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Research firm says Blu-ray player prices are dropping for the holiday season, but is it too little too late

I am a huge movie fan and one of the biggest reasons I jumped on the PS3 when it launched, even though it was $500, was to get the Blu-ray player. When Sony added DVD upscaling to the PS3 mix I was even happier with the console. For a long time the PS3 has been the cheapest and arguably the best Blu-ray player on the planet.

According to ABI Research the Blu-ray landscape will change this holiday season with players selling for $150 to $200. These aren’t cut down, feature weak players like the cheap HD DVD models we saw before the demise of the format. The players will be older, so-called tier two players that are 1080p. ABI points to a player being offered by Amazon at $200 from Samsung that also includes four Blu-ray films. A quick look at Amazon will show several players selling for $200 or under.

ABI believes that Blu-ray players could fall to as low as $150, a price that should attract new consumers to the format. The catch is that price isn’t all that Blu-ray hardware has working against it. As a big movie fan I find myself increasingly going to streaming movie rentals via iTunes.
 
I can get the films in HD format and not have to drive to the movie store to get them. Movie sources like iTunes, Netflix, and even pay-per-view are putting heavy pressure on traditional hardware sales as more and more consumers look to new and more convenient delivery methods for films. DirecTV and Dish Network are both offering (or soon will be) 1080p films via pay-per-view.

Standard DVDs are still outperforming Blu-ray and the fact that many of the DVD players will now upscale to resolutions close to that of Blu-ray makes the format that less attractive to some users. Despite the stiff competition arrayed against Blu-ray, price reductions will go a long way to getting more Blu-ray players into the market. This price drop is the first step towards seeing Blu-ray players overtake traditional DVD in the market.

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Upscaling
By Sivar on 11/11/2008 1:38:11 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
and the fact that many of the DVD players will now upscale to resolutions close to that of Blu-ray makes the format that less attractive to some users.


Do you really believe that upscaling a 480i image to 1080P actually results in an image with quality comparable to a 1080P Blu-ray disc?

If so, I would like to offer you my new invention - an infinite megapixel digital camera. It comes with a copy of Photoshop. Don't mine the "Nikon" label.




RE: Upscaling
By blaster5k on 11/11/2008 1:57:47 PM , Rating: 5
It's actually 480p. With good upscalers, DVDs look almost the same as Blu-Ray on smaller TVs -- particularly with 720p models. With a big TV, up close, there's no comparison. Most people don't have this kind of arrangement though and seem content with DVD.


RE: Upscaling
By DragonMaster0 on 11/14/2008 6:06:22 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
It's actually 480p

Wrong, DVD is simple NTSC 480i / PAL 576i just like any standard analog TV signal would be. Before upscaling DVD players existed, there were players converting to progressive 480p for the component outputs.


RE: Upscaling
By Denigrate on 11/11/2008 1:58:14 PM , Rating: 2
No, the picture quality is not as good from upscaled DVD's. However, the picture is good enough, that the majority of consumers probably can't tell the difference. Upscaled DVD's on my PS3 look remarkable from 15' away, nearly as good as a Bluray disc. I can see the difference, but I've got 20/10 vision.


RE: Upscaling
By masher2 (blog) on 11/11/2008 4:12:53 PM , Rating: 5
I've run some unofficial tests. On my 103" 720 screen (LCD FP), more than half of friends and family can't tell the difference between upscaled DVD and HD-DVD/BD content. On my 58" 1080P (DLP RP), about 2/3 can tell the difference -- if I trouble to point it out and ask them.

Still, your point is very valid. The differential between the two formats certainly exists...but for anyone but videophiles, it's small enough that the higher costs and headaches of dealing with BD players don't really justify it.

From my own perspective, I find it inexcusable that now, over two years since BD was released to the market, even the newest third-gen players still are so incredibly sluggish in operation. I exclude the PS3...but using a console for a main player just isn't something I'm prepared to do.


RE: Upscaling
By Gzus666 on 11/11/2008 4:20:45 PM , Rating: 2
Picture is not the only advancement in the new format. Please remember the uncompressed sound makes a large difference between DVD. The sound is amazing to go along with the picture. I don't get why the only selling point for people is the picture for movie formats.


