Blockbuster Video to Support Blu-ray

[gadgtfreek]

Sounds like you lost a chance to sell your old upconverting player.

Sleeping Beauty on Blu-ray in 2008. Disney missed a great chance. Daddy wants a big screen TV for the holidays and that title would go a long way toward getting buy-in.

Luckily I sold it on ebay!

Yeah, if you had kids thatd be a great selling point!

 

[navychop]

People will watch HD movies on dedicated players.

People will watch HD movies on the PS3.

People will watch HD movies on add-on HD DVD players for the Xbox.

People will not watch many HD movies on a laptop, or using a laptop to drive an HDTV.

 

[FlyingJ]

People will watch HD movies on dedicated players.
Agreed!

People will watch HD movies on the PS3. Agreed!

People will watch HD movies on add-on HD DVD players for the Xbox. Agreed!

People will not watch many HD movies on a laptop, or using a laptop to drive an HDTV.

Agreed!

Oh, than what the heck am I posting for.

 

[CochiseGuy]

That was my point, the space is good for production companies. Wouldnt you rather use the format that allowed you to kill al your birds with one stone.

The release of Immortal Beloved is not the point, its what can be done with a 50 gig disc that is and why it matters.

Yes, additional capacity is always a good thing. And I didn't mean to be so persnippity in my reply; I usually try to be more civil when posting in forums. Too much morning caffeine.

While the movie itself "Immortal Beloved" doesn't excite me, it is a cool feature to include those different language audio tracks.

Kinda like what some of the European studios are doing on HD DVD. An Example: Studio Canal's release of "3 Days of the Condor", with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, German DTS-HD, and French DTS-HD, 117 minute movie encoded with VC-1 at 1080p, all fitting nicely on an HD DVD 30GB dual layer.


BTW - the Immortal Beloved release was the "Big Announcement" for today?

 

[r.jones1116]

Back on topic and in perspective....

Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD

 

[navychop]

Nice article. Interesting to see that high def rentals are about 2% of the market, since high def disc sales are believed to be about one half of one percent of DVD sales (around 500,000 high def disc sales per month vs over a hundred million DVD sales per month). Maybe it's a sign of hedged bets by renting versus buying.

Not to be rude to Canada (a place I love to visit), but their rentals and sales numbers are so small I don't think it will have much impact on the "winner" in the U.S.

 

[CochiseGuy]

Back on topic? What a curmudgeon.

Nice article. Interesting to see that high def rentals are about 2% of the market, since high def disc sales are believed to be about one half of one percent of DVD sales (around 500,000 high def disc sales per month vs over a million DVD sales per month). Maybe it's a sign of hedged bets by renting versus buying.

I've seen the figure that high def sales are 1/2 of 1% too, but it must be that high def sell 50,000 per month if DVD sells over a million? And I've rented a bunch of HD DVD & Blu-ray from Netflix. I follow the same guidelines for high def as I did for DVD - if it sounds like something I'll only want to watch once, I rent.

And I think the 2% of rentals for high def illustrates how blown out of proportion the Blockbuster thing is. Both high def formats only account for 2% of all DVD rentals, but when BB announces they're expanding HD rental to another 25% of their stores - while keeping HD DVD Online and in their original test stores, AND keeping the option open to add HD DVD per customer demand - and the press makes statements like "The next-generation DVD format war was all but settled yesterday . . "

I bet a warm Dr. Pepper we'll still be talking about it this time next year.

 

[navychop]

Well, imagine my chagrin. Way too busy today. I left one word out: hundred. It's a hundred million a month. I've corrected the original post.

I don't like Dr. Pepper, warm or not. :down But I wouldn't take that bet. I'd like for it to be settled this year (for the U.S. at least), but realize it might not be. Of course, if both are to survive, that's settling it, also. But I doubt that result. My money is still on Blu-ray taking the market in the U.S. and HD DVD departing the market or surviving as a small niche player like Apple (but without the pizzazz).

 

[FlyingJ]

Back on topic? What a curmudgeon.



And I think the 2% of rentals for high def illustrates how blown out of proportion the Blockbuster thing is.

