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Blue Ray Gone by 2012?


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Old 22-09-2008, 19:53
linkinpark875
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According to this article Blue Ray will be gone by 2012:

http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/15020-B...few-years.html and the PS4 won't have Blue Ray: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10042820-17.html

They say people are keeping DVD players but I blame the price of Blue Ray. The same was said that MP3 would take over CD's but I still buy albums.

I rather own the hard copy than have a high def download. Looks like it won't be worth buying a Blue Ray Player yet.
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Old 22-09-2008, 20:25
AxG
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It's 'Blu-ray'!

And it is the future, no one knows what is going to happen, and why should they ditch 1080 and go back to 625, that's just crazy.

"I rather own the hard copy than have a high def download. Looks like it won't be worth buying a Blue Ray Player yet."
Huh? they are on discs you know?
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Old 22-09-2008, 20:26
Alphonse
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I'm not surprised by the views shared in those two articles. If Sony and Samsung really wanted people to adopt blu-ray, they'd have dropped the prices of both players and discs by now, and sorted out all the tech issues re the player profiles.

Blu-ray is redundant for me because the players haven't come down in price noticeably, the players aren't region free for SD DVD, the discs are £18+ each, I'm quite happy with my multi region upscaler for SD DVD, and I can download Blu-ray rips at 720p and play them through my PC on to my 42" plasma which looks stunning.

It seems the manufacturers have done everything possible to stop consumers from adopting Blu-ray which given what happened to HD DVD adopters after the format war is a real kick in the balls.

I do agree with one of those articles where Blu-ray was compared to Laserdisc. As far as I'm concerned, Blu-ray is already dead. Look at is this way, Tesco don't even sell the discs.
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Old 22-09-2008, 20:29
Alphonse
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It's 'Blu-ray'!

And it is the future, no one knows what is going to happen, and why should they ditch 1080 and go back to 625, that's just crazy.

"I rather own the hard copy than have a high def download. Looks like it won't be worth buying a Blue Ray Player yet."
Huh? they are on discs you know?
Did I miss something? Who mentioned ditching high definition? Have you read the articles?
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Old 22-09-2008, 20:34
Deacon1972
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I do agree with one of those articles where Blu-ray was compared to Laserdisc. As far as I'm concerned, Blu-ray is already dead. Look at is this way, Tesco don't even sell the discs.

http://www.tesco.com/entertainment/b...244+4294216469
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Old 22-09-2008, 20:37
linkinpark875
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Out of interest are any of the bargain manufacturers planning any Blue Ray players?

I would have thought like DVD brands like Alba, Goodmans, Bush, Hitachi? I'm sure when DVD was released they had massive chunky players made by Alba so why not Blue Ray? The problem for me is you need to buy all new equipment where DVD can be bought and plugged into any TV but I see upscaling DVD players going very cheap now for £30.

I wasted money on a DVD recorder thinking it was the next big thing and hard drive recorders like Sky+/PVR's have took over. I have seen even stereo systems on sale with hard drives for music. The problem with technology these days is there are to many formats and most become obsolete and replaced by another one look at mini discs, pagers, sega dreamcast, dvd recorders, HD players, some Freeview boxes.

I bought a DAB radio just last year and there's nothing left but stations no longer available and the sound quality is poor. FM is just as good. I like new technology but there's nothing revolutionary out. A step from analogue to digital tv is good better picture, digital text, alot more channels but HD just requires a new tv for a few films in a high bit rate it's all a bit of a luxury rather than a must have. The same goes for mega pixels in cameras once they got past 5MP in camera phones it makes you wonder where to stop when you can make a good enough print of a 5MP picture.
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Old 22-09-2008, 20:53
Alphonse
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If I wanted to be really cynical, which I am so I will , all HD gives you in practice is the picture quality of a decent standard old fashioned CRT with good aerial reception.

The only reason HD has come about is because analogue doesn't hold enough information to be shown on a screen much over a 32".

HD on plasma or LCD should of course be better than analogue on a CRT, but we all know that in practice, the bitrate has been squeezed down to the lowest possible level so that more channels can be broadcast, leaving HD viewers with nothing much better than SD Freeview.
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Old 22-09-2008, 20:56
Alphonse
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Out of interest are any of the bargain manufacturers planning any Blue Ray players?

I would have thought like DVD brands like Alba, Goodmans, Bush, Hitachi? I'm sure when DVD was released they had massive chunky players made by Alba so why not Blue Ray? The problem for me is you need to buy all new equipment where DVD can be bought and plugged into any TV but I see upscaling DVD players going very cheap now for £30.

I wasted money on a DVD recorder thinking it was the next big thing and hard drive recorders like Sky+/PVR's have took over. I have seen even stereo systems on sale with hard drives for music. The problem with technology these days is there are to many formats and most become obsolete and replaced by another one look at mini discs, pagers, sega dreamcast, dvd recorders, HD players, some Freeview boxes.

