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Registered: March 14, 2007 | Posts: 1,777 |
| Posted: | | | | In my personal opinion, I think Blu Ray could eventually replace DVD. I also think its equally likely that Blu Ray becomes some sort of transition technology between DVD and the next big thing. As such, it would never really catch on with the mainstream. At this point, that seems more likely to me as over 90% of the disk buyers seem perfectly content with SD. By the tiime that balance significantly shifts, its inevitable that some new technology will be introduced. |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 4,596 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting mdnitoil: Quote: In my personal opinion, I think Blu Ray could eventually replace DVD. I also think its equally likely that Blu Ray becomes some sort of transition technology between DVD and the next big thing. As such, it would never really catch on with the mainstream. At this point, that seems more likely to me as over 90% of the disk buyers seem perfectly content with SD. By the tiime that balance significantly shifts, its inevitable that some new technology will be introduced. I agree 100%. While Blu Ray looks nice, I can't see the masses, here in the US anyways, investing the $1,000s necessary (Blu Ray player, HD TV, cables, audio equipment and overpriced Blu Ray titles) to make the switch from SD to HD...especially with the economy as it is. Ain't gonna happen. Blu Ray will end up being a luxury for the middle to upper-middle classes. | | | My WebGenDVD online Collection |
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Registered: March 14, 2007 | Posts: 1,777 |
| Posted: | | | | I think what a lot of enthusiasts fail to recognize is that Blu Ray isn't some kind of leap in home entertainment for many consumers, merely a refinement to the existing disk based technology. As such, a lot of consumers figure they'll get around to it someday, if ever. Couple that with advancements in video-on-demand offered by cable systems and I think we're going to start seeing a further decline in disk purchases. The video-on-demand quality isn't competitive, but that's not what the bulk of people care about. They care about convenience and not having to store the thing. Portability and flexibility in media will end up trumping quality, or at least take a significant bite out of the pie. |
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Registered: June 27, 2007 | Posts: 2,049 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting mdnitoil: Quote: I think what a lot of enthusiasts fail to recognize is that Blu Ray isn't some kind of leap in home entertainment for many consumers, merely a refinement to the existing disk based technology. As such, a lot of consumers figure they'll get around to it someday, if ever. Couple that with advancements in video-on-demand offered by cable systems and I think we're going to start seeing a further decline in disk purchases. The video-on-demand quality isn't competitive, but that's not what the bulk of people care about. They care about convenience and not having to store the thing. Portability and flexibility in media will end up trumping quality, or at least take a significant bite out of the pie. We'll just have to wait and see. With current TV's Blu Ray is the maximum quality that you can get out of them. I haven't heard anything yet about TV's with a higher resolution. I just notice at my company that Blu Ray disc sales climb steadily.. | | | Check out my Youtube channel under https://www.youtube.com/user/alittleolder |
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Registered: June 27, 2007 | Posts: 2,049 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting mdnitoil: Quote: I think what a lot of enthusiasts fail to recognize is that Blu Ray isn't some kind of leap in home entertainment for many consumers, merely a refinement to the existing disk based technology. As such, a lot of consumers figure they'll get around to it someday, if ever. Couple that with advancements in video-on-demand offered by cable systems and I think we're going to start seeing a further decline in disk purchases. The video-on-demand quality isn't competitive, but that's not what the bulk of people care about. They care about convenience and not having to store the thing. Portability and flexibility in media will end up trumping quality, or at least take a significant bite out of the pie. You mentioned an important word "enthusiasts". That proves my point. I too think that Blu Ray is gonna remain a thing for enthusiasts. Like Laserdisc was. You pay more money but you get better quality. You only talk about the Picture side of it. The sound is now a lossless copy of the theatrical presentation. I don't think that there will be any more advancements in that area. Now we already have 7.1 with 7 speakers or even 9 with the Yamaha System where they have additional front speakers. Who would be willing to put more speakers than that in their room. So soundwise we are at the end of the line. Picturewise I think there might be some improvements possible but as I said: BLU RAY IS THE LASERDISC OF THE 21st CENTURY: Meaning an superior system that will (possible) never penetrate the mass-market | | | Check out my Youtube channel under https://www.youtube.com/user/alittleolder |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: ![High Rating](/images/Ratings/Small/1.png) | Posts: 1,911 |
| Posted: | | | | People WILL buy HDTV's as the analoig cutoff date continues to approach. When they do, they'll look at a bundle HDTV + Blu-ray player.
