THE wider choice of Blu-ray film titles and cheaper devices will help more Chinese consumers to enjoy them, according to an industry alliance yesterday.

Compared with traditional DVD format, Blu-ray Disc (BD) format provides users high-definition image quality of at least four times in pixel number. Also some device makers sell Blu-ray players with 3D function.

The average price of a BD media player has dropped almost by half to below 1,000 yuan (US$156) in the past year. The price is now affordable to most Chinese families who have big-screen LCD (liquid crystal display) TV sets at home, Zhao Guizhi, director of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) China, said.

A BD player used to cost more than 2,000 yuan or more last year, which was regarded as a luxury electronics device by Chinese buyers.

Overseas film companies, including Sony Pictures and Walt Disney, plan to launch more than 100 latest Hollywood titles in the BD format in China next year. By the end of 2012 there will be more than 300 titles of authorized BD titles in China, an annual 50 percent jump, according to BDA.

Hualu, the biggest China-brand Blu-ray disc publisher, said it will publish 70 titles in 2012.