Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[murphywmm]

To be honest, I think we are lucky Blu-Ray has been as successful as it has been so far. When it first launched in competition with HD-DVD, I thought it would be doomed to be a niche product like SACD. That's why I held onto DVD much longer than I should have. But now that I've gone Blu-Crazy, it's hard to go back to watching DVD's again.

[murphywmm]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

However, Blu is a niche format that definitely isn't as popular as most of us would like.

It may not be as popular as DVD, but if you can buy it at big box stores like Wal-Mart, it's not a niche product.

[Drewbee87]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

you will never see it at Wal-mart

I wouldn't be so sure, I thought I wouldn't see Blu-rays at Wal-mart when they first started coming out. All 3 Walmart stores in my area just started selling 4K tvs in store, something else I thought I'd never see there.

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by Dylan34

Also, the studios are not going to let us have way better quality than a theater without a huge price. I see discs starting between 40 and 50 bucks. At first launch its going to be laserdisc prices all over again.

Exactly, and that will be the street/sale price, the MSRP will be more like $60-70 I am sure. Of the content they actually choose to release in that format. And folks will cry and scream holy heck because so many expect titles to be in the $5 bin within a few months of release. I also don't really see them going down - 3D prices certainly haven't, because of the low sales numbers, just like Laserdisc never really did.

I'm still not convinced that there will even be a significant amount of titles released - folks seem to have visions of a year from now walking into a store and it just being another option on release day sitting there for $2-3 more, and I know that's not going to happen.

But even at the higher prices they will likely be, the "need" for 4K isn't being driven by consumers or studios, it's being driven by hardware manufacturers who refuse to accept that the huge turn-of-the-decade profit they made on hardware sales to folks forced to upgrade to HD is not sustainable. That's why they were selling 3-D hardware long before a single title was available at retail, and now that proved to not pull folks in, they are going to push 4K the same way. There simply is no real demand - even at an "enthusiast" site like this, you see just as many, if not more, who completely are not interested.

Basically, normal folks don't replace their TV's/etc. but once a decade, at most. With 4K they are going after the folks who "collect" electronics almost as a hobby and are willing to rebuy the same equipment every 2-3 years. That's a very small niche market - but some folks just refuse to acknowledge that, just like posts a couple of years ago here proclaimed that everyone who didn't think that by now every release would be 3D and every household would have 3D equipment was a complete moron because "duh, it's the future man!"

It's like one of my favorite sayings (though it's often mis-attributed) - History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by Drewbee87

I wouldn't be so sure, I thought I wouldn't see Blu-rays at Wal-mart when they first started coming out. All 3 Walmart stores in my area just started selling 4K tvs in store, something else I thought I'd never see there.

For how long?

I recently bought a new TV and I was shocked that you can't even walk in to most Wal-marts to buy a 3D TV. I found one at a single Wal-mart that was in the "discontinued" aisle. Yet, a couple of years ago, 1/2 their stock was 3D sets.

Even if they are selling 4K TV's, they have only been selling HDTV's for years now, but they still carry far more DVD than Blu-ray titles.

Average people just don't care. And that's who Wal-mart caters to.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

Basically, normal folks don't replace their TV's/etc. but once a decade, at most.

uhhhhh, that all depends on if you can find a tv that actually LASTS 10 years anymore...

[PuppetMasterBlu]

Originally Posted by wormraper

uhhhhh, that all depends on if you can find a tv that actually LASTS 10 years anymore...

Well my mom has a Samsung HDTV going on 7 years now and it even went through a fire.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

For how long?

I recently bought a new TV and I was shocked that you can't even walk in to most Wal-marts to buy a 3D TV. I found one at a single Wal-mart that was in the "discontinued" aisle. Yet, a couple of years ago, 1/2 their stock was 3D sets.

Even if they are selling 4K TV's, they have only been selling HDTV's for years now, but they still carry far more DVD than Blu-ray titles.

Average people just don't care. And that's who Wal-mart caters to.

For how long? Probably until 8K TV replaces them in 10-15 years. You don't seriously think 4K TV will be a failure and we'll revert to a lower resolution, don't you?

Yes, average people don't care. But that doesn't stop the natural forward progression of technology.

[Packerfan75]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

what the heck is Blu ray?

[CinemaScope]

Originally Posted by Packerfan75

The format was perfected with betamax and it should've stayed that way.

Ah, happy memories of Betamax, & to think it was beaten by the inferior VHS I love Blu-ray, & am not really that bothered about 4K. I think it's really for the tech-heads, not movie fans, as so few films will be released in that format, esp. older films, which is my interest...& I think my old eyeballs probably can't go much over 2K these days

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by murphywmm

It may not be as popular as DVD, but if you can buy it at big box stores like Wal-Mart, it's not a niche product.

I have to respectfully disagree with this: Just because Wal-mart carries a small amount of Blu's doesn't make the format mainstream. I was in Wal-mart last week and they had very few Blu's - the majority they did have were of new movies; I saw very few of older films. All in all, I'd say they had 98% regular DVD's, and 2% Blu's.

