Blu-ray Awareness on the Rise

A

admin

Audioholics Robot
Staff member
According to a study from Interpret, a media research company, in just two years around 60% of U.S. households now know what a Blu-ray disc is. At the same time it is being reported that the number of households with a high-definition disc player has passed the 10 million mark. Blu-ray is definitely picking up steam, however these challenges put a lot in front of the format, whose debut is often - erroneously, we feel - compared to DVD. The 10 million player mark, assuming one player per household, nets a 9% penetration figure.


Discuss "Blu-ray Awareness on the Rise" here. Read the article.
 
stratman

stratman

Audioholic Ninja
Right on the money. I think the majority of people still favor physical media, there's something so "human" about touching, feeling and sense of ownership. I've always said that VOD, would eventually co-exist with the other formats, DVD for now still reigns supreme, the economy will be a factor in BD's do or die struggle and ultimately the consumer and his wallet will determine the fate of BD. BD, without a doubt is headed in the right direction, but the momentum has to be sustained. The TV switch-over can be very positive for BD and I would say that it might be a good idea for the BDA to start a massive "education" campaign NOW, leave the consumers primed for Black Friday/ Christmas shopping season. Good news indeed for the Bluray camp, I on the other hand wait till BF to get on the wagon, I'm not in a hurry, I've also stopped buying SD DVDs, why enlarge the collection I might need to replace?;)
 
gliz

gliz

Full Audioholic
Very will said, I mentioned something similar about the music download issue in that thread today
 
D

Dezoris

Audioholic
Good article on the topic.
Namely the studios having to do something about DVD.
It will likely be the combo pack as seen on HDDVD/DVD.

I have to agree with the physical media issue.

One that is coming to play with video games now.
We are starting to have the ability to download games, like the upcoming GranTurismo Prologue game.

You can download or buy the Blu-Ray copy for the same price.
But what about this. I can't sell my download when I am done or let a friend borrow it which makes the download more worthless, same with CDs vs. MP3 downloads Although I may have a collection on the shelf collecting dust, it still has a value on ebay.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
The penetration level will change considerably by/on Christmas. It will be one of those must haves for the year during the holiday season. HDTV penetration is still relatively low, but that will also obviously change next year also.
 
F

fredk

Audioholic General
need an HDTV to enjoy the new content, and only less than 40% of US households have the new technology
Both 1% and 39% are less than 49%. What the heck does "only less than" mean??

If HD sets are close to 40% (say between 35-40), thats pretty good penetration considering it is only in the last year that the quality of scaling and LCD tvs has become acceptable across a broader range of products.

The funny thing is, I am pretty happy with 420p upscaled to 1920p. If bluray is going to position itself as premium content, I agree that it faces an uphill battle.

HD for the price of DVD I will buy into, but I'm not going to spent $400 on a BD player just to pay double to rent or buy HD content.

Fred
 
A

aarond

Full Audioholic
with 4.5million of the 10million players ps3. how many are actually being used as bluray players? how are you going to get the kids off the game console to watch a movie?
bd is the next ld! better yes but joe and mary sixpack just don't care! and if they don't have a disc that will play in the suv they really don't care! bluray will replace dvd the same way that ld replaced vhs.
 
stratman

stratman

Audioholic Ninja
with 4.5million of the 10million players ps3. how many are actually being used as bluray players? how are you going to get the kids off the game console to watch a movie?
bd is the next ld! better yes but joe and mary sixpack just don't care! and if they don't have a disc that will play in the suv they really don't care! bluray will replace dvd the same way that ld replaced vhs.
I guess you own HD DVD:D
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
HD for the price of DVD I will buy into, but I'm not going to spent $400 on a BD player just to pay double to rent or buy HD content.
If you, and others like you, don't buy into it, the price will never go down. You don't think that DVD pricing went down by itself do you? It is kind of like saying I won't buy an automobile because my horse and carriage cost less..
 
rgriffin25

rgriffin25

Moderator
with 4.5million of the 10million players ps3. how many are actually being used as bluray players? how are you going to get the kids off the game console to watch a movie?
bd is the next ld! better yes but joe and mary sixpack just don't care! and if they don't have a disc that will play in the suv they really don't care! bluray will replace dvd the same way that ld replaced vhs.
I think it breaks down like this.

1. Kids that bought PS3s for games now realize they can also play blu-ray movies so they are buying media to use on their gaming machine.

2. Everyday at work I talk to at least one person (adult) considering a PS3 as a Blu-ray player. (Most prefer PS3 due to price, features, and a gaming console for kids/grandkids).

The fact is, right now the PS3 is the most versitlile BD player on the market. For the same price as a stand alone BD player, why not have the capability to play BD movies, high Def gaming, web browsing, and a media server all built into one machine. If you haven't noticed aside from a few PS exclusive games and the cross platform games there isn't a large amount of gaming content for the PS3. Which is another arguement why most are using it as a BD player.
 
rgriffin25

rgriffin25

Moderator
Both 1% and 39% are less than 49%. What the heck does "only less than" mean??

If HD sets are close to 40% (say between 35-40), thats pretty good penetration considering it is only in the last year that the quality of scaling and LCD tvs has become acceptable across a broader range of products.

The funny thing is, I am pretty happy with 420p upscaled to 1920p. If bluray is going to position itself as premium content, I agree that it faces an uphill battle.

HD for the price of DVD I will buy into, but I'm not going to spent $400 on a BD player just to pay double to rent or buy HD content.

