Will 2010 (Finally) Be Blu-ray's Year?

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
PC World ponders the question…”will 2010 finally be Blu-ray’s year?” My question is this…with movie prices coming down, an abundance of inexpensive Blu-ray players and the PS3 finally getting a healthy price cut, how can it NOT be Blu-ray’s year?

A year ago, I wrote a similar Blu-ray blog with a nearly identical title--simply swap out "2009" for "2010." At the time, sales of Blu-ray players had been disappointing, although falling hardware and disc prices were inspiring some analysts to predict a brighter '09 for the high-def movie format. A year has passed, and Blu-ray's outlook has improved--although its long-term outlook remains murky.
Click to expand...
 
Well 2009 was my year. All of my new movie purchases and rentals went BD this year.
 
i finally bought my first bluray... it comes down to pricing. I wasnt going to pay $400 for a player for my computer... they are $50 now :D

$20 for a brand new movie though is fine especially if I enjoyed it.
 
I'll buy a BD-ROM drive for my computer in a few years when they get to reasonable prices. I recently got a Samsung drive that does everything under the sun save for Blu-ray, and I don't watch Blu-ray movies, so I don't have any need right now. Maybe once Rage comes out...
 
Sales might be better in 2010 but it won't be the breakthrough the industry is hoping for. I have a PS3 collecting dust and have not thought once about buying a Blu-Ray even though it's staring me right in the face. I've streamed more movies via Netflix with my Xbox 360 in the last 6 months than I've bought in the last year and a half. Not to mention Blu-Ray still costs at least 10 bucks more for every movie than standard DVD and if I buy a standard DVD I can lend it to anyone from Great Grandma Sally to my buddy Joe Blu-Ray still doesn't have that presence.

For most people an upscaled standard DVD is good enough, most of the time it's good enough for me. My living room is a decent size 20' x 18' and I only have a 37" LCD so when watching movies I am approx 17' away. At that distace even though there is a tiny bit difference in visually quality it's not worth the extra cost for me. Now if I move within 6' or 8' of my LCD and the difference is night and day but I am never that close to it unless I am playing a game.
 
Sorry, Blu-ray is going to be the next Laser Disc. Digital formats are just too popular for the in-the-know crowd. The media industry needs to figure out how to cash in on it. I stopped buying dvd's a couple years ago - why should I start buying BD's when something else will be coming around the corner that will make them obsolete?

I love my little WD TV Live media player!
 
I don't think it'll ever hit full penetration. Internet video is getting more popular as we speak,
 
I have to agree the comments listed above. The small difference you see on teh image quality just isnt worth the price difference for me. Yes some movies may go on sale for a short time but for the most part per movie BR is higher. Also I am moving into streaming myself either it being fro my home server or Netflix its just better for me than worrying about scratched media or other issues.
 
Blu-Ray what? Sorry, I can't you over the millions of people visiting YouTube or using Torrents. The internet pipes are very noisy.

Hey look, The Angry Video Game Nerd released a new video that's FREE. What were we talking about again? Blu-Balls? Yea, Blu-Balls is popular now.
 
Steve said:
PC World ponders the question…”will 2010 finally be Blu-ray’s year?” My question is this…with movie prices coming down, an abundance of inexpensive Blu-ray players and the PS3 finally getting a healthy price cut, how can it NOT be Blu-ray’s year?
Click to expand...

Some of us saw this coming more than a year ago. Nice to see the tech press finally join the party.

I'm still amazed how many writers (and posters) didn't get that BD was following the exact same trend that DVD followed (albeit with prices dropping much faster than DVD prices (for both H/w and S/W)).
 
I think drops in HDTV prices will do more to help BluRay than player or disc prices. That is a huge expense to the consumer that those switching from VHS to DVD didn't have to deal with.
I know for me, there is not point in getting BluRay stuff until I get a new TV. From VHS to DVD at least there was a difference even if you didn't get a new tv.
 
