Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[Vesee1]

Originally Posted by Vashetti

Nice to have you on board.

I would suggest upgrading that 720p TV to a 1080p one when you can. I didn't think it would make much difference a few years ago, but the difference between 720p and 1080p is staggering.

If you think your Blu-rays and HD looks great now, they'll look much, much better on a 1080p set.

Thanks Vashetti. Current plan is to eventually use this one as a bedroom TV and get a 39" 1080p for the living room(only about 225 sq. ft.).

I was certain The Dark Knight BD looked better on my parents' 1080p 32" when I demoed the player for them, even though I've read claims that there should be virtually no difference at that size.


On the subject of this thread, I thought it was very encouraging to see the initial BD market share of some more recent titles such as Frozen and The Desolation of Smaug ranging between 40-55%, even at higher prices than DVD.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by octagon

And for all the talk of sheep and idiots, even the much maligned masses like the differences....

what talk? Did I miss something? If so, I’ll simply agree to what you’ve said and post a visual illustration to help further the point -

Eli's Dirty Jokes - Episode 11 - The Shepard and his Boy - YouTube

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by octagon

Yeah, I was just making conversation. We're pretty much on the same page.

hehe, I thought we did also, welcome to the Happy Realists Club.

Indeed HD as a whole is finally fully here, if not in every home, at least in pretty much every member of the target consumer's minds. Yes there are still older people without and some less fortunate ones that don't have, but the buying generation is all too aware, you've watched the Super Bowl, NASCAR or the Olympics, you're aware.

The ones who don't care will soon find themselves purchasing a UHDTV (give it 4-5 years) and by then if they still stick with DVDs more power to them, but UHD will roll out faster than many believe. Like the chicken or the egg, but now that TVs are out there and predictions calling for quite a few end of 2015 it stands to reason that any service provider will want to get a piece of the "new" huge proverbial pie.

For those who follow up on UHD we all know what is planned as a "final" version, and already we are seeing this happen. This summer's "Mundial" is going to sell a heck of a lot of UHDTVs, and now it's easy as pie, the standard is the same the world over. If it turns out anywhere as good as the previous trial runs proved, many anti-streamers might be surprised at the "potential" out there.

Sure, we'll hear the infrastructures aren't ready and all, I agree also, but in those few who already own UHDTVs, I'm sure they are not struggling with 5 Mbs ISPs. Most everyone I know have 20 Mbs minimum, on average 40 and some like myself 60Mbs +, unlimited, and trust me, if I had a UHDTV (that will be when they reach the sweet spot between development/dependability/price) I would sure do anything I could to get that UHD feed from the World Cup and hold a comp long party.

Is UHDBD going to show up, I was really seeing it happening, and still hope so, but Sony coming out as implying they will not be the only ones involved in the cost and R&D (at least that's what I make of all those articles, and the CEO only speaking of streaming at CES 2014), I somehow have a weird feeling we'll hear something similar from Samsung (with them clearly taking Sony head on in Sony's new 4K market and also having a streaming/hd player, and clearly the only ones who can afford to invest in UHDBD R&D). If UHD is to happen, Sony/Samsung are the only ones left, at least for quality products. Panasonic went from awesome to what-the-heck and I don't know how long Sharp can last.

My feeling is, let's hope the initial UHD streaming "tests" aren't too conclusive (i.e. The World Cup), you get the early adopters onboard, make them happy and I then would see a "why UHDBD after all reaction. 1st to market is always the best if you can deliver.

[nukuEX2]

Well whaddaya know? Major stream content provider IE Netflix is releasing its content on BD!!!

[Vashetti]

Originally Posted by nukuEX2

Well whaddaya know? Major stream content provider IE Netflix is releasing its content on BD!!!

Makes sense to explore all avenues of revenue. They're limiting it by keeping it streaming exclusive.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Vashetti

Makes sense to explore all avenues of revenue. They're limiting it by keeping it streaming exclusive.

I think it was meant as sarcasm aimed at all the insane "BD/physical is dying/almost dead" trolls. Obviously no one will limit themselves at such a small niche market.

[cueman98]

Apparently, my blu collection is already a dinosaur.

http://extratorrent.cc/article/3665/...s+popular.html

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by cueman98

Apparently, my blu collection is already a dinosaur.

http://extratorrent.cc/article/3665/...s+popular.html

reading the comments section on that article makes me weep for mankind

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by cueman98

Apparently, my blu collection is already a dinosaur.

http://extratorrent.cc/article/3665/...s+popular.html

Rile up dem natives for yet another round.

