Blu-Ray future not now

[CaroPhoenix]

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/0...-been-delayed/

Don't know if I should or

Not many people are seeing the difference between blu-ray and standard DVDs. Not many blu-ray players are selling, but there is a 5% upswing on sales, but only because Amazon is giving them away when one buys certain Samsung TVs.

[Broomjockey]

That sucks. Personally, I see a pretty big difference, just on my little 22" LCD. How can people miss the difference on a big ol' 42"?

My issue with it is I can't really justify $35 or more a movie, which limits which I'm willing to buy.

[draggar]

I think the issue is that most people buy a blue-ray player but don't see a difference on their older / non-HDTV (which you most likely wouldn't). I haven't bought one yet because I have a smaller CRT TV still (non HD) and I know I wouldn't see any difference.

When I buy my next TV and I can afford a nice HDTV, then I'll consider a blue ray player.

[lordlundar]

That sucks. Personally, I see a pretty big difference, just on my little 22" LCD. How can people miss the difference on a big ol' 42"?

Because (and I say this with as much kindness as I can muster) people are IDIOTS! They see the great displays in the store, buy one and take it home, slap it into their crappy system, then can't figure out why it doesn't look as good as in the store. They think that their Low def TV, Composite video and stereo audio cables are going to perform so much better with the blu-ray.

Bull-****ing-****.

To get the best quality at current, you need a true 1080p TV, a 7.1 surround sound, and HDMI video and good quality cables in addition to the blu-ray player. As well, for minor improvements, they have to optimize the system and keep the cables either perpendicular or parallel to each other to avoid cross signals.

Now take a guess at how many people listen to that advice.

Bitter? you betcha! I have had way too many people whine at me because of the exact situation I just mentioned.

[Broomjockey]

Do we have 1080p TVs in Canada? I thought we only had 1080i?
Either way, I'm going to save up and get me either a 32 or 37" 1080i/p, and run a cable from my computer to it.

[smileyeagle1021]

Because (and I say this with as much kindness as I can muster) people are IDIOTS! They see the great displays in the store, buy one and take it home, slap it into their crappy system, then can't figure out why it doesn't look as good as in the store. They think that their Low def TV, Composite video and stereo audio cables are going to perform so much better with the blu-ray.

Bull-****ing-****.

To get the best quality at current, you need a true 1080p TV, a 7.1 surround sound, and HDMI video and good quality cables in addition to the blu-ray player. As well, for minor improvements, they have to optimize the system and keep the cables either perpendicular or parallel to each other to avoid cross signals.

Now take a guess at how many people listen to that advice.

Bitter? you betcha! I have had way too many people whine at me because of the exact situation I just mentioned.

ok, first are people really that stupid as to not realize they need better equipment to be able to have higher quality?

oh and does having the cables at angles really degrade the signal that much?

[BarbieGirl]

With how expensive everything is getting I won't go into debt to buy a tv and a blu ray player and all the up grades, when I have two kiddos that I have to make sure are clothed and fed. Maybe in a couple of years when thats all there is I'll look into buying it all.

[blas]

I'll openly admit that I'm not into Blu-Ray for Hi Def stuff. I don't have the means.....now if I were making more money, that'd be another thing. Broomjockey already covered how detremental it is to spend extra money on movies, when they are already expensive enough as is.

[Evil Queen]

To get the best quality at current, you need a true 1080p TV, a 7.1 surround sound, and HDMI video and good quality cables in addition to the blu-ray player. As well, for minor improvements, they have to optimize the system and keep the cables either perpendicular or parallel to each other to avoid cross signals.

The funny thing is I have all those. Blu-ray still looks like shit.

The worst movie to watch on Blu-Ray is 300. Don't bother wasting your money because you can see all the errors in the film. Regular DVD 300? Beautiful. And you can't say it was that one copy because we took it back to the store (thinking it was defective) and got another one. Same problem. That's why I went and rented it on DVD.

Blu-Ray won't last.

[lordlundar]

Do we have 1080p TVs in Canada? I thought we only had 1080i?

Yup! Sony and Toshiba if I remember correctly have 1080p TVs in Canada.

ok, first are people really that stupid as to not realize they need better equipment to be able to have higher quality?