Mehen said:
I think drops in HDTV prices will do more to help BluRay than player or disc prices. That is a huge expense to the consumer that those switching from VHS to DVD didn't have to deal with.
I know for me, there is not point in getting BluRay stuff until I get a new TV. From VHS to DVD at least there was a difference even if you didn't get a new tv.
Click to expand...



This
 
Mehen beat me to the punch, like he said when you went from VHS to DVD there was instant gratification you could clearly see the difference between the two. Unless you have a HDTV or one large enough for your viewing distance and a nice surround sound system the difference isn't that big of a deal to most consumers.
 
DukenukemX said:
Blu-Ray what? Sorry, I can't you over the millions of people visiting YouTube or using Torrents. The internet pipes are very noisy.

Hey look, The Angry Video Game Nerd released a new video that's FREE. What were we talking about again? Blu-Balls? Yea, Blu-Balls is popular now.
Click to expand...

Online streaming is popular now, but that will change when Comcast, Verizon and others start to charge by the byte and you get a whopper of a bill for streaming HD video all month long. They've all said they plan to do it, the only question is when.

I've had a BR player since early last year, and got a new HDTV when my old one started to have issues (sort of nice timing), and I wouldn't go back if you paid me. The visual difference when a movie is properly scanned to make use of 1080p is amazing.

The trick is to know if a studio is taking the time to make sure they do new scans to optimize for HD or if they are just re-releasing DVD quality again on a BR disc. To check for things like that, I spend time at http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/reviews.html
 
BigTy said:
I have to agree the comments listed above. The small difference you see on teh image quality just isnt worth the price difference for me. Yes some movies may go on sale for a short time but for the most part per movie BR is higher. Also I am moving into streaming myself either it being fro my home server or Netflix its just better for me than worrying about scratched media or other issues.
Click to expand...

If it's on a home server, you can stream BD's. Sure there's DRm, but there's DRM on DVDs, and that isn't stopping you (or anyone else with a media server).

I can promise you that BDs are selling for less than DVDs did 9 or 10 years ago. And BD's are following the exact same sale price structure as CDs and DVDs. I bought 8 movies last week for around $80.00. If you count the $10.00 rebate on Braveheart (for anyone with the movie on DVD), it was under $75.00.

And yes, if you're watching on a big set, the differences are small, but I'd rather pay a few bucks more (and it's generally no more than 5 bucks more than a DVD with the same features) now for a BD than buy a DVD today and then have to buy the BD later.

Streaming video just doesn't do it for me...maybe someday...but it's not their yet.
 
tec805 said:
Sorry, Blu-ray is going to be the next Laser Disc. Digital formats are just too popular for the in-the-know crowd. The media industry needs to figure out how to cash in on it. I stopped buying dvd's a couple years ago - why should I start buying BD's when something else will be coming around the corner that will make them obsolete?

I love my little WD TV Live media player!
Click to expand...

I picked up mine just a few weeks ago, since then I have ripped all my DVD's to MKV file format and just stream them off the server. All the discs are just collecting dust up in the attic now.

This sucker outputs better video quality than my high end DVD upscaler, I love it!

WDTV LIVE for the win baby!
 
I'm sticking with what ever I have left of my principals. Sony is still on my do not buy list.
Rootkits, price fixing, batteries, monopolizing, anti competitive, lack of quality control, is just a few that comes to mind. Last but not least, spending over a billion dollars buying out movie industry to support Blu-Ray vs HD and people wonder why the price hasn't gone down as fast as it should have. Just a reminder, they are going to court for price fixing of the Blu- Ray with two other outfits. Probably have to keep the price up on the Blu-ray to pay for the damages down the road.
 
sorry if it's off topic... i got a question about the WD TV Live..if I rip all my DVD's that I have and convert them to MKV will it still support subtitles since I'm hard of hearing
 
Limahl said:
Online streaming is popular now, but that will change when Comcast, Verizon and others start to charge by the byte and you get a whopper of a bill for streaming HD video all month long. They've all said they plan to do it, the only question is when.

