Audio Asylum Thread Printer

Get a view of an entire thread on one page

FAQ / News / Events

Video Asylum

Blu-Ray is winning the battle for shelf space (but I'm not selling the HD DVD player yet)

205.240.11.90

This is my totally unscientific opinion, based on visiting a couple of shops today: Next week, the situation could change, but for reasons I'll get to momentarily, I think I'm seeing a trend.

Both shops had been very format-neutral, carrying about the same depth and quality of movie for either. But here, the number of titles matters! Blu-Ray is literally crowding out HD DVD on the shelves, because there are simply more recent movies being released in Blu-Ray.

Part of me wants to trade in the Playstation 2 for a Playstation 3, and sell the HD DVD player! But what holds me back is that, although fewer in number, I think HD DVD has got better movies, and who can say when, or if, any will be reissued in B-D. So although I didn't really want the clutter of having two disc players and two formats of HD movies onhand, I think that exactly what I'll end up with in coming months. I specifically want the PS/3 because it's by far the best-supported Blu-Ray player out there, as it accounts for 75% of B-D player sales. If I buy a pricey dual-format player, it's such a niche product, who knows whether it'll ever get the firmware updates it needs to play future movies? No such problem with PS/3.

I still think there's a chance that both B-D and HD DVD could vanish from the shelves of major stores within 18 months, and PS/3 itself is performing dismally as a game console, but I'm enjoying this 1080p video enough to take this chance. If true high-def fails, it won't be due to apathy on my part ;-)

Follow Ups:

Of course they are - Jack G 14:30:48 06/30/07 (6)
They are *paying* for the extra exposure and space, especially endcaps. Sony has very deep pockets.
Jack
- M$ has far deeper pockets, and you can't get around the studio support for blu-ray - Jazz Inmate 21:54:21 06/30/07 (5)
  When Universal goes neutral it's all over for HD-DVD. There's absolutely no reason to adopt at that point.
  -------------
  "I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." -Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)
  - Then where are all the Fox titles? - Jack G 07:23:09 07/01/07 (4)
    Dinsey has yanked many of their titles too. That mindless rant of studio support doesn't cut it, the only thing that matters is what's available now. Right now, you can buy or pre=order 356 BD titles compared to 304 HD. Whoopee! Why isn't there 5 times as much BD titles? With all that support, why aren't they cranking out titles?
    As for M$,they may have deep pockets, but they aren't putting all that much money into HD promotion, they certainly aren't buying their way through like Sony.
    Jack
    - Yeah, Disney (and Pixar / Apple) are a curious nut - 4season 11:46:25 07/01/07 (1)
      I thought it was peculiar that Steve Jobs sits on Disney's board of directors, and Apple is also part of the Blu-Ray consortium, but to date, we've seen no Pixar movies on Blu-Ray, and no Apple products which support it either. SJ has been pretty good in recent years at spotting emerging trends and putting himself at the cusp of them. And to date, his main statement on home theater has been AppleTV, which is a "near high-def" product.
      - Even more curious, - Jack G 13:00:07 07/01/07 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Yeah, Disney (and Pixar / Apple) are a curious nut posted by 4season on July 01, 2007 at 11:46:25
        
        is the fact that the folks at Disney worked with Micro$oft people to develop HDi for HD DVD, before either format was launched.
        Jack
    - Hopefully waiting for good implementations of BD+ - oscar 07:30:37 07/01/07 (1)
      Otherwise, I agree, Fox's absence has been disappointing. It could also be just the summer lull and waiting for the Holiday season for ramp-up. But even if so, I'm mildly worried whether BD50 production capacity can handle a large Holiday season spike.
      
      Now that the BD+ specs "appear" to have been "finalized", I won't be surprised at major Fox, Disney, and MGM release announcements in the near term. And if BD+ is shown to be effective (not likely), Universal won't be far behind.
      - Well, I'll be disappointed if there aren't 5 times as many titles out by the holidays - Jack G 07:37:35 07/01/07 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Hopefully waiting for good implementations of BD+ posted by oscar on July 01, 2007 at 07:30:37
        
        We all know there's 5 times as many exclusive studios. BTW, seen a Casablanca BD yet?
        We'll have to see about BD50 production. They aren't running anywhere near max capacity as it is, unless the failure rate is high.
        Enjoy,
        Jack
        EDIT: The security issue doesn't seem to have effected Warner or Paramount any.
        
        Edits: 07/01/07

Post a Followup:

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?

Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
	Remember my Moniker & Password (What's this?) Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:

Message:	(Posts are subject to Content Rules)

Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:	Automagically notify you when someone responds.

To view your new posting or follow-up, click on the RELOAD or REFRESH button on your browser.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: