Is Blu-Ray here to stay?

[JayDee]

I'm asking this question a little late as I already have a BD player under my Christmas tree waiting to be opened in just under two weeks. However, I've been reading some articles saying that the BD format is not doing nearly as well as expected due to the economy and also because many people claim that they cannot see a difference. I find the second point hard to believe as I find the upgrade in picture quality to be blatantly obvious.

I guess what I am most worried about is that this format will die and I will be stuck with an obsolete player that I just flushed good money away on. The good news is that it seems to be more popular than LaserDisc ever was. Personally, I don't think Blu-Ray will ever become the "only" format and replace DVD's entirely, but I would like to see it stick around for those people that own HD sets and want the option to buy a higher quality version of a movie for a few dollars more.

What are your thoughts?

[HankRaptor]

I have seen the future and it has nothing to do with Blu-Ray.

Streaming Video, be it, Roku, Apple TV.. Xbox Live.. As the streaming technology gets better IE: more content available on instant viewing on Netflix.. WHY OWN MEDIA? Store this crap pay for it.

That said, this wont happen tommorow. It will be a gradual change. You are safe with your player for a little while..

[JayDee]

I have seen the future and it has nothing to do with Blu-Ray.

Streaming Video, be it, Roku, Apple TV.. Xbox Live.. As the streaming technology gets better IE: more content available on instant viewing on Netflix.. WHY OWN MEDIA? Store this crap pay for it.

That said, this wont happen tommorow. It will be a gradual change. You are safe with your player for a little while..

This won't happen until ISP's stop capping the amount you can download. Right now most ISPs in my area will cut you off if you download more than 100GB of data in one month (the official limit is 60GB, but that just gets you a warning).

Personally if the future is digital distribution then I want nothing of it. Part of my enjoyment of owning a movie is having it on my shelf to display my collection to other movie fans when they come over. Something about paying money to own a tangible object makes me feel better. Also, I don't think I'll ever trust storage devices enough to not crash and lose all my data. Sure I can probably re-download it, but that takes time and again, will run up against these "download caps" that are being set by ISP's.

But I guess only time will tell.

[leo8877]

The Dark Knight sold 600,000 BR on it's first day of release.

I don't think it's picking up at fast as DVD did, but BR is not going to pass.  The media just needs something else to poop on.

EDIT TO ADD:  Downloads are the future, but it's not going to be as soon as they make it sound like.

[The Grue]

People can't see a difference?  Are they blind?

[Jeff]

People can't see a difference?  Are they blind?

I certainly can.

I  the rays which are blu.

[Daehawk]

I cant afford BD. Heck the only DVD player we have is in my computer because it only cost like $23.

[Arkon]

People can't see a difference?  Are they blind?

No I am not blind, and in general I do not see a difference, at least not a big enough difference to justify the cost.  There have been one or two Blu Ray movies I have seen where it did look a good bit better but most I have seen I had to be told if it was Blu Ray or DVD.

[Jeff]

People can't see a difference?  Are they blind?

No I am not blind, and in general I do not see a difference, at least not a big enough difference to justify the cost.  There have been one or two Blu Ray movies I have seen where it did look a good bit better but most I have seen I had to be told if it was Blu Ray or DVD.

I've heard people say this kind of thing before, and it boggles the mind. If you can't see a major difference between 480p, and 1080p, then I don't know what to say. I guess people's eyes work differently or something.

[The Grue]

While I can agree that older movies brought to Blu Ray might not be that much of a step up, any of the new cartoons or even non-animated movies look so much better.  I'm sorry you can't see the difference because it is pretty amazing.

[Isgrimnur]

I believe Blu-Ray will be a marginal success.  That being said, I wouldn't be caught dead investing in whatever they say will be the next storage vehicle.  Blu-Ray will get a boost as we proceed to a PC storage media as well.  There are already BR drives for PCs.  It will progress like DVD did to be a burnable storage medium.  It may never be as successful as DVD has been, but I believe it will become a mature product.  There are still people in this country on dial-up that do not want to upgrade to broadband and the current infrastructure can not handle an unchecked growth in streaming content.

[CeeKay]

People can't see a difference?  Are they blind?

I certainly can.

I  the rays which are blu.

+2.  if it's only on DVD I won't buy it.  Here's a good comparison of Blu Ray vs DVD using the Die Hard series for those who want a point of reference.

[morlac]

People can't see a difference?  Are they blind?

No I am not blind, and in general I do not see a difference, at least not a big enough difference to justify the cost.  There have been one or two Blu Ray movies I have seen where it did look a good bit better but most I have seen I had to be told if it was Blu Ray or DVD.

I've heard people say this kind of thing before, and it boggles the mind. If you can't see a major difference between 480p, and 1080p, then I don't know what to say. I guess people's eyes work differently or something.

I think people see the difference but to them it is not a $400 difference so they say meh.

I'll get one via a PS3 at some point most likely but am in no hurry.

[jblank]

People can't see a difference?  Are they blind?

No I am not blind, and in general I do not see a difference, at least not a big enough difference to justify the cost.  There have been one or two Blu Ray movies I have seen where it did look a good bit better but most I have seen I had to be told if it was Blu Ray or DVD.

I've heard people say this kind of thing before, and it boggles the mind. If you can't see a major difference between 480p, and 1080p, then I don't know what to say. I guess people's eyes work differently or something.

I agree 100%. My worst looking Blu-Ray titles are vastly better looking than any of my DVD's.

[Daehawk]

Also we dont know why people buy movies these days. We just get what we want on pay per view.

[Jeff]

Also we dont know why people buy movies these days. We just get what we want on pay per view.

Are you being serious here? This is a really odd thing to say, IMO.

[Rumpy]

No, I doubt it. It seems more like a luxury item, and I doubt most people really care as long as they have a DVD player, which is good enough for most people. Plus there's the fact that Blue-Ray simply isn't descriptive in what it is. At least with HD-DVD, people knew that it was the next step up from DVD, but Blue-Ray sounds more like Death-Ray.

[Rich]

I don't see a huge difference between BR and say my Oppo that upscales the DVD's, that said the audio on the BR's was the selling point to me.  I want more 7.1 TrueHD audio but it seems like even on BR New Line is the only ones who use that format all the time.

[Huw the Poo]

I couldn't care less about BR since DVD looks fine to me.  However, the next time we buy a TV it will be HD, and the next time (or the time after that) we buy a new whatever-player, then BR and the media might be cheap enough that that's what we'll go for.

I think this applies to anyone who hasn't already upgraded to BR, whether they give a shit about the format or not.

[leo8877]

Also we dont know why people buy movies these days. We just get what we want on pay per view.

Are you being serious here? This is a really odd thing to say, IMO.

I actually buy less movies now than I used to.  I had a couple hundred DVDs and I only have like 10 BluRays.  Only movies that I HAVE to get, do I buy.

[Huw the Poo]

Also we dont know why people buy movies these days. We just get what we want on pay per view.

Are you being serious here? This is a really odd thing to say, IMO.

I actually buy less movies now than I used to.  I had a couple hundred DVDs and I only have like 10 BluRays.  Only movies that I HAVE to get, do I buy.

Yeah, I don't think it's odd either.  We so rarely get the chance to watch films these days that we're quite happy to rent instead of buy.  Like leo8877, we only buy a film we absolutely love these days.

[Louis Cypher]

Watch BR on a Sony XBR, It looks almost fake

[Lordnine]

I think it really depends on the size of your set.  I have a 32 inch 720p and from 8 feet away I can tell a difference but it’s not ground breaking.  Comparatively a 45+ 1080p set from 10 feet away is WOW. 

From what I’ve read the biggest hold up for Blu-Ray and HD sets in general is most people can’t “fit” the widescreen sets in their current entertainment centers.  Additionally, even though widescreen sets have more onscreen room they still appear smaller to most people because they are not as tall and non widescreen content doesn’t fill the whole screen without being stretched. 

[Jeff]

Also we dont know why people buy movies these days. We just get what we want on pay per view.

Are you being serious here? This is a really odd thing to say, IMO.

I actually buy less movies now than I used to.  I had a couple hundred DVDs and I only have like 10 BluRays.  Only movies that I HAVE to get, do I buy.

