Consumers Cold To Blu-Ray Players

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Adding insult to injury, not only are the sales figures for Blu-ray players extremely low it seems that consumers aren’t too excited about Blu-ray either. Thanks to rgratto2 for the link.

Based on an online poll of more than 2,500 U.S. adults, Harris found that nearly nine in 10 people own a standard DVD player, but fewer than one in 10 reported owning devices available today for playing HD content, namely, HD DVD or Blu-ray disc players, Sony PlayStation 3, and the external HD DVD player for Microsoft's Xbox 360. These numbers are surprising, given that more than a third of consumers overall report owning an HDTV.

I can remember saying all along that even if one format killed the other, the winner wasn’t guaranteed success. The big battle is winning over the general public. If you ask us, high prices for players and movies are what hold Blu-ray back.
 
Yeah, High prices for players / movies and the fact that the movies are mostly all crap anyways.

Too busy playing GTAIV for BR anyway. :D
 
And Beta-Max was expensive too. Blu-ray is still relatively new so give it some time to mature and it'll be the status quo for movie format.
 
Sony should have just let consumers decide the format war rather than just buying it.
 
one of the thing i really liked about the hd dvd consortium was that they were willing to release high def versions of old hits and not charge an exorbitant amount for them. excalibur, last star fighter, top gun, and tremors for about 20 bucks a piece. on the other side of the coin, you have the blu ray and its 30 dollar price tag for oldies-but-goodies like robocop and predator. i don't know....it just doesn't seem very cool to me.
 
Without comparing results similar to this timeline in DVD's history isn't this all a bit premature. I'm sure if anyone wants to search microfiche you'll find articles where you can replaced Blu-Ray with DVD, and DVD with VHS.
 
add on the fact they had the most annoying anti consumer protection on it and it would seem the wrong format won the battle
 
HD-DVD was never Blu Ray's big competition, DVD was. Unfortunately it is still "good enough" in the eyes of most consumers.

The thing I will say in Blu Ray and HD-DVD's defense is that the prices of the players dropped much faster than DVD players did from when they were introduced over ten years ago. The bad thing is that this may not be enough, as the next best thing to DVD aside from Laserdisc (which was always an expensive niche format) was VHS. The leap from VHS to DVD was obvious, this isn't quite such an easy sell even though Blu Ray offers a significantly better image.
 
HD-DVD was never Blu Ray's big competition, DVD was. Unfortunately it is still "good enough" in the eyes of most consumers.

The thing I will say in Blu Ray and HD-DVD's defense is that the prices of the players dropped much faster than DVD players did from when they were introduced over ten years ago. The bad thing is that this may not be enough, as the next best thing to DVD aside from Laserdisc (which was always an expensive niche format) was VHS. The leap from VHS to DVD was obvious, this isn't quite such an easy sell even though Blu Ray offers a significantly better image.

I think thats the problem. That is the only advantage most consumers see. And most consumers are not properly setting up their HDTVs (i.e HDTV with composite cables) so do not see a need to upgrade to Blu-Ray. When DVD came out, it was menus, no rewinding and MUCH better image.
 
Well, for those that don't think price is an issue, I can make a 100% accurate prediction here....Sony will have "won" when you walk into a store and:

DVD player = $69.99
Blu-ray player = $89.99 - $129.99

DVD movies = $16.99
Blu-ray movies = $16.99



If Sony was smart they would ACT NOW and drop their prices to the above mentioned level and take a huge hit but, in the mean time, win over the whole DVD market. If you say "that isn't possible"...well, Microsoft BOUGHT their way into the arena taking huge losses to become a player against two huge competitors.

The choice will be a no brainer. When the choice is hi-def or standard-def with no real price difference, Blu-ray will have WON THE DAY!!! But, until then...:confused:
 
I have a 50'' plasma with HDMI / component hookups and still don't see any point going to Blu-Ray. Sky HD has three HD movie channels that cost me £18 or so a month, the same as buying one Blu-Ray movie. I never watch special features so don't care about those, and I don't have time to watch more than a couple of movies a day, there are loads more than that on. The films that aren't on TV in HD I can handle watching on DVD, it's not like it looks awful and if I don't care enough for most movies to need to see them in HD.
 
