Blu-ray is expected to finally gain significant marketshare in the home entertainment industry, though questions still remain on overall consumer awarness of the high-definition format.
Best Buy executive Mike Vitelli said selecting either Blu-ray or DVD is similar to purchasing a cup of coffee from a local coffee shop, except there is an additional charge for selecting a cup of coffee to go.
Standalone Blu-ray players should be found this holiday shopping season priced from $100 up to $400 for feature-rich products that will be acceptable for the majority of consumers. Some manufacturers have shown an interest in portable Blu-ray, but the technology is still far too expensive for most consumers. The Panasonic DMP-B15 portable Blu-ray player costs almost $800.
Another problem is that consumers are simply more familiar with DVD -- and have large DVD collections and multiple DVD players in the house -- while the casual consumer still hasn't learned much about the Blu-ray format.
"[Consumers] will make the DVD choice," Vitelli said during a recent tech conference, according to Home Media Magazine. "We, collectively, have to make it simpler for our customers. For the most part, Blu-ray is landlocked, home-locked. Our inflection point is right now. What are we going to do over the next five years?"
As more consumers purchase HDTVs for a lower price, and become more familiar with Blu-ray, it's up to hardware manufacturers, movie studios and retailers to finally begin marketing the format the way it deserves.
Sure, it's possible to find Blu-ray displays in Blockbuster, Best Buy, Fry's and other stores, but consumers who walk by the displays don't have any additional information about the technology. Stores need to strive to better educate consumers about the benefits of Blu-ray, which has been widely neglected so far.
In addition, 3D Blu-ray could also help consumers adopt Blu-ray at a faster rate, as movie studios and manufacturers anticipate 3D to become popular in the next two-to-three years.
