Quote :

"okay, so 35% of the population has HDTVs...how many of them are 1080p? how many of THOSE have HD video of either HD-DVD or BR? and then, how many of THOSE have true HD audio setups? yes, they're statistically insignificant "

It's ridiculous to say if you don't have surround sound or 1080 you don't have a real HD setup. Most people don't have surround sound, and 720 is still a bug jump up from SD.

At the least, you'd have to ask who has an HDTV and an HD source, and it's probably only 20-30% of that 35% (so about 10% of people).

5/6/2008 12:39:31 AM

^They actually said 40% DID NOT have an HD source (of that 35%). So around 60% of that 35% DID have an HD source (OTA/CABLE/Sat). So about 20% of all households have an HDTV PLUS an HD source.

My main point was he was using the term "statistically significant" in a very incorrect way. Statistically significant simply means there's a significant different that can be observed. It basically means it's significant enough to show it's not a coincidence or anomaly. So obviously 20% is VERY statistically significant. Hell, 2% would still be considered "statistically significant" as long as you could show it wasn't a mistake.

5/6/2008 12:50:21 AM

okay, you're right...i was using "statistically significant" incorrectly, as that's not quite what i meant

what i MEAN to say is that in terms of blu-ray, there is such a low percentage of people who are actually using it significantly (i don't know about you, but the person who has a PS3 and ONE blu-ray movie does not equal the person who has an upscaling DVD player and 100 movies, at least in my mind), that they are by no means driving the market, they're simple a minority component

i'd love to see these numbers we all (me, included) keep pulling out of the air...at this point in time, i'd be surprised if anyone can "prove" more than 15% of consumers have an HDTV and are utilizing a true HD source (obviously, upscaling doesn't count)...and if it is as high as 20%, how does that represent the "average" consumer? that's my point (which i made badly, apparently) - the kinds of people who are out there buying HD setups (and yes, i include a player and audio in that, because it doesn't take an informed consumer to pick up an HDTV that does 720p and pay for HD cable service) are the kinds of people who wouldn't look twice at standalone blu-ray players because they're so obviously craptastic...the PS3 is not a "smart" choice, it's the ONLY choice, and that's no different than what toshiba did with their HD-DVD players...sony is intentionally keeping the competition from producing competitive equipment, especially now that they have a total stranglehold on the HD market

5/6/2008 9:11:58 AM

New Releases for May 6, 2008
* The Air I Breathe
* The Devil's Own
* First Sunday
* Helvetica
* Ozzfest: 10th Anniversary
* P.S. I Love You
* Saawariya
* Shall We Dance?
* Twister

5/6/2008 12:02:45 PM

how could you not bold the devils own and twister???

5/6/2008 12:36:37 PM

man they sure are releasing a bunch of shitty shit on blu-ray... where are the classics?

5/6/2008 12:58:46 PM

Probably the same place all those sweet, sweet player discounts everyone was promising are.

5/6/2008 3:08:03 PM

going to use my $50 hd dvd gift card to pick up twister on blu ray. how ironic.

5/6/2008 3:14:43 PM

Quote :

"Probably the same place all those sweet, sweet player discounts everyone was promising are."

bitter much?

5/6/2008 4:01:03 PM

Quote :

"how could you not bold the devils own and twister???"

b/c Twister is an awful movie and Devil's Own can wait.

5/6/2008 4:45:53 PM

Quote :

"Panasonic Details DMP-BD50 Pricing and Features Tue May 06, 2008 at 03:00 PM ET Tags: Panasonic, Hardware (all tags) Panasonic has announced the spring debut of its much-touted DMP-BD50 player, which boasts BD-Live among other expanded capabilities. As reported in January and further detailed via press release today, The BD50 adds BD-Live functionality, which lets viewers access online content such as images and subtitles to further enhance the viewing experience. ADVERTISEMENT The BD50 also offers next generation sound capabilities using integrated decoders for lossless Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio. "Panasonic was the first to bring a Blu-ray player with Bonus View (Final Standard Profile 1.1) to market and now with the DMP-BD50 we are again leading the industry with the inclusion of BD-Live," said Paul Sabo, Panasonic, National Marketing Manager Entertainment Group. The Panasonic DMP-BD50 will be available this spring and has a suggested retail price of $699.95. See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions."

5/6/2008 6:33:36 PM

Quote :

"bitter much?"

With great releases like First Sunday and Shall We Dance? it's hard not to be!

5/6/2008 6:43:46 PM

let the blu-ray deals continue! i KNEW blu-ray prices would drop once they won the "war"...oh, wait...

