why do so many people say that Blu rays are too expensive

[Maggot]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

First, you have to teach people what the CONCEPT of Blu-Ray is and that it is not expensive.

Second, you have to teach them that Blu-Ray players are not expensive.

Third, you have to teach them that Blu-Ray discs are not expensive.

Unfortunately, the studios failed at number one and it's never recovered enough for numbers two and three to be effectively addressed. Trying to get people to buy Blu-Rays over DVDs now is a lost cause simply because abysmal executive decisions from the outset doomed the format into never being anything more than a relative niche market.

Yep, those reasons and the early war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Look at what happened to SACD and DVD-A. They had a war and nobody bought into stereo or multi-channel high res.

But you also have to remember two other BIG reasons:

One: With the exception of collectors, people are tired of constantly upgrading for music and movies. Oh, they will upgrade their cell phones in a heartbeat, but movies and music are more about convenience.

Two: MP3 music and DVD quality movies are good enough mentality.

[infiniteCR]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

First, you have to teach people what the CONCEPT of Blu-Ray is and that it is not expensive.

Second, you have to teach them that Blu-Ray players are not expensive.

Third, you have to teach them that Blu-Ray discs are not expensive.

Unfortunately, the studios failed at number one and it's never recovered enough for numbers two and three to be effectively addressed. Trying to get people to buy Blu-Rays over DVDs now is a lost cause simply because abysmal executive decisions from the outset doomed the format into never being anything more than a relative niche market.

I think I agree with you. I think this 4k,uhd,hdr thing is just making the problem worse and people are going to really scratch their heads trying to understand why they should pay even more for those.

As people upgrade to larger TV's, I think we'll see them start to ditch DVD. When I got a 50 incher the differences became obvious to me. At 32 inches and 40 it wasn't so much.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Agree that Blu's are not that expensive these days. One of the reasons I got my first Blu player in late 2012 was because Blu's were going down in price. The first individual Blu I got was The Crow @ Target for $8.00. I still think that's a good Blu price for that great film, even over 2 1/2 years later.

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

It's been said, but just repeating it: let's also not forget the ~$120 laser disc price people were paying for many titles back in the day which would be equivalent to several times that amount with inflationary factors over time in today's market. And we're talking discs with 425i in comparison to 1080p.

Agree that some people were buying LD's 20 years ago, but note that the LD format never really caught on. I was a poor college student in the early-mid '90's when I first heard about LD players, and no way was I going to shell out the $ for a player, and $120 for each disk. And, though I felt the quality was slightly better than VHS tapes, it wasn't worth the extra money the format cost - at least not to me. Plus, I didn't like how bulky each LD was, and the fact that you had to turn the disk over an hour into a two hour film.

[Dylan34]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

It's been said, but just repeating it: let's also not forget the ~$120 laser disc price people were paying for many titles back in the day which would be equivalent to several times that amount with inflationary factors over time in today's market. And we're talking discs with 425i in comparison to 1080p.

I've bought some of them pricey as hell laserdisc's so I know all about it. Still have my laserdisc player and most of my laserdiscs too. Too expensive to part with!!!!!!! Plus, I'm a collector. I would shell out 30 bucks for a blu no problem. One, for 1080p video and 2, for lossless audio. I would spend 3 times that on a laserdisc for much lower quality so it wasn't no thing to me. 25 to 30 bucks for practically 2K resolution was awesome at the time. 5 to 15 bucks now is phenomenal!!!!!

[StingingVelvet]

The worth people assign to media in general has plummeted since 2008, when the economy tanked, Netflix got more popular and piracy became commonplace.

[CinemaScope]

As we all know, Blu-rays are CHEAP. When I think of what I paid for most of my DVD's I bought the new Apollo 13 for £7, the TV Batman set for £28, so many great titles in the, 2 for £10 & £12 offers. I buy the occasional Twilight Time "must have" release, but shop around for other titles, make a game of it.

[dissention]

The general public isn't really made up of people who lurk around this forum and price shop for their movies. They are the people who go to Walmart and buy movies with their groceries. Why do they say they're too expensive? Because they are when they're sitting next to DVD copies of the same film that sell for $5 less & their priority is simply to be entertained on a random weeknight.

The film industry should be grateful that anyone is buying any sort of media these days instead of simply Redboxing on their way out of the grocery store or downloading when they get home. This is a hobby for most of us; we have fun looking for deals and buying weird shit, but we're the minority. Eventually we'll be the majority and the deals will suffer a drought.

[thegrunter]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

You need to look at the "When the BD is cheaper than the DVD" thread.

Um, you do understand that I was pointing out what Joe Consumer perceives as the problem and not how I, personally, shop for the things?

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by thegrunter

Um, you do understand that I was pointing out what Joe Consumer perceives as the problem and not how I, personally, shop for the things?

