The battle between the next-generation, high-definition optical disc formats was an exciting, if exasperating, contest to follow. But now that the smoke is clearing, and Blu-ray has officially kicked HD DVD's proverbial butt, why am I still waiting to buy a Blu-ray player?
More to the point, why are so many of you waiting to buy a Blu-ray drive? (see: Blu-ray: PC Advisor readers hit back)
My colleague forked out his hard earned cash over a year ago so he could be the first on his street to own one, and yet today, Blu-ray players are less than half the price.
Why doesn't my local Blockbuster carry Blu-ray Disc movies? In fact, why are my trips to Blockbuster so infrequent these days?
I'm thinking that Blu-ray, and high-definition optical disc ownership in general, just isn't that appealing. I've watched Blu-ray movies on the best televisions money can buy in various high street stores, and while the picture looks terrific, it just doesn't have me reaching for my wallet the way DVDs did when they were first introduced.
Maybe it's because it's an evolutionary improvement in video quality and not the revolutionary jump that occurred when DVDs overtook VHS tapes.
So I've come up with these four reasons why I, and probably most of the UK, won't be heading down to the high street to buy a Blu-ray player anytime soon.
NEXT PAGE: price, and the quality of high-end DVD players > >
- Four reasons Blu-ray will fail
- Price issues, & why new DVD players are just as good
- Why buy when you can rent or download?
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Comments
Gary said: Anybody that says that they cannot tell the difference between dvd and hi-def quality is either blind or using a crt or just plain stupid the difference is plain to see for anybody in the real worldYes you may be able to download and stream but what happens when your hard drive goes clunk or your isp shuts down hmmmm guess ill just reach over and grab that shiny blu-rayHD IS the future wake up and smell the coffee its better and thats what countsMy blockbuster has loads of blu-rays I guess yours is a small store with just one member of staff
dms said: Maybe an interesting PC Advisor poll would be when was the last time you visited a DVD Rental outlet I havent for years and Blu-Ray does seem awfully dependent on movies for rentI watch my DVD collection through an HDMI equiped DVD player and the quality is much better than through a SCART cable In my opinion the quality is good enough I watch the content and not the video quality I feel sorry for people I hear saying look at the quality when the content they are watching is dreadful Mr Average is interested in content and the quality is generally accepted at whatever it is
bob said: Of course the price will come down as soon as production can reach higher output which will start now hd-dvd is no more it will lower component cost and therefore retail price Downloading films has a long way to go as you can not download true HD quality film as the size is too great bandwith and energy cost would make it a comparable price to buying the blu-ray disk I like to keep things digital but i would rather get out my chair to input my blu-ray disk than watch it in lower quality I do not think it will fail at all it is only price that is holding most people back my blockbuster has loads in stock and over the coming moths this is going to increase with it rapidly increasing in the run to crimbo It is here to stay people
Stroudgreen said: I cant see in high definition even with my glasses on so I think high-def is wasted on me
Sean said: I agree that blu-ray will fail but simply because most people dont give a monkeys about HDTV Isnt DVD quality good enough Its still the same quality as it was when we were ranting and raving over it 10 years ago but all of a sudden theres the pressure to buy HDTVs and all the bits that go with itFor me the only reason HDTV is being pushed so heavily is that the TV market had hit a dead end and most people will soon be able to stream DVD quality video over their Internet connection so the TV companies need something that keeps them ahead of the game
Mark said: My local Blockbuster in Croydon closed - now what does that tell youI wont be investing in a Blu-ray device any time ever - I believe the future is downloading and on-line contentI use my Xbox 360 as a Media Centre Extender games console HD movie downloader amp HD Movie playerTo complement this I have a PC running XP MCE with 15Tb storage raid 5 and 4 DVB-T tuners so can record 3 channels while watching another or look through my music collection by album art album name artist song title or genre select an album to play while looking at a slide show of my latest holiday pictures all controlled from a remote control without having to leave my favorite chairFor anyone having that setup why would they to go back to the dark ages of visiting a store to get only a movie in HD and have to stand up to load the disc
Neil said: Interesting article and some good arguments but playing Devils advocateDVD players were several hundred pounds when they first came out Its just a matter of timeUpscaling DVD players are good but its not HD quality The definition just isnt there to begin with so they guess the inbetween pixels A cheap alternative yes but I think its a stopgap and a waste of moneyThe price of rentingvideo-on-demand is not much cheaper than buying Instead of renting for 5 you can often buy DVDs for 10 or Blu-Rays for 20 Then watch as often as you like - forever until BD becomes obsolete Blu-Ray prices will be similar to DVD before long as more studios take it on and production get cheaperFor the best value upgradable BD player WITH support for downloading I suggest a PS3 With PlayTV you can use it as a digital video recorder and Sony will no doubt be offering pay-to-download video content soon too eg TV programmes and movies
Zinnie said: I dont know whether Lucas Mearian has written such stupidity to be contentious has no real experience of technology or just out of touch with the real world Of course Blu-ray dics and players are expensive now so were VHS players and tape and DVD players and tapes but the prices will fall with the advent of HDTV people will want HD DVDs and to say that current players upscaled are as good as blu-ray is ridiculas Of course in time data on a hard copy format like a disc will disappear and everything will be downloaded and stored on a HDD or even flash memory but that is one or even two decades away In the meantime blu-ray will fill the gap
William Mewes said: My local Blockbuster Video has plenty of Blu-ray discs And although I havent purchased a Blu-ray player that is because I dont have to They play on my Sony Playstation 3
Duncan said: Lucas comments Ive had a certain disdain for Blu-ray Disc from the beginning well with comments like that its good to see objective journalism is still an alien concept in the world of ITThe cost will drop dramatically over the next 12 months is this not always the case with any new technology You have set your stall out on the fact the players cost too much well on that amazing stance wou would also have written off CD players DVD players plasma TVs HDTV LCD monitorsi could go on foreverThe cost will drop Blu Ray will become the standard format the next evolution will occur in another ten years and some halfwit will bleat on about how this new fangled technology costs too much
amonra said: I totally agree with most of what you have written Price is a major factor in determining what people buy They used to buy from the well known major brand names Sony among them but these days brand loyalty is on the decrease Too many brands still think they can charge a premium for their product but consumers are getting wiser As far as HD is concerned its like the old days of hi-spec cameras you spent a fortune on a camera and lenses to ensure best definition only to realise instead of looking at the artistic nature of the photo you were looking for faults in the quality Viewers of HD TV sets will eventually get the message If the film is good then its good in BW or crappy colour