DVD Far From Dead: Despite competition, new titles draw buyers

[Indian Hills Theater]

Yes this article has my wife Marta and I in it.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pag...u_sid=10597022

[ryane]

interesting read thanks for posting it.

[bhampton]

Wow,

Have enough copies of Sleeping Beauty yet?

Nice article .... still,... Blu Ray is everything that DVD should have been to begin with. It's more fun to buy than DVD. The only DVDs I buy now are music videos that I don't think will be released on Blu and technically I guess I buy some DVDs that come packaged with my Blu Rays like the Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, HSM3 and so on.

-Brian

[neos_peace]

HMMMM. Not completely sure what to make of that. Other then the fact that everyday I see someone buying a movie. It is 95% of the time a Blu-ray copy of the movie. However in my opinion I believe that Blu has become more mainstream because of the economy. People would rather own the media then go to theaters or whatever...............What was I saying.............oh nevermind.

[Bobby Henderson]

Physical media is going to stick around for quite a few years to come, especially when it comes to retail items people buy for their movie collection.

The only market segment where I see VOD, Netflix and Internet download businesses hurting is traditional "brick and mortar" video rental stores. Once the Internet gets fast enough to deliver real-time streaming at bit rates better than 20Mb/s the traditional video store business is going to be in huge trouble. Store chains like Hastings will probably survive in the form of only offering books, music and movies for sale; their video rental business will eventually become history.

The 480p SD DVD format also has its days numbered. Right now DVD is in the same position as VHS was in 2000: an extremely common platform found in over 150 million American homes, but not the top dog format for home theater use. Blu-ray is where DVD was in 2000: the top dog format poised to emerge out of high end niche status and propel into the mainstream.

Blu-ray is going to take over pretty fast on the hardware front, both in standalone video disc players and optical drives in computers, all due to its backward compatibility with DVD and CD formats. Once prices get low enough there won't be any purpose in stocking DVD-only players.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by Bobby Henderson

Blu-ray is going to take over pretty fast on the hardware front, both in standalone video disc players and optical drives in computers, all due to its backward compatibility with DVD and CD formats. Once prices get low enough there won't be any purpose in stocking DVD-only players.

I agree, I think dvd might stick around a bit longer tho then the vhs/dvd days because you do need a bit more to enjoy blu-ray then you did dvd. all you needed was red yellow and white to run dvds, or get a coax converter, now you need an hdtv and the blu-ray player....

So I think dvd will be around a tad longer but only for the HDTV reason.

[Bobby Henderson]

Funny thing is a lot of standalone BD players have S-Video connectors and even basic composite connectors (in addition to the usual HDMI and component video connections). 480p output capability included and you have everything you need for legacy DVD playback capability.

DVD is going to stick around for at least another 5 or more years on the pre-recorded movie disc software front. On the hardware front, DVD-only players will be a rare find on store shelves after 2010. I think of this situation as being similar to what we have seen with optical disc drives for computers. Three years ago a dual layer DVD+/-RW burner was a fairly expensive option while CD-RW was the default. DVD burners took over due to price drops and being able to maintain full backward compatibility with CD standards. Blu-ray is continuing that trend. BD drives play Blu-ray movies, DVD movies and CDs. With the appropriate price drops there will be no need to stock the old DVD hardware. BD hardware will accommodate both BD and DVD playback purposes.

[hijeff1]

You know, I've had arguments or "debates" at work over is blu ray really worth the extra money, and why spend all that when I can get the dvd for 5 or 10 bucks.

I believe blu ray will/ or would have a faster adaption if studios would stop selling older titles so cheap. I was just at wally world and saw Saw 1-4 in the 5 buck bin. Now I don't buy dvd's anymore BUT thats a hugh discouragement for someone who is debating getting blu ray. Why spend the 20+ per movie when you can get all 4 for 20 bucks.

I don't know what the studios are thinking. I think things like that shoot studios in their own foot. Or another example is Disney's Lilo and Stitch. They just re-released that on dvd, why not on blu ray as well? I would have bought it on blu ray in a second, but passed on the dvd re-release.

To me it makes more sense to slowly stop making older movies on dvd and reintroduce them on blu ray. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they do that with vhs. They slowly killed it by releasing things on dvd that wheren't available on vhs like:tv serieses, concerts.

Just my two cents.

[Blu Titan]

Not going to quote him, but Booby Henderson has made some great points.

[Bobby Henderson]

Originally Posted by hijeff1

I believe blu ray will/ or would have a faster adaption if studios would stop selling older titles so cheap. I was just at wally world and saw Saw 1-4 in the 5 buck bin. Now I don't buy dvd's anymore BUT thats a hugh discouragement for someone who is debating getting blu ray. Why spend the 20+ per movie when you can get all 4 for 20 bucks.

The problem with that argument is new releases on DVD don't carry bargin bin prices. They cost a lot more.

Let's take Quantum of Solace for example.

The single disc version, which is nearly a bare bones release, cost $18.99 at stores like Wal-Mart & Target. The 2-disc DVD version with extras cost $24.99. The Blu-ray version (which features everything from the 2-disc DVD, but with everything in high definition) costs $29.99 -but is on sale for $25.99 (or near that) at some stores. I paid $25.99 at Hastings.

If Blu-ray pricing is going to be compared to DVD the comparisons should be between the same movie release, not just the usual extreme comparison between bargain bin old movie DVD pricing to new release Blu-ray pricing.

The last time I was in Wal-Mart I saw a lot of Blu-ray titles offered for $15 and under. We're finally seeing newer Blu-ray releases get discounted down below $20 after they've been available for a few months. Online sites like Amazon have even more movies on Blu-ray well below $20.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by hijeff1

You know, I've had arguments or "debates" at work over is blu ray really worth the extra money, and why spend all that when I can get the dvd for 5 or 10 bucks.

I believe blu ray will/ or would have a faster adaption if studios would stop selling older titles so cheap. I was just at wally world and saw Saw 1-4 in the 5 buck bin. Now I don't buy dvd's anymore BUT thats a hugh discouragement for someone who is debating getting blu ray. Why spend the 20+ per movie when you can get all 4 for 20 bucks.

I don't know what the studios are thinking. I think things like that shoot studios in their own foot. Or another example is Disney's Lilo and Stitch. They just re-released that on dvd, why not on blu ray as well? I would have bought it on blu ray in a second, but passed on the dvd re-release.

To me it makes more sense to slowly stop making older movies on dvd and reintroduce them on blu ray. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they do that with vhs. They slowly killed it by releasing things on dvd that wheren't available on vhs like:tv serieses, concerts.

Just my two cents.

don't worry lol I remember getting loads of vhs's around 1996-1997 for like 6.99 same thing with dvd's

[Indian Hills Theater]

I got ours for under $20 at Ne Furniture Mart. Same price on Bolt. With analog TVs not being sold anymore, that will make replacement sets HD at some point in time too.

[tvine2000]

and lets not forget the studio's control this whole dvd thing.
i and many others know if they could pull the plug on dvd they would.
like vhs dvd is ''very slowly'' going down hill.its history repenting itself,like dvd as soon as bd becomes the norm,they will phase out dvd.this happens everytime a new video technology comes out,as well as all technology.
the same will happen with blu-ray years down the road.
how else can manufactors stay in business.

[EQ3282]

I like the White Noise rule. Haha

[Scooby Blu]

Originally Posted by Indian Hills Theater

I got ours for under $20 at Ne Furniture Mart. Same price on Bolt. With analog TVs not being sold anymore, that will make replacement sets HD at some point in time too.

Did the same thing down here at the K.C. NE Furniture Mart !