Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by Suntory_Times

The only thing that could replace vinyl in terms of sq for me would be blu-ray audio. Nice and lossless.

Originally Posted by frogmort

I would love to see some classic albums transfered to lossless 7.1 blu-ray audio. There were quite a few DVD-A discs of some great albums done rather well. I think that would be awesome!

Although I'm primarily into vinyl for music, I love the idea of Blu-ray Audio and am looking forward to maybe an expansion of that.

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by John72953

Although I'm primarily into vinyl for music, I love the idea of Blu-ray Audio and am looking forward to maybe an expansion of that.

HD movies on disc didn't surprise me. But BR-Audio has. With the music landscape what it is now, I didn't expect a new physical format. I'm supporting it as best I can, and hopefully enough of us dinosaurs buy into it so that many of the classic albums can get released. Would also love some more concert BD-A's as well.

[generalZee]

I think Blu-Ray will last, DVD didn't didn't quite get of VHS right away, I remeber seeing brand new movies on VHS about five years ago. As soon as players get cheaper BD will gain popularity. It was only four years ago that the average BD player was about thousand dollars, now you can buy a great on for less than two hundred. Of course the prices for the discs have also gotten cheaper as well, you couldn't buy a BD for under twenty in a store like you can now. They are almost the same exact price anymore.

[Anthony P]

1) CDs are not obsolete, you can buy them all over the place (pretty much every place that used to sell CDs), every album is still released on CD and CD sales are still just smidgen beyond digital download

2) yes one day BD won't be around, the same way there is no more Beta, VHS, HD DVD or LD and soon DVD

3) The future might be digital dl/streaming but who knows if BD will be the last physical format. 10 years after music dl came out physical media still has the lead, at 10 years after DVD came out VHS was history. It will be at least 10 years and most likely 20 years before the internet could support a mainstream DL/streaming model based on today’s physical model. The problem most DL is the future miss is that demand grows, 10 years ago it would have been OK to have DVD quality, today for many it is BD quality, by the time this can happen it will be BD and beyond.

[steve1971]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

1) CDs are not obsolete, you can buy them all over the place (pretty much every place that used to sell CDs), every album is still released on CD and CD sales are still just smidgen beyond digital download

2) yes one day BD won't be around, the same way there is no more Beta, VHS, HD DVD or LD and soon DVD

3) The future might be digital dl/streaming but who knows if BD will be the last physical format. 10 years after music dl came out physical media still has the lead, at 10 years after DVD came out VHS was history. It will be at least 10 years and most likely 20 years before the internet could support a mainstream DL/streaming model based on today’s physical model. The problem most DL is the future miss is that demand grows, 10 years ago it would have been OK to have DVD quality, today for many it is BD quality, by the time this can happen it will be BD and beyond.

Agreed.

[frogmort]

It's all relative as to how long it survives. The Sun will eventually burn out.

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

Blu-ray will survive for a long time and all that digital download crap is all hype. I can understand there's a lot of digital in media but there will always be physical media because this is a physical world.

[trekdude]

Blu-ray will survive for several years, but it will continue to have a small share of the overall market. Streaming, downloading or buying a movie that's stored on a company's server for your use anywhere with any device - will all split the market with blu-ray.

My reasons
1. Itunes - teens/20s are tomorrow's major customers and they download
2. YouTube -teens/20s watch videos with horrible picture quality all the time. Picture quality is less important to most of that generation than people on this site. We're a minority.
3. Easy of use - streaming or playing a movie you own from an external source will seem easier to younger generations.
4. Material costs - movie studios will reduce costs of producing blu-rays, shipping, buying shelf space, etc. For the studios, downloading and streaming is tremendously cheaper.
5. Comcast -Who knows what they'll dream up to distribute NBC and Universal moves on TV, web or something else. They want to shake things up.

Blu-ray will continue growing in the next few years, but long-term it will probably be second or third in market share. For us, I hope the good news is we can still get movies in the best quality possible.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by frogmort

I would love to see some classic albums transfered to lossless 7.1 blu-ray audio. There were quite a few DVD-A discs of some great albums done rather well. I think that would be awesome!

That's not a transfer, that's a remix. And therefore no longer "classic".

And the likelihood of seeing this is very small. The record labels are not looking to spend money for the minimal returns a 7.1 remix would bring. Didn't work for DVD-Audio, didn't work for SACD, not gonna' work for Blu-ray. There's simply not enough interest.

Citibank just took over EMI and is putting it up for sale. And they did that to beat Time-Warner putting up the Warner Music Group for sale. Record sales (including digital downloads) are half what they were at their peak. It's the end of an era. These companies will get sold, but they will be run as much smaller operations, similar to how they were run back in the 1960s. If run by the right people, that could actually be a good thing from an artistic perspective.

[Malik True]

Originally Posted by trekdude

Blu-ray will survive for several years, but it will continue to have a small share of the overall market. Streaming, downloading or buying a movie that's stored on a company's server for your use anywhere with any device - will all split the market with blu-ray.

My reasons
1. Itunes - teens/20s are tomorrow's major customers and they download
2. YouTube -teens/20s watch videos with horrible picture quality all the time. Picture quality is less important to most of that generation than people on this site. We're a minority.
3. Easy of use - streaming or playing a movie you own from an external source will seem easier to younger generations.
4. Material costs - movie studios will reduce costs of producing blu-rays, shipping, buying shelf space, etc. For the studios, downloading and streaming is tremendously cheaper.
5. Comcast -Who knows what they'll dream up to distribute NBC and Universal moves on TV, web or something else. They want to shake things up.