That I can understand. I was more puzzled at the statement "we don't know why people buy movies these days". Is it not obvious why people buy movies? It just seemed like a strange thing to say. To me that's like asking why do people buy music CD's when there's radio to listen to.

[Daehawk]

Also we dont know why people buy movies these days. We just get what we want on pay per view.

Are you being serious here? This is a really odd thing to say, IMO.

Huh? Ya. We've never bought a single movie. Why? You watch a movie and thats it for a long while. When you want to see it again you record it to your DVR and watch it any time. We used to rent them years ago when VHS was king of course. But owning one seems a waste of money and space.

[Ironrod]

Streaming Video, be it, Roku, Apple TV.. Xbox Live.. As the streaming technology gets better IE: more content available on instant viewing on Netflix.. WHY OWN MEDIA? Store this crap pay for it.

+1. It will eventually be relegated to collectors and hobbyists...among whom I don't number. I have collected record albums, cassette tapes, CDs, and VHS tapes. I eventually abandoned and divested of all of them. I am not going to get suckered into DVDs and Blu-Ray disks for the reasons that Jeff Jones mentioned. There are maybe 10 movies in the history of movies that I would want to watch once a year at the most. Why would I want more than those few disks contributing to the general clutter?

[Daehawk]

The last movies i bought were all VHS..all original Star Treks, All the original Star Wars trio and the V miniseries.

[Rumpy]

I agree with Daehawk. I have a movie or two, but that's it.

[EngineNo9]

Same here.  I used to buy movies fairly frequently, but over the last few years I have only bought a couple and don't see that changing anytime soon.  I've found that I rarely watch a movie enough times to make it worthwhile unless it is an absolute classic (in my eyes). 

[jblank]

Streaming Video, be it, Roku, Apple TV.. Xbox Live.. As the streaming technology gets better IE: more content available on instant viewing on Netflix.. WHY OWN MEDIA? Store this crap pay for it.

+1. It will eventually be relegated to collectors and hobbyists...among whom I don't number. I have collected record albums, cassette tapes, CDs, and VHS tapes. I eventually abandoned and divested of all of them. I am not going to get suckered into DVDs and Blu-Ray disks for the reasons that Jeff Jones mentioned. There are maybe 10 movies in the history of movies that I would want to watch once a year at the most. Why would I want more than those few disks contributing to the general clutter?

The key word is eventually. We're a good 5-7 years from this happening en masse due to the ISP's becoming more and more stingy with their bandwidth. Even then, the bandwidth required for full HD is going to be pretty substantial and it probably isn't going to look as good as Blu-Ray due to compression needing to much more robust.

Is Blu-Ray here to stay? Yes, for at least the next several years it will be the HD standard for media. It's adoption rate is further along than DVD was at this time and with more and more HDTV's being sold, it's only going to increase in sales. Buy with confidence, I do, but even if it disappeared tomorrow, it's not like the media is going to turn to dust. I've got over 170 Blu-Ray discs and I am far from worried.

[mori]

Also we dont know why people buy movies these days. We just get what we want on pay per view.

Are you being serious here? This is a really odd thing to say, IMO.

I actually buy less movies now than I used to.  I had a couple hundred DVDs and I only have like 10 BluRays.  Only movies that I HAVE to get, do I buy.

Yeah, I don't think it's odd either.  We so rarely get the chance to watch films these days that we're quite happy to rent instead of buy.  Like leo8877, we only buy a film we absolutely love these days.

I bought maybe 6 DVDs. I own a PS3 but will never buy a Blu-Ray movie. What is the point? Just more media that will be replaced a few years down the line.

[Canuck]

I bought maybe 6 DVDs. I own a PS3 but will never buy a Blu-Ray movie. What is the point? Just more media that will be replaced a few years down the line.

Ehh?  Now THAT is a really odd thing to say.  What the point in doing anything then?  What's the point in buying Mass Effect when I know there's going to be a Mass Effect 2?  What's the point in buying a new computer when they're going to come out with one that's twice as good for half the price in 2 years time?  What's the point in starting a new hobby when I know I'm eventually going to become interested in something else?