I've had a BR player since early last year, and got a new HDTV when my old one started to have issues (sort of nice timing), and I wouldn't go back if you paid me. The visual difference when a movie is properly scanned to make use of 1080p is amazing.

The trick is to know if a studio is taking the time to make sure they do new scans to optimize for HD or if they are just re-releasing DVD quality again on a BR disc. To check for things like that, I spend time at http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/reviews.html
Click to expand...

The last time heard any of those companies trying to charge by the byte was Time Warner Cable, and they got shot down by their angry customers. Where they tried to cap connections in rural areas.

Most likely they won't try again. Especially since Americans want a faster and better connection. The last thing they'd wanna hear, is a bandwidth cap.
 
tec805 said:
Sorry, Blu-ray is going to be the next Laser Disc. Digital formats are just too popular for the in-the-know crowd.
Click to expand...

If you're "in-the-know" then the only reason you stream is for convenience. For quality there is no contest, HD streams look like dogshit compared to Blu Ray.

HD streams are fine for rentals but if I'm going to own a movie then its BR all the way. Considering that so many Blu Ray discs now cost only a little more than a rental, eh, their only advantage is convenience IMHO.
 
Uncle said:
I'm sticking with what ever I have left of my principals. Sony is still on my do not buy list.
Rootkits, price fixing, batteries, monopolizing, anti competitive, lack of quality control, is just a few that comes to mind. Last but not least, spending over a billion dollars buying out movie industry to support Blu-Ray vs HD and people wonder why the price hasn't gone down as fast as it should have. Just a reminder, they are going to court for price fixing of the Blu- Ray with two other outfits. Probably have to keep the price up on the Blu-ray to pay for the damages down the road.
Click to expand...

Are you fracking kidding? I bought 8 movies last week for $80.00 pr $85.00.

Sorry, but less than a ticket to the theater is not too much. And the bullshit about prices dropping too slowly is only true if you ignore the fact that prices have dropped faster than VHS, CD, and DVDs (for both hardware and software).

As for paying off the industry, that may be true, but it ignores the fact that the HD group did the exact same thing (albeit less successfully)....or did you forget about them paying Paramount/Dreamworks 150 Million to release movies exclusively on HD-DVD?
 
nilepez said:
I can promise you that BDs are selling for less than DVDs did 9 or 10 years ago. And BD's are following the exact same sale price structure as CDs and DVDs. I bought 8 movies last week for around $80.00. If you count the $10.00 rebate on Braveheart (for anyone with the movie on DVD), it was under $75.00.
Click to expand...

I was on the DVD train shortly after it left the station. Blu Ray movies, players, drives, and blank media, declined in price significantly faster than DVD ever did, I'm talking three years faster.

Thanks to Amazon its actually cost less for me to replace my DVDs with Blu Ray. Between their crazy prices and regular buy-2-get-1-free deals, its been much cheaper than when I was buying DVDs ten years ago, and it looks so much better.

Streaming video just doesn't do it for me...maybe someday...but it's not their yet.
Click to expand...

It won't be there until some insane codec comes out, one that modern PCs would probably have a hard time decoding. Until then you're comparing a very high bitrate source on a Blu Ray against one significantly lower using a comparable codec that is being streamed. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which one will look better.
 
Of course, DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD don't hurt anything either.

Blu-Ray audio is fucking awesome, hands down, and as far as the video, even HD cable / satellite streams cannot touch the bitrate of a Blu-Ray disc. It is just better, and honestly, the sheer amount of people who are NOT going to watch movies on their computers are the majority. People will replace their dvd player with a blu-ray player, and new movies they will buy on blu-ray. I doubt most people replace their DVDs, but why would you buy an older technology if the price difference is low enough to finally make it worthwhile. A computer to most people is not what they use for movies. It isn't for me, even with my 24" display. For some reason my 1080P 57" DLP is a lot better, oh and the audio. Can't forget the audio with the Onkyo and Klispch speakers :p
 
Uncle said:
I'm sticking with what ever I have left of my principals. Sony is still on my do not buy list.
Rootkits, price fixing, batteries, monopolizing, anti competitive, lack of quality control, is just a few that comes to mind. Last but not least, spending over a billion dollars buying out movie industry to support Blu-Ray vs HD and people wonder why the price hasn't gone down as fast as it should have. Just a reminder, they are going to court for price fixing of the Blu- Ray with two other outfits. Probably have to keep the price up on the Blu-ray to pay for the damages down the road.
Click to expand...

