bad it looks.
DVDs on 4K TVs typically look soft, which means it’s just showing its limits. DVD is a format that dates back several decades, and while it looked good on the TVs that were around at the time, that’s not the case anymore. Home TVs are much bigger than they were back then, and that means that low resolution doesn’t cut it anymore. They had their time, but that time is over. Personally, I’d say that time has been over for a long time. I’ve since moved on to mostly grabbing 4K Blu-ray discs for my collection, but I still mix in some Blu-ray. I haven’t grabbed a new DVD in a long time, and I’ll only consider one if I see something that interests me at a thrift store.
In today’s day and age, there’s not a lot that’s actually stuck on DVD aside from some very niche titles, so there’s no reason to pick up a DVD unless you really want to. Blu-ray, even though it’s 1080p, looks much better on a 4K display than DVD does. Neither of them look as good as a 4K Blu-ray disc, but I still pick up a fair share of Blu-ray discs where I don’t pick up DVDs at all. These older discs certainly have their place, but unfortunately, I think that place is 2005.
DVDs also have another glaring limitation
Falls short across the board
Picture quality is a big deal when you’re watching something, and yes, that’s a huge reason you shouldn’t watch a DVD on a big screen TV, but I can think of another big reason. I have a Dolby Atmos sound system in my living room, and I like to get the full experience out of that system when I can. As you might’ve guessed, Atmos is something that doesn’t exist on DVD. When DVDs first came out, Atmos didn’t exist, so I can’t fault the older DVDs for not having the format, but new ones don’t either. The big reason for that is the small disc size. There’s already some compression in play for DVDs, and I couldn’t even imagine the type of compression that’d be needed to fit an Atmos soundtrack onto a disc of that size.
There are other formats for Atmos, and those are the ones I gravitate toward. The small disc size does work in DVD’s favor for price, however. It’s no secret that smaller sizes mean lower prices, and that’s a big reason why DVDs can keep the price so low. That’s also what makes them feel appealing to a wide range of people. If you can grab a DVD for about $20 less than a 4K, I can see why people jump at that. It’s definitely not for me, but if what you value most of all in a movie is the ability to watch it, that would explain why DVDs remain the most popular format, even with a couple superior formats being readily available. Again, DVDs were good for their time, but I just don’t see much of a reason to continue using them when there are better options available right next to them on the shelf.
