Do Bluray discs warrant their price tags?

[Muse]

BD is at a point now that it is profitable enough. If it doesn't catch on with the "common folks," I don't give a shit. As a matter of fact, I hope it stays a niche market. That way when a new movie comes out, I don't have to worry about it selling out or people crowding my BD area.

If the general public is cool with crap DVDs, that's ok with me. Some people have higher standards than others, and that's what BD caters to. Again, BD is at a point now that it doesn't have to fully kill off DVDs. I'm sure movie studios would LOVE to see that happen, but it doesn't really have to to be considered successful. As a matter of fact, BD is so successful now that you don't have to worry about it going away anytime soon.

I'm a believer that you have to pay for quality. If you don't care about it or don't want to pay for it, cool. There's a lot of Wal-Mart junk out there for you to choose from, so have at it. However others that DO care about quality WILL pay for it.

You are their favorite customer!

 

[Fritzo]

What is your definition of 'passed over'? A quarter of the movies in your local Best Buy are devoted to BRD. Sure a new tech will eventually sunset BRD but like it or not it is here and it will be for years to come. I agree that streaming will eventually take over but why wait 5-10 years for infrastructure to support it when I can enjoy it now?

This blog tells it very well

 

[vi edit]

This blog tells it very well

That gets an overwhelming "meh". You can't look at overall numbers sold and you can't compare "number produced" from year to year. New releases, converted releases, ect aren't the same from year to year. You also have to take into account that we have been in a siginificant recession for the last 3-5 years and many premium items have taken a hit.

And I still think that too many studies are overly optomistic about the placement of BR. That's their own fault. It was in a battle with a competing format and it's a rapidly evolving standard that still isn't 100% mature in terms of playback hardware and disk support. It's only been out for a few years and it's had some really bad timing and challenges along the way.

 

[spacejamz]

This blog tells it very well

I raise you this blog:

http://www.digital-digest.com/blog/DVDGuy/2010/05/05/blu-ray-the-state-of-play-may-2010/

So while Blu-ray was hovering around the 5% mark at the start of the graph, in May 2008, it’s now much closer to 15%. The average weekly market share figure for 2010 so far is 13.96%. And it’s very likely that Blu-ray becomes more mainstream, the trend may actually accelerate.

 

[DrunkenSano]

Bluray movies are definitely worth it, if you buy them when they are on sale. Getting movies for under $10 and $20 is definitely worth the quality upgrade.

 

[Muse]

Bluray movies are definitely worth it, if you buy them when they are on sale. Getting movies for under $10 and $20 is definitely worth the quality upgrade.

Kinda depends on the movie. Some are so much better in high quality video, others it's no biggie IMO. F'rinstance, comedy usually doesn't much matter. Lawrence of Arabia, 2001, The Shining, I'd like to see in HIGH DEFINITION!

I imagine Blu-Ray will do OK, don't know the landscape, but consider that SVHS never took off and VHS withstood the onslaught, much MUCH to my surprise. I have bought 3 SVHS decks and had a tough time even finding a movie in SVHS. I got my money's worth though because SVHS recorded TV looks sooooooooooo much better than VHS, except maybe at high speed, but you can't record more than 2 hours at high speed. Even so, slow speed on SVHS is better than high speed on VHS. DVR's made tape recording obsolete, of course. It blows my mind that you see so many DVD/VHS dual decks still for sale, just incredible.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I was at Bestbuy looking some movies and I think that the prices for Bluray discs are ridiculous. Even the older movies are $22.99; the newer movies can cost upward of $40! What's even more absurd is the trend of packing a lot of stuffs that I don't want with the package of a new movie, thinks like a regular DVD, a digital copy and other junks.

What the hell happened to just put a freaking movie on a disc and sell it? And why does a Bluray disc cost x3 times a regular movie?

I think the cost of producing Bluray should have been absorbed a long time ago, and now it's just gouging for profits with the pricing. What do YOU think?

(no, I don't pirate movies).

BB is only a place where ignorant Blu-ray shoppers go. Try Amazon.

 

[JackBurton]

BB is only a place where ignorant Blu-ray shoppers go. Try Amazon.

