Do you think DVDs and Blu-ray will come to an end?

I agree this will eventually be the future.

I just hope we it doesn't go down the route of low bitrate and high resolution...yes we can use iplayer HD now, but it still does not compare to a Bluray disc.

someone told me that a blueray download would take all night on a DSL. and the companies are thinking of charging you for this because it will make DSL really slow if many are doing it.

Can't predict teh future except that it will change and something will come along we don't expect.

it will become the future however, however like with music downloads they will compromise quality to save on bandwidth. so i personally think blueray will be here for a good time yet until the UK gets a powerful data infrastructure.

like music, i like the quality of CD but the ease of use of digital storage and replay. so i just hope they let us rip blueray in the future the same way i am able to rip, and therefore choose bit rates ect depending on use.

i have only bought one track off of itunes purely down to the fact the quality being naff.

if they offer downloads in different bit-rates depending on use and demands.

stu

All the different formats will coexist as each product has a different target consumer (with some overlap of course).

The guys who insist on having a physical media and guys that will trade practicality and storage space for quality will keep on buying bluray.

Consumers that prefer hi-tech, digital storage at the expense of ultimate quality will go the download route. I have little doubt that this group of people is the larger of the two

Regards...

I downloaded Charlie Chaplin's "The Tramp" SD took I hour 10mins on Broadband so HD iPlayer is out of the question for me at the moment!

I think the future is streaming tbh. If you look at how well Linn have done with the DS range and am told there working on a movie version then surely for the time being that's the way ahead.

I honestly can't see hard formats dying out am not keen on all the computer stuff and would rather just buy a disc and play. I would never buy an expensive Blu-ray player as there is little or no difference in performance to warrant the price differences.

I honestly don't use my hi-fi home cinema that much now a decent i-pod dock and amp set up would last me for a good number of years. I just can't justify £1,000's on home cinema stuff that gets used on a saturday night I watch normal tv through the tv speakers.

I think that blue ray is so convincingly superior to DVD, and in the absence of a credible HD download service this means that for the short to mid term blue ray should cement itself as the format of choice for high quality movies.

Of course BluRay will eventually be supeceded, but not within the next two years. And when it does, it won't be with a physical media.

There's lots of new technology out there that can squeeze tons more information on optical disks but what's the point? Most folk just want the movie, a good quality sound and one or two interesting extras. They're struggling to fill the capacity of BluRay discs with decent, watchable material as it is, and given that 1080P has now settled as the HD standard for video display there's no point either in producing discs with a different resolution until some time in the future, certainly more than two years away.


As Simon notes above, BluRay is considerably superior to DVD and the studios, having now decided to support the format, are frantically reissuing their back catalogues.

Players are being banged out with increasing rapidity, prices are falling. You can play standard DVDs on the machines to cater for those of us with large collections.

No, BluRay's going to be around for several more years yet.

Agree Tony.

I can't say for the UK as I haven't noticed when I've been back, but the stores in Asia are stocking up with BD big time....Actually one of the better DVD stores in town here, in the space of 9-12 months, has gone from having one small section (i.e. 1-2 shelves) to 60-70% of the store being BD stock.....

The format has got staggering potential - as you say, there's plenty of room on the discs....

I was amazed when I read that the HD audio formats are actually of higher quality/content than what is down-mixed as standard for cinema release - it's straight from the mixing desk at the same resolution...

Steve.

By the way, if you a looking for a good indicator of the format's life-span, then look no further than Naim - it is almost certain they will release an expensive high-end BD player in the final few years of the format, just as Hi-res downloads become the world standard.....!

Great debate which some friends and myself were having the other day.

A few have got the BD players and have started buying the films but others who have a very large collection of DVD's just can't/wont go and spend a load of cash replacing their collection to BD.

But for me and some of my friends the whole DVD/BD experience i.e. to watch the disk for the extras was felt to be a waste of time, watch once and never to be seen again! So why bother with all that extra cost?

Ive owned a Apple TV for a while and see that as the future, ease of use, it can play HD movies etc, and its so small. If you so wish it can be hacked v easily and its ability to play any format is great, batman begins BD looks stunning on it!

I just feel that people in general love the look of BD but just feel that they don't want to spend all that cash 'upgrading' when their DVD player still looks good for them.

I also agree as some have mentioned the studios will prefer the control of the internet over a hard copy, plus the costs of manufacture are taken away which just adds to their profits.

This is as much about control as quality.

I guess whether or not you go for Blu Ray depends on a number of factors; how much of a movie junkie you are, the size and quality of your display, quality of your sound kit etc.

How many folk who say they aren't going to bother with BR have actually seen it on their own system? My original BR player is currently doing sterling duty in our kitchen and even on a 28" Panasonic TV it looks considerably better than DVD.

What the majority of BR player owners seem to do is replace their favourite movies with the BluRay version and buy new movies on BluRay. At least, that's what I've been doing!

I also aren't hugely interested in all the extra stuff they cram onto the disks nowadays - I really just want to watch the film, but each to his own.

I'm waiting patiently for the director's cut of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy to come out on BR...

quote:

Originally posted by tonym:
What the majority of BR player owners seem to do is replace their favourite movies with the BluRay version and buy new movies on BluRay. At least, that's what I've been doing!

Exactly. That's what I'm planning. I don't understand this whole 'oh, I have to go and replace my whole DVD collection'...I'm just going to get my key favourite films, concerts etc... Then when I do buy new releases they will be BD...

The other thing to note for owners of extensive DVD collections, is the upscaling capabilities of the good BD players breathes new life into DVD...

I think whole thing is really about price. If the high street consumer sees the increased quality as value for money then they will embrace BR.

Richer sounds sell excellent sony and panasonic BR players sub £200. Amazon sell most BR disks in the £10 to £15 region. Most families own or will soon own typical plasma/lcd tv's of 37/42 inch HD/HD ready. Freeview and freesat as well as sky all offer HD broadcast. Blue ray will cost these people very little over dvd and will offer obviously superior pictures.

My friends were sceptical about blue ray. After watching Wall-E on my system they have all changed their minds. If they are representitive of the man on the street then blue ray has a healthy future - 5 years minimum IMO.

The future I remember that.

Downloading whole films is just a temporary way to do things because of DSL being so slow and computer technology having advanced so little since the 1980s. My guess is there will be players that simply connect to the Internet and allow you to select movies from a giant vault (on-line video/music library) and you'll be able to create a playlist for your viewing/listening session - probably a mixture of live and recorded material. It'll be in hi-def eventually.

Of course, companies will try to charge as much as they can for the service. It'll be a different model. Google-films?