When will Blu-Ray/HD-DVD become mainstream?

Question

Is it worth me buying a new standard DVD system now or should I wait until the new technologies become the norm?

Answer 1

knowing sony, blu-ray may become another betamax.
right now the major launching pad for both products is sony and microsofts next gen systems. the xbox360 and the ps3.
so we will probebly see them become mainstream in about a year to 2 years. possably longer. you can buy a DVD player now, as i highly doubt DVD will soon become obsolete, and HD-DVD/Blu-Ray support may take a very long time to catch on in the consumer video market.

we are still waiting for HDTV to become fully mainstream. when that happens HD-DVD and Blu-Ray will become more useful, but for the next little bit they are filling a VERY small market.

sony has realeased many proprietary data storage formats (most recently the UMD for the PSP) that are backed by many studios, but are not widely used. so it will be good if distributers back it but it doesn't mean it will be successful.

Answer 2

There is some good information in earlier responses, but let me try to focus on your questions.

It is difficult to predict when/if Blu-Ray/HD-DVD will become mainstream. The basic issue is that unlike the improvement of DVD over a VCR for playback of movies --- which anyone could see provided big advantages (random access, better picture and sound, smaller size, longer life, etc) -- higher definition DVDs provide only a relatively minor advantage. Sure the picture is better, but maybe not sufficiently better to justify the cost of new equipment and replacement of existing libraries of DVDs. And on the latter point titles available to date are far from compelling -- mainly reissues, inferior quality to what has been promised (at least for Blu-Ray), and expensive.

Add to that the expensive lessons of the Beta vs VHS war -- which in many ways is paralleled by the Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD situation -- which most are reluctant to refight, and you have a number of strong reasons why an answer to your question is hard to predict.

In essence, why pay $500 - $1200 (US) for a machine that loads slowly, has little available program material (and what is available is expensive and flawed), may be the "wrong" format in the long run, and doesn't offer compelling benefits (unless you are one of the relative minority with equipment that can really take advantage of it)?

Should you buy a standard DVD player or buy HD now? Only you know your circumstances. Personally, I am not going to buy until the "war" is settled (despite having a Home Theatre projection system that could benefit), and just purchased an Oppo upcoverting DVD player for $200 that gives me a good enough picture.

If you need to buy a player now an upconverting standard machine for $100 is probably all you "need", but if you are willing to spend $450 or so the Toshiba HD-DVD is apparently an excellent upconverting player for standard DVDs and also plays HD-DVDs.

I can't imagine any circumstances in which buying a Blu-Ray player would make sense right now ... but some people feel differently.

Answer 3

Blu Ray currently has alot more supporters than HD DVD which means Blu Ray will start to provide more content. If you have a desperate need for HD than buy your self a PS3 as a Blu Ray player. its alot cheaper than current Blu Ray players, and at the same price range of An HDDVD player. Of cousre it comes with the latest video game hardware for free. But what ever you do dont buy a current dvd player. Of course it'll be another 3 years before either become mainstream.

Answer 4

It'll become mainstream when the price comes down. But that really won't happen unless every one has the television set to take advantage of 1080p, or at least 1080i/720p.

Best Buy and Circuit City have been claiming that sales for such televisions has been strong and appear to continue to be strong, so the next move is towards HD cable services. Once people become accustomed to that, they'll find the interest in Blu-Ray/HD-DVD, and be more willing to step up.

Now the problem is Blu-Ray versus HD-DVD.

Answer 5

Blu-ray is currently supported by more than 170 of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer, recording media, video game and music companies. The format also has broad support from the major movie studios as a successor to today's DVD format. Seven of the eight major movie studios have already announced titles for Blu-ray, including Warner, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM and Lionsgate. The initial line-up is expected to consist of over 100 titles and include recent hits as well as classics such as Batman Begins, Desperado, Fantastic Four, Fifth Element, Hero, Ice Age, Kill Bill, Lethal Weapon, Mission Impossible, Ocean's Twelve, Pirates of the Caribbean, Reservoir Dogs, Robocop, and The Matrix. Many studios have also announced that they will begin releasing new feature films on Blu-ray Disc day-and-date with DVD, as well as a continuous slate of catalog titles every month.

One of the holdups with regards to the availability of high definition DVD recording, are specifications for copy-protection that will meet the needs of both broadcasters and movie studios. On the other hand, Pioneer has introduced a Blu-ray format writer for PCs, and Sony has introduced a Blu-ray Laptop and Desktop. Toshiba has introduced HD-DVD read drives in Laptop PCs.

There are films and video content now available on both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD format. By the end of 2006, expect to see several hundred titles available. Prices for the titles are about $5-or-$10 more than current DVDs. Prices for movies, just as for players, are expected to go down over time as competition heats up and more disc quantities of each film are produced.

NOTE: Movies from many studios will become available in either Blu-ray or HD-DVD, but not both. You cannot play a Blu-ray movie on an HD-DVD player, or vice versa.

Answer 6

DVD-Audio and SACD haven't become mainstream and likely won't.

BD and HD-DVD may or may not. Most people just aren't THAT into fine nuances of picture improvements. Most people can't tell the diff. between an upconverted std. DVD and Hi Def. Most people don't want to pay $20 for a movie.

So, I think the odds are against them becoming mainstream.

Answer 7

Right now consumers are holding off on buying many of those type items because they are competing technology. Nobody wants to get stuck with the DVD version of the Betamax fiasco. Until its determined which technology will win out you won't see a whole lot of movies in those formats or players to watch them on.

Answer 8

because of the wavelength difference between red and blue, (or a red laser for standard DVDs and blue laser for bluray), the bluray disks can four times as much information as a standard dvd. This allows more video information to be stored, creating more lines of video, the more lines of video the more accurate detailed the video will be

Answer 9

Maybe never. Remember beta vs. VHS.