The format is just the way in which the movie is "delivered".. electronic download, DVD disc, some kind of High Definition disc format.. That's not what you should be paying for.. You should be paying for the content. Not the bits and bytes, the bitrate or the resolution, but the actual content that makes up the movie (good actors, storyline, nice speciel effects etc.). It can't cost much more to press a Blu-Ray disc than a standard DVD disc, it's just a piece of plastic.
 
I guess I am one of those that doesn't think its enough of a difference to warrant a change. I certainly don't want to repurchase my library of movies at $30 a peice and a new player.

In addition, I don't really notice a big difference between high def and standard format unless the movie is filmed digitally anyway.
 
From DVD to blu-ray or hd-dvd, it was still the same medium. No advantages except for a better picture quality. Add in DRM and purchases, and you have an immediate few disadvantages.

If a new format were released in say... a thumb drive, then I could see that spreading like wildfire. No more worries about scratched discs!!! We already have the advent of digital downloads or movie rips to hard drives, but not too portable right now.

DVD has no competition right now in the general consumer market until the price is close to equal. I haven't bought a single movie since hd-dvd lost because the prices are so high. This whole time I was thinking I was the winner in buying a dual format player, when actually I'm the loser because I choose not to afford the inflated movie prices.
 
In addition, I don't really notice a big difference between high def and standard format unless the movie is filmed digitally anyway.

This makes no sense. A properly scanned negative has much greater resolution and color depth than any HD digital format around right now.
 
I also wanted to add, that if the companies chose to pass the savings onto the consumer instead of paying off the studios, it would have made everything cheaper for us and increase mass adoption. Instead they chose to exchange money between companies - who already make millions in profit - and leave it to us consumers to bite the bullet.
 
When DVD came out, just about every one had a color tv. HD TVs are what people are buying today, but many, many people still do not have a HD tv yet. Many people prolly see no reason to upgrade to bluray when they still have 480/4:3 tv. It will prolly ramp up over the next couple of years.

It may be a while b4 buy into bluray myself, since I use my pc for all movie/tv watching, on 22" and 24" pc monitors. Also, I am not overly impressed by the quality difference of the two formats(Bluray>DVD) on 22" and 24" screens up close. Bluray is better, but I will not spend more than $40 or so on a drive+software for my pc to play Bluray movies.
 
My HTPC holds a lot more high def content than a blue ray. Rent and Rip. If they can bring the price down to the aforementioned prices then buying wouldn't sound so bad.
 
LOL, I was interviewed for that poll (or a similar one) in the mall about 6 weeks ago. They wanted to make it clear that Blueray was the only HD format left. There were probably 4 prompts from the pollster asking if I knew that. Wanted to know how many HD sets, how many DVD players, SAT or cable, DVRs, etc. I told them no way on BD, not likely to buy, etc. I'm waiting on solid state modules or immediate downloads to a purpose built set top box. (tivo or apple tv style).
 
I think it is WAY to early to say anything about this...I mean honestly.

I bet 8 out of 10 people from that study didn't even realize a HD format existed, cause if they thought something was better I bet you that they would buy it even at a higher price.

I think once the GP actually becomes knowledgeable about the fact that there is a better (if not more expensive) format that adoption will follow.

Thats just my thoughts. I definitely don't think it will be as fast as VHS to DVD as everyone else stated because the leap is not nearly as big, even though I think it is a leap.
 
LOL, I was interviewed for that poll (or a similar one) in the mall about 6 weeks ago. They wanted to make it clear that Blueray was the only HD format left. There were probably 4 prompts from the pollster asking if I knew that. Wanted to know how many HD sets, how many DVD players, SAT or cable, DVRs, etc. I told them no way on BD, not likely to buy, etc. I'm waiting on solid state modules or immediate downloads to a purpose built set top box. (tivo or apple tv style).