RE: Upscaling
By masher2 (blog) on 11/11/2008 10:01:26 PM , Rating: 5
True. But most people still don't have a subwoofer or surround speakers attached to their entertainment system...and a simple subwoofer is going to give them far more bang for their buck than the upgraded sound on BD.


RE: Upscaling
By Gzus666 on 11/12/2008 10:23:04 AM , Rating: 2
You don't really need either of those things. Proper floor standers can reproduce the bass enough for most people and cheap subwoofers are pretty much the worst thing you can do for a sound setup. Drowning out the mids and highs with a junk woofer is the usual outcome of this. Especially considering the junk speakers people buy. But, your sound will only be as good as your source.

I would equate it to the difference between mp3 and FLAC, if you haven't heard the difference, you will be blown away. Of course this is assuming quality equipment to go along with this change.


RE: Upscaling
By The0ne on 11/12/2008 11:12:21 AM , Rating: 2
People I know that have BD don't have proper speakers to speak of haha. They are using the TV speakers O.o


RE: Upscaling
By Gzus666 on 11/12/2008 11:21:34 AM , Rating: 2
EWWWW! I feel so sorry for them, ha.


RE: Upscaling
By masher2 (blog) on 11/12/2008 12:31:44 PM , Rating: 3
> "cheap subwoofers are pretty much the worst thing you can do for a sound setup."

For playing music, sure. But for watching films- which is what most people do with their BD or DVD players- even the cheapest of subwoofers is going to add more to the overall movie experience than the difference between BD and DVD sound quality.


RE: Upscaling
By Gzus666 on 11/12/2008 2:54:26 PM , Rating: 2
If you say so, speaking from experience switching between it all, I can tell you that is not the case.


RE: Upscaling
By Spuke on 11/13/2008 12:10:45 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
If you say so, speaking from experience switching between it all, I can tell you that is not the case.
You're not "most people". You are an audiophile. That's NOT anywhere near what your average person is. Masher is right, "most people" would look at a subwoofer, even a crappy one, as a larger enhancement to the overall movie watching "experience" than the difference between DVD and Bluray.


RE: Upscaling
By Gzus666 on 11/13/2008 3:02:07 PM , Rating: 2
I would venture to say anyone could hear the difference between crappy bass and clean bass. I have seen plenty of people hear the difference with no prior knowledge of it. My father got me into audio, I wasn't that big into it till he let me hear his set of Sennheiser HD600. Then he introduced me to the wonderful world of STAX SR-404 and I couldn't imagine listening to the lesser.

My point is the interest didn't come first, listening to the stuff did. My father is a nut for this stuff, I just appreciate quality. DVD was a major upgrade over VHS in sound and picture quality, Bluray is an equivalent jump if not more.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/21/dvd-players-fin...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvd

"December 1995. The DVD-Video format was introduced first, in 1996, in Japan, to the United States in March 1997 (Test Marketed), mid-late 1998 in Europe and early 1999 in Australia. In May 1997, the DVD Consortium was replaced by the DVD Forum, which is open to all other companies."

So, we could say around 1998 is when DVD was released, 2006 till it actually overtook VHS. Took 8 years to overtake VHS without a real competing format.

Bluray was actually released in July 2006. Has been a little over 2 years with a competing format that had to be overtaken. Do you really expect it to take over in such a short period? It's like you people and analysts live in a magic land where history never happened.


RE: Upscaling
By Spuke on 11/13/2008 3:58:39 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Do you really expect it to take over in such a short period?
Nope and that wasn't the point of my post. The fact that you even know this stuff disqualifies you as an average consumer.


RE: Upscaling
By Gzus666 on 11/13/2008 5:14:30 PM , Rating: 2
Most of the stuff given was from simple statistics that can be found by anyone with the desire to do so and it really doesn't matter whether they know it or not, it is how it happened.

As for the sound portion, when I was first introduced I was handed headphones with Pink Floyd's The Wall album playing. I was completely stunned at the difference I heard. Having no previous sound knowledge at the time beyond the average consumer and no real interest in it, I noticed it immediately.

Bluray quality is there and noticeable. It just isn't cheap enough for mass appeal yet. I will be willing to bet in a year or two it will be well accepted, which is quite a feat for a format in such a short time.


