Study Says Blu-ray Can't Save Disc-Based Media

[fredk]

You have it exactly right Derelict. To most people its just not gonna be wow enough for them to care.

Josten. I use a scaler to upscale my DVDs as I don't care about bluray. Just 'cause I live in a bubble doesn't mean I can't enjoy my 50" 1080p screen to its fullest.

Itunes is already the largest music distributor in the world. That would suggest that the only thing keeping downloads from dominating the movie market is bandwidth/cost.

My grandmother owned a record player. I like discs. My daughter has nothing but mp3's. Time moves on.

 

[Thunder18]

Future portent: The end of of mainstream downloadable media...

leaves Blu-Ray the de facto choice in high definition media.

Time Warner Cable to expand bandwidth caps, 40GB per month:
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/02/05/time-warner-cable-to-expand-bandwidth-caps-40gb-per-month

We've been going back and forth about the end of physical media, but it looks like if the if the internet providers get their way, they'll kill off streaming media before it really has a chance to do Blu-Ray any real damage. Comcast has already set a 250 GB cap and now Time Warner has had a successful round of trials with a 40 GB bandwidth cap for low to moderate users. I'm forseeing at the very least a tiered system with increasing GB caps for an escalating amount of money and at worst a tiered system like I just mentioned except there will be a limit at all tiers and no unlimited data plan at all.

One thing they mention in the article that never occurred to me before was how online video gaming will be affected. I'm not sure how many GB's i'm using while playing a game online via Xbox360 or PS3, but I bet it can really get up there when having a marathon gaming session. What do you want to bet Microsoft and Netflix will be watching this development very closely.

 

[lsiberian]

leaves Blu-Ray the de facto choice in high definition media.

Time Warner Cable to expand bandwidth caps, 40GB per month:
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/02/05/time-warner-cable-to-expand-bandwidth-caps-40gb-per-month

We've been going back and forth about the end of physical media, but it looks like if the if the internet providers get their way, they'll kill off streaming media before it really has a chance to do Blu-Ray any real damage. Comcast has already set a 250 GB cap and now Time Warner has had a successful round of trials with a 40 GB bandwidth cap for low to moderate users. I'm forseeing at the very least a tiered system with increasing GB caps for an escalating amount of money and at worst a tiered system like I just mentioned except there will be a limit at all tiers and no unlimited data plan at all.

One thing they mention in the article that never occurred to me before was how online video gaming will be affected. I'm not sure how many GB's i'm using while playing a game online via Xbox360 or PS3, but I bet it can really get up there when having a marathon gaming session. What do you want to bet Microsoft and Netflix will be watching this development very closely.

I would cancel my service the day of the announcement. That is ridiculous.
40GB? I get more bandwidth for my website than that. 250 is reasonable even 100. But 40? are these guys crazy.

Actually I just figured out why they are doing that. They own record labels and movie rights. They are doing this to protect those.

 

[Thunder18]

Actually I just figured out why they are doing that. They own record labels and movie rights. They are doing this to protect those.

That makes sense for Time Warner, but what about Comcast? They're the ringleader on this one. I really hope the other internet providers don't follow suit, but you know how companies are...Airline industry with the baggage fees, auto insurance providers determining premiums using credit, universtal default clauses with credit card providers. Companies have a bad habit of following each other when it comes to consumer limitations.

 

[jostenmeat]

leaves Blu-Ray the de facto choice in high definition media.

Time Warner Cable to expand bandwidth caps, 40GB per month:
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/02/05/time-warner-cable-to-expand-bandwidth-caps-40gb-per-month

We've been going back and forth about the end of physical media, but it looks like if the if the internet providers get their way, they'll kill off streaming media before it really has a chance to do Blu-Ray any real damage. . .

I would cancel my service the day of the announcement. That is ridiculous.
40GB? I get more bandwidth for my website than that. 250 is reasonable even 100. But 40? are these guys crazy.

Agreed. If I wanted to watch only one of my bluray discs, I'd have to download the first half of the movie during one month, and then wait until the next month for the second half of the movie. I bet I could fit in 9 movies for the year, if I didn't DL anything else.

 

[TwisterZ]

Can't see a difference?

