Is Blu-ray just for the "In Crowd?"

[dolphinc]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

I agree. The need to update firmware every now and then will discourage not-so tech savvy people.

Also try talking to a non tech savvy person into hooking up their player to the internet... Oh the long converstion that would be.

[dadkins]

Certainly not part of "The In Crowd"... too many things "They" have and do that I will never be a part of.

I got into Blu-ray because of being *into* VAIO Laptops.
Since they are VAIOs(Video Audio Integrated Operations), they can surely play DVDs quite well.

The VGN-AR190G is the first BD enabled laptop... and yes, it can display 1920x1080 easily on it's 1920x1200 display(or HDMI to a HDTV).
At first, the ability of burning 25-50GB to a single disc was what I wanted.
After buying a few BD movies, that expanded to also watching movies that made their DVD counterparts look like childrens toys.

Here we are todat and I am on BD laptop #2.
Aint it cool?

[Beta Man]

If I'm in the "In Crowd" I want out.


Blu-ray is doing amazingly well despite the fact that DVD brought much more to the table at the time of it's inception.

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by RiseDarthVader

The people that say digital downloads will take over are the same people that own or work for HDD/Server companies.

Actually, more likely is that they pirate all of their movies and haven't spent a cent on media lately and don't intend to in the future. They see how great their illegal copies of BD rips are and they think "screw buying discs, THIS is the future!"

Originally Posted by dolphinc

Evrytime I read a Poll about anything technology related, I can find 3 other polls that state the opposite. Sampling 2500 people out of 300mil will not give you an accurate reading, demographics, household income, level of education can change an outcome easy. The only "POLE" I care about has a stripper attached to it.

Actually, assuming a good representative sample (which is probably not the case here), 2500 is a good sample amount that gives a fair margin of error. The problem with this isn't in the amount of people polled, but rather in the way they were polled and the way the data was manipulated and the way the results were reported.

Originally Posted by dolphinc

Correct, to download Blu quality video and audio you would have to have a fiber connection to support that kind of bandwidth. Even though it is coming I think we are still at least 8-10 years away from wide availablity for that technology.

Actually illegal rips of BDs are relatively good quality and they sidestep the issue of bandwidth by the filesharing structure of torrents. The user still has to be able to download enormous files, but the real problem on the commercial end isn't explicit here: there is no server that needs to be able serve the enormous files to thousands of nodes quickly and simultaneously.

But even then, the rips are transcoded at a lower bitrate and unless I'm mistaken, probably feature downgraded audio as well. Oh, and they're illegal.

Originally Posted by dolphinc

I agree with you except that they need to standardize the format. How many times do you read a post about people who buy a new Blu player and it won't play a specific movie, everyone ask, did you get the latest firmware? I had this problem last month, I bought a Samsung BD3600 and I had a hard time getting Ironman to load. The updated firmware just came out this week. These are the kinds of things that can discourage a person from getting into a new format.

I've never updated my firmware on my Panasonic BD30 and I've not had any problem with any of my ~400 discs. Sucks if your player has issues, but it's not something plaguing all players.

By the way, I think this article was already linked to here before. They use the same flawed and TOTALLY INCORRECT survey data results from Harris not long ago. Anyone with a brain dismissed these results completely, but people with an agenda latched on and wrote up bogus blog posts about how Blu-ray was dying or dead.

[alphadec]

It will be a sad day if everyhting is via DSL or fiber since u never will be able to have the kind of picture and sound that we have today, so hope this never happens.

and I have no plans of paying everytime I am going to watch my fav movie or I will be a very broke man!.

why some americans have'nt got bd is beyond me, go figure.

[tjericks]

Originally Posted by alphadec

It will be a sad day if everyhting is via DSL or fiber since u never will be able to have the kind of picture and sound that we have today, so hope this never happens.

and I have no plans of paying everytime I am going to watch my fav movie or I will be a very broke man!.

why some americans have'nt got bd is beyond me, go figure.

IMO, I think a significant road block for BD right now is that a lot of people see Blu Ray as something for the rich and elite, which isn't the case at all, but it's still perception. That perception results in a backlash from the "joe six packs" out there with statements like "Blu ray isn't that much better," or "upconverting is just as good". People are just defending what they have and being critical of what they don't have, which is really nothing new. Like any new technology (pagers, cell phones, dvd, etc etc), BD has to get over the hump where J6P views it as mainstream and no longer elite, then I think we'll see a lot less of the articles predicting and celebrating BD's eventual doom.