Fully and emphatically YES! They don't realize (especially the ones buying a Home Theater in a Box) that the player is only part of a system and think that putting one in will give incredible view.

oh and does having the cables at angles really degrade the signal that much?

not really, but if you get a large number at odd angles, It basically forms an antenna and picks up static. It's more apparent in lower quality cables. Reducing the crossover surface area by having them at right angles reduces this problem.

The funny thing is I have all those. Blu-ray still looks like shit.

If you're watching fast paced over the top movies, then yes, it sucks, because there's more data into making it run smoothly than the visuals. Besides, 300 was originally done on HD-DVD and the Blu-Ray was a second thought. Play Planet Earth from the BBC and **** yourself from the quality.

Blu-Ray won't last.

The same thing was said about DVD.

Basically, it depends on a number of factors, some of which is a failure at some point. Digital distribution has to flop, which is a possibility considering most ISPs don't want to expand their bandwidth. If it succeeds and gets the bandwidth, then Blu-Ray as a movie medium is done for. As a storage medium though it's only outmatched by external drives.

[draggar]

Blu-Ray won't last.

The same thing was said about DVD.

...and 8-tracks, records, cassette tapes, Betamax, VHS, 5.25" floppies, 3.5" floppies..

All media comes and goes, we have these little wars and spikes come and go (remember mini discs and laserdiscs, anyone?) DVDs days are numbed, so are Blue-Ray, we'll just need to see the next thing come and the general populace converts to it.

IMO - we've passed the height of the DVD world. Sure, sales may increase, etc.. but in general, I think the life of the DVD is already halfway done (since massively available and affordable, what, <10 years?).

Blue ray is the next step, even though it is still like a DVD, until a new format comes out that is an improvement expect to see disc shaped media for a very long time, we've been using it for well over 100 years now.

I also do not think it is stupid of people to not realize how much you need to get the full benefit of a blue-ray system. As said, we walk into our stores that have specially designed rooms now with the highest end system, highest end TV, and highest end player and it looks incredible, but we buy just a player that is affordable because a lot of the sales reps know they won't get the full sale (hell, who has $10K+ to spend on a theatre system?) so they push for what they can get.

It's called advertising and marketing.

[Broomjockey]

(hell, who has $10K+ to spend on a theatre system?) so they push for what they can get.

It's called advertising and marketing.

Well, you don't need the huge TV, or the sound system. Most smaller TVs have a decent built-in speaker set up, if you don't care about surround sound. And you can get a 1080p TV for under $1k, if you don't go get the hugest monster TV around. So really, you could put together a set-up that you'll notice the difference on for lesss than $3k. And if you have to get a new TV at some point if your old one bites the dust, and now a days would be probably more expensive to fix. What really needs to happen to push it forwards is lowering the price of the players.

[DesignFox]

Blu-Ray is amazing. I never knew what the big deal was with HD until we started watching movies in Blu-Ray.

DVD looks like shit in comparison (lots of artifacts, blur, etc.).

Some of the people who can't tell the difference probably don't have a proper HD set-up.

There is a phenomenal difference between the two media!

I think that Blu-ray may be slow to take off because it is fairly expensive to set up, and at 35 bucks a disc...well, who the hell wants to spend that?!

HD TVs have already become more affordable; the players and discs may eventually, too.

DVD was expensive when it first came on the scene...

[draggar]

Well, you don't need the huge TV, or the sound system. Most smaller TVs have a decent built-in speaker set up, if you don't care about surround sound. And you can get a 1080p TV for under $1k, if you don't go get the hugest monster TV around. So really, you could put together a set-up that you'll notice the difference on for lesss than $3k. And if you have to get a new TV at some point if your old one bites the dust, and now a days would be probably more expensive to fix. What really needs to happen to push it forwards is lowering the price of the players.

A lot of people don't even have the 3K for a basic "good" system. The thing is that most people wouldn't benefit from Blue-Ray right now. Just like most people didn't benefit with DVD players until RCA jacks were standard in TVs (they looked like crap though coax).

Give it time, another 3-5 years, and we'll see blue-ray like we see DVDs today.

[It's me]

For those who do pony up for a Blueray player, here's a good site that will help you get the most out of it, as well as anything else related to HDTV:

www.digitalhome.ca