"For many people... DVD remains ‘good enough’ for most titles"

[ManaByte]

http://www.empireonline.com/empireblogs/empire-states/post/p688

According to a press release out today, even the record-breaking sales of Avatar haven't lifted Blu-ray out of the doldrums. Screen Digest reports that, "A combination of a slower-than-expected fall in retail prices and the impact of the worst economic recession in living memory ensured that – unlike in the US – sales of Blu-ray hardware failed to live up to expectations in the key international markets in 2009. Furthermore, those homes that did acquire a BD player or PS3 by the end of the year bought fewer Blu-ray Discs (BDs) than anticipated – less than 1.5 titles per household on average. For many people, it seems, DVD remains ‘good enough’ for most titles and the additional cost of opting for a hi-def BD version simply cannot be justified in the current climate of austerity."

Uh oh...

[Himu]

My father bought Avatar.

"Awesome. Can't wait to watch it again. Blu ray?"

"dvd."

". . ."

[fistfulofmetal]

doesn't really matter in the end. blu-ray isn't going to be stopped at this point.

[Stoney Mason]

Haven't bought a Blu-Ray Player. Honestly have no real desire to in the near future. For me at least he's right. Plain old DVD is good enough for me. Or at least it isn't enough to drive me to go buy a blu-ray player and discs.


I do download HD movies and TV shows from torrents though. Where its free.

Honestly physical media in whatever format doesn't really interest me anymore.

[ManaByte]

doesn't really matter in the end. blu-ray isn't going to be stopped at this point.

Heh it's already being called the laserdisc of this generation due to its niche market.

[Bocsius]

As long as blu-rays are ridiculously overpriced, yeah. You have to wait for firesales with this stupid format.

[demi]

I dunno man. I'm about to cop some Blu

Lost Collection
Hot Fuzz
Shaun

[The Fake Shemp]

It won't be laserdisc, because it'll likely be the standard for physical copy media for a long time. The problem is that - for most - the likelihood is that OnDemand, streaming Netflix, etc. will replace physical media pretty soon. But for A/V enthusiasts and the industry, BD will be the standard.

[fistfulofmetal]

doesn't really matter in the end. blu-ray isn't going to be stopped at this point.

Heh it's already being called the laserdisc of this generation due to its niche market.

by who exactly? random bloggers? yourself?

we're at the point where they a lot of time only advertise the BD release. it's going slow due to the economy, not due to disinterest.

[ManaByte]

As long as blu-rays are ridiculously overpriced, yeah. You have to wait for firesales with this stupid format.

Or brave Walmart. Walmart has three BRD pricing tiers now: $10, $15, and BOHICA

[The Fake Shemp]

I go to Wal-Mart all the time and rarely find sub-$15 Blu-ray discs that aren't garbage.

[Mr. Gundam]

doesn't really matter in the end. blu-ray isn't going to be stopped at this point.

Heh it's already being called the laserdisc of this generation due to its niche market.

Why do you even care?

[ManaByte]

I go to Wal-Mart all the time and rarely find sub-$15 Blu-ray discs that aren't garbage.

Really? Mine has stuff like The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly for as low as $10.

[BlackMage]

As long as blu-rays are ridiculously overpriced, yeah. You have to wait for firesales with this stupid format.

it's the only physical HD format. How is that stupid?!

[etiolate]

I hooked up this 1080 upscaling dvd player my mom got for craigslist up to a 40inch 1080 TV and plopped in The Fifth Element Ultimate Edition DVD. It was surprisingly good looking. More detail than some BluRay I've seen.

[EmCeeGrammar]

Dvds got popular for more reasons than picture quality.  A large portion of films need to rely on their plot and characters moreso than their visuals, so I can understand why hd resolutions wouldnt appeal to certain demographics.  The worst thing though is that I'm currently in a household with a bravia but no hd channels, players, zilch.  I think alot of people dont notice the difference or dont care.

[Bocsius]

As long as blu-rays are ridiculously overpriced, yeah. You have to wait for firesales with this stupid format.

it's the only physical HD format. How is that stupid?!

Were you born last night?

[Eel O'Brian]

i am discovering through netflix streaming that i really don't give a shit whether 90% of the stuff i watch is in HD or not

[The Fake Shemp]

That is because you're old and your vision sucks.

