Is Blu-ray starting to become popular?

[Boz]

Correct. Except one is interlaced and the other is progressive. In slow moving images, they should look identical, but in 1080i, you can see jaggies during fast moving images. But yes, 1080i will look better on a 1080p TV than on a 720p one due to the resolution match.

Even though this is not really relevant to the discussion of this thread, there is no difference between 1080i and 1080p as there is no loss of video information.

Here, so everyone can understand why and how:

Short Version

What this all means is this:

? When it comes to movies (as in HD DVD and Blu-ray) there will be no visible difference between the 1080i signal and the 1080p signal, as long as your TV correctly de-interlaces 1080i. So even if you could input 1080p, you wouldn't see a difference (because there is none).

? Thereno additional or new information in a 1080p signal from movie based content.

? The only time you would see a difference is if you have native 1080p/60 content, which at this point would only come from a PC and maybe the PS3. 1080p/60 does have more information than 1080i/30, but unless you're a gamer you will probably never see native 1080p/60 content. It is incredibly unlikely that they will ever broadcast 1080p (too much bandwidth) or that 1080p/60 content will show up on discs (too much storage space and no one is using it to record/film).

So all of you people who bought 1080p displays only to be told by the companies that you had bought 1080i TVs, relax. The TV will convert everything to 1080p. Now if you bought a TV that doesn't de-interlace 1080i correctly, well, that's a whole other story.

[DaDude]

Even though this is not really relevant to the discussion of this thread...

Oh, don't worry. This thread went haywire since Page 1. :D

there is no difference between 1080i and 1080p as there is no loss of video information.

With one little difference- jaggies. Of course, with a good deinterlacer, 1080i should be just as good or almost as good as 1080p.

Edited August 8, 2009 by xraffle

[V-99 ODST]

I actually just bought my first blu ray film (The Fast & Furious) and I don't own a BR player yet. I'm going to wait till the PS3 goes slim with a $100 price cut to boot. Next year I'll definitely buy it.

I'd say it's becoming popular. The price of BR discs are pretty much the same as DVD if you look around, I spent $24 (including tax) on the br 2 disc special on The F&F; DVD was priced at $19.95.

[Boz]

The price of BR discs are pretty much the same as DVD if you look around, I spent $24 (including tax) on the br 2 disc special on The F&F; DVD was priced at $19.95.

Well I don't think $5 difference is the same. The point though is that DVD will drop in price much faster. So that same disc in few weeks it will sell for $12-$15. BD one will still be $25.

Even though it looks cheap, many discs that are being sold for $14.99 or $12.99 these days are being sold on DVD for like $7-$8. There is still a significant difference in price. BDs are expensive and you really have to hunt down movies to get good deals and they will mostly be older movies again that cost much much less on DVD.

I used to buy everything that I even remotely like, but the fact is that that difference piles up pretty quickly to the tune of $$$.

After everything you do realize though (at least I did) that I see no point in owning movies anymore. I already have like 200 Blu-ray movies and I barely watch any movie more then 2-3 times. For that I'm still cheaper renting them 3 times or watching them through downloads then paying $15 or $25 or even $30 for them.

Matrix Trilogy is still being sold at many places in retail for $70..that's crazy.

[DaDude]

I'd say it's becoming popular. The price of BR discs are pretty much the same as DVD if you look around, I spent $24 (including tax) on the br 2 disc special on The F&F; DVD was priced at $19.95.

Apparently you didn't look hard enough. It's $20.99 at Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Fast-Furious-2-Disc-...2923&sr=1-2

[DaDude]

Just a little friendly bump because I now officially have the answer to my question. Without any hesitation whatsoever, the answer is: YES!! It's going to become very popular for three reasons:

1) In B&M stores, the Blu-ray section is becoming even more crowded than ever before.

2) http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3474

and

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3494

3) With the successful sales of "Snow White" and "The Wizard of Oz," it's safe to say that A LOT of people are adopting to this format. Not to mention that you can now find a BD player for $150 or less.

[antsy]

I'm interested in seeing some olf film shot tv shows (inc 16mm stuff) that have never been seen in HD before been given a high res scan to BD.