I bought a DAB radio just last year and there's nothing left but stations no longer available and the sound quality is poor. FM is just as good. I like new technology but there's nothing revolutionary out. A step from analogue to digital tv is good better picture, digital text, alot more channels but HD just requires a new tv for a few films in a high bit rate it's all a bit of a luxury rather than a must have. The same goes for mega pixels in cameras once they got past 5MP in camera phones it makes you wonder where to stop when you can make a good enough print of a 5MP picture.
DAB is dead in the water. It's just no one wants to pull the plug because of all the money which has been invested in it.

There was talk on DVD tech sites last year about a Chinese manufacturer having released a spec and prototype of a Blu-ray player which would've been around $100, but nearly 2 years down the line, nothing seems to have come of it and the trail's gone very cold.
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:08
linkinpark875
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If I wanted to be really cynical, which I am so I will , all HD gives you in practice is the picture quality of a decent standard old fashioned CRT with good aerial reception.

The only reason HD has come about is because analogue doesn't hold enough information to be shown on a screen much over a 32".

HD on plasma or LCD should of course be better than analogue on a CRT, but we all know that in practice, the bitrate has been squeezed down to the lowest possible level so that more channels can be broadcast, leaving HD viewers with nothing much better than SD Freeview.
Well I would agree with HD being good for big screens. For me the difference in HD is how better HD cameras are plus the print of older films in HD looks good. Upscaled to me is just very high bitrate of a SD channel.

DAB is dead in the water. It's just no one wants to pull the plug because of all the money which has been invested in it.

There was talk on DVD tech sites last year about a Chinese manufacturer having released a spec and prototype of a Blu-ray player which would've been around $100, but nearly 2 years down the line, nothing seems to have come of it and the trail's gone very cold.
DAB was always a long shot to turn everything digital. I think it will be along time before everybody adapts to HD and it's looking like IPTV could be the way to deliver things. The next big thing on sky is on demand how this compares to HD will be another thing. I'm guessing internet radio is what they plan to replace it with? Not the first time they have tried internet implementing technology to to products and failed to become popular the Dreamcast comes to mind from 8 years back and the old Freeview boxes with internet.

There's alot of questions regarding HD if we will see SD channels ever turned off and what channels will adopt HD as it's taken UKTV and Virgin 10 years to upgrade to Widesceen.

For me the key take up for digital has been Freeview with low cost equipment. All these other technologies are over priced and fade out leaving modist proucts like DVD upscaling players going cheap.

There is a new digital box out every few years now which performs faster or something. I have gone from a old sky box to a new model, to sky+ to HD in about a year. I'm guessing there will be new HD boxes out to replace the existing ones before long.
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:17
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I still think its early days yet - we havent had a christmas of just blu-ray yet - last christmas we were still in the death throes of the format war and I reckon people were still reluctant to back a player.

A christmas of decent uptake followed by the january sales will be a real boost for the format - especially now that HD compatible flat panel TV's now seem to be mainstream.
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:21
Alphonse
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I'm guessing there will be new HD boxes out to replace the existing ones before long.
And you can bet your last penny that all future new boxes will control what you can watch, will be infected with the latest spangly DRM technology to stop you recording HD to your PVR or transferring recorded content to other devices, and will, down the required phone line, report back to Uncle Rupert every time you unzip your trousers to take a piss.

No thanks.
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:26
Alphonse
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I still think its early days yet - we havent had a christmas of just blu-ray yet - last christmas we were still in the death throes of the format war and I reckon people were still reluctant to back a player.

A christmas of decent uptake followed by the january sales will be a real boost for the format - especially now that HD compatible flat panel TV's now seem to be mainstream.
Not with the economy the way it is. Noooooooooo way. However, under normal circumstances I'd probably agree with you.

How about sending a nice Blu-ray player to Comrade Brown at No 10, with a message saying This is what I could've bought my family for Christmas if only your economic policies hadn't resulted in the company I used to work for having to make me FCUKING REDUNDANT!
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:33
Orbitalzone
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................... Look at is this way, Tesco don't even sell the discs.
They certainly don't have a big stock that's for sure.... but the T2 blu ray disc I got for £12 from Tesco's at Crawley was most certainly not in my imagination.



But they are far from mainstream that is for sure.

I'm sure blu ray will become more mainstream.. when Chinese players are sold for £120 this Christmas (well maybe!) and in 18 months time they'll be £50.

Then they might bring the cost of the discs down to nearer DVD prices.......it almost certainly will happen.
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:37
tellytart1
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The only reason HD has come about is because analogue doesn't hold enough information to be shown on a screen much over a 32".
Analogue is perfectly capable of being HD! Japan have had an analogue HD broadcast system for years!

Also, if you connect your HD equipment using the component cables rather than HDMI, you're using analogue.
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:37
Alphonse
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They certainly don't have a big stock that's for sure.... but the T2 blu ray disc I got for £12 from Tesco's at Crawley was most certainly not in my imagination.