I don't think it has been blown out of proportion at all. The HD and Blu-Ray DVDs even from the online services have not really been readily available. The new releases have been slow to show up and the waits have been much longer for them considering you can get the DVD new releases immediately. The stores renting the HD and BD have been extremely limited. Now, you open up the availability from those 1750 Blockbusters and something has to give. What I do believe has been blown out of proportion is the assumption that the online renters has become that big of a number in comparison.
That said, I only know 1 other family around town, and it's fairly affluent that rents or buys either HD format. Maybe we are all in our own little world here and still 2 or 3 years ahead of what is to become mainstream.

 

[KingofKaty]

My local Blockbuster (suburban Houston) put up their Blu-Ray display over the weekend. They maybe had 40 titles available, just one copy of each. Not an HD-DVD to be seen.

The local Hollywood Video has carried both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray since March. Maybe 30-40 titles of each, with a slight edge in titles to Blu-Ray.

I'm waiting for the price of the Blu-Ray players to come down to $300-400 before taking the plunge.

 

[navychop]

Keep an eye on that Hollywood Video for great close out sales as they shut down. Their parent company is about to enter bankruptcy.

 

[1080iBeVuMin]

...I'm waiting for the price of the Blu-Ray players to come down to $300-400 before taking the plunge.

Wait no more! Prices are there. I took the plunge yesterday and won a brand new "sealed" Samsung BD-P1200 on eBay for $355.00! @party (Plus shipping but no sales tax.) I can hardly wait to see true HD bow again! First time since the demise of VOOM DBS in April 2005.

I suppose this makes me a Blu-Ray guy. I couldn't resist this deal. Now I can afford a $300 HD-DVD player later if I decide.

I will keep watching the format war....

 

[KingofKaty]

I took the plunge yesterday and won a brand new "sealed" Samsung BD-P1200 on eBay for $355.00! @party (Plus shipping but no sales tax.)

That is one of the units I'm looking at. Good price! $350 would probably be my trigger price. I see that Amazon has them for $460 with free shipping. So we are getting there.

 

[Paradox-SJ]

How come it seems people are staying away from the Pioner?

 

[delanewf]

I didn't read that as saying each store will carry 170 titles, but as 170 titles across the 1700 stores. But, who knows? And how does their Online Rental / In Store return policy work? If an online rental gets returned to a store, does that store then add it to it's rental pool, or send it back to the online distribution center?

I do know that even with Netflix carrying almost every title in BD and HD DVD, sometimes the HD title in my Q get shipped from places like Cleveland or Houston, instead of my "local" distribution center in Phoenix.

I had others post in other forms similar to FlyingJ's - that their local store had around 40 titles.

Expect an announcement any day now from Hollywood Video/Movie Gallery about how they "respect customer choice" and will be offering both formats.

To answer the question on how the BB Total Access works: It is the best of both worlds. Which ever plan you go with you get 1 free rental coupon each month to use at a blockbuster store. You can send your mailed movie back through the mail and wait for your next one or take it back to the local BB and get a free rental of what ever you want. Your local BB then sends back your mailed DVD and mails you the next one in your queue. Every DVD mailed to you turns into a free rental at the local store. You don't have to sit and wait for your next rental without a movie. I only get 3 movies a month for $8 because I don't have the time to watch that many movies but that really equates to 7 movies a month if I turn in my mailed movies to the store and use my coupon. Obviously the price per rental goes down if you go with one of the unlimited movies packages. I think it is awesome. Now there probably isn't much of a cost benefit if you don't have a store nearby or don't like leaving your home. It is a great option to have though.

 

[diogen]

It looks like Blockbuster was so successful going blu (at least according to this thread), that it looks there was a price to pay:
Say goodbye to Blockbuster | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

Who would be next in line... Target?

Diogen.

 

[1080iBeVuMin]

It looks like Blockbuster was so successful going blu (at least according to this thread), that it looks there was a price to pay:
Say goodbye to Blockbuster | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

Who would be next in line... Target?

Diogen.

I don't think Blockbuster's problems are a result of going with Blu-Ray. Even the article does not suggest that. The writer claims that Blockbuster is chasing Netflix with a flawed marketing strategy: "Total Access".

I like Blockbuster online. I chose them over Netflix because I liked their website better as a non-member. I use Blockbuster for Blu-Ray titles only. I still prefer my local independent video store, but my local store has no high def yet. When they do, it's goodbye Blockbuster sooner or later.