[OptimoPeach]

As long as blu-rays are ridiculously overpriced, yeah. You have to wait for firesales with this stupid format.

Yep. Not gonna piss away money for a marginal increase in fidelity. I've got better things to spend my money on, like video games and drugs

[brawndolicious]

I recently sold off all my dvd's.  No use for physical disks with netflix, hulu, etc.

HD resolution itself is useless to me outside of any movie/show that's a tech demo basically.  It's not like I'm going to care if Breaking Bad or The Hurt Locker is in HD.

[Eric P]

most of the stuff i watch is fine in dvd quality

[The Fake Shemp]

Et tu, Eric P?

[Eric P]

don't get me wrong, i <3 blu ray but it's not a necessity.

[etiolate]

so far it seems that instant accessibility >>> bluray HD

[Eel O'Brian]

That is because you're old and your vision sucks.

Yes, too old to appreciate the subtle details in HD versions of 30 Rock, Better Off Ted, and Very Bad Things.  I wish my failing eyes could appreciate the way the majesty of Blu Ray would really highlight and enhance Alec Baldwin's alcoholic Rosacea bloom, Portia De Rossi's slowly leathering tanning bed skin, and Cameron Diaz's pancake makeup slathered moonscape of a face.  They would all be so much better!

[Barry Egan]

doesn't really matter in the end. blu-ray isn't going to be stopped at this point.

Heh it's already being called the laserdisc of this generation due to its niche market.

by who exactly? random bloggers? yourself?

AICN talkback posts.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

DVDs are good enough for me.

Blu Ray is just too expensive, both hardware and software.  Plus with the inevitable transition to digital distribution, it seems like flushing your money down the toilet to bother with Blu Ray.

Most people made the transition from VHS to DVD because it made things 10x easier to watch a movie.  Blu Ray has no additional convenience to entice consumers to switch from DVDs.  On the other hand, digital distribution will change a lot of things, making things more convenient than before.  Which is why I expect this format to take off as more and more people are aware of its existence or can get digital distribution to their TVs.  Best of all, you don't need to upgrade your hardware if something is HD or not.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

I very, very much liking watching HD stuff.  But to be entirely honest, if Netflix didn't carry Blu-Rays, I wouldn't see anything in HD outside of network TV.

But still, its pretty awesome.

[Human Snorenado]

Paying for movies

[Rman]

I love Bluray.  I don't really care about the prices since I rent mostly.  Pixar Blurays are especially awesome.  They really put tons of effort on their transfers.

[Smooth Groove]

I have close to 150 Blu-rays but I stopped buying them since I got a media player that can be hooked up to a hard drive.  Nowadays, I just rip them at 100% quality to a hard drive.  It's so much more convenient and cheaper.  For the price of 4 new Blu-ray releases, you can buy a 2TB hard-drive. 

[border]

The article posted here only covers some indeterminate number of foreign markets, and it actually implies that adoption of BluRay in the USA is going well.


"Heh it's already being called the laserdisc of this generation due to its niche market."

  Oh no, some people on the internet are talking shit about something -- that must mean it is doomed!

[Great Rumbler]

The Dark Knight set the first-day Blu-ray sales record of 600,000 back in 2008. Avatar sold 1.2 million copies on Tuesday. By Thursday that number had climbed to 2.7 million, surpassing The Dark Knight's 18 month sales total of 2.5 million. And keep in mind that these are sales of the bare-bones edition. We still haven't seen the deluxe or 3D editions.

http://gizmodo.com/5524842/avatar-blu+ray-breaks-sales-records-by-doubling-them

James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar has broken the UK record for the biggest opening-day sales of a Blu-ray disc.
The film sold 222,824 copies on Monday, selling more in one day than previous record-holder The Dark Knight sold in its first week.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8648272.stm

In one week, Evangelion: 2.22's 357,000 Blu-ray sales have already topped all the Blu-ray copies of Michael Jackson's This Is It that have been sold in Japan so far (351,000 copies). Evangelion: 2.22's is also now the top-selling Blu-ray in Japan since Oricon began keeping records in this category in July of 2008. (James Cameron's Avatar film sold 198,000 copies on Blu-ray in Japan since April.)

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-06-01/eva-2.22-bd-1st-week-tops-this-it-it-sales-to-date

Niche product, poor adoption rate, ect.

[ManaByte]

How about you stop region locking and make them cheaper?