But they are far from mainstream that is for sure.
If you've got a Tesco that sells Blu-ray discs, then all power to you. But I've never been in one, and my local quite large Tesco doesn't sell them. But then it's DVD range is terrible too. Come to think of it, the whole supermarket is awful.

But alas, no other viable choice.
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:38
underwaterbilly
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I think Bluray will remain the format of choice for the quality conscious willing to pay more but it will run alongside DVD until the next big thing comes along.

And downloads aint it!!

While those who rent may be happy with downloads those who buy and collect will still want a hard copy.

And downloads offering Bluray quality without leaving the PC on for a week are years away anyway even if people were genuinely interested in them
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:39
underwaterbilly
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If you've got a Tesco that sells Blu-ray discs, then all power to you. But I've never been in one, and my local quite large Tesco doesn't sell them. But then it's DVD range is terrible too. Come to think of it, the whole supermarket is awful.

But alas, no other viable choice.
The large 2 floor Tesco in Milton Keynes stocks Bluray and HD DVD.

But at £20+ a pop I doubt they sell many
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:40
Gilbertoo
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...yet another article that sides with what Mr Bill Gates said a few years ago.....he said something along the lines of "HD-DVD & Blu-ray would be the last physical media before things moved towards downloadable content"...
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:43
Alphonse
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Analogue is perfectly capable of being HD! Japan have had an analogue HD broadcast system for years!
OK, assuming this is correct, why couldn't the UK have analogue HD?

Also, if you connect your HD equipment using the component cables rather than HDMI, you're using analogue.
True, but no one in their right mind would do this. Why invest in HD if you don't have a TV which can show the signal correctly? I know there are some people with large early spec flat screens that have no HDMI input, but why buy an HD receiver when the screen won't show it any better than SD Freeview through a SCART?
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:50
Deacon1972
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HD on plasma or LCD should of course be better than analogue on a CRT, but we all know that in practice, the bitrate has been squeezed down to the lowest possible level so that more channels can be broadcast, leaving HD viewers with nothing much better than SD Freeview.
Sorry that's nonsense.

The bitrate has been reduced because the new encoders are more efficient, they can now stack four channels on a single transponer without degrading picture quality.

Sky used to pump out 20Mbit/s for a single channel, they can now have three on one transponder, there is no difference in picture quality, in fact there are comments saying it looks even better. MPEG4 compression is that good.
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:50
linkinpark875
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I think Bluray will remain the format of choice for the quality conscious willing to pay more but it will run alongside DVD until the next big thing comes along.

And downloads aint it!!

While those who rent may be happy with downloads those who buy and collect will still want a hard copy.

And downloads offering Bluray quality without leaving the PC on for a week are years away anyway even if people were genuinely interested in them
I agree.

Things like digital photo frames, portable computers have never really took off.

Everything seems to be going computer but they are unreliable my first PVR lost all my recordings about 20 times. If anything goes wrong with my HD box sky would need to replace it and everything is lost.
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:50
M. Tourette
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To the general public Blu ray does not seem a big enough shift in quality to warrant the outlay, So unless you have bought a new screen and player your hardly going to be buying the discs.

It will be a slow burn item and could become popular except everyone I know who went for DVD as soon as it came out are not bothered with Blu ray. it's a case of been there done that, without enough exciting to tempt the wallets to open.
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:52
Alphonse
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I think Bluray will remain the format of choice for the quality conscious willing to pay more but it will run alongside DVD until the next big thing comes along.

And downloads aint it!!

While those who rent may be happy with downloads those who buy and collect will still want a hard copy.

And downloads offering Bluray quality without leaving the PC on for a week are years away anyway even if people were genuinely interested in them
OK, so I haven't got the Blu-ray equipment to do a specific visual test, but I've downloaded Blu-ray rips of Casino Royale and Transformers both at 720p. CR was 8GB, and Transformers was 2.5GB, both in MKV format.

I plugged my PC into the HDMI socket of my plasma, and was blown away by the picture and sound quality of both films despite the difference in file size. I don't care about having anything better than what that gave me. It was miles ahead of those same films on standard def DVD played through my upscaler.

Now, my broadband speed isn't great at 4MB, but I downloaded Transformers over two nights using my off peak allowance. Casino Royale was a few more nights, but the age of Blu-ray quality downloads is already here.
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:53
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True, but no one in their right mind would do this. Why invest in HD if you don't have a TV which can show the signal correctly? I know there are some people with large early spec flat screens that have no HDMI input, but why buy an HD receiver when the screen won't show it any better than SD Freeview through a SCART?
Why are you assuming the signal would not be shown correctly.

Component is well capable of carrying high resolution signals, 720 and 1080.

Sky HD has HDMI and component outputs for HD.
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Old 22-09-2008, 21:53
Scooterwolf
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As soon as Blu-ray starts to drop in price, sales will increase. As above I would say the January sales onwards will be a big boost to the market. Aswell as a probable price drop in the PS3 in the first few months of 2009.
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