Blu-ray will continue growing in the next few years, but long-term it will probably be second or third in market share. For us, I hope the good news is we can still get movies in the best quality possible.

Very good post...

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by trekdude

Blu-ray will survive for several years, but it will continue to have a small share of the overall market. Streaming, downloading or buying a movie that's stored on a company's server for your use anywhere with any device - will all split the market with blu-ray.

My reasons
1. Itunes - teens/20s are tomorrow's major customers and they download
2. YouTube -teens/20s watch videos with horrible picture quality all the time. Picture quality is less important to most of that generation than people on this site. We're a minority.
3. Easy of use - streaming or playing a movie you own from an external source will seem easier to younger generations.
4. Material costs - movie studios will reduce costs of producing blu-rays, shipping, buying shelf space, etc. For the studios, downloading and streaming is tremendously cheaper.
5. Comcast -Who knows what they'll dream up to distribute NBC and Universal moves on TV, web or something else. They want to shake things up.

Blu-ray will continue growing in the next few years, but long-term it will probably be second or third in market share. For us, I hope the good news is we can still get movies in the best quality possible.

Why then is Blu-ray growing at a faster rate than all forms of digital combined? I do agree with you that there will be a fractured market from now on, but physical media will remain the largest percent of that market for years(decade or more) to come.

[nolfoc]

Originally Posted by Rob71

Why then is Blu-ray growing at a faster rate than all forms of digital combined? I do agree with you that there will be a fractured market from now on, but physical media will remain the largest percent of that market for years(decade or more) to come.

+1 even if digital is does pull through, physical media isnt going anywhere, they will not take away peoples hobbie! ipods/mp3 have been around for 10plus years and cds are still doing its thing.. people like having a physical copy. it is what it is.. i.e. if movies were digitial only and i went to a friends house to watch a movie that was on my database or whatever, how am i suppose to bring that movie to my friends house to view it? have them pay and download it as well? i just dont see this happening.. companies will give us 2 options BD and Digital. end of story

[Rob71]

Not only that, but everyone is hyping Ultraviolet now. Wait a year and let's see which is higher, people buying those titles as a digital file or people getting them for free when they buy the disc.

[headcheese_bbq]

To the people saying streaming will replace media, this countries infrastructure is no where near ready for that kind of transition. We can barely support the streamers as it is...now with everything streaming...oh boy.

I'm very happy with blu-ray and feel no need for further clarity even. Sometimes I feel if my picture were any clearer, it would stop looking like a film.

[nolfoc]

Originally Posted by Rob71

Not only that, but everyone is hyping Ultraviolet now. Wait a year and let's see which is higher, people buying those titles as a digital file or people getting them for free when they buy the disc.

what do you mean? im confused by this a little bit

[Vriess]

No way Blu Ray will be the last physical format, maybe the last mainstream physical format. Whatever 4k format comes next will be wayyyyyyy to big for people to download on a dsl connection.

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by nolfoc

what do you mean? im confused by this a little bit

Ultraviolet is supposedly the new download model that will take over where Digital Copy left off. "They" basically store your movies for you for free(for now) and give you access to them via your player, PC or whatever. Every Warner BD release(just new releases I believe) will have them this year supposedly, so it's basically a free copy that you can get access to from anywhere. I believe there will be tons of people using this feature by next year, but it will be the free copies that come with their physical copy, not purchased copies. And if that's the case how long will our access to "our" films remain free? For this model to work long-term, they will need people to buy the file not the disc, and I just don't see that happening.

http://www.uvvu.com/

[Malik True]

Originally Posted by headcheese_bbq

To the people saying streaming will replace media, this countries infrastructure is no where near ready for that kind of transition. We can barely support the streamers as it is...now with everything streaming...oh boy.

I'm very happy with blu-ray and feel no need for further clarity even. Sometimes I feel if my picture were any clearer, it would stop looking like a film.

Yet that is not stopping Amazon. Engadget is reporting today Amazon is contemplating UNLIMITED streaming. Technology never stops, the infrastructure may not be in place to fully support streaming for the majority, but it will be. I will say it again most folks don't care if the picture they see is in HD, they want convenience. Amazon, Redbox (they will begin streaming in 2011) Netflix, & Comcast with their shocking acquisition of NBC Universal know the future IS streaming.

[headcheese_bbq]

Originally Posted by Malik True

Yet that is not stopping Amazon. Engadget is reporting today Amazon is contemplating UNLIMITED streaming. Technology never stops, the infrastructure may not be in place to fully support streaming for the majority, but it will be. I will say it again most folks don't care if the picture they see is in HD, they want convenience. Amazon, Redbox (they will begin streaming in 2011) Netflix, & Comcast with their shocking acquisition of NBC Universal know the future IS streaming.

Unfortunately I'm not just talking about the luxory of HD, but of streaming content, UNINTERRUPTED. Were not there yet, unless your lucky enough to have a 6mb or higher connection. This country is getting way ahead of itself; building cars before the roads once again.

[DVDave]

Physical Media is going to be around for a long long time folks.

Just when it looks like streaming/digital media is about to overcome the market, the paradigm will shift again.

I'm talking 4k or higher.

The bandwidth infrastructure cannot stream the massive amounts of data required for those resolutions. Not for decades. Not until the entire infrastructure of the internet is overhauled. Blu-ray will go away but a new format will inevitably replace it, one that can store terabytes of data to provide the highest resolution and quality for videophiles. Until then, compressed digital media will be biting at it's heels but always be lagging behind.