[Sarkus]

I don't think that people who buy a lot of movies realize that the industry as a whole is on the decline.  DVD sales have been declining, and while Blu-Ray is improving, it's not replacing the DVD sales drop off.  For example, the biggest selling DVD movie ever was FIVE years ago.  Even huge DVD+Blu-Ray titles today like the new Batman don't threaten that title for sales.  People just aren't buying as many movies, probably because the availability on pay per view, cable, DVR's, etc., makes the need to own not as important.

That said, Blu-Ray is probably a safe investment now, for the reasons already mentioned. 

[mori]

I bought maybe 6 DVDs. I own a PS3 but will never buy a Blu-Ray movie. What is the point? Just more media that will be replaced a few years down the line.

Ehh?  Now THAT is a really odd thing to say.  What the point in doing anything then?  What's the point in buying Mass Effect when I know there's going to be a Mass Effect 2?  What's the point in buying a new computer when they're going to come out with one that's twice as good for half the price in 2 years time?  What's the point in starting a new hobby when I know I'm eventually going to become interested in something else?

What is the point of buying Batman The Dark Knight today when there will be a special special edition a year from now? Another better special edition two years from now? Another even better special edition on a better format 3-5 years from now? Are you going to buy every edition? The studios must love consumers like you.

[YellowKing]

I guess what I am most worried about is that this format will die and I will be stuck with an obsolete player that I just flushed good money away on. The good news is that it seems to be more popular than LaserDisc ever was. Personally, I don't think Blu-Ray will ever become the "only" format and replace DVD's entirely, but I would like to see it stick around for those people that own HD sets and want the option to buy a higher quality version of a movie for a few dollars more.

The format's not going to die anytime soon, because it's the only physical media option for high-definition at the moment. The only significant threat to it is downloadable/streamed HD content, but I see that as being years away in terms of mainstream adoption. Like you I don't see it as becoming the primary media format - we're still only at 23% penetration for HDTV in this country, which means 3/4 of the nation can't even use it if they wanted to. However, I do believe it will stay around for the foreseeable future.

I'm personally not jumping on the Blu-Ray bandwagon right now, but only because the price of admission is too high. I can't afford a player or a PS3, as much as I'd love to own some Blu-Ray titles. For now I'm satisfying my thirst for HD content through downloadable/streamed rentals. If I were you, I'd stop worrying and enjoy my new player. 

[JayDee]

I bought maybe 6 DVDs. I own a PS3 but will never buy a Blu-Ray movie. What is the point? Just more media that will be replaced a few years down the line.

Ehh?  Now THAT is a really odd thing to say.  What the point in doing anything then?  What's the point in buying Mass Effect when I know there's going to be a Mass Effect 2?  What's the point in buying a new computer when they're going to come out with one that's twice as good for half the price in 2 years time?  What's the point in starting a new hobby when I know I'm eventually going to become interested in something else?

What is the point of buying Batman The Dark Knight today when there will be a special special edition a year from now? Another better special edition two years from now? Another even better special edition on a better format 3-5 years from now? Are you going to buy every edition? The studios must love consumers like you.

Not the same thing.

The special special edition at its core will contain the same cut of the same movie. So I'll only need to buy it once, now, and can safely ignore all future versions. Mass Effect 2 will be a completely different game and experience than Mass Effect 1. A new computer will improve performance and offer me a different experience than my old system. The new "special special" edition of the Dark Knight will still offer me the exact same movie. Sure, the packaging might be snazzier, but the experience is basically the same.

[JayDee]

I guess what I am most worried about is that this format will die and I will be stuck with an obsolete player that I just flushed good money away on. The good news is that it seems to be more popular than LaserDisc ever was. Personally, I don't think Blu-Ray will ever become the "only" format and replace DVD's entirely, but I would like to see it stick around for those people that own HD sets and want the option to buy a higher quality version of a movie for a few dollars more.

The format's not going to die anytime soon, because it's the only physical media option for high-definition at the moment. The only significant threat to it is downloadable/streamed HD content, but I see that as being years away in terms of mainstream adoption. Like you I don't see it as becoming the primary media format - we're still only at 23% penetration for HDTV in this country, which means 3/4 of the nation can't even use it if they wanted to. However, I do believe it will stay around for the foreseeable future.