Wait til this holiday season when Blu-ray will be pushed extremely hard at the general populous! | | | Signature banned: Reason out of date... |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: ![Great Rating](/images/Ratings/Small/2.png) | Posts: 3,321 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting Stephan.klose: Quote: Quoting Mark Harrison:
Quote: I can't believe people are arguing about this. The difference in quality is purely subjective and will very from person to person based on equipment, equipment calibration, screen size, seating distance, personal expectations/biases, eyesight, movies being compared and on and on and on.
There is no right or wrong answer. HD is an improvement over SD in most cases. How much of an improvement can't can quantified. It's up to each person to decide if the improvement is worth the extra cost or not.
It wasn't my intention at all to create this discussion when I created this thread. I wanted to know if people think if Blu Ray will ever be as mainstream as DVD. or (like the title said) will it be the Laserdisc of the 21st century. A superior product, that not a lot of people buy. I wasn't intending to pick on you (or anyone else) with my post. I just think the subject of is DVD -> Blu-ray is as big a jump as VHS -> DVD is a silly one. There is no right or wrong answer. In fact I think DVD -> Blu-ray (or HD DVD) is more impressive than the jump from VHS. It's just that the topic was starting to go back and forth and I wanted to see the thread get back on the main topic, since the side discussion, while interesting, was starting to go in circles. I think it's an interesting subject and don't want to see it get derailed. | | | Get the CSVExport and Database Query plug-ins here. Create fake parent profiles to organize your collection. |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 4,596 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting NewEnglander: Quote: People WILL buy HDTV's as the analoig cutoff date continues to approach. When they do, they'll look at a bundle HDTV + Blu-ray player. No they won't. The mass majority here in the US will get the coupons for the digital-to-analog converter boxes just like I did and they'll continue to use their analog TVs until they can possibly afford the Blu Ray luxury. | | | My WebGenDVD online Collection | | | Last edited: by Bad Father |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: ![High Rating](/images/Ratings/Small/1.png) | Posts: 1,911 |
| Posted: | | | | That's why HDTV sales continue to rise, right? | | | Signature banned: Reason out of date... |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: ![Highest Rating](/images/Ratings/Small/4.png) | Posts: 20,111 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting 8ballMax: Quote: No they won't. The mass majority here in the US will get the coupons for the digital-to-analog converter boxes just like I did and they'll continue to use their analog TVs until they can possibly afford the Blu Ray luxury. Or if you already subscribe to Cable TV, you won't even need to bother with a converter box...at least with Charter. | | | Corey |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: ![High Rating](/images/Ratings/Small/1.png) | Posts: 1,911 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting Katatonia: Quote: Quoting 8ballMax:
Quote: No they won't. The mass majority here in the US will get the coupons for the digital-to-analog converter boxes just like I did and they'll continue to use their analog TVs until they can possibly afford the Blu Ray luxury.
Or if you already subscribe to Cable TV, you won't even need to bother with a converter box...at least with Charter. Well, Comcast, the largest cable tv provider in the U.S., is starting analog bandwidth reclamation this month. So, loads of people are going to be losing channels on the analog side and if they want those channels, they're going to need one of those boxes... Or a TV with a QAM tuner and hope that Comcast leaves those chnanels in the clear. Look for the other cable companies to reclaim bandwidth as well. | | | Signature banned: Reason out of date... |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: ![Great Rating](/images/Ratings/Small/2.png) | Posts: 3,321 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting Katatonia: Quote: Quoting 8ballMax:
Quote: No they won't. The mass majority here in the US will get the coupons for the digital-to-analog converter boxes just like I did and they'll continue to use their analog TVs until they can possibly afford the Blu Ray luxury.
