Let’s face it, with the introduction of HDTV, it soon became clear that high definition movies would be too much for the DVD disc to handle as they require much more space. It was only a matter of time before a more capable format was developed, enter Blu-ray players.
We went from VHS to DVDs and now times have changed again, Blu-ray players are the new must have gadget. But, far from being a short term fad, we’ve taken a look at, now that HDTV has become common place in so many homes, why Blu-ray players are now the gadget of choice packed with clever features that make the process of viewing and recording easier and better than ever.
To make things easy for you, we’ve take a look at Blu-ray players and their key features to help you choose the right one.
As the DVD is slowly being replaced by Blu-ray players, it’s set to soon be the top choice for viewing movies at home, and what with the price of Blu-ray players being much more affordable than previous years, now is as good a time as any to get with the times and jump on the Blu-ray band wagon.
Blu-ray players are evolving all the time and they can do much more than play your average movie. You can opt for full fat or feature-skinny. Blu-ray players take high definition entertainment to the next level, an evolution of the DVD player, showcasing premier sound and pictures.
Since their introduction in June 2006, Blu-ray players have come on leaps and bounds, showing regular improvements. Modern Blu-ray players are now reliable, fast and sell for much less than when initially introduced. For streaming internet content, they can offer Wi-Fi connectivity/Ethernet, automated notification of firmware updates, BD Live and Bonus View features, internal decoding of lossless audio formats, stellar HD picture quality, DVD upscailing, picture controls and a bunch of other clever features.
Better still, there are some exciting new features on the latest models, like 2D-to-3D conversion, Blu-ray 3D, dual HDMI outputs, social media apps, online streaming media services, wireless or USB keyboard support, mobile device control, and 4K upscailling. Incredible hey? There is so much choice out there that deciding on the right model isn’t always easy.
Surprisingly, just one Blu-ray disc holds the equivalent of 5 DVDs or 35 CDs. It uses a narrower (blue) laser beam spot, shorter wavelength but is the same size as a DVD disc.
Blu-ray players are growing in popularity but don’t fret, you can still play your collection of DVDs on a Blu-ray player and it actually gives your DVDs an impressive high definition look.
Some new models have the BD Live profile which enables extra content via Wi-Fi or an ethernet port. When the player is linked to the internet you may be able to download extra content such as exclusives and previews depending on the pre-recorded Blu-ray disc.
The recorders are so clever that if your computer has a Blu-ray burner it can be used to transfer high def camcorder recordings to blank Blu-ray disc media.
You’ll need an HDMI cable to enable connection with your HDTV and player. Then with the use of a single lead you can then receive amazingly clear, digital audio and video.
If you have a 3D TV or you’re planning on purchasing one soon then it may be worth looking for a 3D-compatible player like the Sony BDP-S790B. The 3D Sony BDP-S790B Blu-ray player is even part of our sale at just £189.99
This models main strengths lie in the superb quality HD picture and sounds and can only be compared to some of the top end, expensive models. It can also convert 2D images from your Blu-rays or DVDs into 3D, comes with Dolby True HD and DTS-HD decoders, and streaming media services. Finally of course, it has Built-in WiFi and 4K upscaling for the latest ultra HD 4k TV’s
Stylish in design, the player can be used to view and play music/video from your home PC. For those of us that spend most of our time online, you can even “socialize” what you watch over Facebook and Twitter but it doesn’t end there, check out the list of the Sony BDP-S790B’s features here.
Not all Blu-ray decks will play 3D movie discs but models like the Panasonic DMRBWT735EB 3D Blu-ray Disc Recorder with Twin Freeview HD Tuner 1TB, will allow you to watch 3D movies and burn your own Blu-ray discs, giving you the option to archive TV.
So, join in the Blu Ray revolution and take a look a their endless possibilities. And of course as it’ nearly the season to be jolly why don’t you buy someone special something special, like a Blu-ray player or many of our other leading gadgets we stock from the biggest and best brands.
It’s been 65 years since we first opened our electrical store in Rose Lane in Norwich. So, 65 years on we’ve taken a look back at what happened in the year it all began, 1948.
There were loads of historical, social and cultural things that defined 1948 but we’ve taken a look at some of the more everyday and fun things that you might not have realised share the same birthday with us.
1948 saw the first supermarket open in the UK and the sale of the first tape recorder. The first radio controlled airplane took flight and the first Nikon camera was released. Those of us who love going to the cinema might be interested to know that 1948 was the first year that popcorn was widely sold on a mass scale.
Still alive and kicking today, Scrabble first entered our homes and since hundreds of thousands of families have spend many a night arguing over whether a word is actually in the dictionary. And of course we mustn’t forget this as the year that the frisbee was invented!
Porsche was founded and, not quite as glamorous but equally important some might say, so was Velcro. Only a quarter of households in the UK had electricity in 1948 and a million homes owed in a TV, compared to 5,000 just five years earlier. It was also the year that professional wrestling premiered on prime time TV.
George Orwell’s, now famous, 1984 novel was published and the break up of feuding brothers led to the founding of separate competing companies Adidas and Puma.
1948 was a leap year and also the year that the ‘Speedee Service System’ we know and love was introduced into McDonalds. This shaped the modern fast food restaurant as we know it.
Food was still being rationed in 1948 and reminiscent of the recent horse meat scandal, people had no choice but to eat horse meat and whale meat, albeit this time knowingly.