Fucking hell this post is comedy
 
defuseme2k said:
Of course, DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD don't hurt anything either.

Blu-Ray audio is fucking awesome, hands down, and as far as the video, even HD cable / satellite streams cannot touch the bitrate of a Blu-Ray disc. It is just better, and honestly, the sheer amount of people who are NOT going to watch movies on their computers are the majority. People will replace their dvd player with a blu-ray player, and new movies they will buy on blu-ray. I doubt most people replace their DVDs, but why would you buy an older technology if the price difference is low enough to finally make it worthwhile. A computer to most people is not what they use for movies. It isn't for me, even with my 24" display. For some reason my 1080P 57" DLP is a lot better, oh and the audio. Can't forget the audio with the Onkyo and Klispch speakers :p
Click to expand...

Yup. I can play Blu Ray on my 24" NEC LCD, one of the best out there, but you know what? Screw that, I'm watching it on my 60" Pioneer Elite Kuro with Marantz amplification and B&W speakers. :D :cool:
 
BAC4D00R SP1D0R said:
sorry if it's off topic... i got a question about the WD TV Live..if I rip all my DVD's that I have and convert them to MKV will it still support subtitles since I'm hard of hearing
Click to expand...

Am I the only person that uses MediaPortal to do this stuff? If you have an extra PC lying around with a decent CPU, just setup MP. It's a pain to setup (especially with X64 Win7), but once it's running it's beautiful. I even got my old Microsoft MCE V2 remote to work it.

For those thinking about it, and wondering how to go about it. Took me a while how to figure out the installation. It's what MCE should have been.

Step 1: Download v1.1 Beta HERE then install
Step 2: Download latest snapshot HERE then install.
Step 3: If you have a capture card with hardware MPEG2 encoder, then skip to Step 5.
Step 4: If you have a software MPEG2 capture card, then you'll need a encoder, like WinDVR 3.
Step 5: Own a MS MCE Remote, then go here to download a special plugin that allows the green button to start MP. Scroll through the thread to find a Vista X64 and even Win7 X64 version of the plug-in.

BONUS: Nvidia Pure Video Decoder works just fine here. I still love using this decoder.
 
Serpico said:
If you're "in-the-know" then the only reason you stream is for convenience. For quality there is no contest, HD streams look like dogshit compared to Blu Ray.

HD streams are fine for rentals but if I'm going to own a movie then its BR all the way. Considering that so many Blu Ray discs now cost only a little more than a rental, eh, their only advantage is convenience IMHO.
Click to expand...

You'll find that only enthusiast care about quality over convenience. Everyone else just wants it done easier. The more steps it takes for someone to watch a movie, the more likely they'll avoid it. Especially since you get the movie here and now.

If quality was greater then convenience, then Mc Donald's would be out of business long ago.
 
MrSteel74 said:
Sales might be better in 2010 but it won't be the breakthrough the industry is hoping for. I have a PS3 collecting dust and have not thought once about buying a Blu-Ray even though it's staring me right in the face. I've streamed more movies via Netflix with my Xbox 360 in the last 6 months than I've bought in the last year and a half. Not to mention Blu-Ray still costs at least 10 bucks more for every movie than standard DVD and if I buy a standard DVD I can lend it to anyone from Great Grandma Sally to my buddy Joe Blu-Ray still doesn't have that presence.

