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Is Blu-ray dead?
#386703 12/07/12 04:37 AM
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fredk Offline OP
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... or maybe just pining for the fjords?

By my non-scientific reckoning, number of tittles at the local rental store over time, the format is flat-lining.

I did a quick search and it appears that while the market is growing, it is doing so at a decreasing rate. According to this site, it has been increasing at 5% per year from May of 2008 to April of 2012.

With the vast majority of new Displays over the last three years or so being 1080p, one would expect that people would gravitate to full HD content. Yet...

It seems that people are instead moving to streaming of content. From what I can find, HD streaming is mostly 720p and does not necessarily include surround sound.

So, is Blu-ray (full HD) dead?


Fred

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Blujays1: Spending Fred's money one bottle at a time, no two... Oh crap!
Re: Is Blu-ray dead?
fredk #386705 12/07/12 05:25 AM
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I wouldn't say it's dead, but I think you're right about people liking the convenience of streaming. I still do more than my share of Blu-ray purchases, because I care about the quality, but I've also been watching more shows and films I'm unsure of on Netflix, and I like that it's just the content, not a million promos beforehand, and FBI warnings, etc., and it will always pick up where I left off, unlike Blu-ray, where it's a feature on some discs but not on others. They really needed more consumer-friendly standards on Blu-ray. It shouldn't be a chore to get to the goods you paid for.

Re: Is Blu-ray dead?
fredk #386708 12/07/12 06:26 AM
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I am in the same frame of mind as CV. I stream more content than I buy/watch on Blu Ray, however anything I know I will watch numerous times I buy only on Blu Ray.

I think people feel the convenience of streaming movies, just like downloading music, far outweighs the need/desire to have the higher definition hard copy on hand at any time. I also think most people will only watch a movie once so do not feel the need to purchase movies unlike music which they will listen to over and over.

Anyone checked to see if over all movie sales has dropped off over the last few years?

I am waiting for movies to be offered as downloadable for sale content just as music is, I only hope the HD versions are available.


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Re: Is Blu-ray dead?
fredk #386712 12/07/12 01:14 PM
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I'm using DSL and isn't fast enough where I live for decent streaming. I got decent quality from VUDU, but not Netflix. But I'll pay $10-30 for a blu-ray before I'll shell out $7 to stream it, or $15 to watch it at a theater. In my current collection, I have around 500 discs, with about 63% in blu-ray.

Re: Is Blu-ray dead?
fredk #386716 12/07/12 03:37 PM
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Hmm. I plan on buying more new-release blu-rays this month than most months that I can remember.

Streaming seems nice, but the quality isn't always there, especially if your internet speed dips a little. I also want the best picture and sound for my theater, and streaming artifacts and lower quality sound become VERY evident at 138" and with 7.1 sound in a treated room.

This topic comes up every few months somewhere, and someday it might happen, but I don't see the death of it. Maybe sales are down because the movies out (prior to this week's The Dark Knight Rises release) have been pretty weak for a while.

Oh, and don't forget that in many markets, people have a cap on download size (only so many GB per month), that goes quickly with streaming anything of decent quality.

So, do I stream? You would think not with my above comments, but I do stream... I stream TV shows from Hulu when I am traveling. I will sit on one laptop doing something while Hulu plays whatever TV shows I am subscribed to on the other (or surf and watch on the same depending on how large of image I want to see). I love that convenience, but then again, when I am at home, I never seem to have time to sit down and watch one of my TV shows since most of them my family won't watch with me, so they queue up for me to watch when traveling. Of course, for TV shows, I am not so concerned about quality on a 15.6" screen and with laptop speakers.


Farewell - June 4, 2020
Re: Is Blu-ray dead?
fredk #386718 12/07/12 03:41 PM
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There's more to the picture quality than saying you "can stream 720P".

Compression figures as heavily into picture quality as pixel resolution and, if it's a movie I care about, I'd avoid the banding and artifacting by watching a BD disc.

Though I agree it'll get there at some point.


::::::: No disrespect to Axiom, but my favorite woofer is my yellow lab :::::::
Re: Is Blu-ray dead?
fredk #386722 12/07/12 06:06 PM
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Only when the speed and quality goes way up, and the price comes way down (thinking VUDU), would I even be interested.

Re: Is Blu-ray dead?
fredk #386723 12/07/12 07:35 PM
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Bluray for the quality. I really can't stand to watch the so called HD from Cable and many streaming providers, it just looks awful. Compression artifacts drive me nuts.

It's really sad actually, people go out and buy expensive 1080p sets and then watch crap content. The high res set just makes it look even worse.


For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert.
Re: Is Blu-ray dead?
fredk #386724 12/07/12 07:35 PM
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Alas, my local video store that I could walk to, suddenly decided to close this week - how sad. So I bought a bunch of their used BDs & DVDs yesterday for $3 each; however, I felt like I was a vulture picking on a carcass.

The 2 stores left in my area are now a considerable drive. Who knows how long they'll last?

I've never used any streaming service; however, my experience with VOD from Shaw Cable has been less than satisfactory - their HD movies don't look nor sound like full HD to me, unlike the fine quality of rental BDs or upscaled DVDs. Besides, their prices are about $3 higher per view than they should be. One advantage of VOD though, it doesn't impact on my monthly net download quota.

I think that there is a parallel with the situation of the initial poor quality of MP3 audio that was convenient, but didn't sound very good, especially on big systems. The same thing is happening with streaming overly compressed video/audio that the average consumer seems to be embracing. Adequate bandwith for full HD streaming will always be a problem.

I don't like it, but what to do??

TAM

Re: Is Blu-ray dead?
fredk #386728 12/07/12 09:39 PM
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I used to buy used DVD's and then later, used Blu-Rays from my local brick'n morter rental stores, then discovered I could buy new for about the same price, or slightly higher, than they were selling on Amazon instead. I'll take new over used anyday. Plus the fact they don't sell used 3-D, I haven't been to a brick'n morter rental store for a couple of years now. I've never rented from Robo Boy (Red Box, or similar devices).

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