Bu-ray edging ahead

Johnnytoxic

Johnnytoxic

Johnnytoxic

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Been following this for quite sometime and it looks like blu-ray now has taken the lead on the statistic websites.

I saw this coming, with hddvds big announcments of 2007 for The Jerk and The Game could you expect any different.

I think the march launch of PS3 in europe is going to be the KO blow to hddvd.
 
Blu-ray for the win :D.....

Ive wanted it to win the whole time....

I wish the writers would come down in price, then I'd put one in my PC...
 
johnnyfive said:
Been following this for quite sometime and it looks like blu-ray now has taken the lead on the statistic websites.
Click to expand...

Got any links to that?

The last data I saw showed that HD-DVD was still outselling BD, although it also infered that HD-DVD sales were fairly static (month on month), whilst BD has doubled in the last few months.

Have to say that I do see the PS3 having a big impact upon usage, and that once you link in the studio support, that I can see BD getting the upper hand.
Whether it will ever be enough to become more than an "enthusiasts" format is another matter altogether.

As most consumers are more than happy with low bitrate sounds, I struggle to see BD getting to be anything like as accepted as normal DVD.
 
I strongly believe that HD-DVD will "win" purely based on the name.

Almost everybody on here will know or could understand if reading an article the differences between the two formats and that on paper Blu-Ray is the superior technology.

However, about 99% of the population do not have a clue about anything. These people will see the acronym's "HD" and "DVD" and think, BINGO! That's what I need!

Almost everybody knows what a DVD is. Not many people actually know what HD is but they know it's something supposedly good and that there TV should "have" it.

Most people I find think Freeview=HD and vice versa and that they "need" Freeview, so therefore need HD.

All of this put together will result in HD-DVD Winning, well, in the UK anyway.
 
I expect we'll be left with two competing formats for quite some time... I don't think either will own the other, to be honest.
 
johnnyfive said:
Been following this for quite sometime and it looks like blu-ray now has taken the lead on the statistic websites.

I saw this coming, with hddvds big announcments of 2007 for The Jerk and The Game could you expect any different.

I think the march launch of PS3 in europe is going to be the KO blow to hddvd.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt that. The launch of 100,000's of PS3's in the states should have had a huge effect - it didn't. Simply because most PS3 users don't care about Blu-Ray movies. If BR didn't KO HD-DVD in the states, why would it do so here?

Most people that buy a PS3 in Europe will do the same. They'll buy the console, then wonder into a high street store (no names..), then see the discs for £24.99, then walk straight out again.

The success of stand-alone units will have a greater effect. And I think we all know who's winning that one!

EDIT. Oh yeah, if you thought BR was edging ahead in the UK, then think again. These are the official UK sales figures for all formats for the last 4 weeks. Much more reliable than Amazon sales rankings:

videosaleswk522006wk3205qw.png


HD-DVD deffo leading there...
 
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Neither will win. People keep using the VHS / Betamax comparison. I believe that DVD+r and DVD-R is a better comparison. They will coexist with the majority of players being able to play both formats - with the exception of Sony and Toshiba.

IMHO of course!
 
Amazons figures are interesting but only just interesting - after all Amazon isnt the only etailer , let alone retailer (a number of people I know buy from anywhere but Amazon due to their unreliability)

Also ok its also a fair point that PS3 didnt push sales thru the roof for blu-ray but then the full list of releases (for R1) isnt exactly inspiring (T3 but no T2 or Terminator, some other high budget but not too successful films) but nothing mouth watering coming out until later on in the year - so its more about what is actually available.

Im not saying for one minute that once decent films come out it will turn around, it may or may not but this certainly cant help!!

I also find it pretty amazing that Amazon are selling that amount of UMD's still, not impossible but its a lot larger than I would have guessed.

I still find it laughable when people on here state that the general public will automatically jump on HD-DVD just because of the name. Im sure the name doesnt hurt, but this wont make a massive difference.

Compare the price of a budget blu-ray player (PS3) to one of the toshibe hd-dvd players and they are about equal on the street - and it doesnt take a genius to know that the Playstation name will attract imo a lot more interest than HD-DVD - being a completely recognised brand \trademark, and everywhere you see PS3 you will undoubtedly see blu-ray signs also therefore getting two items in one purchase (as long as blu-ray software and hd-dvd discs are priced similarly)

I currently find the upcoming release schedule of blu-ray more interesting but I am all for both formats becoming standard with dual-players/recorders an interesting if unlikely future (due to legal differences more than technological)
 
Raider said:
I highly doubt that. The launch of 100,000's of PS3's in the states should have had a huge effect - it didn't. Simply because most PS3 users don't care about Blu-Ray movies. If BR didn't KO HD-DVD in the states, why would it do so here?