For most people an upscaled standard DVD is good enough, most of the time it's good enough for me. My living room is a decent size 20' x 18' and I only have a 37" LCD so when watching movies I am approx 17' away. At that distace even though there is a tiny bit difference in visually quality it's not worth the extra cost for me. Now if I move within 6' or 8' of my LCD and the difference is night and day but I am never that close to it unless I am playing a game.
Click to expand...

thats why i am in the market for an LG BD370 myself, BluRay, Netflix, YouTube and more in one device and I can finally dedicate my 360 to pretty much just games, when i get the chance to play that is...LOL
 
nobody_here said:
thats why i am in the market for an LG BD370 myself, BluRay, Netflix, YouTube and more in one device and I can finally dedicate my 360 to pretty much just games, when i get the chance to play that is...LOL
Click to expand...

not to mention MKV playback....forgot that part...:D
 
I've started buying a few BluRay's here and there when they are around $10. Why pay $6-7 for a new DVD when I can get an HD version of the same film for just a few dollars more? I'm the wagon, but I'm not about to replace all of my films immediately.
 
BigTy said:
I have to agree the comments listed above. The small difference you see on teh image quality just isnt worth the price difference for me. Yes some movies may go on sale for a short time but for the most part per movie BR is higher. Also I am moving into streaming myself either it being fro my home server or Netflix its just better for me than worrying about scratched media or other issues.
Click to expand...

Small difference? Are you kidding? There is NIGHT and DAY distance between regular ol dvd and 1080p. I can't stand watching dvd's anymore, I stick to 720p or >.
 
Also, who do you know is still on the old crt monitors anymore? Almost everyone I know has either plasma or lcd.
 
BigTy said:
I have to agree the comments listed above. The small difference you see on teh image quality just isnt worth the price difference for me. Yes some movies may go on sale for a short time but for the most part per movie BR is higher.
Click to expand...

There is no small difference... there is a GIGANTIC one. I run a nice Epson 720p projector running on an 84" 16:9 screen with full surround sound on Polk Monitor 60's front, CS2 center, 40 rear, and an Onkyo subwoofer/Onkyo 5.1 receiver. The difference... it is night and day both in audio and video quality. It's like taking a set of glasses/contacts out if you're near-sighted.... difference is instant and huge. The audio blew me away coming from DVD's as well... I compared a few movies that I rebought as BluRay discs and there's just no contest, it's like listening to a muffled tinny speaker vs. a high-quality source that really makes the speakers not even there, having amazing clarity and definition.

I won't even comment about internet streaming... cable HDTV which multitudes better than any streamed NetFlix setup, still holds nary a candle to BluRay discs in video, let alone audio. Cost-wise, a new release BluRay runs about $3-5 more on average than a DVD if you watch for deals (retail is as always inflated, just as it is for DVD's), and they go down quickly a couple months after launch, often hitting the $10 or less range within 6-8 months (wow, just like DVD's!).

I had a PS3 but sold it as I didn't use the gaming functions... but I made darn sure I had a $99 BluRay player ready to take its place right away :D.
 
tec805 said:
Sorry, Blu-ray is going to be the next Laser Disc.
Click to expand...

LaserDisc was around for almost 20 years, and was *premium* media format that gave birth to home theaters. And even after DVD displaced it in 1999, no one considered the format a failure.

tec805 said:
Digital formats are just too popular for the in-the-know crowd. The media industry needs to figure out how to cash in on it. I stopped buying dvd's a couple years ago - why should I start buying BD's when something else will be coming around the corner that will make them obsolete?

I love my little WD TV Live media player!
Click to expand...

Hey, I'm "in-the-know" crowd. Streaming is convenient, not better. Netflix streaming and Amazon VOD (even the 720 streams) can't hold a candle to BD in quality. (Some of the older Netflix streams are barely MPEG2 quality.)