RE: Upscaling
By DragonMaster0 on 11/14/2008 6:19:49 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Please remember the uncompressed sound makes a large difference between DVD.

At least, with the cheapo sounding AC-3 codec used on every DVD movies. Awesome! 448kbps for 6 channels...


RE: Upscaling
By Sivar on 11/11/2008 8:11:41 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I've run some unofficial tests. On my 103" 720 screen (LCD FP), more than half of friends and family can't tell the difference between upscaled DVD and HD-DVD/BD content. On my 58" 1080P (DLP RP), about 2/3 can tell the difference -- if I trouble to point it out and ask them.

That certainly puts things into perspective.
It doesn't sound good for the future of Blu-ray if most people can't tell the difference, because if a person can't tell, they aren't going to pay a premium.
I imagine they could tell if they were shown still shots, side-by-side, but why try to emphasize the negatives of something they enjoy just as much, and for less money?


RE: Upscaling
By masher2 (blog) on 11/11/2008 10:06:37 PM , Rating: 2
Well a 720p screen isn't really a fair test. At 1080p, "most" people can tell the difference. . . but certainly the differential between it and a good DVD upscaler is smaller than Sony would care to admit.

> "I imagine they could tell if they were shown still shots, side-by-side"

Yep, the difference really leaps out at you in that case. But of course, only us videophile geeks do things like comparing stills :)


RE: Upscaling
By wallijonn on 11/17/2008 10:51:21 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I find it inexcusable that now, over two years since BD was released to the market, even the newest third-gen players still are so incredibly sluggish in operation.


I bet you that tomorrow's release of "Wall.E" will include a warning that it will take 1 to 3 minutes before the movie starts to play.

As for the PS3 (and I'm willing to bet all BD players), why isn't there a memory function with BD? It'll remember where DVDs were stopped and will resume playback at the same spot upon the next power on, but not BDs.

Then add the problems that Java has been having, not being able to play some of the latest BD releases (would you wait hours, days, weeks to be able to play a movie you've just unwrapped? Unlikely.) and it is plain that BD is still not ready for Prime Time.

Yes, some BD players will sell for under $200 but what if a firmware update is necessary before a movie can play? Looks like Dad, mom or grand mama will be calling you this holiday season... Compound the problem with non-Internet access and you can see why many will decide to remain deeply entrenched in the DVD camp.


RE: Upscaling
By Gzus666 on 11/11/2008 4:14:09 PM , Rating: 1
Right, but the sound sucks. Compressed DVD sound is trash compared to Bluray, so even if you don't appreciate the picture, the sound is leaps and bounds better. Granted I have a set of Paradigm Studio 60s and a Paradigm CC-270 center, so I'm sure mine sounds way better than the schmoes that buy home theater in a box or pretty much any off the shelf electronic store brands, but the sound is clearly better in Bluray.

Iron Man and V For Vendetta were amazing on Bluray, sound was breathtaking.


RE: Upscaling
By shoopdeewoop on 11/11/2008 5:07:00 PM , Rating: 2
Yah, that's another thing I didn't even think of...of course, I can't exactly have a huge sound system living in a condo...


RE: Upscaling
By Gzus666 on 11/11/2008 5:15:22 PM , Rating: 2
I live in an apartment, my stuff will blow the doors off the apartment with a 75 watt Denon amp I have on it. Doesn't have to be huge to be efficient and well made. I can crank mine up to an enjoyable level most of the time, I try not to be a jerk though, I turn if down if it is late or it isn't a weekend. My speakers are reasonably sized, nothing unmanageable.

Hell, before these, I have a set of Definitive DR-7 towers that I got for $50 (old stuff, retailed for around $600 or so for the pair new) and they performed pretty well, also not that big.


RE: Upscaling
By Fireshade on 11/12/2008 10:00:08 AM , Rating: 2
Of course you can always stuff such towers in any (small) room. But many guys have to deal with the WAF or the GAF (wife/girlfriend acceptance factor).
And believe it or not, most people consider the content of the sound to be enough. They don't really care about surround or that deep base.


