Why I haven’t switched to Blu-ray and why I might now
I have been really slow to adopt Blu-ray. In fact, I haven't really adopted it at all. Part of the reason is that my television doesn't support 1080p and my audio/video receiver doesn't support HDMI switching. And without upgrading these additional components, I wouldn't truly be enjoying the Blu-ray experience.
Plus, try telling your wife you need to spend another $2000 replacing your television and audio/video receiver so you can "truly enjoy" the new $200 Blu-ray player you just purchased.
There's another reason I haven't adopted yet though. Mainly, the fact that Blu-ray discs only play in Blu-ray players. So even if I upgrade all of my equipment in my family room to Blu-ray standards, it will be the only place I can watch a Blu-ray movie. I can't watch it in another room. I can't watch it on a portable DVD player. And most importantly, the kids can't watch it in the car.
A possible solution?
I think Blu-ray manufacturers have started paying attention to that last roadblock I just mentioned. Recently, I've started seeing ads for Blu-ray movies that also include the standard definition movie.
I applaud this marketing move because it gives me reassurance in two areas. One, I can still use the standard definition disc in my other rooms and in the car. And two, if Blu-ray technology goes belly up in a few years, I'm not stuck with a bunch of movies I can only watch until my Blu-ray player breaks.
What do you think? Would you be more willing to upgrade to Blu-ray technology if each Blu-ray disc you purchased came packaged with the standard definition version as well? Leave a comment below and let me know.
7 comments for this blog post so far...
December 22, 2009 at 6:23 am
George Jensen
Patric,
Thanks for the update on this. I’m in the same scenario and this might motivate us to upgrade.
December 22, 2009 at 9:37 am
Sylvia Liles
We just bought a Samsung BD-P3600 Blu Ray player --love it so far. I’d been thinking about Blu Ray for quite some time trying to justify the expense. Deciding factors were the ability to stream Netflix instantly over the web (via wireless connection to our network! --no need to run ethernet cables!) with no additional charge on our existing Netflix membership, the ability to listen to Pandora internet radio (free), upconversion of DVD format, and the availability of Blu Ray discs through Netflix for an additional $2 a month.
BTW --even better if Blu Ray discs will start including the DVD format option to for play on our other DVD players in the house! Thanks for sharing this information.
December 22, 2009 at 10:10 am
Andrew
This format is going to take the same time for adoption as CD’s and DVDs. Besides, the initial expense of upgrading, like you said, is significant. Once the price of the players comes down and peoples older equipment starts breaking (like my old yahmaha receiver), then people will start to adopt the new tech. Additionally, the Blu-Ray tech seems to be changing rapidly, and other techs are being developed at a ferocious rate. I personally see the day when fragile disks are replaced with something a bit more robust and not as prone to complete destruction via one poorly placed scratch.
December 22, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Bigpacific Media
I’ve got the highdef tv and hdmi and have had it since 2003. Unfortunately I bought the Toshiba HD DVD the week before Sony won the war with BluRay and that soured me so much I avoided upgrading until very recently.
My dilemma is a bit different - I often don’t buy movies I’d like because I want the bluray experience but it won’t play on the other players, so here I am renting and rerenting BluRays rather than buying (plus they are much too expensive).
I’m looking forward to a truly slick and fast downloadable rent/buy system that allows burning to a DVD without it taking donkey’s years and choking the bandwidth and interrupting other necessary Internet uses. Then a cool thing would be each of your devices having a unique address and being able to share or port the file with one click and dispensing with physical media like DVDs altogether.
January 06, 2010 at 10:57 am
Patric Welch
@Sylvia - I forgot that Netflix has the Blu-ray option (both with Blu-ray DVD rentals and streaming Netflix). Yet another reason I may bite the bullet in 2010 and get a Blu-ray player.
January 06, 2010 at 10:59 am
Patric Welch
@Andrew - A lot of people are predicting that Blu-ray will never be adopted because it will be replaced with digital downloads before it ever reaches critical mass. Do you agree?
January 06, 2010 at 11:00 am
Patric Welch
@Bigpacific Media - Sorry to hear about your HD DVD choice. I’m sure somewhere there is a person with an old Betamax machine that feels your pain.
Kudos to you for making me laugh with your “without it taking donkey years” comment :)
I agree, your solution would be slick!
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