Poll: Has Blu-ray secured its place as heir to the DVD throne?
By Richard Lawler 
posted July 25th 2010 4:45PM
posted July 25th 2010 4:45PM
posted July 25th 2010 4:45PM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
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First.
@Aeolus I never understood why people would say "First" on sites like these.. You say "First" to let everyone know you were the first to comment, but your comment gets down voted so much no one can see it.. So why bother yelling "First" when no one is going to see it? TELL ME WHY DAMN IT!
@DeadPlasmaCell To get exactly the type of comment you just gave me.
Blu-Ray's here to stay. Have fun streaming that VHS-quality copy of Jaws III while praising it as the future of home entertainment, digital distribution advocates.
@Cory Bauer word.
@Cory Bauer
Streaming has the virtue of being cheap and supporting devices that are already in place. The biggest challenge with most people is convincing them that it's time to make any sort of change at all. Streaming options will make their way into homes piggybacked on game consoles.
Oddly enough, it will also make it there piggybacked on BluRay players themselves. They can be a nice alternative to something like a Roku. This is an ironic twist since BluRay players might actually benefit streaming more than it does shiny disk sales.
Most people don't read engadget. They don't have a gadget fetish and they don't fixate on technical minutia. Most people will be more interested in cheap and easy to use. BD disks that require firmware updates to your player are kind of the opposite of that.
@jedi I couldn't agree more.. Everything you've said there is 100% spot on IMO
@jedi
Any device that streams requires firmware updates so Roku boxes, Xboxes etc all suffer the same fate.
Streaming is nice but its far from effortless. Buffering issues, dealing with router and cable modem headaches, the jaw dropping inability to search for and add movies to your Netflix queue right on your TV, etc are all barriers to entry. "Most people" don;t want to play IT manger whenever all they want to do is watch a movie. With a disc you just put it in and press play. That's about as easy as it gets.
I like owning my media. I don't like relying on the cloud for all my entertainment needs.
Bluerays will be around for a longggg time
Considering that you have to have a 1080p TV to really see the difference between upscaled DVD and Blu-ray, and there are still not very many good 1080p TVs below $1000, Blu-ray isn't really that interesting to that many people. With a good upscaling player (though these are _very_ hard to come by... I haven't found a BD player that even comes close yet.) the difference between the two is even more subtle, even on a 1080p projector. My weekly movie night guests usually can't tell whether I'm playing a DVD or Blu-ray, even at 100 inches.
Even though I have super high end gear (best TV and Blu-ray player available in their categories), I'm still buying at least as many DVDs as Blu-ray discs. It just isn't worth the extra cost unless it's something I'm going to watch over and over again, or the studio has taken the extra time and effort to make sure that the Blu-ray transfer is absolutely stellar. Many older titles are not that much better than the DVD.
As far as streaming goes, I stream about as much as I buy, but the amount I stream is growing faster than the number of BD I buy.
@deej what size tv are you talking? A 23" 1080p monitor cost me $150, and I can EASILY see the difference of bluray at a proper viewing distance. 1080p at 37" (what most people have) can be had for 300$ if you shop around.
Blu-Ray gives me the assurance that the title I payed cash for is mine (unlike DRM) and that I am getting the highest possible quality along with special features not included on a streaming copy. Until bandwidth and, therefore, quality (log with more reasonable digital distribution rights) exist on digital straming, the only place my money's going is to physical media (aka 80-90% Blu). Netflix does have some nice straming video for instance BBC's The IT Crowd, but that's a free service for using their rental service so it's not really like I'm paying for streaming.
@engeek There are PLENTY of sub-$1000 1080p HDTVs. That's all I'm going to say.
Blu-ray: too expensive (content is expensive, the player is expensive, the tv is expensive), too little difference with DVD, not as sturdy, too much of a bother.
@bluelobe Bah, dang it, I meant that comment for deej, but now I see his baseless comment was already ranked down. Wish I could _delete_ posts.
Blu-ray will hang around a while longer but unless they rig the market (and risk alienating huge numbers of customers) DVD will see it off.
The root problem it has is that too few care about the difference, certainly not enough to pay the premium over DVD.