Or if you already subscribe to Cable TV, you won't even need to bother with a converter box...at least with Charter. That's correct. The new law of only for over-the-air broadcasting. So it shouldn't affect anyone with cable or satellite. At least that's how I understand it. | | | Get the CSVExport and Database Query plug-ins here. Create fake parent profiles to organize your collection. |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: ![Highest Rating](/images/Ratings/Small/4.png) | Posts: 20,111 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting NewEnglander: Quote: Look for the other cable companies to reclaim bandwidth as well. Perhaps, but so far Charter has announced nothing like that. I have one HDTV and 4 standard TV's, all hooked up to cable. I won't be upgrading those old sets until forced to do so. | | | Corey |
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![DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrant DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrant](/images/PUD.PNG) | Dan W | Registered: May 9, 2002 |
Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 980 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting Stephan.klose: Quote: Quoting mdnitoil:
Quote: I think what a lot of enthusiasts fail to recognize is that Blu Ray isn't some kind of leap in home entertainment for many consumers, merely a refinement to the existing disk based technology. As such, a lot of consumers figure they'll get around to it someday, if ever. Couple that with advancements in video-on-demand offered by cable systems and I think we're going to start seeing a further decline in disk purchases. The video-on-demand quality isn't competitive, but that's not what the bulk of people care about. They care about convenience and not having to store the thing. Portability and flexibility in media will end up trumping quality, or at least take a significant bite out of the pie.
You mentioned an important word "enthusiasts". That proves my point. I too think that Blu Ray is gonna remain a thing for enthusiasts. Like Laserdisc was. You pay more money but you get better quality. You only talk about the Picture side of it. The sound is now a lossless copy of the theatrical presentation. I don't think that there will be any more advancements in that area. Now we already have 7.1 with 7 speakers or even 9 with the Yamaha System where they have additional front speakers. Who would be willing to put more speakers than that in their room. So soundwise we are at the end of the line. Picturewise I think there might be some improvements possible but as I said:
BLU RAY IS THE LASERDISC OF THE 21st CENTURY: Meaning an superior system that will (possible) never penetrate the mass-market They are already working on the next hi-def format for the home. I'm not sure what they will call it or if it will make it to the mainstream but it is a 4Kp video system. It has 4X the pixels of 1080p. Once it reaches this level, I'm sure it will remain the standard for years to come. Just thought you would like to know. | | | Dan | | | Last edited: by Dan W |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 4,596 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting NewEnglander: Quote: That's why HDTV sales continue to rise, right? We're not talking about HDTV sales alone here...we're debating whether Blu Ray will become the Laserdisk of the 21st Century. Sure, HDTV sales are rising as prices drop. One can get a 20" - 26" LCD HDTV for $350 - $500.00 but when coupled with the cost of additional equipment to go Blu Ray, I don't believe "the masses" will be clammoring at the doors of retailers at Christmas buying up Blu Ray. Regular Joe Shmoe has more pressing matters at the moment, like filling up his gas tank to get to work. If Regular Joe can continue to purchase SD DVDs with more special features for $15 less than the same Blu Ray title then he'll continue to do so. If he needs to replace his worn out DVD player he can do so for $79.99. Why would Regular Joe pay $300 - $700 for a Blu Ray player and pay more for movies when he's completely satisfied with DVD? Where's the incentive? Pretty picture alone doesn't cut it. | | | My WebGenDVD online Collection |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation: ![High Rating](/images/Ratings/Small/1.png) | Posts: 1,911 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting 8ballMax: Quote: Quoting NewEnglander:
Quote: That's why HDTV sales continue to rise, right?
We're not talking about HDTV sales alone here...we're debating whether Blu Ray will become the Laserdisk of the 21st Century. Sure, HDTV sales are rising as prices drop. One can get a 20" - 26" LCD HDTV for $350 - $500.00 but when coupled with the cost of additional equipment to go Blu Ray, I don't believe "the masses" will be clammoring at the doors of retailers at Christmas buying up Blu Ray. Regular Joe Shmoe has more pressing matters at the moment, like filling up his gas tank to get to work. If Regular Joe can continue to purchase SD DVDs with more special features for $15 less than the same Blu Ray title then he'll continue to do so. If he needs to replace his worn out DVD player he can do so for $79.99. Why would Regular Joe pay $300 - $700 for a Blu Ray player and pay more for movies when he's completely satisfied with DVD? Where's the incentive? Pretty picture alone doesn't cut it. You do realize you can still get a free blu-ray player when you buy an HDTV, right? You think that's going to stop anytime soon? It's not. | | | Signature banned: Reason out of date... |
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