I was also interviewed but unsure why they informed me that BluRay was the only HD medium in the begining of the interview (was repeated) then I was later asked if I had a HD-DVD player, and if it was stand alone or xbox addon. They seamed rather upset that I had both (add on and stand alone HD DVD) but had no intention to buy a PS3 or Bluray until they price came down on both players and media.
I got the impression that they didn't want me to answer that I had a HD-DVD when I was asked. Didn't get the point of that.
 
HDTV hasnt even sunk in yet, so how is Bluray going to? Its absurd to expect bluray to compete with DVD when only a small percent of people have HDTV's.

HDTV's and Bluray are the future, who knows when that future is, but eventually HD is going to replace SD. In 2009 when TV goes all digital then maybe there will be a significant bump in HD awareness, hopefully HD signals will be free like they should be instead of only with very expensive add-on packages with expensive digital cable which just further pushes HD into a niche market for the rich.
 
Cost (player and especially the movies) and DRM is what's holding it back. Sales have also slowed since their is no longer competition, which means the prices drops have stopped, the great rebate deals for 5 or movies included have dried up. Though I have an awesome HD-DVD collection that I got on the cheap now. So I am set for awhile. Also releasing your format when it really truly wasn't finalized was a bad move. That's some bad press you don't want as it scares the consumer away from buying, as they are afraid they will get stuck with a lemon.

I will probably pick up a PS3 this fall when Iron Man comes out in Blu-Ray. I didn't get a PS2 till way late in its lifecycle as I needed another DVD player and my kids wanted to do DDR and (ugh) Kingdom Hearts.

I think it will finally start catching on with "Joe Public" when a upgradeable/fully compliant player is at the $199 price point and new releases are $19.99. That is if the economy hasn't completely tanked by then.
 
HDTV hasnt even sunk in yet, so how is Bluray going to? Its absurd to expect bluray to compete with DVD when only a small percent of people have HDTV's.

HDTV's and Bluray are the future, who knows when that future is, but eventually HD is going to replace SD. In 2009 when TV goes all digital then maybe there will be a significant bump in HD awareness, hopefully HD signals will be free like they should be instead of only with very expensive add-on packages with expensive digital cable which just further pushes HD into a niche market for the rich.


Not so sure about that, TV over the "airwaves" is supposed to go all digital, but cable/satelite boxes will still have analog output for as long as enough of their customers still have regular tv's to make it financially feasible. That could be a number of years past 2009.
 
^^^ No edit button. HDTV's are the future, but it could take longer than expected for people to buy into them. TV's can sometimes last a very long time, and as long as cable/satelite/converter boxes will still let people watch tv on their old sets, they may not be inclined to buy into HD sets.
 
i think we can leave drm out of the equation when contemplating why people haven't adopted high def disk formats en masse because most consumers (wal-mart, target, comsumers) don't know what drm is anyway.
 
Except you CAN find blu-ray disks under 25 dollars or lower if you look . Keep on getting the "I have to pay $30-40 for blu-ray movies" here when for the most part it's cheaper if you actually make an effort to look for a bargain or a sale.
For most of the newer DVD movies coming out the prices are still around the $20 mark so if i can get a blu-ray for $5 more i'll go for it.
 
I think we need to go to Toshiba and say they need to re-initiate the HD-DVD, but this time we call it nuDVD
 
between $5000 and $6000 worth of DVDs is a damn good reason I am not upgrading or "switching" over... coupled with the fact that I have a $400 DVD player that holds 400 disks and upscales like a champ.. why would I bother

Samsumg HL-T6187s TV and a 7.1 sourround system

I am their target, or at least who they are expecting to make the switch..

I'll switch over when Sony releases a 400 disk blu ray changer or when I build my next comp that is going to be my gaming rig and jack it into the TV..

