FAQs

Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc, is the name of the next-generation optical disc format. The format was developed to handle high-definition (HD) audio-visual content.

The format provides, at minimum, five times more capacity than today’s DVDs. The unprecedented storage capacity of 25 GB (single-layer) and 50 GB (dual-layer) enables the disc to deliver entertainment in full high-definition quality.

The name comes from the blue-violet color of the laser beam that reads the data from these discs. (DVDs and CDs use red and infrared lasers, respectively.)

The primary difference is that the Blu-ray Disc includes higher resolution video and audio. In particular, The Concert Live material as well as many of the bonus features are presented in full 1080 high definition resolution. DVDs are not capable of displaying high definitions.

Likewise, the Blu-ray Disc includes a master quality surround sound audio stream – Dolby TrueHD. A Dolby TrueHD stream is bit for bit the same as an uncompressed PCM stream; however, it takes up less space (much like a Zip file). This extra space has been used to encode the video at as high a bandwidth as can be fit. The DVD contains a compressed surround audio stream (Dolby Digital).

The Blu-ray Disc also includes lyrics under the subtitle feature.

The Concert Live material was all shot in high definition, although there are a few shots within The Concert Live that were pulled from the standard definition version and uprezzed for production reasons.

While different discs will contain different features, all Blu-ray discs allow for superior video and audio quality, with the capability for full HD resolution (1920 x 1080p) as well as uncompressed surround sound audio.

High storage capacity means there is often room for additional content and special features.

Unlike DVDs, you can bring up the menu system without stopping the main program.

Blu-ray technology allows a level of interactivity with the content and artist not possible to date. For example, some titles may allow you to seamlessly control multiple viewing angles of a concert, call up related information about an artist, song or venue, scroll through song lyrics, get artist insights, and more.

This advanced interactivity, combined with the ability for Blu-ray players to connect to the Internet, will enable new innovative features such as downloading extras, updating the disc content via the Web, and watching live broadcasts of special events.

Blu-ray Discs can be played in any Blu-ray player, including the PlayStation 3. They cannot be played in a regular DVD player.

Yes, but the video resolution will be scaled down to meet your television’s capabilities and thus you will not be watching the high definition picture.

– A high definition television (720P, 1080i, or 1080P resolution).
– A Blu-ray player connected to an appropriate processor/receiver via analog component audio/video cables or digital HDMI cable.
– A surround sound processor or receiver with HDMI or analog multi-channel inputs.
– A good surround speaker setup (six speakers properly placed).

All Blu-ray Disc players should play traditional DVDs.

It depends on the content. Different footage looks better when encoded in different codecs and at certain bit rates. We always strive to provide the highest possible video quality. Typically, we encode using either MPEG2 and AVC (H.264).

Typically, Blu-ray titles feature uncompressed LPCM stereo and surround sound mixes as well as a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix (for use with SPDIF connections).

Uncompressed audio allows the music to be heard as it was intended to be – in full fidelity and with the proper aural spacing as originally intended by the artist and audio engineers. Indeed, the LPCM audio options on Blu-ray Discs feature higher fidelity than traditional CD quality audio. On some titles, in order to fit a higher fidelity (e.g. 96khz/24-bit) surround sound audio stream we may use a lossless codec instead.

Most Bijan Norouz Worldwide Music titles default to the uncompressed LPCM Stereo stream so you will need to change the audio selection from the disc menu if you want to hear the other audio streams (like surround sound).

That depends on the title.
Typically, the entire main program is presented in full 1080p high definition. The general exception to this would be when a show is filmed with multiple cameras, not all of which are high definition. In such cases a few camera angles in the final edit will appear either in standard definition or upsampled to high definition. An example of this can be seen with ‘Incubus – Alive at Red Rocks’, where the darker audience shots were captured using standard definition cameras and so have a slightly lower resolution.

For some titles, it is not uncommon for the bonus features to be in standard definition. We believe it is better to include such content than omit it simply due to the lower resolution.

No, you do not need an Internet connection for basic playback of Blu-ray Discs. An Internet connection is only needed for value-added features such as downloading new extras, connecting to the artist’s Web site, or other similar features that will be available in the future. Not all discs will contain these features.

1080i refers to the resolution of a picture with interlaced (i) fields which fit together to form one full frame, producing an image which has a TV-like quality. 1080p refers to the resolution of the picture with progressive (p) multiple full frames, producing an image which appears more like film.

HDMI delivers uncompressed high-definition video and multi-channel digital audio signals through a single cable to compatible components, producing the best Blu-ray Disc experience possible.