RE: Upscaling
By Gzus666 on 11/12/08, Rating: 0
RE: Upscaling
By robinthakur on 11/13/2008 7:18:44 AM , Rating: 2
This is true *with the right setup*

This takes into account that you
-Buy a new amp like the onkyos which features HDMI switching and can decode True HD/DTS Master etc.
-Buy a 1080P large screen tv/projector
-Buy a blu-Ray player. Profile 2 if you can get it.
-Buy the discs.
-*Set it all up properly*.

Now in this economically frugal period, I might be forward in saying that its not going to be that many people who will really be seeing the best that the format has to offer. Case in point, I class myself as a highly technical user, having built my own HTPC, having a 5.1 seperates setup and a large 1080p display as well as the PS3, however even I have not upgraded to an amp with HDMI/TrueHD yet simply because of the cost of buying a new amp and a whole new set of HD-capable speakers (minimum $2k) is quite large to take in one hit. The TV was the priority for me. And I work in banking, god dammit.

Most of the lowest All-in-one-box Home Cinema thingies still don't even offer HDMI and HD Format playback, so that immediately puts it out of the reach of most people.

Secondly, setting them up is still not straight-forward enough for the average Joe the Plumber type to fathom. I suspect that Blu-Ray's day in the sun will be short lived before its supplanted by another format, possibly one which doesn't use easily crackable discs.


RE: Upscaling
By Gzus666 on 11/13/2008 10:00:34 AM , Rating: 2
So? The only thing keeping back adoption in reality is price. Of course the early adopters are audio/videophiles, same was the case with DVD in the first few years. DVD didn't really take off till the players were around $100.

Optical can take advantage of the sound as well. I'm sure it is immensely complicated to plug some stuff in, but I think I have slightly more faith in people to either read the manual or have the store set it up for them. As usual, excuses from a group of people who either don't have the money to get the format or have some grudge against a company involved. Either of which are stupid reasons to be against a higher quality product.


RE: Upscaling
By Microflop on 11/11/2008 6:24:52 PM , Rating: 2
Ok, there is one very important thing to keep in mind. Just because a tv says 1080p doesnt mean they all look the same. I used to have a Mitsubishi 57' diamond (which was there top of the line)by now it was maybe 2 years old. Now i have a 58' samsung plasma and there is a huge difference just between the tvs! I also have a old 50 pioneer pro which looked better then our (at the time) newer mits! I have a blueray and I can tell a big difference between an upscaled dvd and a blueray on my samsung which i couldnt before with the mits. I dnt consider myself a video nut by any means. One major thing is to find the best settings for your tv online and use them. all the gimmick stuff for better black levels and sharper picture is best to turn off!! Yes i did just say turn it off! Movie companys spend a ton of money to make there movies look good! Basicly what im trying to say is that pic quality is not just in the player/format it is also in your tv. Now im not trying to say go out and spend a crap ton on a new tv just find the best settings for your tv either online or using a calibration dvd to get the most accurate PQ you can have.


RE: Upscaling
By someguy123 on 11/11/2008 9:27:59 PM , Rating: 2
like these guys have said, the sound is quite a remarkable amount better (if you have the sound system, people using tv speakers need not apply) and bluray on a current 32"+ high end 1080p tv look MUCH better than the upscaled equivalent. I'm not sure if the ps3 has the best upscaler, but the upscaling looks makes the image look smudged, although the overall picture looks quite a bit better than the blocky normal picture. this is from just watching a dvd after watching a BR movie. Without thinking about it i noticed the upscaling made the picture look smudged, so i turned it off and found the dvd looked much worse without it turned on.

i don't think the question is when will bluray be cheap enough, i think the question is when will good 1080p tvs become mainstream.


RE: Upscaling
By The0ne on 11/12/2008 11:16:41 AM , Rating: 2
Agreed. Upscaling is not perfect but for most it's either unnoticeable enough to enjoy or the viewer(s) just don't care or care enough. I'm the latter. While I would like to have a perfect BD picture I am satisfied with what I have. Having said that, most movies are not film that great anyhow. So having them in BD doesn't mean they're going to be that much better. Star Wars 1-3, now the picture quality is great :)

Even with the price drops there are consumers like me that will not be jumping into the bandwagon simply because BD content is still lacking. They can have a $50 BD player and I wouldn't even consider it til I know movies I like are available for purchase :) In the end, isn't that why someone would buy BD? O.o


a simple way to increase sales
By kattanna on 11/11/2008 10:10:59 AM , Rating: 3
is to release the lord of the rings trilogy on blue ray.