Fred
For the record it wasn't until DVD was around for 5 years that player prices fell below $300.* DVD players were commonly in the $500-$1000 range the first couple of years it was available. DVD disc prices were also in the range of $19.95 to $29.95. At that time there were several people that doubted the future of the format. Any of this sound familiar?

*It has been said that BD players should be available at $299 by the end of the year. If this turns out to be true the future looks bright for BD, with prices falling faster than DVD initially. Remember BD is not even 2 years old yet!
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
My first DVD player back in 98 was $520 and it didn't even decode DTS, though there were only about 10 discs that even had DTS at the time (out of about 150 discs available total). Yes, discs were quite expensive at first also, because only a few studios were producing them, only a few manufacturing houses could even press them, and only a small percentage of consumers had bought into it. Does that sound familiar also?
 
A

aarond

Full Audioholic
I guess you own HD DVD:D
no i was in the wait and see camp!
still waiting for a stand alone player sub $500 that is as good as the ps3!
i would pay over a grand for a true universal player (bd,dvda,sacd etc)that was as good as my denon dvd2900 for sacd/dvda
also need to be able to buy media that i can play on the main system and take along in the suv and the kids can play in there room!
it would add what 25 cents to production costs and they could charge a few dollars more for a bd/dvd combo.
the powers that be just don't get it and if they don't wake up bd will be a niche product.
 
A

aarond

Full Audioholic
For the record it wasn't until DVD was around for 5 years that player prices fell below $300.* DVD players were commonly in the $500-$1000 range the first couple of years it was available. DVD disc prices were also in the range of $19.95 to $29.95. At that time there were several people that doubted the future of the format. Any of this sound familiar?

*It has been said that BD players should be available at $299 by the end of the year. If this turns out to be true the future looks bright for BD, with prices falling faster than DVD initially. Remember BD is not even 2 years old yet!
i bought my first dvd player in spring of 2000(3 years after US launch 03/97) for $99. bought my first progressive scan dvd player 1 year later for $350.00.
 
stratman

stratman

Audioholic Ninja
no i was in the wait and see camp!
still waiting for a stand alone player sub $500 that is as good as the ps3!
i would pay over a grand for a true universal player (bd,dvda,sacd etc)that was as good as my denon dvd2900 for sacd/dvda
also need to be able to buy media that i can play on the main system and take along in the suv and the kids can play in there room!
it would add what 25 cents to production costs and they could charge a few dollars more for a bd/dvd combo.
the powers that be just don't get it and if they don't wake up bd will be a niche product.
I'm still in the "wait" mode, hopefully Black Friday will be a good day!
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
To the human eyes DVD audio/video quality improvements over VHS is huge. That, combines with the other advantages of DVD vs VHS (e.g. the physical features) was the reason why people were more willing to pay a huge premium for the first/second generation DVD players. I never hesitated when I bought my $400 DVD player. I think most people are still happy with 480p and/or 480 upconverted to 1080 PQ as well DTS5.1/6.1. I know in my family I am the only one who think a $200 (if it gets there soon enough) BD player would be a great deal, everyone else think DVD's are more than good enough, yet none wants to watch VHS if they have a choice.
 
rgriffin25

rgriffin25

Moderator
To the human eyes DVD audio/video quality improvements over VHS is huge. That, combines with the other advantages of DVD vs VHS (e.g. the physical features) was the reason why people were more willing to pay a huge premium for the first/second generation DVD players. I never hesitated when I bought my $400 DVD player. I think most people are still happy with 480p and/or 480 upconverted to 1080 PQ as well DTS5.1/6.1. I know in my family I am the only one who think a $200 (if it gets there soon enough) BD player would be a great deal, everyone else think DVD's are more than good enough, yet none wants to watch VHS if they have a choice.
My wife who normally opposes any HT upgrade was actually an easy sell on Blu-ray. She noticed the difference right away. Perhaps I am just lucky?
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
My wife who normally opposes any HT upgrade was actually an easy sell on Blu-ray. She noticed the difference right away. Perhaps I am just lucky?
I guess you are lucky, and/or may be your HDTV is so top notched that it brings out and emphasizes the best of those HD movies.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
What's amazing is that in the early days of DVD, with only 480i displays on the market, most of them small, most people did NOT see a dramtic improvement in quality like so many claim. It wasn't really until TVs started going way up in quality and size with more RPTVs on the market that the quality started to really shine.

It was the convenience of DVD which was a huge breakthrough for many, yet it was still years before it became mainstream with DVD as the product.

But, my DVD player doesn't play my old VHS tapes - my Blu-ray player handles the DVDs and Blu-ray discs... Still struggle with the portability, yet distributed audio & video in my home has those bases covered.
 
Pyrrho

Pyrrho

Audioholic Ninja
with 4.5million of the 10million players ps3. how many are actually being used as bluray players? how are you going to get the kids off the game console to watch a movie?
bd is the next ld! [emphasis added] better yes but joe and mary sixpack just don't care! and if they don't have a disc that will play in the suv they really don't care! bluray will replace dvd the same way that ld replaced vhs.
You appear to think that there was something bad about laserdisc. Consumer laserdisc was introduced in 1978 and was the best home video source until DVD was released in the later half of the 1990's. It never gained a huge following because the players and discs were always expensive. The relatively large discs required much more robust transports than CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray require, which explains why the players were always expensive. But for those who could afford it, it was the best source of movies for home viewing for almost 20 years.

If Blu-Ray is really the next laserdisc, then Blu-Ray has quite a few years left as the best source for the home market.
 

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