A dozen eggs cost 12.5p in 1948.
Though WWII was over the country was still ravaged from the war and when it was first suggested that the Olympic Games would be resume many debated over whether this was appropriate as so many people around Europe were living in ruins and poverty. It was however decided that The Games would go ahead in London although the athletes had to bring their own food and any extra food was donated to British hospitals. We didn’t build any new facilities to house The Games but Wembley Stadium had survived the war fairly well so was to be the venue for the 1948 Olympic Games.
The Games turned out to be a great success and you could say it went some way to boosting the country’s moral after the horrors of the war years.
1948 was also part of the years that would become known as the baby boomers. Many babies were born in the post war years as the soldiers headed home to expand their families and enjoy the freedoms they had fought for.
The first transistor radio was made and sold in 1948 and since then we’ve seen an explosion of technological advancements in the shape of cars, internet, the mobile phone and of course the TV.
For the last 65 years we have brought the very best in technology to our customers and we promise to do so for years to come.
Family-run electrical company Gerald Giles last night launched its 65th anniversary celebrations with a champagne reception for invited guests. Hundreds of the firm’s most loyal customers were sent an invitation to enjoy champagne and canapes at its showroom in Ber Street, Norwich. There was an opportunity to look around the latest technology on display, including Sony’s 4K LED television, offering picture quality four times better than HD, and Miele kitchen appliances. Paul Giles, 48, whose father Gerald started the business in the city’s Rose Lane in 1948, said: “Some of our longest-serving customers can remember me in a pram.” A big birthday weekend will run from today until the end of tomorrow with special discounts on offer. From 10am to 2pm tomorrow there will be Miele cookery demonstrations in store; there will also be a prize draw for a Sonos Play1 music system.
We’ve come a long way in 65 years so with our 65th anniversary coming up we’ve taken a look back at how technology has changed over the last six and a half decades and celebrate the top of the range gadgets we have today.
The first transistor radio was made and sold in 1948 and since then we’ve seen an explosion of technological advancements in the shape of cars, internet, the mobile phone and of course the television. There are so many gadgets we could write about, from Polaroid photography introduced in 1953 to microwave ovens and pocket calculators introduced in 1970, but we’ve chosen to take a closer look at arguably, aside from the internet, THE best and most influential invention of the 20th century, the TV.
When the TV was first introduced it was met with scepticism and no one really believed, or could of predicted, just how attached we would become to our TVs. But, TV has changed the way we view the world and everyone in it. It has led the way for other technologies like watching programming on computers and mobile phones and pushed manufacturers and broadcasters to continually find new ways to bring bigger and better entertainment to the small screen. Plus research shows that there are now more TVs in a household than there are people!
Starting out as carthode ray tube TV sets showing black and white images, the invention of the TV can’t really be attributed to just one person but inventors such as Vladimir Zworykin and John Baird all contributed towards the first TV sets that led the way to the modern ones that we are used to today.
Although it seems like the TV has come a long way in the last 65 years, and of course it has, it’s only really been the last few decades that have seen a spurt in its evolution. The economy after WWII was strong and paved the way for a boom in television production in the late 40’s and consumers could choose from two models, the table top and the console. After this, the mid 50’s saw Eugene Polley invent the very first remote control for the TV although it would be some years until most people had one.
Colour TV was then introduced in the UK in 1967 but again it would be some time until most families actually had a colour TV. Bizarrely Doctors began legally advertising cigarettes in the 60’s too!
By the end of the decade there were an estimated 200 million television sets around the world and 1978 was the last year Black and White TVs were made.
The 80’s was quite a quiet year for innovation of the TV but it was the decade that accessories like VCRs and game consoles like the Nintendo were first introduced. Viewers could, for the first time, record their favourite programmes and watch them whenever they liked.
The 90’s saw some of the original cathode ray tubes replaced by LCD and Plasma TVs for a much clearer picture, but these were still very much still in the experimental phases. TVs now had additional features like sleep timers and parental controls.
DVD players were introduced around 1996 but much like the VCR it took almost a decade for sales to gain momentum. At the start of the noughties less than 5% of homes had a DVD player but a decade later over 80% of homes owned one.
The mid noughties saw advances in Plasma and LCD technology pave the way for the thinner TVs were used to. With a better picture and bigger screen the thin TVs also saved a lot of space in the room compared to its chunky predecessors. The home cinema experience was at the forefront of designs and surround sound entered our homes. 2009 saw the beginning of the digital switchover which meant all analogue TVs would go black and networks would only broadcast programmes via a digital signal. It also saw the release of Blu-Ray players giving us a whole new way of watching movies with outstanding picture quality
The last five years has seen the TV go online via high speed internet connections, enabling Video streaming plus digital recoding and of course HDTV, 3D TV and in the last few months 4KTV (Or UltraHD), which has 4 times the picture quality of HD.
So, 65 years on and we have a fantastic selection of some of the best TV’s from the biggest names around. From 55″ 3D Full HDTVs to compact TVs for your kitchen or home office, all our TVs carry a 12 month guarantee. Plus our Sony and Panasonic TVs come with a 5 year parts and labour warranty – completely free!
We also have a fantastic range of home cinema kits and gadgets to help you make the most of your TV such as Off the Wall brackets to fix your TV to the wall or sleek TV stands. Check out our range of TVs online or speak to one of our in store experts to find out which TV is best for you.