Ignore him. He's constantly promoting his own threads. It's bizarre.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by thegrunter

Um, you do understand that I was pointing out what Joe Consumer perceives as the problem and not how I, personally, shop for the things?

You wrote in the first person voice:

I routinely see the blu-ray there selling for $10 to $15 more than the DVD.

[Strapped4Cash]

Perhaps we need to start a thread in the DVD section with a title along the lines of "When the DVD is significantly cheaper than the BD"? Though I doubt many would post there.

As it is, there are times when they're the same, or quite close, and times when the DVD is hugely cheaper, but people have their biases and tend not to observe and/or recall those examples that don't fit their worldview.

Iirc Get Hard and Focus were two recent films which were significantly cheaper release week on DVD ($15 each) then BD (and before anyone asks, I own both in Blu).

[HeavyHitter]

I was at Barnes and Nobles tonight looking in the Media section and was shocked at the number of vinyl records for sale. I guess that niche is growing, so there maybe long term hope for physical media (and ultimately UHD BD) after all.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Dylan34

I've bought some of them pricey as hell laserdisc's so I know all about it. Still have my laserdisc player and most of my laserdiscs too. Too expensive to part with!!!!!!! Plus, I'm a collector. I would shell out 30 bucks for a blu no problem. One, for 1080p video and 2, for lossless audio. I would spend 3 times that on a laserdisc for much lower quality so it wasn't no thing to me. 25 to 30 bucks for practically 2K resolution was awesome at the time. 5 to 15 bucks now is phenomenal!!!!!

Agreed and going forward, I would pay higher prices for Blu/physical media versus purchasing overly-compressed downstreaming any day of the week.

[Dylan34]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

I was at Barnes and Nobles tonight looking in the Media section and was shocked at the number of vinyl records for sale. I guess that niche is growing, so there maybe long term hope for physical media (and ultimately UHD BD) after all.

Yeah bro, vinyl is on the war path right now tearing it up. Last week when I was at B&N, people were buying up records like gangbusters. I was like " this is 2015 right"? I couldn't believe it, but that's friggin' awesome if you ask me. Like you said, shows a sign of hope for physical media! I'll take it anyway I can get it.

[Dylan34]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Agreed and going forward, I would pay higher prices for Blu/physical media versus purchasing overly-compressed downstreaming any day of the week.

You got that right!!!!!!!! AGREED!!

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Agreed and going forward, I would pay higher prices for Blu/physical media versus purchasing overly-compressed downstreaming any day of the week.

Originally Posted by Dylan34

You got that right!!!!!!!! AGREED!!

No worries, you will.

[Dylan34]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

No worries, you will.

Get out with the negativity jscoggins!! Geez!

[Moviefan2k4]

I've been buying Blu-Rays almost exclusively for the last five years. In my experience, there's rarely more than five dollars' difference between the formats, with the same content. Box sets with promo items and such still vary, but that even happens with multiple releases of the same film or TV show. The most I ever recall paying for any Blu-Ray boxset was $60, but I've seen them listed for a lot more. Here's the few amounts I remember, from the last couple of years...

Harry Potter Ultimate Editions - $30 each for the first six, $50 for "Deathly Hallows"
Lord of the Rings: Extended Trilogy - $45 (Christmas sale @ Fry's, 2013)
Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy - $60, four years ago
Lethal Weapon Collection - $45, two years ago

[AgentOrange]

Blu-Ray is dirt cheap now, and many DVD's are only valuable as coasters (i.e. they are totally worthless). It's rather insane that people would actually buy a brand new DVD disc in 2015 given the relative price parity of new discs (and frequent occasions where the blu-ray can actually be had for less).

I do think they were overpriced at the start though (particularly the $600-$1000+ players). I didn't really start buying until 2009-2010 or so when I got my PS3 - and when most catalog titles were obtainable for $10 - rather than the $20-30 they were up to that point. Once the $5 "upgrade and save" titles started, and my discovery of DVD2blu, my collection quickly grew into the hundreds.

[BluVinyl]

Originally Posted by Dylan34

I've bought some of them pricey as hell laserdisc's so I know all about it. Still have my laserdisc player and most of my laserdiscs too. Too expensive to part with!!!!!!! Plus, I'm a collector. I would shell out 30 bucks for a blu no problem. One, for 1080p video and 2, for lossless audio. I would spend 3 times that on a laserdisc for much lower quality so it wasn't no thing to me. 25 to 30 bucks for practically 2K resolution was awesome at the time. 5 to 15 bucks now is phenomenal!!!!!

I think all my LDs were $20-30. So BD's have always seemed pretty cheap to me (never got into collecting DVDs since housing and kids were eating my money those years). I think $20 is the most I spent for a BD and now I usually wait until they get under $8.