RE: a simple way to increase sales
By shoopdeewoop on 11/11/2008 10:33:51 AM , Rating: 2
See, I still can't make my mind up with this...

I'm not sure if I just want to buy Blu-Ray player or build a media PC with a Blu-Ray drive in it. Either way you have to pay $50 for a Blu-Ray movie. So when I think about it, it does seem cheaper in the long run to just stream from Netflix or get Vudu...

I dunno...I guess it really dosn't matter seing as how I wont be watching movies for the next half year....w000t for Wrath of the Litch King!!!


RE: a simple way to increase sales
By kattanna on 11/11/2008 10:45:37 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
just stream from Netflix


as a ROKU owner from day 1, all i can say is that the service IS great, and i do use it. netflix just needs to do what it has to to increase the selection of things available for streaming.


RE: a simple way to increase sales
By TheDoc9 on 11/11/2008 10:47:51 AM , Rating: 2
$50 for a movie? New releases average $22 at amazon, $15 for older movies. Even if you're unlucky enough to shop at BB you're looking at $35.


RE: a simple way to increase sales
By austinag on 11/11/2008 11:12:10 AM , Rating: 2
Yea, those prices are more accurate, but I'm still not buying a blueray. Sony won the format war for HD physical media just as downloading and streaming of HD content became totally practical. If it really costs 20ish dollars to bring a blueray disk to market, I think it's doomed.


RE: a simple way to increase sales
By jrb531 on 11/18/2008 12:59:36 PM , Rating: 2
It costs 80 cents more to make a Blu-Ray over a DVD so why the "huge" difference in price?

G-R-E-E-D

Everyone was worried that if Sony won the format war that they would do what they always do... keep the prices high and when Sony promised that there would be cheap stand alone players if they won people actually believed them?

Sure the prices are starting to come down but when the actualy difference in price is 80 cents yet they charge so much more it's very clear that Sony is just being Sony.

Mark me down as someone who is perfectly happy with upconverted DVD's. I find it funny that a few years ago we all were happy with standard DVD's yet now they somehow suck even though they are now upconverted?

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are both great... on very large sets with 1080p but for everyone else DVD's are just fine.

Not having used a Blu-Ray player are you all really saying that you have to wait a minute before the movie starts????

If this is true then WTF!

Who would buy into this crap?


RE: a simple way to increase sales
By shoopdeewoop on 11/11/2008 11:54:35 AM , Rating: 2
I stand corrected. Still, cheaper in the long run to stream...content will come with time. MGM is gonna start making movies available on Youtube, other studios will follow. I say, 10 to 20 years...discs will be obsolete...maybe sooner?


By geddarkstorm on 11/11/2008 1:26:27 PM , Rating: 2
Also depends on how fast internet speeds and availability keep up with everything. Can't forget to factor in the cost of the necessary broadband needed for streaming, although most of the time that isn't too much anymore - at least if one lives in urban areas.


RE: a simple way to increase sales
By mmntech on 11/11/2008 11:15:06 PM , Rating: 2
Most places in Canada sell new releases in BD for $32, even Amazon. Older movies sell for $16. It seems steep but that's how much DVDs cost when they first came out. People have a short memory. However, the difference is that there's not a lot of difference between DVD and BD for most people. It's not as clear cut as VHS vs DVD. Most people will just buy what's cheaper.

In regards to the original topic, Future Shop in Canada is selling Sony BD players (BDPS350) for $249.99 this week with three free movies included. You get Kingdom of Heaven, The Devil Wears Prada, and iRobot. Not great movies but not terrible ones either like a lot of similar offers. The BDPS350 doesn't support internal DTS-MA decoding though. They also have the Sharp BD-HP20U for $199.99 with the same three movies. I have no idea how good it is. The 40gb/80gb PS3 is still the best value given that most of these budget standalone players don't support DTS-MA, BD Live, or even DD TrueHD.