I got a buddy with a 73" DLP and about $10 grand worth of audio in his entertainment room, he still hasn't bothered either..

both of us just don't see the "MUST HAVE NOW" factor with HD dvd.. just kinda of a <shrug> and as others have mentioned.. price per disk is a little off the wall right now for any concieved added value.

here soemthing that is telling (single disk players):

cheapest stand alone blu ray player by store:
Wal-mart: 369.99 or 399.99 for PS3 <--- very important, even wally mart is expensive
best buy: 399.99 or 399.99 for ps3
amazon: ~$284 for possible refurb, questionable play back, then goes up from there

Newegg: blu ray comp drive 129.99 or 139.99

I think most people are looking at this and going "wtf" with these prices..

$200 to $250 non-sale prices is when it will start taking off.. and $15 new releases on tuesdays like most of us are used to :p
 
Except you CAN find blu-ray disks under 25 dollars or lower if you look . Keep on getting the "I have to pay $30-40 for blu-ray movies" here when for the most part it's cheaper if you actually make an effort to look for a bargain or a sale.

ya, but why am I going to rebuy movies I already have on DVD that are being upscaled?

but ...20 secs of looking..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_6874792_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000230521&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=15HZKWAEVZ6YXWHCR89N&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=397746901&pf_rd_i=193640011
 
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Over 50% of America is still on dial up.

That number is even greater for folks with non-HDTVs.

Just about EVERYONE saw the benefit of DVD to VHS...
Even if you've got an HDTV, unless the thing is over 50" (narrowing that slice of consumers down even more), you aren't going to notice a damn thing, unless someone points it out to you.


Next-gen "disks" will fail IMO.
 
I was just in Circuit City and they had a "demo" of the "difference" between DVD and Blue-Ray "side by side"

It made the DVD look completly unwatcheable.... like a worn out VHS.

Even regular DVDs look better than the Blue-Ray portion of the "demo".. the Blue-Ray "demo" was all grainy.

It kinda looked like they were using something that was encoded at the lowest possible quality at 320x240 and then blown up on about a 42" widescreen TV.

Hehe.. we'll just lie to the consumers and hope they buy into it..... IDIOTS!!!!!
 
personally i wouldnt buy a stand alone blu-ray player. considering you can spend 400 easy MSRP on a Sony BRP, why would you buy one when you can get a PS3 for the same MSRP. even at 300 using the sony style save $100 off first purchase with a sony CC your still better off getting a PS3 which has full Audio codec processing, unlike the $400 stand alone players which usually lack DTS-HD MA.

im going to finally purchase a PS3 in june or july, when the MGS4 bundle comes out, 80gb ps3 with MGS4, a DS3 controller for 500 (400 after sony style rebate) and im mainly getting it for blu-ray because i like my Xbox360 for game but i do like some of the exclusives for the ps3 so thats an added bonus for getting a ps3 as a blu-ray player.

but yea for most people price and need is still in question over stand alone players. most people dont have hd tv's yet so theres not a huge need. and then the price ontop of that is crazy high when you consider the ps3 has Blu-ray, only an idiot would buy a stand alone player unless they could aford to have both a ps3 and a stand alone player just to limit the wear the ps3 drive would take.

if BR players were around $150 they would have much better market penetration. and as a resault higher movie sales.
 
A must have movie ending up Bluray only, with no DVD release, might garner a few extra player sales. But, I can't see any studio, including Sony's own, losing that many sales and rentals with a bone head move like that.
 
They couldn't afford to. Bluray going down would have taken the PS3 with it.

Not really. There have been a few optical media based consoles in the past that used proprietary disc and did fairly well. It wouldn't have been any different than what sony did for the psp, the UMD.
 
Over 50% of America is still on dial up.

That number is even greater for folks with non-HDTVs.

Just about EVERYONE saw the benefit of DVD to VHS...
Even if you've got an HDTV, unless the thing is over 50" (narrowing that slice of consumers down even more), you aren't going to notice a damn thing, unless someone points it out to you.


Next-gen "disks" will fail IMO.

You sure about the dial up thing? I'm not sure I buy that.... 90 percent of everyone I know that has internet access has broadband now.... and they aren't all techies.
 
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