Blue Ray/HD DVD will it be adopted en mass

R

RayFrisby

Well-known member
I have been wondering about the whole Blue Ray/HD DVD question. It seems as if the uptake of this technology has been very slow. I don't here the same buzz about it as when DVD came on stream. In comparative terms I know the first burners and commercial players are only coming on line; but I don't see the masses rushing to buy them. I know the format war has not helped, but I've been wondering; with the emergence of Flash technology and its rapid development will Blue Ray really/HD be adopted en mass.
What do you guys think ?
 
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RayFrisby said:
II don't here the same buzz about it as when DVD came on stream.
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That's because the advantages that DVD offers over VHS are far greater than the advantages of HD-DVD/Blu-Ray over SD DVDs.
 
Regular DVD's didn't depend on other technologies to work, just hook them up to your tv and watch away. The whole blu ray/hd dvd movement is in direct correlation with the whole HD conversion, which is still very much in its infant stage. And like horse said, the difference between dvd and vhs was so major, not just in picture quality, but also in conveience (skiping chapters, interactive menus).

It's kind of hard for the average person to get an expensive hd dvd player when they also have to shell out big bucks to buy an hd tv just to take advantage of the technology.
 
I've been watching all of this, and I feel the same way. I think with flash drives being just around the corner and internet distribution picking up, that's what's gonna hit next. Optical I think is on its way out. I think this is also a smart move on the HVX to go solid state - I think that truly is the "next generation" and that's what's going to hit next. It's still a couple years away, but people are satisfied with what they have now and aren't going to upgrade until the new features make it worth it. Having your entire movie on a flash drive with no moving parts and instant access to every part of the movie, downloaded over the internet, that's gonna be big. Prettier DVDs with a HUGE investment cost? People aren't going to flock to that because it doesn't give them anything more than "prettier" and for most folks, that doesn't justify the cost.
 
mrWr0ng said:
Having your entire movie on a flash drive with no moving parts and instant access to every part of the movie, downloaded over the internet, that's gonna be big.
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While I would love to have a solid-state video jukebox, I really don't like the idea of downloading films over the internet. At least not until they stop using DRM.

As for the high-def formats, I think both will likely die. Most homes don't have HDTVs yet, and many that do don't have HDMI with HDCP. And due to that crappy HDCP, most laptops and desktop computers won't have the ability to play either format for quite some time, as people will have to upgrade their optical drives, video cards, and monitors just to watch. Which most people won't do.

While I like the idea of the higher-def content, my standard DVDs look great on my HDTV, so I'm not in any hurry to jump. And I'm a big movie watcher, who bought DVDs back when they were super-expensive. So if the high-def formats can't win me over, they're going to have a hard time getting the mainstream viewer with the 27" CRT TV to switch...
 
DRM will be on films for a while, especially considering it's on the blu-ray/hd-dvd discs as well. But I think that when smaller film studios start offering DRM-free films for download, larger studios will eventually be pressured.

Look at iTunes and getting DRM-free songs for download. EMI finally caved and is going to offer them, which will put pressure on the other labels (if people flock to DRM-free), and DRM-free music has been available for YEARS in CD format. At this point you cannot buy a DRM-free movie from any of the movie houses (including VHS which typically has the easily-defeatable-but-still-exists Macrovision protection).

I agree that DRM will have to go in order to encourage adopt, but it won't be top-down, that's going to come from bottom-up.
 
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