RE: a simple way to increase sales
By Gzus666 on 11/11/2008 4:05:34 PM , Rating: 2
Uh, don't know where you buy your movies from, but I just got The Thing on bluray for $23.

Of course it is cheaper to stream, but you get compressed crap. If you haven't seen and heard the difference in a bluray movie, you can't make the decision properly. If you want to stream, you might as well just stick with upscaled DVD, cause that is about the same quality.


RE: a simple way to increase sales
By gramboh on 11/11/2008 4:18:19 PM , Rating: 2
Bingo. The bitrate on streaming HD can't be much more than a megabit or two because it's hard to maintain more than that (unless its your ISP streaming from a local content server). If a Bluray is 20+mbit video stream, you are getting a terrible picture. An x264 1080p encode of a Bluray needs about 10-13mbit/s for good quality comparable to the source, so there's a benchmark for how fast streaming over the net needs to get for decent quality in HD.


By shoopdeewoop on 11/11/2008 5:04:25 PM , Rating: 2
Right, like I said, I stand corrected on the price of the Blu-Rays.

I have seen quality on Blu-Ray format but I havn't seen the streaming HD. I'll need to check that out obviosly before making a decision.


Sony and their lost war
By NubWobble on 11/12/2008 8:28:49 AM , Rating: 2
Sony won the format battle but lost the war because BluRay is so overpriced it's not selling. I detest Sony and am glad they're not selling, so I will just stick with DVD for another while until the next format has been released (I read not too long to wait) or Sony have lost their monopoly on BluRay and BluRay prices have come down to current DVD prices.




RE: Sony and their lost war
By Gzus666 on 11/12/2008 10:38:55 AM , Rating: 2
Prices come down, I know this is blowing your mind, but DVDs used to be in the exact same boat. They were too expensive, not worth the upgrade from tapes for a small quality increase, etc, etc. Lo and behold, they took over once the price dropped.

You say this garbage because as you stated, you hate Sony and you have the misconception they are the only people involved in Bluray. You don't represent the masses as they will come in droves when the prices get cheap like DVD did. But for now, it is for Audio/Videophiles.


RE: Sony and their lost war
By Spuke on 11/12/2008 2:37:15 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
You don't represent the masses as they will come in droves when the prices get cheap like DVD did.
Whenever that happens.


RE: Sony and their lost war
By NubWobble on 11/13/2008 1:32:18 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
You don't represent the masses


So, according to BluRay sales I don't represent the masses? Please show me that the masses are running to BD while prices are high.

It's interesting how you attack me and yet confirm my post at the same time. Also we didn't upgrade from tape to DVD, we upgraded from tape to CD to DVD. I remember the change well, you it seems do not.


RE: Sony and their lost war
By Gzus666 on 11/13/2008 10:08:35 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
I detest Sony and am glad they're not selling, so I will just stick with DVD for another while until the next format has been released (I read not too long to wait) or Sony have lost their monopoly on BluRay and BluRay prices have come down to current DVD prices.


You are an idiot, I'm sorry, but you really are. Please read your comment above, I said your position of hating Sony being the reason you don't switch is the reason you don't represent the masses. Most people could care less about the company behind the format, they care about the price.

CD? CD was adopted for video about as much as laser disc was adopted.

This is clearly a frivolous debate, as you don't have simple reading comprehension.


RE: Sony and their lost war
By jrb531 on 11/18/2008 1:04:15 PM , Rating: 2
I hate Sony also.... I think you underestimate how bad Sony really is.

Screw Sony and Screw Blu-Ray!


I'll never buy a disc again
By amanojaku on 11/12/2008 1:05:16 AM , Rating: 2
After 1000+ DVDs I realized a few things:

1) Discs go bad
2) Slipcases take up space
3) My deadbeat "friends" "borrow" things
4) I never watch them more than 5 times

I'll stick with my NAS and pray for legally downloadable content. 3+TB of storage in a SFF can hold ~60 Blu-ray or ~600 DVD movies, which is more than I'd want to keep, anyway. I generally use Netflix's streaming service and that's as good as any DVD I've seen. I've never seen a Blu-ray disc, but my TV would need an upgrade, anyway, and I have no reason to complain so far. Movies like Water and TV shows like Heos prove properly encoded streaming content has a future, as long as you're connected. If I can store it then that's a plus.




