State of Blu-ray - CEDIA 2008

[admin]

What is on the forefront of many consumers' minds is Blu-ray. Sure, it is all the talk on the forums and with enthusiasts, but when will John Q. Public start to care? We'll tell you when - when prices come down. At CEDIA this year we took a look at some of the newest Blu-ray players that are either already in stores or will be soon. Some companies seem to be pushing for as many features as possible at the lowest price while other seem to be skating along thinking that a Profile 1.1 player should sell just fine at $600 - $1000. Hey, don't forget that you can pay up to $2200 for a player if you really want a flagship model.

Discuss "State of Blu-ray - CEDIA 2008" here. Read the article.

 

[Seth=L]

The Pioneer Elite seems to crush the Sony flagship in every way, and they are both overpriced. The Pioneer definitely has sex appeal. One does have to wonder why the caps are so back. Is it possible the scaler engine needs 300 watts of constant juice to make DVDs look every bit as good as Blu-ray?

 

[Audioholics]

I'd like to know just how many of these flagship players are going to be sold to people who end up using them to play back Blu-ray over HDMI...

 

[Seth=L]

I'm sure there will be plenty. These companies don't hardly even have to market (well) anymore. The marketing is the pretty box and high price. When companies like Marantz can come out with a profile 1.1 player for $799, it's just strange to me that people will still spend on things like that.

 

[jliedeka]

The manufacturers seem determined to make Blu Ray a niche product. In a couple years pundits will be talking about how the public rejected it just like with high def audio. The difference is I never heard of SACD or DVD-A until I started getting back into audio. I never saw a mention of the formats on any news sites or even gadget sites. At least they are marketing the hell out of Blu Ray but there aren't any great choices for players.

Jim

 

[aberkowitz]

To me, the PS3 still comes off as the best deal of the bunch... especially with the ability to connect wirelessly for updates.

 

[allargon]

To me, the PS3 still comes off as the best deal of the bunch... especially with the ability to connect wirelessly for updates.

As much as I detest the thought of bringing a gaming console into my home, I have to admit that the PS3 is still the best value of all the Blu players especially due to its media center capabilities. Some gems are starting to appear like the DMP-BD55. (Normally I would mention my BH200, but it's been acting up with a few Blu titles lately.)

 

[Emusica]

I don't know why the manufacturers even make profile 1.1. I really don't want a PS3 just yet but that is the only real viable player IMO (I don't want to spend $400 either, not on that anyway).

 

[emorphien]

As much as I detest the thought of bringing a gaming console into my home, I have to admit that the PS3 is still the best value of all the Blu players especially due to its media center capabilities. Some gems are starting to appear like the DMP-BD55. (Normally I would mention my BH200, but it's been acting up with a few Blu titles lately.)

As much as I hate hate hate Sony for their business practices (they're as good as anyone of convincing me that they absolutely loathe their consumers), I'd have to agree. If nothing better is out that can also replace my Pioneer DV-45A for playing DVD-A and SACD, I may keep the Pioneer and get a PS3 by early next year.

 

[allargon]

If nothing better is out that can also replace my Pioneer DV-45A for playing DVD-A and SACD, I may keep the Pioneer and get a PS3 by early next year.

The new Oppo player will do profile 2.0 plus play legacy lossless audio optical formats plus offer competent upscaling. (Competent upscaling is something that Sony, Panasonic, Funai and others have stripped from their sub-$500 units.) Sadly, it won't play HD DVD discs. (I'm not naive. It will be awhile before a truly comprehensive optical disc player comes out due to licensing costs, complexities, perceived demand, etc.) That Oppo player is something to consider as well. Denon also plans a Blu-Ray, DVD-A, SACD (dropped HD DVD support due to the end of the war and software complexities) combo, too. I feel it will cost more than the Oppo.

 

[emorphien]

The other thing I have been avoiding is that I'll probaby need a new receiver if I'm going to get anything else with a digital audio connection (or worse HDMI which my receiver lacks) because I'm out of connections. That's part of the appeal of replacing my current Pioneer.

 

[fanscape360]

Whether you have a PS3 or Blu-ray player, or you're thinking about getting one (and you should, you really should), there's no better movie than Transformers to make you a believer.

On 1080p, the picture is crystal clear, the colors are vibrant, and the sound is amazing, I swear you can practically feel those freakin' robots. It's this kind of Blu-ray movie that reminds me how important sight and sound quality are.