[Boz]

Just a little friendly bump because I now officially have the answer to my question. Without any hesitation whatsoever, the answer is: YES!! It's going to become very popular for three reasons:

1) In B&M stores, the Blu-ray section is becoming even more crowded than ever before.

2) http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3474

and

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3494

3) With the successful sales of "Snow White" and "The Wizard of Oz," it's safe to say that A LOT of people are adopting to this format. Not to mention that you can now find a BD player for $150 or less.

Well it seems that some retailers to have a larger selection then before but considering their selection was pretty weak to begin with it's not surprising they might've added.

But Walmart for example, is cutting DVDs and Blu-rays as they seem to be overstocked and not selling as well as they hoped.

A recent shift in merchandising strategy by the world's largest retailer spells more trouble for disc sales and the entertainment industry that depends on them for profits.

As part of a larger effort to clean up its aisles and appeal to higher-end shoppers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is doing away with display cases to promote the latest hot movie titles.

The move comes as major film studios are reeling from declines in revenue from DVD sales as cash-strapped consumers turn to low-cost rental services and digital downloads for home movies.

"We think the new strategy implies Wal-Mart no longer sees DVDs and Blu-ray discs as traffic drivers," J.P. Morgan analyst Imran Khan said.

As for DVDs, the Digital Entertainment Group estimates that overall U.S. retail sales fell 13.5% to $5.4 billion during the first half of 2009. At the same time, DVD rentals rose by 8.3% to $3.4 billion. Digital sales and rentals from services like Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc.'s iTunes rose 21% to $968 million.

Video on-demand revenue from pay-TV service providers, like Comcast Corp., is also rising. Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer Khoury says the company served 368 million total views on its VOD platform in July, up 11% from last year.

Meanwhile, studios have cut deals with services like Netflix Inc., the mail-order DVD rental service....

And Engadget also reported:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/10/06/wal-m...y-display-area/

The thing is though, Blu-ray is already established. People do know about it but whether it's growing at serious rate is debatable. I know I don't buy them any more except for some REALLY REALLY big blockbusters I absolutely love and I mostly rent and even with renting I find myself renting more through Vudu for example than going to Blockbuster or ordering discs from Netflix.

Even Netflix CEO says that discs will really remain the primary delivery system for home entertainment within next 2 years and then the shift will go towards digital. You can read it here:

Packaged media, specifically DVD and Blu-ray, will continue to be Netflix?s primary delivery format for the next two years, said CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings.

In an Oct. 7 audio interview with TheMotleyFool.com, Hastings said DVD would thereafter play a supportive role as the Los Gatos, Calif.-based online DVD rental pioneer transitions further into digital distribution and streaming.

?DVD still has the huge advantage, [with a] huge number of titles and all of the new releases,? Hastings said.

He said Netflix subscribers increasingly are opting toward the one-title-at-a-time unlimited ($4.99) and two-title unlimited monthly ($8.99) rental plans with unlimited streaming ? the two lowest-priced plans. Hastings said DVD would be a part of Netflix?s offering for another 10 to 20 years.

?So a very long time,? he said.

He said it was important that tech companies stay on the cutting edge in order to remain relevant.

Hastings said Netflix was focused on developing the streaming option and remaining relevant, which meant the service would not seek to establish an international presence.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/netflix/r...ore-years-17272

Of course this doesn't mean you won't see Blu-ray any more or DVDs for that matter but it kind of seems that the industry will be shifting away from discs in general. You'll still have Blu-ray and DVD for a long time but I just don't think it will be growing.

If you look at the new TVs, every single one of them come out with Vudu or Netflix or whatever and hooked into internet. Majority of people with these TVs don't even have the need anymore to buy physical players. So that's another thing to keep in mind.

[antsy]

It wouldn't surprise me if the rental market for BD has grown faster being that you can rent a BD for not much miore than a DVD but buying them isw still quite expensive, and there are a lot of people like myself who only have a BD player because they have a PS3?

[Joel]

and there are a lot of people like myself who only have a BD player because they have a PS3?

You know the PS3 plays DVDs, right?

[HawkMan]

...but interlaced thus not full frame... interlaced footage is :x One of the main reason why I never went for the DVD format.

