Blu-ray’s “Big” little secret

[Jar Jar Stinks]

I also worked in Hollywood and I've experienced the same thing. And the people who knew there was a difference between the two formats didn't seem to care. None of the people I worked with paid for media anyway. It's crazy how much free stuff you get when you're in the industry. Seemingly, as long as it was free, they didn't care about the format. (Unless they were going to eBay it or trade it in at Ameoba Records.)

[Musicguy]

Originally Posted by Jar Jar Stinks

I also worked in Hollywood and I've experienced the same thing. And the people who knew there was a difference between the two formats didn't seem to care. None of the people I worked with paid for media anyway. It's crazy how much free stuff you get when you're in the industry. Seemingly, as long as it was free, they didn't care about the format. (Unless they were going to eBay it or trade it in at Ameoba Records.)

I had the same experience with free stuff - many people didn't care if the disc had screener disclaimers running through the bottom of the image or time counters on the screen - to them it was a free movie. They didn't care that TV shows were running scrolls or pop-ups in the picture just as long as it was free......quantity over quality always wins in America

[TheAtomizer]

Having worked in retail before, not to long ago and in a Electronics department, yes there are people who have no idea what all a blu-ray player does. What makes them different from a DVD, heck even what hi-def 1080p means to some of them. So I have to educate them and explain the perks of a BD to a DVD and etc. Some finally make the switch and upgrade and some like others have said, have a great DVD collection they don't wish to spend more money on to upgrade their titles. Que Sera Sera

[rdodolak]

No matter how much you try you can't fix stupid. At the end of the day the individual is ultimately responsible for educating themself. If they don't want to invest their own time to educate themselves it's not worth our own time to spoon feed them.

[KubrickKurasawa]

People!

Buy your loved ones a Blu-Ray player! SHOW THEM the WAY!

[ibprofane]

I'm always so surprised when people are buying a Roku box or something like Amazon Fire TV for this reason. You can get a quality, solid brand name (Sony/Samsung) blu-ray player for the same price that will do everything those pieces hardware can, and play blu-ray discs as well.

A vast majority of people aren't even aware that blu-ray players can play DVDs, stream Netflix, HULU, VUDU, etc. I agree with those who said they should expand their marketing to show everything a blu-ray player can do. So much value when compared with products in a similar price range.

[Jar Jar Stinks]

Originally Posted by ibprofane

I'm always so surprised when people are buying a Roku box or something like Amazon Fire TV for this reason. You can get a quality, solid brand name (Sony/Samsung) blu-ray player for the same price that will do everything those pieces hardware can, and play blu-ray discs as well.

I have to disagree with that. I never use my smart tv or BD player for that because the interface sucks. (Both Panasonic.) I love my Roku and I'll pick up a Firetv if it goes on sale.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by ibprofane

I'm always so surprised when people are buying a Roku box or something like Amazon Fire TV for this reason. You can get a quality, solid brand name (Sony/Samsung) blu-ray player for the same price that will do everything those pieces hardware can, and play blu-ray discs as well.

A vast majority of people aren't even aware that blu-ray players can play DVDs, stream Netflix, HULU, VUDU, etc. I agree with those who said they should expand their marketing to show everything a blu-ray player can do. So much value when compared with products in a similar price range.

To be fair, my WDTV Live player plays far more file formats than any blu-ray player I've had my hands on - straight from a USB device, or streaming. And a nice interface with tons of updates and fixes/feature enhancements too.

[THALL434]

I can only show you the door - YouTube

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

No matter how much you try you can't fix stupid. At the end of the day the individual is ultimately responsible for educating themself. If they don't want to invest their own time to educate themselves it's not worth our own time to spoon feed them.

Perhaps, but there's something to be said about new technology being advertised properly. They clearly have done a pretty poor job of making it clear to people that blu-ray players double as DVD players. Some proper advertising years ago on tv, making this abundantly clear, could have solved this.

[Dragun]

Originally Posted by Jar Jar Stinks

I also worked in Hollywood and I've experienced the same thing. And the people who knew there was a difference between the two formats didn't seem to care.

These are the people to whom the industry is trying to sell 4K TVs. And on most screens there's even less of a perceptible difference between HD and 4K than there is between SD and HD.

[twardyyy]

I can't count how many times I've been at work (Target) and I'll have a customer or co-worker come up to me and ask me, "Can you play DVDs in a Blu-Ray player?" or "Can you play Blu-Rays on a DVD player?" In terms of the latter, I have to sit there and explain to them that it's not possible and most of the time, they don't understand or it takes them a couple minutes to realize what I'm saying.

