06-October-06, 11:08 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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| |  Web News: What if Blu-ray and HD-DVD both lose the war?
What if Blu-ray and HD-DVD both lose the war?  | Quote: |  | | |  | Originally Posted by cdfreaks.com |  | | | | | | | | |
Here we have a blog article, that has one man thinking whether or not the blue laser formats are going to make it. Apparently spurred by a uninspiring experience with a Pavilion HD-DVD laptop, the gentleman queried a friend of his, who also happens to be an analyst. He got some interesting feedback...
To check this hunch of mine, I gave a call to the ever-quotable Rob Enderle, longtime Silicon Valley consultant and analyst with Enderle Group. Turns out he's thinking the same thing about the problems with both HD DVD and Blu-ray.
"Right now, particularly with regards to content, it isn't where it needs to be, to be compelling," he said. In some cases, he pointed out, you can get better image quality just by using a standard DVD player with an upscaler.
"I was in a room with a bunch of other analysts and was with one of the Blu-ray proponents," Enderle told me. "I asked, 'How many think Blu-rayÂ’s gonna win?' No hands went up. Then I asked, 'How many people think that neither one of them is going to win?' All the hands went up."
This seems to be the problem with blue laser at this point. It does not offer enough of a reason to leave the DVD behind. It was a no-brainer with DVD, as we no longer had to fuss with tapes jamming, the improvement in picture quality was recognizable even on a standard television, storage of the discs was also a plus and most of all - it just worked. Anyone could hook up a DVD player and have it running in no time flat! Not to mention it's cheap as dirt now. Even so, we just now are seeing DVD sales flattening out, as it is only now, that just about everyone has chucked their venerable time-shifting VCRs!
Indeed, as the article states, you can have a very acceptable picture with only a 720p or 1080i display and a decent DVD player. The price point on such displays has dropped considerably and most homes can afford one. In addition, most homes are scaled to accept a 37 to 42 inch display. Sure, luckier folks with more room, can handle even up to 65 inch or possibly a projection system, making for a true, home theater experience. But, 1080p displays of this size, that are needed to show off blue laser, simply are not available yet or are too expensive for most households.
Possibly, many would rather opt to upgrade their present DVD home theaters with a newer, affordable big screen 720p display. Or still others will spot a great deal on a surround sound receiver and kick ass speakers. Sound is a critical component in an enjoyable home entertainment system. This type purchase might make more sense right now to consumers, rather than to making the costly leap to HD blue laser equipment.
And the blue laser DRM...please, don't get me started! Time will tell I guess. At any rate, to quote a anti-establishment slogan from way back in the 60s and 70s: What if they had a war...and nobody came?
The Utility Belt: HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray: What if neither wins?
Full Story at CD Freaks.com - The digital storage weblog and worlds largest CD & DVD community
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