I don't think (well actually I know) you really understand how interlacing on BluRay works.

on top of that you severely over estimate the average bit rate of blu-ray movies. and most of that bit rate goes to audio you won't be hearing anyway since it stores different audio formats. and 99% of people will only use 5.1 at most anyway. and even those that do have 7.1 systems wouldn't hear a difference, 7.1 are only useful if you have REALLY large home theater rooms. Heck even the Yamaha salesman(the guy who works for them to sell stuff to our stores) told me not to buy 7.1, or rather not to bother with the 7.1 speaker setup, the receiver will be 7.1 anyway.

That brings us to the difference between comrpessed AC3 and DTS sound versus the new un compressed "HD" audio... honestly for a movie you're not going to notice a difference, for music sure, but they're in a different sub format anyway.

[Coldgunner]

There is no doubt that there is a shift into downloadable movies.

I think Blu-ray is here to stay, but it'll be one of the last if not the last optical media we'll see movies on.

[max84]

Downloadable movies still don't reach the quality of a Blu-Ray movie. So, BR is here to stay for many years yet.

[.Neo]

The thing I find funny is that I met quite a few people who react with a "huh?! :blink: " if I mention the term "Blu-ray". So many out there that don't even know it exist in the first place.

[Growled Member]

^ True. And most people I know still don't have any Blu-ray players other than the few who have a PS3.

[DaDude]

Wow, I disagree with a lot of posts here.

First, just because a small minority hate physical media, I don't understand why they would do away with them. And yes, I do mean "small minority." A few of my friends who don't really care that much about owning movies just download them. But a lot of other people I know like to own their movies PHYSICALLY if it's a movie they really like and would like to watch again and again. Not to mention that the quality of downloaded media is still no where near as good as physical media.

Second, EVERYONE I know has heard of Blu-ray. Most don't have a player yet and some don't even plan on getting one, but everyone knows it. Even my aunt and uncle, who are not really into technology, know it.

Last, everyone doesn't have to own a Blu-ray player for the format to hit mainstream. Most people just have to adopt to it, but not everyone. You have no idea how many people I knew that didn't own a DVD player when it hit mainstream. They weren't into buying movies, so they were perfectly happy with VHS. Eventually a few years after VHS became obsolete, they finally bought a DVD player.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Second, EVERYONE I know has heard of Blu-ray. Most don't have a player yet and some don't even plan on getting one, but everyone knows it. Even my aunt and uncle, who are not really into technology, know it.

If you have any interest in movies/tv shows or media it's not hard to have heard of Blu Ray, I think people are saying some people are still a bit clueless about the whole 'HD' thing.

[Andrew Lyle Global Moderator]

I see more people in the blu-ray section than the DVD section these days.

[Miuku.]

Bluray has been popular here all the time but then again PS3 sold better in EU anyway.

[bob_c_b]

I think you are missing the point.. physical delivery is going away..

Not any time soon no matter how many times you say it.

[NiallG]

I like playing the Blu-ray rips via my 360, i find they give superior quality to standard DVDRips while maintaining a much lower size than full DVDs. With the ability to grab a cheap Blu-ray drive at around ?50 it's not exactly expensive either.

[+longgonebn Subscriber²]

HD is the best, I have done away with standard definition, tv, movies, all content. The only way I watch SD is if it's the only thing available, even then I usually upscale. I have been buying and renting blu-rays from the beginning, there is a huge selection now, and most are $27 or less, unless its a collection. No way it's going away.

[soniqstylz]

HH Gregg is selling Blu-ray players for $99, and my local Target randomly doubled the Blu-ray section in the store. It's not going anywhere in the near future, but it's not going to supplant DVD the same way DVD supplanted VHS. Technophiles will be split between Blu-ray and downloadable/streaming videos, but I don't think that digital media will move deep enough in the mainstream to be a substantial player in the mass market for years to come.

[Strawmouth Pete]

Downloadable movies still don't reach the quality of a Blu-Ray movie. So, BR is here to stay for many years yet.

maybe, but plenty of people still watch dvds on HDTVs.

quality may not be the biggest factor

[Boz]

maybe, but plenty of people still watch dvds on HDTVs.

quality may not be the biggest factor

Ask Wii people right? :D