And there will *always* be a better media around the corner- unless the hardware to play it is cost-prohibitive. The CE industry tried to replace CDs for at least ten years and has failed miserably. I think BD has the potential to be as enduring as CD because no one will want to upgrade their current HDTVs to 4K. (especially when no broadcast/cable/satellite will go higher than 1080)
 
GoldenTiger said:
There is no small difference... there is a GIGANTIC one. I run a nice Epson 720p projector running on an 84" 16:9 screen with full surround sound on Polk Monitor 60's front, CS2 center, 40 rear, and an Onkyo subwoofer/Onkyo 5.1 receiver. The difference... it is night and day both in audio and video quality. It's like taking a set of glasses/contacts out if you're near-sighted.... difference is instant and huge. The audio blew me away coming from DVD's as well... I compared a few movies that I rebought as BluRay discs and there's just no contest, it's like listening to a muffled tinny speaker vs. a high-quality source that really makes the speakers not even there, having amazing clarity and definition.

I won't even comment about internet streaming... cable HDTV which multitudes better than any streamed NetFlix setup, still holds nary a candle to BluRay discs in video, let alone audio. Cost-wise, a new release BluRay runs about $3-5 more on average than a DVD if you watch for deals (retail is as always inflated, just as it is for DVD's), and they go down quickly a couple months after launch, often hitting the $10 or less range within 6-8 months (wow, just like DVD's!).

I had a PS3 but sold it as I didn't use the gaming functions... but I made darn sure I had a $99 BluRay player ready to take its place right away :D.
Click to expand...

By the way, I just want to add that before I switched from my Onkyo HTIB setup to the Monitor setup, the difference was still astounding... the Monitors made it more obvious, but you don't need expensive speakers to tell, just decent ones.
 
Serpico said:
I was on the DVD train shortly after it left the station. Blu Ray movies, players, drives, and blank media, declined in price significantly faster than DVD ever did, I'm talking three years faster.

Thanks to Amazon its actually cost less for me to replace my DVDs with Blu Ray. Between their crazy prices and regular buy-2-get-1-free deals, its been much cheaper than when I was buying DVDs ten years ago, and it looks so much better.



It won't be there until some insane codec comes out, one that modern PCs would probably have a hard time decoding. Until then you're comparing a very high bitrate source on a Blu Ray against one significantly lower using a comparable codec that is being streamed. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which one will look better.
Click to expand...

All the BR rips that I watch, I watch with CCCP codec. The quality is 99.99999999999999% identical to the orginal disk.
 
I bitched about prices forever and, it seems like the industry is finally listening to consumers because you can finally get decent deals on Blu-ray movies now without having to hit the internet.

With that said, the industry is also pulling a pretty fucking sneaky one to get people to buy Blu-ray movies too, something we've talked about for awhile now...and, this is the movie industry NOT the Blu-ray camp doing this:

Went to buy Terminator Salvation at Best Buy, regular DVD has PG-13 theatrical release and that was it. That's all you could get. If you wanted the director's cut R rated version, you HAD TO buy the Blu-ray version.

what the?

I've noticed it more and more on new release movies:

DVD (no special features) $15.99
DVD (2 disc SE) $22.99
Blu-ray (all bells & whistles) $20.99 - $22.99

High-def for the same price as the standard version? Given the choice you'd think most people would buy the Blu-ray version over SD every time. That means that now the PS3 is a c-note cheaper and Blu-ray discs are reasonable there is NO REASON for Blu-ray not to take off like gangbusters....

...Soooo, if Blu-ray doesn't take off this year...there are no more excuses left.
 
It might be a downright disspointing year for Blu IMO.

The early adopters have passed, the core buyers after this holiday will also have passed. All that remains now - are people that are waiting now are for price points to plummet (like a $20 DVD player and $4 movies) And since these people are price sensitive - its unlikely they will invest in better video because they will have to invest in a TV with at least component inputs (or until their credit cards have returned to head above water status)

The numbers for MGM/United artists "rerelease" of the James Bond movies in Blu should be out by now. Those numbers IMO, are of critical importance. It will tell the studios and distributors exactly how much the most spendy section of society (Males 18-35) are willing to pay for better video.

I'm still in the camp that an 8.4GB DVD was pretty damn good - especially coded and upscaled properly (and extras put on a seperate DVD) A 25/50GB Blu felt like a 360K floppy to 1.44MB floppy. Great for the extra space but hardly earthshattering.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top