Cheaper Blu-ray wins in Australia

[BBlue]

IF YOU think Blu-ray is the format of the future, you are mistaken. It has already arrived big time.

Figures from GfK marketing show Blu-ray holds a 92 per cent market share for home-entertainment software and hardware over its rival, HD-DVD.

Australians bought 18,000 Blu-ray discs in October compared with about 2000 HD-DVDs.

Blu-ray (BD) is DVD's grave digger, which is not surprising. Though the new disc costs about the same as a DVD, its picture and sound qualities are streets ahead.

At best, DVD has picture quality about on par with a program shown in standard-definition digital TV.

Blu-ray's picture quality is clearer and more detailed than any high-definition digital TV program.

At its best, it reaches the same level of perfection as a Hollywood movie screened in cinemas with state-of-the-art projector and surround-sound systems.

The only thing that stops Blu-ray from stomping all over DVD has been price. Until now.

Two years ago, Connect suggested DVD would be dead and buried when Blu-ray player prices dropped to $399-$599.

Now, a little more than a year after Samsung launched its ground-breaking $1599 BD-P1000 BD player, Sharp's value-laden BD-HP20 has arrived with a recommended retail price of $699. In even better news, the going street price for this machine is about $589.

The new Sharp is a slim-line model with a high-definition video playback at a resolution of 1920x108p, a frame rate of 24 Hertz and 7.1-channel surround sound via HDMI connection.

If your eyes are glazing over, don't worry.

The first couple of Blu-ray players had a different frame rate and were slow to boot up.

Sharp makes a big deal about how quick its machine is, saying it has the fastest start-up from standby in its class.

Yes, but it's still as slow as all the other players to go from initial power on to standby mode.

When it comes to performance, the new Sharp delivers good picture quality and surround sound.

Problem is, its deadly rival is bound to be Sony's BD-P300 player, which was $999 but now has a recommended retail price of of $799 and a street price of $689.

Comparing the two, using Spider-Man 3, Die Hard 4, The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Kiss of the Dragon, the Sony has superior picture and sound quality.

It also has a better standard of finish and is a more solid machine, inside and out.

If this sounds harsh, note that whatever the present street price, the Sony is a $1000 player.

The $300 difference explains why the Sony's picture is sharper, clearer and better defined, with a greater depth of field than the Sharp.

But assessed as the first BD player officially to crack the sub-$1000 price point, the Sharp BD-HP20 at $699 emerges as a bargain for potential Blu-ray buyers and a best buy at the street price of $589.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...-11869,00.html

[Zyclone]

interesting read the street prices listed are cheaper then the 40gb playstation 3 which retails for around $700 here.