And, many of the Blu's that collectors/fans of the format discuss on this board aren't even available at brick & mortar stores; the only way you can get most of these are online only.

So, yes, I stand by my last statement that Blu is still definitely a niche format. And, I still know a lot of people who don't even have a Blu player yet...

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

I have to respectfully disagree with this: Just because Wal-mart carries a small amount of Blu's doesn't make the format mainstream. I was in Wal-mart last week and they had very few Blu's - the majority they did have were of new movies; I saw very few of older films. All in all, I'd say they had 98% regular DVD's, and 2% Blu's.

And, many of the Blu's that collectors/fans of the format discuss on this board aren't even available at brick & mortar stores; the only way you can get most of these are online only.

So, yes, I stand by my last statement that Blu is still definitely a niche format. And, I still know a lot of people who don't even have a Blu player yet...

it depends on the location... my walmart is about 60/40 in favor of DVD

and as for only "new" movies in store... that's just the future of brick and mortar stores...online is wiping out the need for store space for anything but hot sellers.


as for someone not having a blu-ray player... that's all anecodotal. quite literally I don't know of anyone but ONE of my friends who doesn't have a player. even my 70 year old mother has a blu-ray player

[murphywmm]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

I have to respectfully disagree with this: Just because Wal-mart carries a small amount of Blu's doesn't make the format mainstream. I was in Wal-mart last week and they had very few Blu's - the majority they did have were of new movies; I saw very few of older films. All in all, I'd say they had 98% regular DVD's, and 2% Blu's.

And, many of the Blu's that collectors/fans of the format discuss on this board aren't even available at brick & mortar stores; the only way you can get most of these are online only.

So, yes, I stand by my last statement that Blu is still definitely a niche format. And, I still know a lot of people who don't even have a Blu player yet...

I don't know... the Wal-Mart's in my area seem to be 50/50 for BD and DVD. The same goes for any other store that carries movies (Future Shop, Best Buy, Target, HMV, London Drugs etc). Actually some of them like Best Buy have more BD now... the last time I was there, I only saw one row of DVD's compared to 3 rows of BD. Perhaps it's a regional thing.

To me, niche would be a format like SACD. I haven't seen one in even a music store for almost 10 years, but there are new titles still being produced on a regular basis.

[Blu-21]

Laserdisc survived as a niche format for a good 23/24 years with the last ever discs being produced in 2001/2002.

So calling BD a niche format isn't such a bad thing, especially since its tracking 50 times better than Laserdisc EVER DID.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by CinemaScope

Ah, happy memories of Betamax, & to think it was beaten by the inferior VHS

True for the US but βetamax was the dominant format in several countries. In a way βetamax lives on to this day in the form of HDCam and HDCam SR. In the early days I would use βetacam (1984, analog) tapes in my βetamax Hi-Fi machine. That ended when βetacam SP came on the scene.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by Petra_Kalbrain

Sensationalist thread title much??? F.U.D. is not welcome on these forums.

Your post has some valid points though. Too bad your thread title is such a huge "drama queen seeking attention" ploy.

Perhaps this thread should be merged with the "OH NO! THE SKY IS FALLING" thread?

I'm glad someone agreed with me on this one.

[Drewbee87]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

For how long?

I recently bought a new TV and I was shocked that you can't even walk in to most Wal-marts to buy a 3D TV. I found one at a single Wal-mart that was in the "discontinued" aisle. Yet, a couple of years ago, 1/2 their stock was 3D sets.

Even if they are selling 4K TV's, they have only been selling HDTV's for years now, but they still carry far more DVD than Blu-ray titles.

Average people just don't care. And that's who Wal-mart caters to.

The Wal-mart stores in my area got 3D sets in stores about 8 months after they came out and have been selling them ever since. And when it comes to movies, they have always had both DVD & Blu-ray versions available in store since they really started selling them, only a few movies don't have the Blu-ray edition available. The only thing they've gone 95% DVD with are the selection of TV shows. They only have both on release week, after that they send the Blu-ray versions back to the warehouse.

[Blu MacReady]

Originally Posted by Dylan34

Also, the studios are not going to let us have way better quality than a theater without a huge price. I see discs starting between 40 and 50 bucks. At first launch its going to be laserdisc prices all over again.

Haven't we already seen 4k releases? Haven't they been 'normal' prices? Ghostbusters II and Robocop spring to mind

What am I getting wrong here?

[Drewbee87]

Originally Posted by Blu MacReady

Haven't we already seen 4k releases? Haven't they been 'normal' prices? Ghostbusters II and Robocop spring to mind

What am I getting wrong here?

"Mastered in 4K"

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by Blu MacReady

Haven't we already seen 4k releases? Haven't they been 'normal' prices? Ghostbusters II and Robocop spring to mind

What am I getting wrong here?

Those haven't been true 4K presentations though. The print has been optimized for 4K, then it gets downgraded for Blu-ray. It still makes the image much nicer, but the resolution is still only 1080p on Blu-ray. 4K would be a resolution of 2160p, which Blu-ray can't handle.

That being said, I do believe there is 4K releases, but they are digital files only and are unbelievably HUGE in storage size!