Again, you just got to take advantage of sales and keep an eye out for cheap discs.

Got Michael Bay's MASTERPIECE Armageddon for $12 today to replace the old non-anamorphic DVD.

[tiesto]

Maybe it's b/c my Pioneer plasma is only 720p, but when running on my PS3, it's a bit difficult for me to even notice the improvemens BR has over a standard upscaled DVD.

[Mupepe]

I used to be all about the HD but for most movies it really doesn't matter to me.  But when I buy a movie, it's always blu ray.  I hate buying the DVD.  My #1 reason?  The sound.  DVD sound is pretty craptacular compared to most Blu Rays.  Visual fidelity outside of a few movies doesn't matter to me.

However, Pixar movies in HD is omg omg omg

[Stoney Mason]

I remember when my mother got an HD cable box for the first time. Knowing her I was surprised that she would do it as she not very big into new technology. When I came over I found out she hadn't actually wanted it but her man friend had wanted it. So I tried to explain to her why HD was so much better than regular TV.

She really couldn't see it and didn't care. I was reduced to flipping between the HD and non HD version of a channel and saying, see that writing on the toaster in the background. On the HD channel you can read the writing. But on the non-HD channel you can't.

 
 

[Mupepe]

I remember when my mother got an HD cable box for the first time. Knowing her I was surprised that she would do it as she not very big into new technology. When I came over I found out she hadn't actually wanted it but her man friend had wanted it. So I tried to explain to her why HD was so much better than regular TV.

She really couldn't see it and didn't care. I was reduced to flipping between the HD and non HD version of a channel and saying, see that writing on the toaster in the background. On the HD channel you can read the writing. But on the non-HD channel you can't.

 
 

I've discovered if they can't see it, then I don't point it out.  I feel distinguished mentally-challenged doing so.  Seriously, some people just can't see the difference unless it's something like Avatar or a Pixar movie or on a really awesome tv.  On most TV's though, I discovered most people only notice it after a while of watching just HD content.  Then when you switch to DVD they're all surprised. 

[Disposable White Guy]

I'm totally fine with BD becoming the A/Vphile media of choice if digital distribution truly does become the new standard.  Most blu-ray players gave streaming capabilities built in and only need some networking cable.  What pisses me off is all of the shit that gets wasted on blu-ray.  I totally understand wanting to own Transformers, 300, Avatar, or any number of other modern action flicks, as well as wanting recent dramas and TV shows in the same format.  Since I'm pretty hard gay for Kurosawa I can also understand wanting classic cinema on blu-ray (Gone with the Wind fuck year ), but what I don't get is why anyone would want some of the shit out there.  I mean, is there like some serious hardcore ultra-religious sect of Cruise fans that masturbate all over their shiny blue cases of Risky Business?  Do the Maclean followers buy up A River Runs Through It just to point out all of its moral inconsistencies?  Max Payne?  Cliffhanger?  The Rundown?  These are movies that should be left on DVD or aired on Saturday afternoon time slots on TBS.

[The Fake Shemp]

Yeah, I mean, if there is one Tom Cruise flick that demands a high definition transfer, it's Cocktail.

[Mupepe]

I'd get The Rundown on blu ray.  It's a fun movie!  I mean, it's not like I'm buying Look Who's Talking Now on Blu Ray.

[The Fake Shemp]

I reserve Blu-ray for Triple-A titles like Look Who's Talking Too.

[Disposable White Guy]

I saw that copy of Gleaming the Cube in your room.

World's Classiest amirite

[The Fake Shemp]

You floozy.

[Mupepe]

 

When I first started my movie collection I bought anything that was slightly interesting.  My goal was that whenever I remembered some random movie that I felt like watching I could just go grab it from my collection.  In the end, I ended up with a bunch of mediocre movies I never watched after one time.  So now I'm a lot more picky about what I purchase.  But when I do purchase it, if it's available on Blu Ray then that's what I'm getting.  If I'm going to spend my money, I should get the best version available.

[The Fake Shemp]

I actually have a pretty small list of films that I buy. And not all of the all-time "greats". If I buy something on BD, it's because I plan on rewatching it. So I'm more likely to own something like Poltergeist or Drag Me to Hell than Lawrence of Arabia.