Well this has been a fun read. I work in a store selling Low to mid grade audio and video. There has been a lot of talk here about people either can't tell the difference or don't want to pay for it so won't admit to seeing a difference. I have 3 demos set up

1) the first is for the picture, 2 samsung 50" 720p plasmas one with a panasonic DVD the other with a panasonic Blu Ray and the matching disc. Both running the same chapter of the 1st Narnia movie.

2) this one for sound, JBL speakers Denon Reciever & Denon Blu Ray. I switch back and forth between Dolby TruHD & Dolby Digital.

3) One system with Infinity speakers & one with Bose AM10's both being fed a digital signal from the same DVD Audio player.

In 6 months I have had one person who didn't see a difference on #1 (It might have helped if I could have gotten them to actually look at the screens)

The Dolby TruHD demo Has only been up for a couple weeks now but everybody notices a big difference.

On the Bose demo 8 people prefer the Infinity Sound, 1 likes the Bose and 1 thinks all beers taste the same.

Now to the subject at hand. The streaming I have played with leaves the audio in the dark ages, so overly compressed that the all life has been rung out of it. I will watch a lot of things on the stream but any blockbuster movie or concert performance will still have to be on a disc.

 

[croseiv]

Well this has been a fun read. I work in a store selling Low to mid grade audio and video. There has been a lot of talk here about people either can't tell the difference or don't want to pay for it so won't admit to seeing a difference. I have 3 demos set up

1) the first is for the picture, 2 samsung 50" 720p plasmas one with a panasonic DVD the other with a panasonic Blu Ray and the matching disc. Both running the same chapter of the 1st Narnia movie.

2) this one for sound, JBL speakers Denon Reciever & Denon Blu Ray. I switch back and forth between Dolby TruHD & Dolby Digital.

3) One system with Infinity speakers & one with Bose AM10's both being fed a digital signal from the same DVD Audio player.

In 6 months I have had one person who didn't see a difference on #1 (It might have helped if I could have gotten them to actually look at the screens)

The Dolby TruHD demo Has only been up for a couple weeks now but everybody notices a big difference.

On the Bose demo 8 people prefer the Infinity Sound, 1 likes the Bose and 1 thinks all beers taste the same.

Now to the subject at hand. The streaming I have played with leaves the audio in the dark ages, so overly compressed that the all life has been rung out of it. I will watch a lot of things on the stream but any blockbuster movie or concert performance will still have to be on a disc.

As for 720p vs. 1080p, it depends on how far away from the set you are really. For me, when I got mine, 1080p sets were just hitting the market and were very expensive. Now it's really all that's out there, so it would be silly to get a 720p set now. However, at a distance of 11 ft, which is how far away I view my display, it's a quite a bit more difficult to tell a difference between the two resolutions.

 

[allargon]

I would cancel my service the day of the announcement. That is ridiculous.

Good luck with that. AT&T made sure to follow Time Warner Cable's lead in Beaumont, TX with caps. That keeps one from easily switching broadband providers. Yeah, you can dump Time Warner Cable and U-verse/DSL and use a 3rd party DSL (Earthlink, Speakeasy, Megapath) *if* you live close enough to the CO. But, you will likely be giving up larger download speeds (10, 16, 18, 22, etc.) to go back down to 6 Mbps or less. There's the pain.

 

[TwisterZ]

As for 720p vs. 1080p, it depends on how far away from the set you are really.

That's right I get people to back up from the TV's at work all the time.

720p is about the same picture quality as an analog movie theater and the movie industry says the middle of the theater should be 1.5 times the width of the screen (50" TV = 43" wide X 1.5 = 5.375 feet). The THX recommendation is 1.3 times the width of the screen (4.66 feet). In my demo we are only about 2-3 feet from the 50" TV's.

 

[croseiv]

That's right I get people to back up from the TV's at work all the time.

720p is about the same picture quality as an analog movie

In theory, but in my experience, my display's resolution/PQ seems much better than what is shown at the theater. Theaters seem darker and grainier, with poorer resolution.

In my demo we are only about 2-3 feet from the 50" TV's.

But how many folks actually sit 2-3 feet from their sets???

 

[jostenmeat]

In theory, but in my experience, my display's resolution/PQ seems much better than what is shown at the theater. Theaters seem darker and grainier, with poorer resolution.

"Grainier" is a function of the film itself. It is what film actually looks like.

Some people DO prefer "video". It's been said, for instance, with Burn After Reading, that the film consistently has grain. BUT, that the extras look very smooth, since it's all HD video. So, in fact, there are persons that wished that the film could've used the HD video cameras instead.