Not really. BB has had some GREAT deals lately. But yeah, Amazon generally has better prices on BDs.

 

[JackBurton]

You are their favorite customer!

Who?

 

[irishScott]

I have a rule that I never spend more than $20 on one. I picked up Zombieland for $13, The Godfather Parts 1 and 2 for $12 (used), The Dark Knight for $15, The Matrix for $9, and so on. Just got to be patient for the prices to drop/know where to look. I see new DVDs for $20 everywhere.

 

[digitaldurandal]

I rent mine from blockbuster with the bbonline plan. It doesn't cost me anything extra to view BD ftw. There are very few movies I watch more than one time, and if I do it is usually in the theater that I view them. Most movies I watch once after they are released to BD now.

The theater is filled with punks and idiots - now that I have a nice big screen and BD player I only go for 3d movies - and even then only on off hours.

 

[JackBurton]

I rent mine from blockbuster with the bbonline plan. It doesn't cost me anything extra to view BD ftw. There are very few movies I watch more than one time, and if I do it is usually in the theater that I view them. Most movies I watch once after they are released to BD now.

The theater is filled with punks and idiots - now that I have a nice big screen and BD player I only go for 3d movies - and even then only on off hours.

Exactly. I hate going to the theaters, so I just wait for the movie to come out on BD, and then just buy it. I just pretend it is my movie ticket.

 

[irishScott]

BB is only a place where ignorant Blu-ray shoppers go. Try Amazon.

Check the bargain shelves/labels. Zombieland for $13 and no need to wait for shipping. *shrug*

 

[darkswordsman17]

I hate Netflix. When I buy a movie, I get it when I want it. I don't have to wait in a long queue only to be disappointed when I receive a disc that looks like it has been chewed on. Buying is much more expensive than renting, but I get what I want, WHEN I want it. That in itself is worth it to me. And if I want to re-watch a movie, I just walk over to my BD library, grab the movie and watch it. No waiting 3 day for a movie to come in. This is especially handy when I have company over.

Yeah, and buying the movies, you'll end up spending about 10 to 20 times as much as you would using Netflix. Personally, I'd rather pay to rent and spend the extra on better equipment, which is equally important to getting a good experience. What's the point of buying Blu-Rays if you're watching it on some middling quality LCD using the TV's speakers or some crappy HTiB?

Of course, I feel that most movies are not worth owning any more. Even many decent to good movies I don't feel like watching multiple times. Then if it is good enough, I'll buy it in the best quality version, otherwise, I see no point to buying when the companies want to act like that doesn't mean you actually own it anyways.

 

[xSauronx]

yeah, the cost is why i have netflix...you can find decently priced movies now and again. there arent many movies i want to watch enough to justify buying them

i have planet earth and life from the bbc...those sets were 30 each, which is a steal imo. i have a couple other things that were cheap, but thats about it

 

[JackBurton]

Yeah, and buying the movies, you'll end up spending about 10 to 20 times as much as you would using Netflix. Personally, I'd rather pay to rent and spend the extra on better equipment, which is equally important to getting a good experience. What's the point of buying Blu-Rays if you're watching it on some middling quality LCD using the TV's speakers or some crappy HTiB?

Of course, I feel that most movies are not worth owning any more. Even many decent to good movies I don't feel like watching multiple times. Then if it is good enough, I'll buy it in the best quality version, otherwise, I see no point to buying when the companies want to act like that doesn't mean you actually own it anyways.

Again, I hate Netflix. Buying is MUCH more convenient, although admittedly much more expensive. To me, the extra cost is worth it. You have to wait 30 days for new releases, I don't. You have to wait for a movie to be mailed to you, I just walk into my BD library and choose the movie I want to watch. You run a much higher risk of receiving a damaged disc, my risk is MUCH lower. You have features stripped out of your rentals, I don't. When you have company over, you have a SMALL selection of BDs to watch, I have a much larger selection to choose from.

Again, I never said it was cheap, it's just better.

As for using the money to upgrade my A/V equipment, I think I'm ok in that department.