[Disposable White Guy]

ogod if only it was on blu-ray so I could watch it again and again without any pixelation on Madonna's personality or a truly HD mastering of the classic 80's score

[Cravis]

Studios cheaping out on crappy transfers is going to hurt the viability of the format. So far I only own Crank, Rambo, and Ghostbusters. The image on Crank and Rambo is insanely impressive. Ghostbusters' transfer makes me wonder why I bothered rebuying it on Blu Ray. Needless to say I haven't bother upgrading any other of my older titles yet. At least it has the documentary on the restoration of Ecto-1.

[WrikaWrek]

I was downloading a bunch of HD movies, burning them, watchin on PS3. Got Avatar, amazing quality.

But now? I don't man, Xvid is gud enough

[Himu]

(Image removed from quote.)

ogod if only it was on blu-ray so I could watch it again and again without any pixelation on Madonna's personality or a truly HD mastering of the classic 80's score

[bork]

Here's my HUMONGOUS BLU-RAY COLLECTION:



I've had a PS3 since November 2006.  So that's 12 titles and one TV series over a three and a half year period.

One point that I haven't seen brought up (and so maybe it's just me) is that the leap from DVD to Blu-Ray is nowhere near what the leap from VHS to DVD was.

[Mupepe]

Why do keep seeing "titles" as "titties"

I was just about to post this

[ManaByte]

The article posted here only covers some indeterminate number of foreign markets, and it actually implies that adoption of BluRay in the USA is going well.


"Heh it's already being called the laserdisc of this generation due to its niche market."

  Oh no, some people on the internet are talking shit about something -- that must mean it is doomed!

Here's today's post from The Digital Bits, US focused:

Now, we know that the studios are working hard to try to differentiate Blu-ray from standard DVD with consumers. And we know that all the studio marketing departments probably have market research that shows "average" consumers really like all those bells and whistles, and that's what attracts them to Blu-ray. But here's the problem... in the middle of a recession, those "average" consumers aren't buying Blu-rays right now. They're renting or sticking with DVD! The people who ARE still spending money on Blu-ray at the moment are film enthusiasts - the same guys who have spent the most money on elaborate DVD special editions and box sets over the last decade. And while the consumers polled in focus groups at places like the Mall of America might like their mobileBlu and Focus Points, what film enthusiasts really care about - what will get them to buy a Blu-ray or not - is absolutely first-rate HD video and lossless audio quality on their favorite films. That means NEW high-def transfers for catalog titles, so the BD releases can take full advantage of the latest mastering technology. Recycling HD transfers done 5 or more years ago amounts to an EPIC FAIL for catalog BD fans! And this whole "digital remastering" thing is WAY out of control. The studios need to have someone in charge of catalog mastering with real film restoration experience - someone who understands that grain isn't inherently a bad thing, and it shouldn't be wholesale scrubbed away with Digital Noise Reduction. We can safely guarantee you guys in Hollywood that there's NOTHING film enthusiasts hate more than seeing their favorite films from the 60s, 70s and 80s polished to death for Blu-ray release to the point that they look as if they were shot on HD video yesterday. How many times do we have to say it?!

[Mupepe]

BROS

FIST BUMP

[Bocsius]

GINORMOUS collection here




+Snatch, not pictured. Oops.

[DJ_Tet]

You should always include Snatch in the picture.

[Bocsius]

i no, rite?



It was in the blu-ray player, which meant the case was on the tv stand, which meant it was left out. Very tragic.

[brawndolicious]

Bourne, BoB, and and some of the other ones I can understand wanting in HD.  But how does snatch and Oceans look better?

[Mandark]

I was about to respond but then I'd be writing a serious response to a Manabyte thread :'(

I want to know which ax Manabyte's grinding here.  90% of his posts are about defending his favorite corporate brands/point-scoring against their rivals (the Avatar hate was strictly about protecting Lucas' place in the canon, for example).  So why Blu-Ray?

Is it a MS vs. Sony deal?

Is it to justify Lucas dragging his feet on an HD release of the Star Wars movies?

Did Disney prefer HD-DVD?

Is the Blu-Ray standard derived from alien technology being secretly housed at Area 51?

Did he blow all his savings self-publishing a novel-length Jar Jar Binks/Daisy Duck slashfic and can't afford a BD player himself?


Inquiring minds want to know.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

* The other 10% are scaremongering about immigrants and lies about his personal life.

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