I don't really understand why they continue to make DVD players. I feel like it should be going the same route as TVs -- everyone upgraded from the tube versions to the flat screens, and now that's all that's sold in stores like Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy; only place you can find older TVs now is in pawn shops, Goodwill stores, etc... Nowadays, everyone should be upgrading to Blu-Ray players as it is the "future", just like flat screens. At the very least, companies should market BD players as "Blu-Ray AND DVD Player" just because most people don't know about playing DVDs on a BD device. But, that's just me.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by twardyyy

I don't really understand why they continue to make DVD players.

As most BD players have only HDMI outputs on them, I think they need to sell DVD players as they have a few more connection options but most can be connected to a HDTV if the buyer chooses.

I don't think I've heard anyone in the UK say they didn't know that BD plays played DVDs but most I've talked to say they can't see the point or difference in picture quality.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by chip75

As most BD players have only HDMI outputs on them, I think they need to sell DVD players as they have a few more connection options but most can be connected to a HDTV if the buyer chooses.

I don't think I've heard anyone in the UK say they didn't know that BD plays played DVDs but most I've talked to say they can't see the point or difference in picture quality.

Then they are legally blind or sitting 15' away from their 40" display.

[Musicguy]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Then they are legally blind or sitting 15' away from their 40" display.

Unless you have a big screen tv you can't really see much difference in Blu-ray vs DVD. Many people do not have large screen TVs - which is also why Blu-ray hasn't taken off like the studios originally though it might and why people see no need in switching formats.

Once you buy a large screen TV and see a blu-ray and then the DVD you will most likely go out and buy a blu-ray player otherwise there isn't much difference.

But if you have a large Screen TV and a Blu-ray - WOW! like going to the movies

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Musicguy

Unless you have a big screen tv you can't really see much difference in Blu-ray vs DVD. Many people do not have large screen TVs - which is also why Blu-ray hasn't taken off like the studios originally though it might and why people see no need in switching formats.

Once you buy a large screen TV and see a blu-ray and then the DVD you will most likely go out and buy a blu-ray player otherwise there isn't much difference.

But if you have a large Screen TV and a Blu-ray - WOW! like going to the movies

Absolutely false. My main PC monitor (also 3D) is 23" and I sit about 2' from it. At that distance I could distinguish 8K.

[Blu-21]

Originally Posted by Musicguy

Unless you have a big screen tv you can't really see much difference in Blu-ray vs DVD. Many people do not have large screen TVs - which is also why Blu-ray hasn't taken off like the studios originally though it might and why people see no need in switching formats.

Once you buy a large screen TV and see a blu-ray and then the DVD you will most likely go out and buy a blu-ray player otherwise there isn't much difference.

But if you have a large Screen TV and a Blu-ray - WOW! like going to the movies

The bigger the screen the better HD/BD looks and the worse SD/DVD looks yes, but even on my old 32" HDTV I could always see a big difference between DVD and BD. In fact you'd have to have poor eye sight not to see the difference on a screen that size.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Then they are legally blind or sitting 15' away from their 40" display.

Many people just don't care about picture quality. They just don't. It means nothing to them. As long as there's an image and they can see what's going on, they're good. People watch things in the wrong aspect ratio all the time, with their tvs set to dynamic or "torch" mode, factory default out of the box, soap opera effect and all.

Originally Posted by Musicguy

Unless you have a big screen tv you can't really see much difference in Blu-ray vs DVD. Many people do not have large screen TVs - which is also why Blu-ray hasn't taken off like the studios originally though it might and why people see no need in switching formats.

Once you buy a large screen TV and see a blu-ray and then the DVD you will most likely go out and buy a blu-ray player otherwise there isn't much difference.

But if you have a large Screen TV and a Blu-ray - WOW! like going to the movies

Very true - my girlfriend's folks have a 37" HDTV. It's 1080p, but honestly they see no difference between a DVD and a blu-ray at that size, nor do they care. I own a 46" and that's considered large to most people. Most families are not buying 60" televisions. On my 46" tv a 720p image and a 1080p image look very close - it's really hard to tell the difference, especially at any normal viewing distance.

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Absolutely false. My main PC monitor (also 3D) is 23" and I sit about 2' from it. At that distance I could distinguish 8K.

I'm assuming you mean 2' - because nobody sits 2" from their monitor. At that distance your eyes wouldn't even be able to focus on the screen. And who sits 2' away from their tv set? At a normal viewing distance, most people cannot tell the difference between an upscaled DVD and a blu-ray on a 37" set.

[Agent Zero]

To the OP, many people are ignorant to picture and audio quality.

They do not know what they are missing.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by mar3o

Many people just don't care about picture quality. They just don't. It means nothing to them. As long as there's an image and they can see what's going on, they're good. People watch things in the wrong aspect ratio all the time, with their tvs set to dynamic or "torch" mode, factory default out of the box, soap opera effect and all.

Well, sure. I have known this since HDTVs hit the market about a decade ago. That doesn't make it right. People who want the best possible PQ/AQ shouldn't have to suffer because of the lackadaisical folks out there.