I'm personally not jumping on the Blu-Ray bandwagon right now, but only because the price of admission is too high. I can't afford a player or a PS3, as much as I'd love to own some Blu-Ray titles. For now I'm satisfying my thirst for HD content through downloadable/streamed rentals. If I were you, I'd stop worrying and enjoy my new player. 

Oh, I'm going to enjoy it.  You're right that I shouldn't be overly concerned about the format dying out since it is the only option for HD movies at the moment. I'm just curious as to what the future of the format holds. I'm sure something will come along to replace it. I just wasn't sure what it will be since I don't think picture quality can really improve much more to make going to a new format worth it. Digital distribution makes sense, but it's at least 5-10 years away due to bandwidth issues that need to be addressed. But even when digital distribution goes "mainstream" I hope there is still a physical format option for people like me that actually like to buy a tangible object. I'll probably use digital distribution primarily to rent, but buy things I want to own in a physical format.

[Ironrod]

I bought maybe 6 DVDs. I own a PS3 but will never buy a Blu-Ray movie. What is the point? Just more media that will be replaced a few years down the line.

Ehh?  Now THAT is a really odd thing to say.  What the point in doing anything then?  What's the point in buying Mass Effect when I know there's going to be a Mass Effect 2?  What's the point in buying a new computer when they're going to come out with one that's twice as good for half the price in 2 years time?  What's the point in starting a new hobby when I know I'm eventually going to become interested in something else?

What is the point of buying Batman The Dark Knight today when there will be a special special edition a year from now? Another better special edition two years from now? Another even better special edition on a better format 3-5 years from now? Are you going to buy every edition? The studios must love consumers like you.

Not the same thing.

The special special edition at its core will contain the same cut of the same movie. So I'll only need to buy it once, now, and can safely ignore all future versions. Mass Effect 2 will be a completely different game and experience than Mass Effect 1. A new computer will improve performance and offer me a different experience than my old system. The new "special special" edition of the Dark Knight will still offer me the exact same movie. Sure, the packaging might be snazzier, but the experience is basically the same.

I thought my vinyl album collection was the last word, too. Ziggy Stardust hasn't changed since I bought it in 1973, has it?

10 years from now you'll want the holographic remaster of Dark Knight, because who watches flatscreen video anymore?

[JayDee]

I bought maybe 6 DVDs. I own a PS3 but will never buy a Blu-Ray movie. What is the point? Just more media that will be replaced a few years down the line.

Ehh?  Now THAT is a really odd thing to say.  What the point in doing anything then?  What's the point in buying Mass Effect when I know there's going to be a Mass Effect 2?  What's the point in buying a new computer when they're going to come out with one that's twice as good for half the price in 2 years time?  What's the point in starting a new hobby when I know I'm eventually going to become interested in something else?

What is the point of buying Batman The Dark Knight today when there will be a special special edition a year from now? Another better special edition two years from now? Another even better special edition on a better format 3-5 years from now? Are you going to buy every edition? The studios must love consumers like you.

Not the same thing.

The special special edition at its core will contain the same cut of the same movie. So I'll only need to buy it once, now, and can safely ignore all future versions. Mass Effect 2 will be a completely different game and experience than Mass Effect 1. A new computer will improve performance and offer me a different experience than my old system. The new "special special" edition of the Dark Knight will still offer me the exact same movie. Sure, the packaging might be snazzier, but the experience is basically the same.

I thought my vinyl album collection was the last word, too. Ziggy Stardust is still the same album it was when I bought it in 1973, isn't it?

10 years from now you'll want the holographic remaster of Dark Knight, because who watches flatscreen video anymore?

You're right. But holographic Dark Knight is a completely different experience from flatscreen Dark Knight, so to me it's a different product. A special special edition that is released a year from now will not be holographic, or anything comparable.

[Purge]

Nothing catches trout like the german light infantry.

Oh, and HD video rocks. Paying more for it than DVD does not. We DVD share with our families so it's not so expensive. Buying BD movies have limited viewability.