Post by safarisuz on Aug 22, 2008 18:21:51 GMT -5
Blu-ray players are actually backwards-compatible, so no need to buy the movies again.
I don't think it's the next generation of media formatting. Sure, it's a pretty picture, but it doesn't really do anything beyond that. It's not the incredible leap that the DVD was from the VHS. The DVD showed what kind of things digital video could do - store more information meaning better audio and video, DVD menus for easier start up and bonus features, scene selection; the list goes on. It's the first time ever, not counting the failed and expensive Laserdisc, that video could be cheaply distributed without film.
With the Blu-ray, not much at all has changed. It's nearly identical except for storage capacity. For all I am concerned, the Blu-ray disc is merely an upgrade of the DVD.
|sf>How does one define "failed" or "expensive?" The Laserdisc format lasted over a decade, which was longer than Beta or HD. The Laserdisc format also had "bargain bin" sections in a few stores (most notably Spectrum/Fyes). Some of the first DVD players played Laserdiscs in addition to CDs. Granted, the players were normally a very difficult piece of hardware to find, which was why LDs were less common than VHS.
Even the LDs weren't the first format without tape. Doesn't anyone remember CEDs (ie. video records)? That's the format which Laserdiscs beat.
By comparision, the Blu-Ray format has yet to reach "bargain bins." In order for a format to truly become adopted by the masses, there needs to be room for "title failure" and competition.
As far as PS3 goes, out of the three consoles the PS3 is in third place for sales. The advantage isn't that PS3 supports the Blu-Ray; the advantage is that PS3 has Blu-Ray support directly "out of the box." You don't have to buy an additional attachment in the way that the HD drive worked for the 360.
I'm not impressed by Blu-Ray either. I consider my DVD-Recorder to be the upgrade to DVD.
The only tempting aspect for Blu-Ray is its reduction in the number of Worldwide region coding areas, thereby allowing someone to buy Blu-Ray disks from Japan and play them on the actual US machine. However, Japan has yet to release anything actually tempting with English subtitles onto Blu-Ray that would justify the upgrade.