A VCR/Blu-ray combo is a multiplex or converged device, convenient for consumers who wish to use both VHS tapes and the newer high-definition Blu-ray Disc technology. When Blu-ray Disc players went on the market in mid-2006, the final major Hollywood motion picture on VHS ( David Cronenberg's ''

A History of Violence ''A History of Violence'' is a 2005 action thriller film directed by David Cronenberg and written by Josh Olson. It is an adaptation of the 1997 graphic novel of the same title by John Wagner and Vince Locke. The film stars Viggo Mortensen, ...

'') had already been released. Nonetheless, some homes still had a large supply of VHS tapes due to its nearly-30 year history as a consumer device. New-old stock of blank VHS tapes are still available for purchase at some stores, and tapes still appear to be manufactured as of December 2022. Very few VCR/Blu-ray combos were produced, some of which played additional formats including

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

VCD Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as Compact Disc Digital Video) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard optical discs. The format was widely adopted in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the ...

, CD,

SD card Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanDis ...

(and with it, MMC cards, since SD sockets are compatible with MMC cards), and/or

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...

media. Some models were also able to play BD Live media if connected to the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. Most of these formats are carried over from standalone Blu-ray Disc players, as most Blu-ray Disc players are designed to play DVDs and CDs in addition to Blu-ray Discs, and many Blu-ray Disc players come equipped with BD Live capabilities and/or SD card slot to have a still picture

slideshow A slide show (slideshow) is a presentation of a series of still images ( slides) on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals or they may be manu ...

or show personal home movies. These devices were among the only

VCRs A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recordin ...

(alongside some later model VCR/DVD combos) to be equipped with an

HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controlle ...

port for

HDTV High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

viewing upscaling to several different types of resolutions including

1080p 1080p (1920×1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the screen ve ...

1080i 1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the scre ...

, and

720p 720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcast ...

See also

References

See also