 

[UberNeuman]

Anyone who thinks Blu-ray isn't a step up from DVD needs to get their eyes checked...

Streaming media isn't close, nor will ever be.....

 

[lxskllr]

Anyone who thinks Blu-ray isn't a step up from DVD needs to get their eyes checked...

Streaming media isn't close, nor will ever be.....

Some people just don't give a shit. I grew up with 5 channels of B&W TV, all with varying amounts of static. Depending on the station, you might have to turn on the TV a half hour early to catch a show you wanted to watch. That would give you enough time to dick with the antenna so you could get the station in. I was pleased with VCR quality, and the convenience of using a DVD disc beats that. I couldn't care less about BD, and I don't see me ever getting one as long as the few things I watch are available on DVD or online.

 

[Joseph Dubin]

My opinion why bluray only accounts for 13% of total disc sales is because like so many others, I have assembled a large collection of DVDs over the years and hence, a bluray player would be of little use since it would do nothing more than up-convert those films, which is what my current DVD players do, and very nicely. So we stick with the DVD releases of recent theater releases. and for many of us, up-conversion to 1080p is fine enough.

It's also about content. DVD purchasing in general isn't anything near the rate it once was because when building up our collections we were purchasing 80 years worth of titles from Charlie Chaplin through King Kong, past James Bond and the next last three Star Wars entries . Bluray did not have that advantage so there was no foundation to build upon.

I also dub onto DVD-R films on premium stations like "Alice In Wonderland" which I enjoy but would not want to pay at least $15 to own. Using s-video to output to my recorder and then playing back via up-conversion does not, of course, perfectly duplicate the picture quality of the original, but on a scale of 1-10, compared to the broadcast, the copy is about an 8, which is also good enough.

 

[BeauJangles]

Anyone who thinks Blu-ray isn't a step up from DVD needs to get their eyes checked...

Streaming media isn't close, nor will ever be.....

x264 is.

 

[JackBurton]

x264 is.

Who is streaming x264 that comes close to BD?

 

[UberNeuman]

Some people just don't give a shit. I grew up with 5 channels of B&W TV, all with varying amounts of static. Depending on the station, you might have to turn on the TV a half hour early to catch a show you wanted to watch. That would give you enough time to dick with the antenna so you could get the station in. I was pleased with VCR quality, and the convenience of using a DVD disc beats that. I couldn't care less about BD, and I don't see me ever getting one as long as the few things I watch are available on DVD or online.

I grew up in the same age as well. However, at my advanced age, if I can view something better than before, then I will.

Guess what, BD is better...

 

[darkswordsman17]

Again, I hate Netflix. Buying is MUCH more convenient, although admittedly much more expensive. To me, the extra cost is worth it. You have to wait 30 days for new releases, I don't. You have to wait for a movie to be mailed to you, I just walk into my BD library and choose the movie I want to watch. You run a much higher risk of receiving a damaged disc, my risk is MUCH lower. You have features stripped out of your rentals, I don't. When you have company over, you have a SMALL selection of BDs to watch, I have a much larger selection to choose from.

Again, I never said it was cheap, it's just better.

As for using the money to upgrade my A/V equipment, I think I'm ok in that department.

I'm still not getting how you hate Netflix. What's there to hate? You could actually both buy most of your movies and use Netflix and be better off than you are now.

 

[JackBurton]

I'm still not getting how you hate Netflix. What's there to hate? You could actually both buy most of your movies and use Netflix and be better off than you are now.

So let's pretend you have a large BD movie library at your disposal, and you can pic out whatever movie you'd like at a moments notice. What would be the advantage of Netflix, cost not being a factor? How would I be better off using Netflix?

 

[Fritzo]

So let's pretend you have a large BD movie library at your disposal, and you can pic out whatever movie you'd like at a moments notice. What would be the advantage of Netflix, cost not being a factor? How would I be better off using Netflix?

I don't see how cost can't be a factor there- 100's or 1000's of $$$$ for a movie library, vs. $7.99/month.

Other benefits:

1. - No media to get lost or damaged
2. - Lazy couch potatoes don't need to get off the couch to swap discs
3. - Available from any location- no discs to lug around