Posted on 03/15/2007 1:50:22 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - The Blu-ray disc association said on Thursday it aimed to replace the DVD storage format within three years.
"Within three years it will just be Blu-ray," Frank Simonis, the Blu-ray Disc Association's European chairman, said at the CeBIT technology trade show.
Blu-ray, which offers five times more storage capacity than DVDs for storing high definition films and other content, will first have to beat the rival HD-DVD format which offers somewhat lower storage capacity but claims cheaper production of players, burners and discs.
Measured in the number of players, Blu-ray is already well ahead of HD DVD because Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3) video games console comes with a built-in Blu-ray player.
Sony Computer Entertainment said it had sold 1.84 million PS3s by the end of December in Japan and North America and that one million PS3s are ready for launch next week in Europe.
The HD DVD camp conceded it is being outsold by Blu-ray because of PS3 by at least five to one, but it claims that sales of movie titles are still level. Film studio 20th Century Fox, which supports Blu-ray, said weekly Blu-ray film sales are actually three times higher than HD DVD.
A total of 5.2 million Blu-ray discs have already been sold, said Nick Sharples at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Hundreds of thousands of titles have been given away to consumers buying a PS3.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
I'm sure the better, less expensive, cheaper to produce HD-DVD folks are quaking in their boots now with this three year warning.
Porn is going HD-DVD and that will make sales figures even more interesting.
Blu-ray (and HD-DVD) just don't offer as much of an advantage over DVDs that DVDs offered over VHS. Unless they (and the players) become cheaper (on par with DVDs/DVDplayers), they are too expensive. Obviously, personal opinion.
My only concern is the fact that I have about 500 DVDs and I would like to still be able to watch them on whatever format wins out.
If either the Blu-ray or the HD-DVD gets down into the $200 range I will buy one as long as I can still play the DVDs I've got. But otherwise I'm with you, this switch is not going to be the "no brainer" that going from VHS to DVD was.
I understand that adult entertainment is a major part of the market, but can you think of a worse application for High Definition?
There are just somethings I don't need to see that close.
Porn always leads the way. Same thing when videotapes first came about over 25 years ago. Then later porn was the on the cutting edge of web technology.
I hope this is on the news tonight so I can tape it with my betamax deck.
May I quote the inimitable Phil Hendrie when I say that this guy can shove his Blu-Ray sideways, up left. I paid a fortune for DVDs and have a great collection of my favorites. I will be retaining DVDs until they wear out or die or whatever the hell happens to them with time. If Blu-Ray costs more, I won't buy it. Bring it down to par w/ DVD and let me play my DVDs on it and then we'll talk. Until then, bleeding edge tech is going to have to wait.
You can watch what you have. The Toshiba HD-DVD players are quite good at making DVDs look their best.
You clearly have not seen HD-DVD on a big screen. But most people probably haven't. On a 106" screen via a Sony Pearl front projector, you'd never want to see anything else.
It's freakin outstanding. Better than movie theater quality.
Sounds like VHS Format vs Beta redux.
Much as most DVD players can play CD and video CD disks most HD and BR DVD players can play regular DVDs (and often still video CDs and regular CDs). The shiny disk wars are maintaining downward compatibility and probably will for at least a decade after regular DVDs stop being produced (which won't be 3 years from now).
As for who's going to win on the BR vs HD front, never bet against Sony's ability to screw up a clear market advantage.
You got something against freckles?
So what do you think about me and my 8-track tapes?
I still play video laser disks, the ones the size of an LP, and I play them more often than my VCR or DVD players.
Porn actually drives the direction. They forced VGA over EGA, etc. If they have selected HD-DVD, that is probably what will succeed.
Blu-Ray recorders are still in the $750 UP range. They have to drop significantly in price.
Backward compatibility will be another issue that both formats would have to address.
Lot of hot air. If everybody had started buying HDTVs, this might be possible, but the reality is, HDTVs in the US have not taking off as fast as they'd like. If the HDTVs are not there, then the HD/BR people are going to have a tough sell, outside of consoles.
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