Here are 10 reasons why Blu-ray, the format that first had to fight with a competing format and now has to prove its use to consumers, will become a success, wheter you like it or not.
It’s the only format out there
Not so long ago, Blu-ray had to compete with another High Definition format (HD DVD) but the battle is over. Both were designed for High Definition audio and video and could hold more data. However, the development of HD DVD was stopped by it’s main backer Toshiba. Now all companies can focus on supporting one format in their equipment. Entertainment companies can now focus on one format to publish their content. Last but not least, consumers no longer have to be afraid they will buy a device that will be obsolete because the format it supports will no longer be developed and sold.
Support of all major companies
Blu-ray is supported by all major electronic companies, which means that all these multi-billion companies have an interest in pushing the format. This means they will launch Blu-ray playback and recording hardware. And of course all studio’s now support Blu-ray which means content will become available on Blu-ray disc as well.
It’s High Definition
High Definition (HD) is everywhere, in Japan and North America HD is gaining more and more popularity. Especially when watching content on larger screens HD makes a difference. Most modern TV’s currently support HD, so do modern game consoles and more and more TV distribution companies have HD channels available. HD means that more storage space is required to store the content (better quality means more data in this case), if people want to record content in HD, they will need either a (larger) hard disk recorder or a Blu-ray disc to store it.
Prices will go down
Support of all major electronic firms means that there will be competition. From experience we’ve learned that prices really go done once Chinese manufacturers jump on the bandwagon. Currently a DVD player doesn’t cost more than US$30 due to the low manufacturing costs and of course a steep decrease in prices of parts used in the players.
Also recordable Blu-ray media and disc prices will go down. With all optical format transitions there are problems with the production where yieldrates are low (which means that out of every 100 discs there are large amounts of wrong discs, the less discs go wrong, the cheaper the discs get). Once solved and there is some demand, recordable disc manufacturers will increase capacity and lower prices.
Blu-ray movies can be copied
The studio's wont like this part but for the format it's a good thing. Blu-ray discs can be copied using AnyDVD HD and DVD Fab HD. While of course the average joe doesn’t really care about copies, the fact that the movies can be copied, can nothing but contribute to the success for consumers. While the players are still expensive, the movies are cheap, especially when copied from someone else which is not legal but does happen often enough. Of course this is also essential for making backups, if you buy an expensive disc you rather make a backup.
Playstation 3
For those with a Playstation 3, you have a Blu-ray player aboard! Of course many Playstation 3 buyers already know this and with millions of these units already sold that also means many people are able to playback Blu-ray movies. With the Playstation 3 you have both a next generation gaming console and a Blu-ray player at once, for the cost of a Blu-ray player.
Blu-ray = more storage
We can expect that the prices of Blu-ray recordable discs will go down, just as when the DVD recordable was released it was much more expensive than a CD-R, currently if you look at the amount of storage space you get from blank DVD recordable isn’t much more expensive than a CD-R. Once the Blu-ray recordable disc format is produced in high volumes and the yield rates are good these prices will go down as well. By then you can store 25GB or 50GB on a disc instead of 4.7GB, which will benefit Blu-ray adoption on the PC platform.
It’s available, right now
There are rivals out there, the upconverting DVD player, video on demand, the Chinese competing formats, holographic discs but they all have their quirks. Upconverting DVD players could be a real threat to Blu-ray, they require cheap devices, existing production facilities and the discs are out there, and maybe already in your collection. While currently still cheap, this should change soon and wouldn’t you want to go for the real thing instead of HD simulation?
Video on Demand requires broadband, while broadband penetration is rapidly increasing there are still many, many places in the world where speeds to stream HD content are not available yet. Not to mention internet bandwidth cap from many ISP that will make you pay more for exceeding the download limit.
The Chinese competing formats could be appealing to many, but probably not to Hollywood studios who put a lot of effort in protecting their intellectual property and if there is one thing the Chinese are currently known about, then it’s about not caring much about just that.
Holographic, yes, if you’re lucky you are able to buy a machine that is able to write and read these discs, if you want to spend tens of thousands dollars on it. Could be big, but not in the near future.
We are used to discs
Everyone is now used to the 12cm disc with the hole in the middle. We’re used to put them in a tray or slot loading device, used to have them around and to buy them. And through all the years we’ve learned to trust them.
Everybody knows it
If you read the newspaper, internet and/or are slightly interested in technology then you know Blu-ray. Thanks to the format war there has been an enormous amount of news about Blu-ray.
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