Similarly too few will ever care or bother with the full and costly audio kit necessary to properly benefit from HD audio.
my brother in law refused to give up on VHS because he couldn't see a difference in picture quality(WTF I know) but even he had to move on when VHS stopped being supported by the movie industry.Once Blu-ray players are $29 and Blu-ray movies are in the discount bin for $5 then we will see the end of dvd's dominance.
As for internet distribution of content,it will be the next thing but not for awhile yet,look at the dismal state of internet service across the country,and by that I mean EVERYWHERE not just the big cities. Imagine when all that Hi Def content traffic replaces the Blu-ray disks,the infrastructure isn't there yet.
Blu-ray may be the final physical medium produced for distribution of media but it has a long life ahead of it,even if only for those who value quality over convenience.
I voted yes. Blu-ray is the most commonly available way to get the best possible picture (1080p) and audio (surround sound, sometimes lossless) into the living room.
That will only change when streaming/download services start offering those features with the same release schedule as physical media for the same price as Netflix/Blockbuster online.
Blu is the only way to go for Hi Def. DVD is a poor mans solution. But, pay per view on the Satellite providers is Blu comparable.
Ill stick to my high bitrate 1080p with HD master audio TYVM
Specially here in Australia where having shitty speeds and shitty download limits means streaming even dvd quality content is a joke.
To be perfectly honest I don't think it will ever replace DVD because optical media technology is completely getting abandoned in my house for example for casual viewing.
It's like this. I watch all my movies on VOD/Digital in 1080p/5.1 sound.. I rent them.. works great (for example Xbox 360 but Vudu with HDX is pretty much like Blu-ray) for a few bucks.
I know, I know about the fact that these movies might be more expensive to rent than Blu-ray discs from Netflix or whatever but it's super convenient and I don't feel the money expense because as a normal person I don't watch movies every day. When I do want to watch the latest flick in HD I hop into my home theater and get the movie from Vudu or Xbox or whatever..
I have less need to really rent or own Blu-rays.. that's not hating or anything, I love Blu-ray quality but I just notice this in my behavior with movies..
I don't buy digital downloads though.. I only rent them.. I still buy Blu-rays when they are really worth it.
@Bozster Wait....nothing will replace DVD's, but when you do enjoy a film enough to purchase it you purchase it on Blu-Ray? In the end your argument just justified Blu-Ray's succession of DVD by your own buying habits.
@Bozster
You know, I have tried to go digital. I really did. After all all my music has been digitized since 2003 so why not my DVD's?
But even in 2010, its a huge pain in the butt to get my DVD collection onto a server in a form that works for both large screens and small devices. With music it was easy and the files were really small. Stick a CD into iTunes press a button and 3 minutes later its ripped. When its that easy of course it goes mainstream fast.
With DVD's you are talking a serious commitment in time, ripping and transcoding can take hours and if you want to maintain all the extras, surround sound etc you are talking terabytes of storage. I finally just gave up and said screw it. Optical media works just fine when it comes to movies in my opinion. They are cheap portable and are their own backup. The only digital copies I have to deal with are ones that came with blu-rays I bought.
Is this poll intended to find out whether there's enough demand for an Engadget SD blog?
Oh and people keep saying the infrastructure for digital isn't good enough yet?
Well my town is nothing special and I get 18.5mb down which is more than good enough for downloading a film in high definition in a reasonable time.
@MFM123 National average is still much much lower than that and until the time when everyone can get a 20Mbps connection for cheap, physical distribution will still remain king.
@MFM123 HD streaming just doesn't work. My connection is about the same as yours, which is about the best a person could hope for in the States without paying $100/mo for a 50MB/sec connection. I streamed two "HD" movies from Netflix yesterday. Both started out looking not much better than DVD, and they both rebuffered several times until the quality eventually looked like YouTube circa 2006. And it'll never rebuffer to IMPROVE quality, so I had to keep stopping and starting the movie to try and get the original DVD-looking "HD" quality back.
Given that, its going to be a long, long time before a person can stream a 1080p movie with a 35mb/sec video bitrate and lossless audio on $39.99/mo Internet service.
