It's a question that might sound simple, as the basic answer is, yes most Blu-ray players can play DVD discs. But when you dive a little deeper things start to get more complex. There isn't just one type of DVD disc and the way these are played back, in the same format or upscaled, also varies. No, DVD players cannot play Blu-ray discs. DVDs are written and read with a red light beam (650nm wavelength). Instead, Blue-ray discs use a blue light beam (405nm wavelength), which involves a newer generation technology. Disc players have lasers to read the pits imprinted on Blu-ray discs and DVDs. DVD players have only a red laser to read DVDs. Blu-ray discs also have region codes, but they are a little different to DVD region codes. Europe is Region B and the USA is in Region A. If the European disc is region encoded then it will not play on your Blu-ray player. Not all Blu-ray discs are region encoded however, so check the title first as it may be fine to play on your player. With Blu-ray here for the long haul it’s important to understand a few things about what makes the best Blu-ray player software for your computer. Video & Audio: Quality Matters The best Blu-ray player software can read a variety of discs, not just Blu-ray. Look for one that can also play DVDs, CDs and rewritable discs. Sometimes the blu ray laser goes bad. It will read dvds ,but not blu rays. Currently experiencing it with not loading 4ks but plays bluray n dvds fine. Smh. Its alaways something. A 500$ player should last longer than 2 years or 500 movies.ugh It supports CD, DVD and various audio and video formats for versatile entertainment. It's 4K upscaling capability provides enhanced display for lower-resolution videos. The USB port of this LG Ultra HD Blu-ray player lets you play content from an external storage device. See all Blu-ray Players. $199.99. CyBbV. All Blu-ray players can play DVDs. What's more, they'll upscale them to 1080p, so your treasured collection of discs will look better than ever. Blu-ray decks will also play CDs. The disc support is extensive but not quite universal, and while this player can handle CD, SACD, DVD, or Blu-ray (Full HD, 3D and 4K variants), it can’t play the lossless layer on a DVD-Audio disc. Best of the Best. Panasonic. DP-UB820 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player. Check Price. Vivid Images. Outshines the competition with the best 4K display and even improves basic 4K TVs. Outstanding image quality. Powerful processing shines on higher-end 4K TVs and projectors. Offers 4 options for color mapping, depending on the output device. Blu-ray is a media format designed to replace the DVD format. Blu-ray uses a different type of laser to read the discs, allowing more data to be stored on a single disc. As Blu-ray can store more data, it can provide a much better picture (Hi-def) than the DVD format as well as better audio. Few computers have built-in optical drives, so external ones are the alternative for reading, writing, and playing back disc media. These Blu-ray drives are not the same as Blu-ray players—while they can play Blu-ray movies on your computer, they’re also designed to write and read other kinds of data stored on Blu-ray discs.

do blu ray players play dvds