[Azyiu]

Originally Posted by alphadec

why some americans have'nt got bd is beyond me, go figure.

This is worth some kind of case study, actually. Ok, I understand there are those who do not have an HDTV, and they might not care for the PQ offered by BDs right now. However, there are those with HDTV set(s) at home, and still think dvds are good enough for them right now. What?


I kid you not, I started a thread on whether you have got blu or not on another forum, and I got really frustrated with some people over there in the process. Some of them literally said they can't tell the differences between dvds and BDs!!! Or they simply don't see the benefit of going blu, ever! I simply stopped responding those that thread...

[tvine2000]

Originally Posted by dolphinc

I agree with you except that they need to standardize the format. How many times do you read a post about people who buy a new Blu player and it won't play a specific movie, everyone ask, did you get the latest firmware? I had this problem last month, I bought a Samsung BD3600 and I had a hard time getting Ironman to load. The updated firmware just came out this week. These are the kinds of things that can discourage a person from getting into a new format.

that the problem is samsung sucks when it comes to updates.i woundn't give you a dime for there player.panny,sony,you can get updates before the movie come out.

[tvine2000]

Originally Posted by carpaltonnel

Check out this article I found on CSMonitor.com

Blu-ray sales are stagnating. What’s to blame?
By Matthew Shaer | 06.22.09
Print this Letter to the Editor Republish Email and shareGet e-mail alerts RSS
These are grim days for Blu-ray, a technology once heralded as the future of high-definition home video.

According to a new poll from Harris Interactive, although the sales of HDTVs has continued to climb, the overwhelming majority of Americans have not yet bought into the Blu-ray craze. The results of an April survey show that 93 percent of adults in this country still have not purchased a Blu-ray player, down only three percent since May of 2008. (The survey does show that some consumers use video-game systems such as the Sony PlayStation3 to play Blu-ray discs.)

Internationally, the news is no better. The global video business lost somewhere north of $2.6 billion in 2008 alone, says trade publication Screen Digest, amid slackening sales and limited discretionary spending.

Who’s to blame?

Milton Ellis, Vice President and Senior Consultant, at Harris, said in a statement that Blu-ray, particularly, is facing stiff competition from cable, satellite, and the Web.

“Consumers today can easily watch high definition TV channels or use the Internet or video-on-demand to access high definition movies,” he said. “In the near future, access to high definition movies may be a download or streaming delivery of one’s favorite movies to a home media server that eliminates the need for a Blu-ray player and Blu-ray disc.”

At the same time, the file-sharing practices that decimated the record industry are threatening to cut into video sales – thousands of hi-definition movies and TV shows are available for free, if you know where to look.

An uptick?

Over at PC World, David Coursey writes that, “most of us will end up with Blu-ray, because it comes as part of whatever we purchase next, be it a computer or video player.”

But the numbers from Harris aren’t particularly reassuring – at least in the short run. Of the 2,401 Americans surveyed, only 25 percent planned to switch to Blu-ray completely, and 43 percent want prices to come down significantly before they invest.

More sobering still, only 21 percent of Americans appear to be replacing or duplicating their existing standard format DVD library with Blu-ray format, Harris said.

this is old news.the harris poll has been proven to be false.you can't go by that poll.for one they reported people having hd dvd players when it was upconvert players.the person who did this poll doesn't have a clue.hd dvd has been dead for 2 years.yes people still have there players but the numbers are wrong.

[tvine2000]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

Interesting article.

As for me, I enjoy movies. I enjoy technology. Blu-ray helps me enjoy both!

interesting but wrong! don't pay any mind to that poll!
blu-ray is doing better then people think.blu-ray will be around along time because the studios and ce's support it. people that post these things should be more on top of things.this op isn't

[tvine2000]

Originally Posted by alphadec

It will be a sad day if everyhting is via DSL or fiber since u never will be able to have the kind of picture and sound that we have today, so hope this never happens.

and I have no plans of paying everytime I am going to watch my fav movie or I will be a very broke man!.

why some americans have'nt got bd is beyond me, go figure.

its a long way off and theres alot of issues to overcome.a downloaded hd movie = to a good blu-ray with hd audio,its years away.they will tell different but that just there agena.

[tvine2000]

Originally Posted by Azyiu

This is worth some kind of case study, actually. Ok, I understand there are those who do not have an HDTV, and they might not care for the PQ offered by BDs right now. However, there are those with HDTV set(s) at home, and still think dvds are good enough for them right now. What?


