Will Blue-ray take over from DVD?

[admin_exported]

Is it the general view that blue-ray will take over from standard DVD is the same way as DVD did with VHS or will it just be confined to home movie enthusiasts?

Or is there another technology coming down the track to replace everything?

 

[Alsone]

It might but they're going to have to bring disc prices down.

I've noticed that since the format war was won, Blu Ray discs have gone up from £6-10 to £16-20 for many titles. Some new titles are £20-30.

I was planning on buying a Blu Ray player in the next month but having seen the disc prices today, I'm now reconsidering. Since purchasing DVD's for £2-3 for the last 6 months, I'm simply not prepared to pay more than £10 for a disc anymore.

 

[RodhasGibson]

Couldn"t agree more Al especially when a few months back I got the superb Pioneer dvlx50 player which upscales right up to 1080p from the remote,it"s gonna last me quite a while yet thats for sure.

 

[professorhat]

Alsone:I've noticed that since the format war was won, Blu Ray discs have gone up from £6-10 to £16-20 for many titles. Some new titles are £20-30.
Where on earth were you seeing them at that price ever? Since I've been looking at Blu-Ray discs when I got my PS3 in March last year, they haven't really changed much in price, other than now you can get some good offers on 3 for 2 at various places which brings the price to a more realistic £10 per disc, which is about the figure I would pay as well. However, I will definitely be making an exception for The Dark Knight when that's released for £14.99 - that's going to be a genuine home cinema treat and will be worth every penny in my opinion.
If you look around on t'internet, you can also find quite a few Region 0 discs from the US much more reasonably priced than their UK equivalents. I agree though, to go mainstream, the high street needs to stop charging the ridiculously high prices they currently do, especially when their internet stores are generally much cheaper.

 

[Anonymous]

Can a PS3 play multi region discs?

 

[professorhat]

swampydrill:Can a PS3 play multi region discs?
Nope, fraid not. It can however play Region 0 discs (otherwise knows as Region Free) as they have no region.

 

[Anonymous]

Actually they have all three regions, so technically they are 'multi-region'.

 

[Anonymous]

Well I certainly won't be helping the take-over.

As long as DVD's are available at current prices and continue to be produced, I'll be buying them.

I don't find the quality difference between BD and standard DVD compelling enough to spend the money on BD.

<whisper>I even get just as much pleasure watching non-HD programming as HD and never say to myself, 'if only the picture was better'.

The quality difference between VHS and DVD was, of course, considerable: throw in the relative longevity of the two media and poor old VHS didn't stand a chance.

And then, of course, there are new BD rivals skulking in the wings..........

 

[professorhat]

BillB:And then, of course, there are new BD rivals skulking in the wings..........
Such as?

 

[Anonymous]

See the 'Alternative disc technologies' link here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc

 

[Anonymous]

As all blue ray players play dvd disc's I'm in no rush.I do not want a format that the film companies could kill off stone dead like hd dvd if another format or downloading becomes more tempting.

When blue ray becomes the norm and you start seeing them being sold in tesco's at under £50 then you can say Mr Joe public has accepted them.....oh and of course the price of the discs being the same as dvd.

The difference between dvd and vhs was huge in all respects .....whilst the difference between dvd and blue ray only relates to quality of picture,....... size of case , track access , special features ect are all pretty much comparable.

I like quality as much as the next man but I have to say at present I am more than happy with the quality that dvd's produce, as are the majority....and in any case hd displayed on anything under 40ins is all a bit acedemic anyway.

alan.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Even the Blu-ray Disc Association doesn't expect BD to overtake DVD sales until 2012 - both formats will co-exist for many years yet.

I'm not buying many Blu-rays yet - thought there are some real tempters arriving this Xmas - but renting a lot via Lovefilm: great way to experience high-definition excellence without the high cost (and yes, despite falling prices, I still think BD titles are generally still too steep).

 

[Andy Clough]

Agree with Clare on the pricing issue. Spotted a rack of BD discs in Sainsbury's the other night while doing the shopping and they were all £19.97. At least HMV are doing a two for £30 offer, but still not cheap.

 

[Alsone]

professorhat:Alsone:I've noticed that since the format war was won, Blu Ray discs have gone up from £6-10 to £16-20 for many titles. Some new titles are £20-30. Where on earth were you seeing them at that price ever?

Whilst the format war was on I kept getting special offer emails through from HMV and play.com if I remember rightly. DVD's were being churned out at £2.99-4.99 for many top titles and there were many old releases on Blu Ray for £6.99-£9.99. Since the format war ended, I checked play.com and HMV web stores yesterday and couldn't find a disc under £16.99 for any major movie (although I did only check the front pages in fairness).

It was bound to happen really, but having been fed up with high disc prices for years and then finally seeing some cheer with cheap DVD's and reasonably priced BR, I'm no longer prepared to pay £16.99 (+) for a disc. £6.99-9.99 seems far more reasonable to me and I'm more than prepared to hold off buying BR discs until prices reach that level.

I intend to put Freesat HD up in the next month or so and like Clare said, there's always Lovefilm.

 

[Anonymous]

Simply put there is no money to be made from DVD hardware anymore. BD is the future for manufacturers for at least 5 to 10 years until downloads become viable. Buy BDs in the knowledge that the format is going to be around for a long time.

Also the picture and sound quality is significantly superior to DVD. As an owner of over 1000 DVDs I just cannot bring myself to to watching SD anymore. Its dreadful and the sound sucks.

