What is blue ray and why is it cheaper to buy the ps3 for blue ray then the actual blue ray player?

I think you're talking about a blu-ray disk, which is a high-density optical disc format for the storage of digital media, including high-definition video.

Not sure I can answer the second half of your question though, sorry!

TheAnswerer made a pretty clear point. Its Sony's new foray into data discs. It can hold several times the normal amount of a normal DVD disc. Its currently competing with HD-DVDs, mostly supported by microsoft. And a ps3 is $500-600, and a seperate player is upwards of a thousand, so a ps3 is cheaper. Sony most likely have this pricing to boost ps3 sales.

Blu-ray Disc


Blu-ray Disc

Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson). The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. The format offers more than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs and can hold up to 25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc. This extra capacity combined with the use of advanced video and audio codecs will offer consumers an unprecedented HD experience.

While current optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVD±R, DVD±RW, and DVD-RAM rely on a red laser to read and write data, the new format uses a blue-violet laser instead, hence the name Blu-ray. Despite the different type of lasers used, Blu-ray products can easily be made backwards compatible with CDs and DVDs through the use of a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical pickup unit. The benefit of using a blue-violet laser (405nm) is that it has a shorter wavelength than a red laser (650nm), which makes it possible to focus the laser spot with even greater precision. This allows data to be packed more tightly and stored in less space, so it's possible to fit more data on the disc even though it's the same size as a CD/DVD. This together with the change of numerical aperture to 0.85 is what enables Blu-ray Discs to hold 25GB/50GB.

Blu-ray is currently supported by more than 180 of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer, recording media, video game and music companies. The format also has broad support from the major movie studios as a successor to today's DVD format. In fact, seven of the eight major movie studios (Disney, Fox, Warner, Paramount, Sony, Lionsgate and MGM) are supporting the Blu-ray format and five of them (Disney, Fox, Sony, Lionsgate and MGM) are releasing their movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format. Many studios have also announced that they will begin releasing new feature films on Blu-ray Disc day-and-date with DVD, as well as a continuous slate of catalog titles every month. For more information about Blu-ray movies, check out our Blu-ray movies section which offers information about new and upcoming Blu-ray releases, as well as what movies are currently available in the Blu-ray format.


http://www.blu-ray.com/info/

A new format now competing with HD.

baisicly what the first answer said.The second part though is that most blu-ray players are faluty but the PS3 is not and the ps3 is a gaming system with a wide variety of games and it doubles as a blu-ray player. Also that's the way sony its most important backer wants it. Because without sony they wouldn't have gotten blockbuster and walmart which are it's prime three backers.

I think it's actually because Sony suffers somewhat of a loss when they sell a new PS3.
ie- The production cost of a Playstation 3 is actually higher than the selling price.

My guess is that they do this because the lower price helps potential buyers take that first step and because they can expect to make that money back on PS3 related products (such as games and controllers etc).

And I think that other Bluray Players try to set their selling price higher than their production costs to make a profit upfront.