5/6/2008 7:41:57 PM

That price almost makes me think that Sony paid Panasonic to jack up prices to make up for underwhelming sales, so that if one wanted a Bluray player they may as well just buy a PS3... I don't know what kind of business model that would be, but definitely makes me think, not in a literal way, but just saying.

5/7/2008 9:07:42 AM

FWIW, there's a buy 2 get 1 free sale going on at amazon right now. Still overpriced IMO.

5/7/2008 9:27:49 AM

picked up Twister (which sounds awesome!) and the Die Hard Collection yesterday

5/7/2008 10:59:29 AM

Quote :

"That price almost makes me think that Sony paid Panasonic to jack up prices to make up for underwhelming sales, so that if one wanted a Bluray player they may as well just buy a PS3... I don't know what kind of business model that would be, but definitely makes me think, not in a literal way, but just saying."

I honestly think Sony charges other companies a shit load to use their Blu-ray hardware. But that doesn't explain why Sony standalones cost more than PS3s

5/7/2008 11:44:56 AM

Quote :

"But that doesn't explain why Sony standalones cost more than PS3s"

i hadn't really paid attention to sony stand-alones...are they really more expensive? i may be way off-base here, so someone correct me if i'm wrong, but i think sony has a relatively unique business model where each of their departments is so far removed from the others that they act as independent companies...what i mean is that the gaming division (PS3) developed the blu-ray technology and their AV division then has to pay the gaming division for the rights to use blu-ray

again, i may be way off in this, but i could have sworn i had read it somewhere

5/7/2008 11:47:46 AM

FUCK

Quote :

"Dear Criterion Collection Newsletter subscriber, The Last Emperor Blu-Ray Fan RenderingWe’ve got some exciting news for this fall, and we wanted you to hear it first. Our first Blu-ray discs are coming! We’ve picked a little over a dozen titles from the collection for Blu-ray treatment, and we’ll begin rolling them out in October. These new editions will feature glorious high-definition picture and sound, all the supplemental content of the DVD releases, and they will be priced to match our standard-def editions. Here’s what’s in the pipeline: * The Third Man * Bottle Rocket * Chungking Express * The Man Who Fell to Earth * The Last Emperor * El Norte * The 400 Blows * Gimme Shelter * The Complete Monterey Pop * Contempt * Walkabout * For All Mankind * The Wages of Fear Alongside our DVD and Blu-ray box sets of The Last Emperor, we’ll also be putting out the theatrical version as a stand-alone release in both formats, priced at $39.95. Our Blu-ray release of Walkabout will be an all-new edition, featuring new supplements as well as a new transfer; we will also release an updated anamorphic DVD of Nicolas Roeg’s outback masterpiece at the same time."

5/8/2008 8:49:23 AM

i will be buying A BUNCH of those.

5/8/2008 12:34:41 PM

i'd be curious to see hddvd sales vs bluray sales now. $30 a disc still blows my mind.

5/8/2008 12:54:59 PM

5/8/2008 1:17:35 PM

^^considering that almost no retail stores even sell HD DVD anymore...

5/8/2008 1:20:41 PM

So much for 20%

5/8/2008 1:32:16 PM

This whole thing amazes me still... the fact that the hardware for HD DVD became dirt cheap (which could have been an early sign of defeat and to remove inventory before the fat lady sang - 2020 hindsight, I know). I know that major studios declared Bluray the best because of security, but still, I don't see how it could be that much better than the security technologies of HD DVD.

5/8/2008 1:33:41 PM

^^ inorite

of course, that's just current sales...with sony raping its consumers on price (i mean, come on, no one really expected SONY to do any different once they no longer had competition, did they?), i don't see it changing too much...upscaling DVD players and subsequently cheap media, while hardly competitive with true HD, are enough of a competition for the average consumer that i STILL don't see BR taking hold until they start reducing prices or offering hardware/content that is deemed worthwhile by the average consumer at the outrageous prices they're asking right now

maybe if the PS3 cooked me breakfast every morning, or if it had games that didn't suck donkey balls...even then, meh

5/8/2008 1:38:31 PM

^ Exactly. ABSOLUTELY no one in my family but me cares about HD media. And only a hand full of friends have anything HD, even the ones with 360s for the most part have SD TVs.

5/8/2008 1:40:21 PM

bitter tears taste so sweet

5/8/2008 1:51:58 PM

Not when you can buy both at will and whenever you feel like it

5/8/2008 1:54:54 PM

^^ who's bitter? i spent $36 on my HD media setup (player, 7 hd-dvds, and the 4-disc planet earth hd-dvd set) and the xbox add-on is a very good upscaler for my regular DVDs...how much money have YOU spent on the media and player?