@MFM123 That's not fast enough to download 10GB+ Blu-rays in a fast enough time....people like me want the extras...the movie alone is not enough
@maythetechbewithyou
6yrs ago I was on dial-up, 4yrs ago I was on 2mb, 2yrs ago I was on 6mb.
It's coming.
@Cory Bauer
Well That may be your experience but it's not mine.
My Xbox streams very well and whilst I am not saying the quality is as good as a Blu-ray disc the pooint is far too few care.
Remember .mp3?
Besides, streaming is (ironically) getting a piggy-back from alomst every Blu-ray player on the market today.
@Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi
Yeah but when it comes down to it, you're not the mass-market.
Tech geeks & movie collectors just aren't.
HD TV services combined with a good DVR are showing that VOD - with a movie on its own - is proving a hit all over the world.
I haven't bought a DVD in three years. Blu-Ray is the standard now, and with digital copy and dvd's in the same box with the blu ray, even if you haven't upgraded to HD, you can be futureproof at minimal cost.
@maythetechbewithyou
Exactly. The last DVD that I got was The Angry Video Game Nerd, only because they don't have it in Blu-ray since it's about reviewing older games.
Blu-ray will likely never be as big as DVD but its firmly established as a major player now. Its growing as fast as digital distribution so the market looks like it will remain fragmented. People will buy and rent their media in a multitude of ways depending on the situation.
I always choose Blu-ray for content I really care about when renting or when I want to buy. DVD's still look OK but I'm not buying them ever again. (It looks like the mainstream public are moving in this direction too). Netflix streaming is great for convenience but I only use it when I don;t care about the quality. The rest of the downloading/streaming options are too expensive (when compared to Netflix). And I would never buy any of the DRM'd garbage that Amazon, Apple, etc are all selling digitally.
It won't take dvd.s trophy until the individual movie prices cone down
I decommissioned my VCR ten years ago. I watch DVD's that I have in my library because I have an outboard video processor that does a fantastic job. I buy BD's when anything new comes to market. I am anticipating the next step and will welcome it with open arms. As for those who are stuck in the time warp of B & W TV's and VCR's that flash 12:00am all day: So what. Why does anyone care? They have the right not to spend money on new technology. Stop polling people about advances in audio/video. Too many responses come from people with a wire coat hanger screwed to the back of a 19" Acme TV. The only thing that shocks me is the fact that people claim to not be interested in blu-ray, but read this website! If everyone were to think the next step is never worth the money, we all would be riding horses and lighting candles at night. The entire family would be huddled around the AM radio at night and my response to this topic would take a week to post after I dropped it off at the pony express office.
I'm not getting Blu-ray. I don't buy CDs anymore so why should I buy movies on a disc?
I'm betting on streaming or some variation of it in the future. The tech behind it is still in it's infancy and it will only get better and easier to use. In fact, the next TV I plan to buy will have the wireless network built in. I'm looking forward to the end of the plastic disc.
@naman The same argument applies to CDs. If you want to listen to one song, that's fine to pay $.99. However, if you want the whole album, why would you pay $12.99 on iTunes, when you can get a physical copy for the same price. Not only the same price, but now you can rip the CD for any medium AND the sound quality is much better (lossless) than the downloaded version (256kbps-ish).
I'm sorry, but I'm not downloading my jazz albums on inferior quality. That defeats the purpose of the inherent value of jazz. I feel the same with blu-ray. I want the physical disc with the DTS-MA/True HD and the higher bit-rate video. Why would I pay $10 to download something without either of those, when (admittedly with blu you still have to pay a slight premium over DVD/download) a couple dollars more will get me my own, higher quality, copy.
Call me old fashioned, but I just don't understand.
@savarese04
With video I only buy blu-ray. I don;t bother with DVD anymore and I'm not buying DRM'd low bit rate "HD" files. Yet I still stream a lot of Netflix for non-critical viewing so the reality is not that cut and dry.