Most people that buy a PS3 in Europe will do the same. They'll buy the console, then wonder into a high street store (no names..), then see the discs for £24.99, then walk straight out again.

The success of stand-alone units will have a greater effect. And I think we all know who's winning that one!

EDIT. Oh yeah, if you thought BR was edging ahead in the UK, then think again. These are the official UK sales figures for all formats for the last 4 weeks. Much more reliable than Amazon sales rankings:

videosaleswk522006wk3205qw.png


HD-DVD deffo leading there...
Click to expand...


Well even without the PS3 bluray is accelerating. When the PS3 is here you can expect the same domination I guarantee it. Every chart based in america is showing bluray ahead now.

The studio support is what is going to win it.
 
As another poster said, who in their right mind is going to want to pay £25 for a film (apart from perhaps one or two films to 'demo' HD). The price stinks and I'm glad both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray encryption has been cracked already.


What will really set things off is the rental market. When do Blockbuster decide to start renting out HD movies and which disks will they be using?
 
Seriously, even with a 42inch TV, if your sitting more than about 8Ft away your almost on the threshold of full resolution even with standard def. Sure HDDVD/BluRay are nice as they can offer better bitrate soundtracks, and sure there is some improvement in quality, but its not worth spending £24, when you can pick up the same movie on DVD for £10.

I'd probably be prepared to pay an extra £3 tops to get a blu ray, or hddvd over the SD DVD.

Perhaps people who sit closer than 8FT from their TV's, or people with 60inch screens, or 8FT projection systems would think the HD source more valuable, but I am pretty sure that the average joe doesnt even have a 42inch screen, and the HD formats are virtually pointless on a smaller TV.

I've heard people say that their HD 26inch TV's are better than 32inch SD sets, when viewed even from 10ft+ away... If thats the case, the SD TV is probably broken/wornout/out of focus etc. Because a properly setup 32inch TV will give a virtually perfect picture from as little as 4FT away.

I have a lovely 24inch widescreen 1920x1200 high resolution computer monitor, and its fantastic... at 16inches viewing distance. But If I go and sit on the sofa, there's no way that I can see any more detail on the monitor than on my old 28inch SD sony Wega.

Personally, I am still very much looking forwards to BluRay/HDDVD, as hopefully the disks will all be encoded with a minimum of 640kbps Dolby Digital (compared to DVD's 448 or less), or even better DTS@1500kbps, compared to DVD's 768 if you even get DTS.

I love my HD TV, dont get me wrong, but SD DVD looks great on it, and I have no difficulties in continuing to invest my money in DVD releases.

I recently watched a couple of HD sourced BBC "The Planet". I as astonished by the detail in the recording, and I was ooh HD this, and HD that for a few days. Then by chance I stopped by my parents place, and they were watching the same episode on Freeview. My jaw almost hit the flaw, because virtually all the detail and richness that I had seen on the HD version was still clearly visible @42inches on the SD Freeview transmission.

At the end of the day, its the production quality that counts the most, if the camerawork is great, then SD can give astonishingly good results, and of course if the production quality is bad, then just because its dumped at high resolution onto a HD media, wont make it any better.
 
Well, I just bought a XBOX 360 HD-DVD so that will cure my HD cravings for the moment (without breaking the bank). Until then, if blu-ray does take the lead I will just get a PS3 or whatever Blu-ray drive/player is cheapest and use that.

I do however think the blu-ray players as of this moment, are absolutely stupidly expensive. I don't mind spending £400-500 on one but £700-1000? no thanks!
 
johnnyfive said:
Well even without the PS3 bluray is accelerating. When the PS3 is here you can expect the same domination I guarantee it. Every chart based in america is showing bluray ahead now.

The studio support is what is going to win it.
Click to expand...


Do you have anything other than sensationalist fanboy crap to add to this thread?
 
Secret_Window said:
I do however think the blu-ray players as of this moment, are absolutely stupidly expensive. I don't mind spending £400-500 on one but £700-1000? no thanks!
Click to expand...

Agreed. You do realise that the Samsung can now be bought for £500?
 
IMHO it will be a while until either blu-ray or HD-DVD will dominate sales figures... that's if they ever do.

DVD is still very young in comparison to the lifetime VHS had and a lot of people have only just got used to building their DVD collection up and won't be in the mood for a new switch, especially with many people comparing this race with the VHS and betamaxs race and will be scared of converting for fear of their discs being obsolete.

Of course this is purely speculation, and partial denial as I'm quite proud of my DVD collection and aren't ready to switch just yet!

Jack
 
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