But, I'm sure they used film for a reason.

But how many folks actually sit 2-3 feet from their sets???

When considering the 50", I've never once heard of a viewing angle that large. Then again, it is just a demo.

 

[croseiv]

When considering the 50", I've never once heard of a viewing angle that large. Then again, it is just a demo.

That's my point. In order to really see a difference between 720p vs 1080p, you have to be fairly close to the set. In my room it's sort of a moot point since I sit at a distance of 11 ft. Which I have no doubt you already know..

 

[jostenmeat]

That's my point. In order to really see a difference between 720p vs 1080p, you have to be fairly close to the set. In my room it's sort of a moot point since I sit at a distance of 11 ft. Which I have no doubt you already know..

I actually didn't! Now that we have colluded in unnecessarily hijacking a perfectly fine thread, what's your gear in the photos up front? The speakers, the silver component, those treatments . . .

 

[croseiv]

I actually didn't! Now that we have colluded in unnecessarily hijacking a perfectly fine thread, what's your gear in the photos up front? The speakers, the silver component, those treatments . . .

Happy Friday dude....BTW you are more than welcome to come have a listen.

 

[Soundman]

leaves Blu-Ray the de facto choice in high definition media.

Time Warner Cable to expand bandwidth caps, 40GB per month:
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/02/05/time-warner-cable-to-expand-bandwidth-caps-40gb-per-month

One thing they mention in the article that never occurred to me before was how online video gaming will be affected. I'm not sure how many GB's i'm using while playing a game online via Xbox360 or PS3, but I bet it can really get up there when having a marathon gaming session. What do you want to bet Microsoft and Netflix will be watching this development very closely.

I don't see this being a major problem for online gaming. There isn't that much information being downloaded during a gaming session. There is information being sent and received, but nothing compared to downloading a full Length movie in HD.

 

[lsiberian]

I don't see this being a major problem for online gaming. There isn't that much information being downloaded during a gaming session. There is information being sent and received, but nothing compared to downloading a full Length movie in HD.

Depends on the game and how they implement server to client communication. Some games do this very inefficiently others do it better.

 

[JLMEMT]

Good luck with that. AT&T made sure to follow Time Warner Cable's lead in Beaumont, TX with caps. That keeps one from easily switching broadband providers. Yeah, you can dump Time Warner Cable and U-verse/DSL and use a 3rd party DSL (Earthlink, Speakeasy, Megapath) *if* you live close enough to the CO. But, you will likely be giving up larger download speeds (10, 16, 18, 22, etc.) to go back down to 6 Mbps or less. There's the pain.

I have become spoiled too and like speed in my downloads. But think about this logically for a minute.

What good does the highest speed, above 10, really do for you if you can't download half of what you want to in a month??

I think part of this is that they are simply not willing to spend the money it would require to do the upgrades to allow everyone that pays for those speeds unlimited.

If it was just really about media rights, etc couldn't they just as easily price these highest speeds up to where they would make an equivalent amount of money off of the internet?

 

[jcilforever]

Like both

I like to be able to own and use what you purchase and not have a company determine when and how you should use the content but gravitate towards new technology.

Also most of us do not back up our content every day so when your computer crashes you loose content and would loose money with downloadable content like purchasing MP3 and eventually movies.

So I like the Netflix Roku player that now sends 1080P (just updated and also has HDMI connector) granted they are working on getting the quality up to par through netflix (netfilx bandwith issue), but are also working with other companies to offer content. I like the ability to "rent" without buying and the ones that are worth buying having my own copy to take with me, watch in the car, on a plane etc.

I also have IPTV and am not happy with the quality due to drop outs. Also my set top box does not have a HD so I can't record programs and do not want to pay tivo $ every month to record it. When it comes down to it our real limitation is infustructure (bandwith).

Until we have wireless devices that are able to transmit and recieve at a cinema quality I do not see media going away. It probably will and we will be charged per use.

 

[audiohonic65]

I think Blu-ray could be Blockbuster's bailout.... here is why:

http://www.betanews.com/article/Bluray-could-be-Blockbusters-bailout/1236366562

 

[aarond]

here is a good article from CE Pro http://www.cepro.com/article/how_men_in_their_30s_use_electronics
it is a survey of men in there 30s. it shows that content is more important than quality to them.