But with music a 256 Kbps VBR or AAC file is good enough. And its not like I'm listening on some cheap sound dock. Even on my nice surround sound system, I can barely tell the difference when I sit in the sweet spot. And the fact of the matter is very few people have either the time or the inclination to just sit and listen to music anymore. For most people music is something you have on while you are doing something else (driving, cooking, entertaining, surfing, working). In my opinion, the instant gratification, the portability and not having to deal with the hassle of shipping discs, ripping them and then finding a place to store them is worth the slight decrease in quality. Judging from the success of iTunes and Amazon I'd guess others feel the same way.
I haven't bought a DVD since 2006.
I think people who object to Blu-Ray are missing one important point. They will be NO CHOICE in the future. Blu Ray will be the only the physical medium. The Blu-Ray prices will come down the DVD prices and DVD will be phased out.
You can already get blu-ray players for £99 in the UK that can play all your old dvd's and blu-ray so what is the issue? It makes economic sense at the moment to have 2 price points because they can potentially upsell product and blu-ray owners need to see a price pointy difference mentally.
When all new media players sold are blu-ray and they can justify having blu ray only releases they will. The key fact is that backward compatibility means its innevitable that at some point in the next 10yrs, if your old dvd breaks you will buy a blu ray player. Thats a fact.
The big issue is whether the cloud will overtake physical media. Probably, but not for a while, and not for everyone in the whole world. DVD's/Blu Ray are universal. You can take a blu ray player to the Australian outback or to some jungle and with a generator, watch HD films of the best quality. Cloud wont do that for years. So for a world wide audience, blu-ray is going to last a while. Not every city is san fransisco..
I think the issue is more whether you want to hold 25g worth of data for one HD film on a hard drive or on an optical disk that costs 10 pounds. I think alot of people will prefer the latter for at least the next 10/20 yrs.
Ripped blu-ray option?
I would like an option to legally get movies on a hard drive where they can be streamed over LAN. No discs to store, no internet streaming issues.
My business model suggestion for content owners:
- Distribute movies via download and disposable rip discs.
- Rent per view (not per download/rip)
- After 3 views, you own it
- Keep on your hard drive as long as you want for instant access
Bluray has completely taken over. 9 out 10 people i know have a bluray player and hdtv. i belive it wont be long before bluray has completely taken over, especially since samsung has now incorperated 3D technology. i think dvds will become obsolete before to long. microsoft is eventually going to have to go bluray soon otherwise hd xbox games will no longer be found.
@lucajohn
You really shouldn't mistake your own circle of friends and family for the mass market.
Most people I know do not have a Blu-ray player but do have DVD.
DVD still outsells Blu-ray by about 10 - 1 (with the occasional big title appealing to the PS3 boys and so they spike the numbers in Blu-ray's favor, but they are only spikes set against an overall picture of slow growth) and that's in money terms so in terms of units sold it's higher still because DVDs are cheaper.
If you think DVD is disappearing soon you're kidding yourself.
As for Xbox?
I do not see them doing anything but selling the basic game on a dual layer DVD (or 2 or 3) and using DLC if they need to.
That covers everything they need much more cheaply.
With even the Xbox Arcade now having 4gbs storage (and able to use a further 2 x 16gb flash) they have no need to do anything with Blu-ray.
Stop believing the hype, Blu-ray is never coming to Xbox, how many times do they have to say it?
I said yes only because Blu-ray is now forcing its way into peoples homes. Many of the summer releases of videos have came with both the Blu-ray and DVD disk in one box. In truth Blu-ray is a failure. Many people stuck with DVD because its cheaper and the quality is good enough so that you still get great picture quality even on old TV models.
I'll chime in here and say as much as I love HD and blu-ray, it will never over-take DVD, but only be sold along side DVDs. DVDs will always be the predominate format, because people simply will not buy a blu-ray player when they believe DVD is good enough.
Is DVD good enough? Heck no. But let's face it... with most people happy with the quality of netflix streaming (an abysmal joke that is painful to watch), I doubt blu-ray will ever over-take DVD.
I'm happy for things to be available via download but the option of a disc is something I'll always want, if you're an enthusiast you want the best video, audio, performance and resolution; stuff you can't get on-demand and won't be able to for a very long time.
i think that its not gona be one format. considering that there are thousands of different devices set up differently and that media is gettin bigger in the living room but smaller in the pocket,it cant be just one.