[Tok]

What do you expect from a torrent site article? I'm sure most of the people posting are the same ones that have hundreds of torrents of films they did not legitimately purchase.

[Optimus]

Originally Posted by wormraper

reading the comments section on that article makes me weep for mankind

Check out this gem.

"Never liked Blu-ray and not shocked its dying can anything be done to get it to die faster ? Sticking with HD DvD s ."

Hilarious lol.

[disneywildcat]

http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/23/57...osks-this-year

Redbox's streak of big growth is over: the company says it plans to uninstall more than 500 of its DVD / Blu-ray rental kiosks this year. The move comes after Redbox saw its revenue increase by just 3 percent last year, and The Wall Street Journal says it's not likely to see better results in 2014. But beyond the flat growth, Redbox seems to be running out of new spots for its signature rental machines, having already hit saturation across most major US supermarkets. The company has previously revealed that it operates over 40,000 kiosks.







That clever placement strategy has helped the company find success with its $1-per-day rental model. Since starting with DVDs, Redbox has added Blu-ray and video game rentals, though both cost more than a dollar. Blu-rays made up 15 percent of disc rentals last quarter; video games represent only 3 percent of revenue. Redbox has also experimented with branching out beyond home media at its kiosks, but those tests haven't gone well. The company tried selling concert and event tickets through the machines, but abandoned that idea in less than a year.

I'm not a big Redbox customer, as I don't like their very limited BD selection and don't like rental discs in general. Hence I tend to limit my business with Redbox, and either buy or rent from the library (although my library has started using rental discs for WB films). But it's not good news for physical media in general to hear that Redbox is downsizing its kiosk locations, even if they have over 40,000 kiosks.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by disneywildcat

...But it's not good news for physical media in general to hear that Redbox is downsiding its kiosk locations, even if they have over 40,000 kiosks.

Definitely not good news But, may have potential for kindling wood . On a personal note, in my neck of the woods, the local Albertsons (grocery store) has two Redbox kiosks (side by side, ‘Kiosk A’ and ‘Kiosk B’). Plus, across the street about 500-600 yards away, the local Walmart also has a kiosk (but only one).

I fear one of the three may close.

[DetroitSportsFan]

The story sounds really bad until you see it's 500 of 40,000 kiosks. Still not good news, but not a disaster either.

[wormraper]

so 1.25% closure is worth panicking about??? this is just a simple re-adjustment. if they said 5,000 were closing, I'd say take notice.

[cricepng]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Definitely not good news But, may have potential for kindling wood . On a personal note, in my neck of the woods, the local Albertsons (grocery store) has two Redbox kiosks (side by side, ‘Kiosk A’ and ‘Kiosk B’). Plus, across the street about 500-600 yards away, the local Walmart also has a kiosk (but only one).

I fear one of the three may close.

Based on the numbers, have no fear. That's only 10 per State. Not even one per county.

I always thought they had over saturated the market. There were at least seven within a mile of where I lived last time in the States.

[worldchmps]

Any way to get a list of the kiosks that'll be going bye bye?

[rdodolak]

Redbox is simply closing down less profitable locations. According to the same article from the WSJ Redbox will be expanding its locations in Canada.

Originally Posted by WSJ

The company is also expanding in Canada, its only foreign market. It had 1,300 kiosks there in March and is adding between 50 and 250 more this year.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by wormraper

so 1.25% closure is worth panicking about??? this is just a simple re-adjustment. if they said 5,000 were closing, I'd say take notice.

My first thoughts as well

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by cricepng

Based on the numbers, have no fear. That's only 10 per State. Not even one per county.

I always thought they had over saturated the market. There were at least seven within a mile of where I lived last time in the States.

No disrespect to disneywildcat but, it was a tongue-in-cheek comment to Blu-ray doomsdayers, because reporting on companies’ difficulties with subsequent extrapolation to the future extinction of Blu-ray seems fashionable in some quarters these days.

To seriously put the closing of some kiosks into visual perspective, the chance of acquiring Irvine-Gass Syndrome for routine cataract surgery at an academic center is higher than the Redbox un-installation rate.

Point being, if the Redbox un-installation rate of 1.25% significantly worries people, don’t even consider ever having cataract surgery during your senior years. Just learn to accept and live with the poor vision caused by a cloudy lens.

And unless the Lasik providers have taken over, cataract extraction remains the most common eye surgery there is.