 

[professorhat]

BillB:See the 'Alternative disc technologies' link here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc
Mmmm, I can't see the movie studios suddenly pulling out of Blu-Ray and going with any of those other formats though can you? After the HD-DVD / Blu-Ray fiasco, introducing another new format would be suicidal for the public image of any new format and would effectively spell the end of any high definition disc format.

 

[Anonymous]

Bullseye:Simply put there is no money to be made from DVD hardware anymore. BD is the future for manufacturers for at least 5 to 10 years until downloads become viable. Buy BDs in the knowledge that the format is going to be around for a long time. Also the picture and sound quality is significantly superior to DVD. As an owner of over 1000 DVDs I just cannot bring myself to to watching SD anymore. Its dreadful and the sound sucks.

As Blue ray players can play dvd disc's it follows that they will both be around for the same period of time.....a long time, and the only issue really is "when do I want invest in the new format?". Whatever happens you are still going to be able to play your dvd's

As for image and sound quality.....I use an infocus screenplay 7210 displaying at about 68ins diagonal from an arcam dv137 at 720p and at present I am more than happy with the results......in fact IMHO the results you get are more down to how well the film was shot in the firstplace than anything else and these issues I suppose are going to be there whatever system or format you are using.

As for sound quality......the arcam does a damm fine job through my cyrus and b&w set up and I honestly cannot fault the sound quality.

For your picture quality to be dreadful and the sound to suck you must have one hell a system!.....so do you want to sell off all your dvd's cheap then?...I bagsee first pick.

Alan.

 

[roger06]

DVD will, of course, wither and die. However its extinction will not be caused by BD but by downloads. As broadband / cable speeds increase and products like Apple TV become better then people will be able to easily download / stream DVD quality movies.

As I've stated previously - much to the disagreement of many here ! - that Blu-ray is mainly a method of keeping disc sales ahead of downloads..

And when will people stop writing 'Blue' ray ??

 

[Alsone]

Personally Roger I hate downloads and will never download films. Thats not to say others won't of course, but for me the internet is simply too unreliable connection wise, and I like to have physical silver discs I can do anything with.

I don't like files that are DRM restricted or burn to plain chemical DVD's / CD's which inevitably break down and fail over time due tio ageing of the chemicals - you simply can't beat an aluminium pressed disc.

I do download some music now but only what I can't get on CD, I simply hate those white CDR's on the side!

 

[roger06]

Me too - I was given a £25 iTunes voucher a couple of years ago that still has about 20 quid left on it !

My wife likes to record films off the telly and burn them on DVD - I don't even like doing this as you're only getting basic sound.

But if movie downloads take off like music downloads (for the unwashed masses of course, not us quality loving peeps here !

) then it'll hurt or kill DVD - 'tis all I'm saying...

 

[Anonymous]

I should clarify in comparison to BD on the same set up standard DVDs look dreadful in comparison. I have a Panasonic 50" Plasma 1080p/24, Onkyo 605, Panasonic BD30 and PS3. Speakers are B&W 5.1 setup. By no means am I going to replace all of my DVDs but I will upgrade my favourite movies up to BD.

 

[Anonymous]

Alsone:

Personally Roger I hate downloads and will never download films. Thats not to say others won't of course, but for me the internet is simply too unreliable connection wise, and I like to have physical silver discs I can do anything with.

I don't like files that are DRM restricted or burn to plain chemical DVD's / CD's which inevitably break down and fail over time due tio ageing of the chemicals - you simply can't beat an aluminium pressed disc.

I do download some music now but only what I can't get on CD, I simply hate those white CDR's on the side!

I'm with you ...I love all those shiney little tings!

Alan.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Bluray will take over from DVD at some point, but when this will be will depend on many things. The pricing of Bluray discs is determined by the retailers - looking on Play.com you'll find Iron Man on Bluray for £17.99, with the DVD coming in rather close at £14.99. This should be a no brainer, and it's far from the only example. Look on Movietyme.com and you'll find many region free Blurays for £10-12, and some below. Anybody who wants to show BD in a negative light regarding pricing will always pick the most expensive places, which are usually supermarkets and high street media retailers. Find the cheapest places and it's a very different story.

Cast your mind back a couple of years and many of you, if not all, were paying £15-20 for a new release DVD. I know I paid £18 for Shaun Of The Dead. It was well worth it as I knew I'd get my moneys worth out of it, and it's definitely worth the same on BD when it appears.To replace your most watched films, I can't see why people are moaning about an average £15 price. Lesser watched films are worth £10 or less to me, but any I watch on a vaguely regular basis are worth the money for audio alone, without taking into account the picture quality.

Those of you who're opposed to the current high street pricing should speak with their wallets - order online from more reasonably priced outlets rather than a quick glance when you're buying the groceries.

I suppose all this comes down to the value the individual puts on something, but usually many people tend to be a little unreasonable in their estimations. Let's not forget that Bluray has fallen in price far quicker than DVD did within the first few years of it's release. This can only mean good things for the future of BD.

 

[Anonymous]

Has nobody mentioned the computer aspect?

When computer manufacturer's begin putting BD drives in their computers it will give BD a massive boost. People will realize the significance when they see how much data a BD can store over a DVD. This will drive down the cost of BD blank media (still way too high for any plausibility) and the format will begin to feel like the norm.

At the moment many people will consider it as an extravagance, a luxury, and many people won't understand the science behind it especially when they have a perfectly good DVD collection. Given the times we are in, unless they bring the cost of the hardware down, I think BD will be a specialist thing for a few years to come.