RE: I'll never buy a disc again
By Gzus666 on 11/12/2008 10:33:26 AM , Rating: 2
Good luck streaming or downloading full Bluray movies anytime soon. Keep living the dream my friend. You really have no ability to compare, cause as you said, you've never seen Bluray and your TV needs an upgrade anyway. Seeing and hearing is believing.


RE: I'll never buy a disc again
By Silver2k7 on 11/14/2008 5:46:20 AM , Rating: 2
"I'll stick with my NAS and pray for legally downloadable content. 3+TB of storage in a SFF can hold ~60 Blu-ray or ~600 DVD movies"

60 Movies is not much, if you got 1000+ DVD's I would guess your the collector type that will get as many high def movies over time..

lets pray for larger HDD's and faster internets instead ;)

If a disc image file of a blu-ray could be purchased online and downloaded and added to the library on the HTPC, than that might be ideal.. then you could have menues, subtitles, extra features all in a single file.

The problem with this would be the huge ammount of space that lets say 1000 movies would take.. im not sure how large the average BD-movie is but lets say 40GB then its about 40TB for 1000 movies..

of course not everyone would want to keep such a large movie library.. but lets say tv-series and say every episode of Stargate SG-1 (if it was avalible on blu-ray) thats something like 210 episodes.. now im not sure how much an episode would take in full blu-ray quality but im sure its probably 10GB or so.. so you would end up with 2 TB+ for a single tv-show in this quality.

would be a nice way to buy movies, you could purchase them without leaving the house, not lots of disc packages taking up storage.. blu-ray would end up as obsolete, wich I wouldn't mind that much.. with this as a proper replacement.

problems with this idea:

1) movie companies would destroy this idea with copy protection schemes wich would limit useability and future ability to play the files. Sadly and invitably this would instead alienate their customerbase and lead to piracy.

2) HDD's are not as reliable as they should be.. also they need to have more storage space if a movie image file would take 40 GB. 2TB HDD's are slated for 2009, but this won't be enough.. the HDD is also the largest speed bottleneck of todays computers. Hopefully SSD storage with faster speeds, more reliable storage because of no moving parts, and with terabytes of storage at affordable prices will replace the spinning platter harddrives sooner rather than later.. but its like mp3 its first recently that lossless compression started to make sense with 16GB+ freestyles. and harddrives wich will fit an entire music collection in lossless, if its less than 3000 albums atleast.

I believe that blu-ray will have its place for pobably the next 5-8 years or so.. when movies start to sell in 2160p there might be hopefully enough *disk space* on computers and enough reliability to justify to start selling files online only.. there are already a few expensive TV's avalible with 2160p or QF-HD, Hancock with Will Smith was the first movie recoded in this format IIRC.


RE: I'll never buy a disc again
By Silver2k7 on 11/14/2008 5:50:50 AM , Rating: 2
recoded = recorded


RE: I'll never buy a disc again
By The0ne on 11/14/2008 12:39:50 PM , Rating: 2
Let me tell you losing data on a 1TB hard drive is painful. Not being able to recover most of it makes it even worse.


Blu-ray for Xmas
By SnakeBlitzken on 11/17/2008 1:54:34 PM , Rating: 2
My old dvd player is shooting craps. I may go stand in line at BB to see what black friday specials are lurking. I want to upgrade to a blu-ray. I don't buy movies but I do rent them occasionally. I may join Netflix to see what they have in BD format. I don't have broadband and probably won't have it in my area for several years. I have a decent home-built gaming PC but it's not in the same room as my entertainment center. Discs are going to be my movie format for a while. There are a lot of people that don't have broadband and probably won't for a long time. They will eventually adopt bluray.

My system is a 46" aquos 1080p, Sony 5.1 surround system and direct TV HD package. I'm looking at the Aquos player which will intergrate with my LCD.




Hahaha what can be worse than optical storage?????????
By on 11/12/08, Rating: -1
By Gzus666 on 11/12/2008 10:34:45 AM , Rating: 2
Did you eat paint chips when you were a kid...Oh wait, you still are.


By The0ne on 11/14/2008 12:36:33 PM , Rating: 2
He's a troll. Why do you keep responding to his posts?


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