Check out more at transformersmovie.com

Thanks,

Martin TF

 

[emorphien]

Whether you have a PS3 or Blu-ray player, or you're thinking about getting one (and you should, you really should), there's no better movie than Transformers to make you a believer.

On 1080p, the picture is crystal clear, the colors are vibrant, and the sound is amazing, I swear you can practically feel those freakin' robots. It's this kind of Blu-ray movie that reminds me how important sight and sound quality are.

Check out more at transformersmovie.com

Thanks,

Martin TF

Thanks for the... advertisement?

 

[Audioholics]

I only banned him for a week... cause of the "I can't believe he did this it's so funny" factor.

 

[Seth=L]

I only banned him for a week... cause of the "I can't believe he did this it's so funny" factor.

I must have missed something...

I've been missing/forgetting a lot of things lately.


Allargon, the PS3 scored 100 out of 130 on the HQV test, just slightly behind the $400 Oppo AH just reviewed*.

*that HQV test result for the PS3 was in the review

 

[allargon]

I must have missed something...

I've been missing/forgetting a lot of things lately.


Allargon, the PS3 scored 100 out of 130 on the HQV test, just slightly behind the $400 Oppo AH just reviewed*.

Seth, I wasn't talking about the PS3's scaling. I was talking about the sub-$500 standalones (really the sub $1k ones that aren't discontinued or from Pioneer).

 

[Seth=L]

Seth, I wasn't talking about the PS3's scaling. I was talking about the sub-$500 standalones (really the sub $1k ones that aren't discontinued or from Pioneer).

Agreed, most of those aren't up to snuff.

I still wonder about Toshiba's XDE upscaling players. I saw one at Circuit Sucky and it felt as light and cheap as their previous rendetions of upcaling players. Makes you wonder if it's purely hype and marketing with no actual renovation. It also didn't look as cool cosmetically as the ads has indicated.

 

[95prelude]

I'm sure there will be plenty. These companies don't hardly even have to market (well) anymore. The marketing is the pretty box and high price. When companies like Marantz can come out with a profile 1.1 player for $799, it's just strange to me that people will still spend on things like that.

Because I will only buy a BD player from Pioneer Elite or Denon. I have no problem buy a new player every yr or so. I'm also not rich. I just like my toys.

 

[BMXTRIX]

You know, I just wouldn't use a Custom Installlers expo to be the determining factor of the 'state' of Blu-ray Disc. BD in the CEDIA market is a hot item and I haven't had a single installation, even from people on a really tight budget (sub $5K) which haven't asked about buying Blu-ray.

The consumer products are the sub $300 players (this year) which can be found from Samsung, Insignia, and a few others. Mostly Korean made Funai stuff, but still getting 'fair' reviews. These are the players which will drop under $200 during sales this holiday season I expect, and really may set the pace for BD into 2009.

We 'Audioholics' sit around and talk 1.1 vs. 2.0 profiles, but J6P may not give a damn, or even know what the heck we are talking about. BD = BD and getting a TRUE HD player for their HD display is a requirement.

So... what does a review of the current CEDIA level products really say about the current state of Blu-ray in the market?

I think it says a lot that this year there were about twice as many, if not more, new players in the BD game than last year, which means that CEs are excited about the technology and moving it forward. Perhaps not at the price which makes it mainstream... yet. But, BD is on track to quadruple it's market share in one year... Anyone who finds 300% growth to be 'poor' is not likely going to be a CEO of a major CE company anytime soon.

If BD were to maintain this level of growth (impossible) then by early 2010, over half the optical disc based market would belong to Blu-ray. If they maintain a growth of 6% annually (a bit low I think) then by the end of 2012 they would have over 30% of the optical disc based market, which simply would not be considered a 'failure' in a multi-billion dollar market.

If I am to gather anything from that article it is that Blu-ray still has a long way to go, but appears to be pretty darn healthy right now.

 

[Davemcc]

As much as I hate hate hate Sony for their business practices (they're as good as anyone of convincing me that they absolutely loathe their consumers), I'd have to agree. If nothing better is out that can also replace my Pioneer DV-45A for playing DVD-A and SACD, I may keep the Pioneer and get a PS3 by early next year.

Don't wait. I just found out in This thread that Sony introduced a new PS3 80g that does not support SACD. If you want the PS3 that supports SACD, you will have to find one that's still on the shelf now in the correct version.