Do you think Sony will ever pull ahead this generation?

[fastbilly1]

I understand that the US and parts of Asia are further ahead techwise. And I forget that we are roughly half US half not, sorry. But I also dont forsee this change happening for atleast a couple more years.

And for all of you concerned about bandwith caps, pay the extra few bucks for a business line. I guarantee you the best thing about Comcast is that they do not monitor their business lines nearly as mcuh as the residential ones. They monitor it very little if any and in many places you can get speeds far greater than residential.

[zarathstra]

I don't think Blu-Ray is ever going ot be ahge selling point for most people. Most people I talk to simply don't care about Blu-ray, especially since a lot of them don't own HDTVs anyway. Hell, until recently I didn't have one either, and I still don't care about Blu-Ray.

[dsheinem]

With most people not owning HD tvs and internet speeds only getting faster ... high quality streaming via sites like Hulu, Apple, and Netflix, are going to circumvent the entire market. Why pay $25 for a blueray, when you can stream it for $1?

1985: "Why pay $25 for a VHS when you can watch it on TV for free?"
1990: "Why pay $30 for the LaserDisc when you can buy the VHS for $15"
1997: "Why pay $25 for a DVD when you can rent the VHS for $5?"
2003: "Why pay $15 for the DVD when you can pirate it for free?"
2007: "Why pay $25 for a Blu-Ray when you can stream it for $1?"

Also, are you seriously comparing the quality of Hulu to Blu-Ray?

It would take an entire telecommunications infrastructure makeover with streaming speeds not currently offered to consumers from any IP in the world to match the bitrate quality of the audio/video on a blu-ray. MAYBE in ten years we'll have something close to what you are suggesting - but few people now can even stream anything in DVD-movie quality - and that technology has been around for 10+ years...

Cable/Satellite on Demand is a better bet right now than web streaming, but even these new "1080p broadcasts" that are being advertised are really shite compared to Blu-Ray.

And in any case, HDTV ownership will probably be the norm in about 5 years as SDTVs have basically been phased out of retail...

Yes, I am aware that this is all troll feeding but sometimes that can be fun

[corn619]

I don't think Blu-Ray is ever going ot be ahge selling point for most people. Most people I talk to simply don't care about Blu-ray, especially since a lot of them don't own HDTVs anyway. Hell, until recently I didn't have one either, and I still don't care about Blu-Ray.

I have a PS3 and a HDTV and I could care less about Bluray. Upscaled DVDs look awesome on a HDTV, and tagging on a extra $10.00 on a Bluray over a DVD is not going to make me switch to Bluray. I just don't see the $10.00 difference, but thats just me. DVDs look great, are cheap, play in any player, DVD players don't need to firmware upgrades, easy to use "not as feature rich" and are widely available in video rental stores.

[the7k]

I like Blu-Ray, but it isn't necessary for most types of movies.

The difference between watching Paprika in Blu-Ray and watching it on DVD, even on the same TV, is vast. It's just so f'en beautiful on Blu-Ray, and DVD just can't hold a candle to it.

However, any other type of movie won't change that much. Big Daddy on Blu-Ray will give you no more laughs than on DVD. In fact, the whole idea of buying movies on Blu-Ray that are older than Blu-Ray seems kinda silly to me. The only reason I have A Clockwork Orange on Blu-Ray is because Target was practically giving it away for $10. (Plus, I shamefully never owned the movie on any other format.) If it does look better, I can't tell.

Just for the record, the only Blu-Ray I paid full price for is Paprika. Everything else I got from pawn shops or on clearance specials for around $10-15.

[fastbilly1]

dsheinem, yes I was comparing it. I know it is down the road, but I also see it taking over before bluray really catches on. Heck, everyone I know in the movie/tv industry - both pre and post, all say that it is the way it is going and to just skip bluray.

Lets be honest most people are fine with the quality of dvd, I know many people who still use VCRs (and no, they are not all elderly). During the last Olympics I had the ABC website download all the events I wanted, in 1060x600 resolution, not long after they aired. Sure thats not even 720p, but it still looked great on the 10 foot screen I watched them on.

All I am saying is, it is alot closer than you might think. Without a proper screen most people cannot tell the difference anyway.

And before you get up on me about being an idiot or not knowing the difference between screen resolutions. You should probably know on the side I am a freelance operator and grip with several years of HD camerawork under my belt. From the pv500 to the red and hdr-fx1.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

In fact, the whole idea of buying movies on Blu-Ray that are older than Blu-Ray seems kinda silly to me.

Sigh....

It doesn't matter how old the movie is, what matters is the source material. If a movie was shot on film then it can be transfered to endlessly higher resolutions as the film is a perfect resolution-less image as seen by your eye similar to a painting.

Now if the movie was shot on for example a VHS-C or Mini-DV camcorder then the image would be terrible regardless.

After all there's a reason they call movies films.

That having been said some productions were shot on camcorders (Open Water) and some are shot completely digitally (most modern cartoons and anime) in the highest possible resolution avalable (for future posterity) instead of the traditional film method.

[MrPopo]

I personally feel the main reason that DVDs caught on was the sheer level of convenience they have over the VHS. Instant scene jump, no rewinding after the movie's done (there were devices SOLEY for rewinding movies), and then the extra features as icing on the cake. With Blu ray you essentially are gaining only a higher graphical fidelity. For twice the price. And you need the expensive TV first to even notice. And the case is ugly as sin. There's a reason you're not seeing people clamoring to replace their DVD collections.

[Jrecee]

I agree, there were a lot of very obvious benefits in the move from vhs to dvd. With bluray the only real benefit is the extra resolution, which is useless if you don't own an hdtv, and might be useless even if you do depending on how much you care. They're attempting to make it seem like there's more benefits to bluray but so far all the bluray only features I've seen have been completely pointless. Yes I am dying to hook my player up to the internet so that I can have an onscreen chat during cinderella. Or, I really want to film myself making a commentary track for The Dark Knight, so that I can send it to my friends and they can watch me talk about the movie while they watch it. Seriously? Does anyone think these are good ideas? Was anyone asking for them?

I have noticed a skimping of extra features on dvds lately, apparently to make you want to upgrade to the bluray. This has mostly been with Sony's stuff. The basic 14.99 version of Quantum of Solace didn't have a single bonus feature. Not that I really even care anymore, bonus features all seem to be the exact same thing anymore (here's how we designed this robot on a computer, this guy farted into a tuba to create the swamp monster's voice, etc.)

[the7k]

Blu-Ray has potential that hasn't been exploited yet.

Most DVDs can hold about 5GBs. Blu-Rays can hold 50GBs. Now, imagine if you bought The Simpsons Season 1 and 2 on Blu-Ray, and instead of it spanning 8 discs like it does now, all those episodes were on one Blu-Ray disc?

Better for the consumer? Yes - although that depends on how greedy the people making it are. They could easily charge $35 for something that on DVD, could cost $50-100. Also, it's going to take up a lot less space on shelves.

Better for the company? Yes - One Blu-Ray is a lot cheaper to make than 6-10 DVDs. They'll also save on packaging costs.

Too bad no one seems to think the way I do about this sort of thing.