5/8/2008 1:58:58 PM

Damn, it cost that much for one Bluray disc

5/8/2008 2:04:25 PM

^^That's great, but if you're happy with that, then why do you keep coming in here lamenting on HD DVD's failure? If you don't think Blu-ray is worth, or that the PS3 is shit, then don't buy it, you won't find me or anyone else here trying to convince you to run out and spend hundreds of dollars on stuff you don't want. You dudes are saying that exact same shit people said about DVD 10 years ago. It's too expensive, there's not enough content, and VHS is good enough for most people. What point are you trying to make exactly? Get over it already.

5/8/2008 2:27:11 PM

The VHS->DVD to DVD->HD DVD/Blu-ray comparison has always been terrible.

[Edited on May 8, 2008 at 2:35 PM. Reason : .]

5/8/2008 2:34:20 PM

Your mom has always been terrible...






ooooooooooooh!

5/8/2008 2:37:02 PM

^^ agreed...and when they start pulling that out, i realize there's no point in talking to them because they have virtually no idea what they're talking about

5/8/2008 4:23:54 PM

So you're telling me a decade ago no one thought DVD was too expensive, lacked content, or that most people were satisfied with VHS due to the relatively low price? DVD didn't officially pass VHS until 2003, 6 years after it's launch. What sort of miracles are you people expecting from Blu-ray?

5/8/2008 4:40:18 PM

well one was analog to digital... this is digital to digital, differences are a "bit" less noticeable

2 years = 6%... i think they can reach 50% in 4 years... it's feasible

[Edited on May 8, 2008 at 4:45 PM. Reason : .]

5/8/2008 4:43:26 PM

I notice a huge difference. I hate watching DVD at friends' houses on their HDTVs. Shit looks fucking awful.

[Edited on May 8, 2008 at 4:46 PM. Reason : ]

5/8/2008 4:45:59 PM

^^That goes without saying, but that's not what we're talking about. DVD offered a ton more than just image quality over VHS. Blu-ray is basically just image quality. I'm looking purely at sales and market penetration here though, where Blu-ray isn't doing any worse than DVD did in it's early bid to replace VHS.

[Edited on May 8, 2008 at 4:46 PM. Reason : :]

5/8/2008 4:46:16 PM

HD sound too, if you have the equipment

5/8/2008 4:47:14 PM

^^ Well, DVD took off after the average consumer realized the conviences that DVD offered, such as no rewinding, no tape popping, and flipping to certain scenes - the HD media doesn't offer a significant offerings of conviences that DVD did over VHS, so the whole DVD/VHS argument/analogy is pretty much obsolete.

5/8/2008 4:55:22 PM

I might be wrong, but can't you create custom chapter markers with Blu-ray?

I've never tried, but I know the Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray as a shit ton of chapters that you can add and delete.

I'm just not sure if that's possible with all movies.

5/8/2008 5:02:11 PM

^ See, things like that DVD could implement. Thats another reason the whole DVD/VHS analogy is invalid. And besides, most people just want to watch a movie, and watch it once... But yeah that is a relatively cool feature however.

5/8/2008 5:04:21 PM

Quote :

"Well, DVD took off after the average consumer realized the conviences that DVD offered, such as no rewinding, no tape popping, and flipping to certain scenes - the HD media doesn't offer a significant offerings of conviences that DVD did over VHS, so the whole DVD/VHS argument/analogy is pretty much obsolete."

This is pretty much my stance as well. Early adoption rates are early adoption rates and were/are questionable for both. The difference is how it makes the transition to the common household and there were a lot more reasons that DVD usurped VHS than why Blu-ray would be able to do so to normal DVD.

DVD had so many advantages for the consumer that once people started finding out about it (and, keep in mind, information about new technology traveled slower 10 years ago) they latched onto it. The fact is that Blu-ray and HD DVD are still very, very niche since they largely offer no real advantages to a normal household.

5/8/2008 10:29:23 PM

I have a reason for my friends to switch ... I no longer buy DVDs, so if they want to borrow my shit, they'll have to go Blu.

5/8/2008 10:34:30 PM

bogo at best buy

5/13/2008 12:42:51 PM

I believe you mean 2 for $30 on select titles.

[Edited on May 13, 2008 at 12:57 PM. Reason : d]

5/13/2008 12:57:24 PM

yeh yeh

5/13/2008 12:59:20 PM

15 bucks a pop ain't bad, providing you get a decent selection to choose from.

[Edited on May 13, 2008 at 1:01 PM. Reason : dfgh]

5/13/2008 1:00:53 PM

i just got pans labyrinth and the departed.

5/13/2008 1:32:45 PM