Blue Ray or DVD??? What's gonna happen?

[The Bat]

I have to disagree as well. The quality improvement from DVD to Blu-ray is at least equal to the improvement from VHS to DVD, in some cases more.

And that is no exaggeration Bother!

[Mikey]

Like I said, Betamax was proof not all better media will win in the end.

[The Bat]

Like I said, Betamax was proof not all better media will win in the end.

Beta lost the War because they refused to do Porn. Porn made VHS the Winner.

[kennermike]

A perfect example of a new film on Blu Ray is The Dark Knight it looks better on Blu Ray then it did when it come out 2 1/2 years ago in theaters at least in my eyes.and Im not a huge advocate of newer films of the last 10 years

[Mikey]

I'm still waiting for smellavision

[Sandman9580]

I disagree. As more and more People get HD flat Screens, and Bluray Players(and the Discs) keep getting more affordable...people will see the benefits of the switch.

I have to disagree as well. The quality improvement from DVD to Blu-ray is at least equal to the improvement from VHS to DVD, in some cases more.

Well, I'm still using the old-style TV set that has a built-in VCR and DVD player, so when it comes to issues of resolution, I will bow to superior knowledge. VHS however was a linear format that could not offer high resolution, special features, surround sound, commentary, etc., so I stick by my claim that the difference between VHS and DVD is about a mile wider than the difference between DVD and Blu-ray.

By analogy, my brother recently bought himself a high-end Canon DV camera that is way better than my old camcorder. But, my old camcorder still blows away my old Super 8mm film camera that was cutting-edge back in, say, 1982. In other words, one is an upgrade of an existing technology, the other is a different technology altogether.

[megoapesnut]

Beta lost the War because they refused to do Porn. Porn made VHS the Winner.

That was part of the reason. Another part was marketing. Sony refused to license the technology to JVC, so they came up with their own inferior format. Then they marketed the crap out of it up to, and including, saturating the rental market with free VHS movies. The mom and pop rental shops got tons of free tapes. Then people walked into the shops and stared at 20 or 30 to 1 VHS vs. Beta movies and, unsurprisingly, went out and bought VHS players. Those were the main reasons Beta lost the format wars. Blu-ray will not be repeating those mistakes. And the market has changed dramatically, so you will not see a repeat of the format wars.

[mazinz]

If you want quality its blu-ray. With players under $100 and most people now have a HD tv they are moving forward. But how about 3D? You can only get the real 3d with the new blu-ray 3d.
This is the cheepest 3d I've seen.
Samsung PN50C490 50" 3D-ready 720p plasma HDTV at Crutchfield.com

without this going into a tech battle the part you mentioned about 3d is not exactly true. If you had the right device (bestbuy was even selling it at one point) you could easily view field sequential lcd format on your regular old analog set and it looked amazing. Most of your newer Tv sets/blu ray are using a side by side (or top and bottom) double view and you can easily take that image and using your pc convert it over to any other 3d format you wish. So yes it looks very nice due to the higher quality but has not been the only method ever made to view 3d without using anaglyph glasses

[Werewolf]

Beta lost the War because they refused to do Porn. Porn made VHS the Winner.

Videotape format war - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Many theories regarding why Sony's Betamax failed have arisen over the years. One of the more amusing (and false) is that Sony refused to allow pornographic material on their system. A quick perusal of the Betamax library reveals that adult entertainment was readily available. For example, Playboy Industries released their videos in a dual format, both Betamax and VHS, for most of the 1970s and 80s (and can be confirmed with a quick search through eBay's adult section, or other used video markets). Second, the adult industry is too small to have any lasting impact on standards selection. According to Forbes.com, adult video income is approximately $1 billion. "The industry is tiny next to broadcast television ($32.3 billion in 1999), cable television ($45.5 billion), the newspaper business ($27.5 billion), Hollywood ($31 billion), even to professional and educational publishing ($14.8 billion). When one really examines the numbers, the porn industry — while a subject of fascination — is every bit as marginal as it seems at first glance." "

Betamax lost because of limted storage. VHS tapes had far more recording time. Beta one hour vs VHS 2 to 8 hours.

[toys2cool]

Until they come up with Blu Ra players for $25.00 and under most of the general public will still keep DVD as the norm.

There's still a chance Blu Ra might go the way of Betamax if the players don't lower in price drastically.

they're getting cheaper, i saw a sony bluray player from $200+ marked down to $69

and also saw blu dvd's at FYE for $5

[jemboy2004]

Blu-Ray is getting cheaper all the time. I guess 3-d is next.

[MIB41]

The only thing I'm buying on straight DVD is TV box sets. Nothing else. The reason being, Blu Ray prices have plunged in the last couple of years, so the prices are just about even or considerably less. There is no argument that Blu Ray is far superior in quality and often has scores more special features than a regular DVD. As far as buying older titles, you can often get them for less than $10.00 on Ebay from a number of very reputable dealers. And I typically get them within a few days too. With those advantages, there is absolutely no incentive to buy a regular DVD. Don't believe me? Here are some classics...

Predator Blu-ray Disc, 2010, 2-Disc Set, Ultimate Hunter Edition With Movie Money - Get great deals on DVDs Movies items on eBay.com!

Batman The Dark Knight (Blu-ray 2-Disc Set, 2008) New - eBay (item 170575223270 end time Dec-05-10 11:06:16 PST)

NEW SPIDER MAN TRILOGY BLU RAY BOX SET COMPLETE 1 2 3 - eBay (item 390266430328 end time Dec-07-10 11:43:30 PST)

The Wizard Of Oz (Blu-ray New Factory Sealed) - eBay (item 160515229803 end time Dec-05-10 17:01:43 PST)

Rocky (Blu-ray Disc) Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire - eBay (item 220705143639 end time Dec-08-10 20:37:44 PST)

What else can I say? Incredible prices.

[The Bat]

And the market has changed dramatically, so you will not see a repeat of the format wars.

We've already seen a repeat of the "format Wars"....HD-DVD vs. Bluray.

[cjefferys]

Blu-ray players and discs are getting cheaper every month. I remember when the players were around $1000 four years ago. Now you can get one for $50 at my local Walmart. And discs can easily be found for $5-10. This will definitely help increase acceptance.

It's funny, four years ago, I'd go to the Blu-ray section (if I could find one) to buy a movie and I'd be the only one there, now I see people buying Blu-rays all the time, the market penetration is already larger than I thought it would be (I'd always assumed Blu-ray would remain as niche as laserdiscs were, but they've already surpassed that by quite a bit).

Like a couple others have stated, I've stopped buying movies on DVD and only purchase them on Blu-ray, but I still buy TV shows on DVD for the most part, except when I can get a good deal (I did buy Mad Men and Spartacus Blood and Sand on Blu-ray during Amazon's sales last week). I'm mostly doing recording with DVD-Rs, but am starting to experiment burning on blank Blu-ray discs (just wish the damn BD-Rs were cheaper).

[cjefferys]

We've already seen a repeat of the "format Wars"....HD-DVD vs. Bluray.

But it was fun picking up HD movies for next to nothing when HD DVD gave up. I have a pretty good amount of HD DVDs that didn't cost me much (neither did my players).