I kid you not, I started a thread on whether you have got blu or not on another forum, and I got really frustrated with some people over there in the process. Some of them literally said they can't tell the differences between dvds and BDs!!! Or they simply don't see the benefit of going blu, ever! I simply stopped responding those that thread...

the thing they miss is with hd you better have good eyesight.eyesight to bad eyesight happens slowly.and your not going notice it right off.get your eyes checked and you will see a big improvement over dvd

[carpaltonnel]

Originally Posted by tvine2000

interesting but wrong! don't pay any mind to that poll!
blu-ray is doing better then people think.blu-ray will be around along time because the studios and ce's support it. people that post these things should be more on top of things.this op isn't

Relax Son, it's okay....just a Copy, Paste, Debate piece. Not the end of the world here. Us "people" are sorry to offend. I love blu-ray too, much love!

[alphadec]

Originally Posted by tvine2000

its a long way off and theres alot of issues to overcome.a downloaded hd movie = to a good blu-ray with hd audio,its years away.they will tell different but that just there agena.

Won't be much uncompressed DTS or PCM via DSL/Fiber. Those who say they want be able to download I don't think they know what they are talking about. Or when they say download they think the will have a file they can watch much as they want.....

let me quote "THE DUKE" : "That'll be the day"

[Rob J in WNY]

Originally Posted by tvine2000

interesting but wrong! don't pay any mind to that poll!
blu-ray is doing better then people think.blu-ray will be around along time because the studios and ce's support it. people that post these things should be more on top of things.this op isn't

Interesting, whether right or wrong.

I'm not one to go much by speculative information and even most published "surveys." I love the format, and will continue to buy into it. Granted, I did wait until the format war with HD-DVD was over, but that was a "real" issue.

[alphadec]

Originally Posted by Azyiu

I kid you not, I started a thread on whether you have got blu or not on another forum, and I got really frustrated with some people over there in the process. Some of them literally said they can't tell the differences between dvds and BDs!!! Or they simply don't see the benefit of going blu, ever! I simply stopped responding those that thread...

Yes I have given up on those who say they don't see the difference all I say then is "look up some eye doctor"...

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by carpaltonnel

Check out this article I found on CSMonitor.com

Blu-ray sales are stagnating. What’s to blame?
By Matthew Shaer | 06.22.09

According to a new poll from Harris Interactive, although the sales of HDTVs has continued to climb, the overwhelming majority of Americans have not yet bought into the Blu-ray craze.

The already widely discredited Harris Interactive poll? Did Matthew Shaer bother to determine if the Harris Interactive poll results made any sense before making grand conclusions based on it?

It's just like the format war days. Some paid piece of propaganda drops and then it is repeated as fact, ad nausea.

Blu-ray sales are up 200% since last year. HDTV sales are certainly not up that much, despite the analog shutdown causing a large number of new HDTV sales. So, which is growing faster?

Let's realize that not having already become dominant is NOT the same thing as being stagnate, or even unsuccessful. People seem to look at percentages and make conclusions based on a big or small number without thinking.

HDTV has been around 10 years, and Blu-ray only three. If it wasn't the case that overwhelming majority of Americans didn't have Blu-ray, Blu-ray would be a crazily insane bordering on impossible success.

Let's say 30% would be considered as a good number by the naysayers. Well, that would mean about 33 million sold in three years. That would put it at about 5x DVD player sales after three years (~6.6 million players sold through March 2000).

It's the same old same old. People compress time in the past and expect things today to reach the same point as their compressed view.

Gary

[Edawg72]

Consider me one of the 21%



More sobering still, only 21 percent of Americans appear to be replacing or duplicating their existing standard format DVD library with Blu-ray format, Harris said.[/QUOTE]

[dialog_gvf]

More sobering still, only 21 percent of Americans appear to be replacing or duplicating their existing standard format DVD library with Blu-ray format, Harris said.

That was danger recognized from the beginning.

I'm actually surprised it is that high. Unlike VHS, every Blu-ray player offers backward compatibility with your current DVD library for no added cost.

Combo VHS/DVD players didn't arrive for several years. And they always remained much more expensive. And the nature of analog tape meant that the recording degraded over the years increasing the quality difference. Compare that to the continuing attempts to improve the upscaling of DVD.

Gary

[repete66211]

Good ol' Harris Interactive. A recent Harris poll showed that more people are buying HD-DVD players than Blu-ray players. Huh?! All this Harris poll tells us is the people taking it don't even understand the technology they're answering questions about.