Blue Ray continues upward trend (http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/03/pricewatch_hd_dvd_in_free_fall_blu_ray_continues_upward_tren d_/)

"There is no doubt that prices will come down over time, but industry sources currently indicate that those sub-$300 players won't be available until Christmas."

No near term hope for player deals?

Wow. That's not an encouraging trendline for someone (like me) who wants to buy a BD player. Bummer.

Oh well, there's always up-converted SD DVD until prices drop.

Loss of competition rarely means good news for the consumer and that certainly is true in the recently called format war battle.

Hmm, and here I thought there was more than 1 manufacturer of blu ray players. Silly me...

To exacerbate this, add another $60-$75 for the MIR (5 free BDs) starting Feb 1. I wish my stocks had a trend like that!

Tom's Hardware? Really?

Apart from their previous questionable history on this topic, their graphs don't even support their theory. Out of 5 BD players, only two showed any significant price gain.

HD-A3 is more than I paid for it last year, probably less freebies as well. :0

HD-A3 is more than I paid for it last year, probably less freebies as well. :0BS.... A3's are $79.

http://www.compusa.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3304908&Sku=T24-9148&SRCCODE=COMPGOOBDF&CMP=OTC-GPRODUCTS

Tom's Hardware? Really?

Apart from their previous questionable history on this topic, their graphs don't even support their theory. Out of 5 BD players, only two showed any significant price gain.

You're a [H] koolaid drinker?

BS.... A3's are $79.

http://www.compusa.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3304908&Sku=T24-9148&SRCCODE=COMPGOOBDF&CMP=OTC-GPRODUCTS

i got an A3 and 7 movies for $89, so unless you value the 5 HD DVDs I got at less than $2 a piece the price was better then than now.

Tom's hardware has been a biased supporter of hd dvd all along. this article isnt all that surprising. they even listed the Sammy player as a Sony.

Wow, that panasonic is a phenom! Its been going up, and some places were selling them for hundreds more than MSRP. Other than that though...

Samsung is only a little more than it was in the beginning of the year... an up and down trend.
Sony, is up 10% from its average
Sharp is down drom earlier this year

You also have to realize that stores are probably trying to clearout their HDDVD inventory. So they are probably not discounting the BDP players as much.

On a good note, I have been snatching up clearance BD players in my area like crazy(for friends and family)
Sony BDP-S1 - Clearance at sears - $147/$147/$142/$120
Samsung BD-P1000 - Clearance at sears - $112
Panasonic DMP-BP10AK - Clearance OB at CC - $160

I am still seeing the Sony 300 and Samsung 1400 at 299 at various retail outlets. Panasonic is up a bit, Sharp is down.

This is normally not the time of the year for CE sales and new products. Wait a bit, you won't be disappointed. Funai and other low-end manufacturers are cranking up as soon as they can.

WalMart will have $199 Blu-ray players for Christmas, you may rest assured of that.

Hmm, and here I thought there was more than 1 manufacturer of blu ray players. Silly me...

It's still the same technology and all licence fees get paid to SONY. So slightly different from the competition Toshiba and HD-DVD was.

i got an A3 and 7 movies for $89, so unless you value the 5 HD DVDs I got at less than $2 a piece the price was better then than now.
Wrong-O again. The current CompUSA and TigerDirect price also offers 7 movies. Keep reaching... :rolleyes:


What is the purpose of this HD-DVD is DEAD OFFICIALLY!!!!
Question by Chuckles See all Chuckles's questions
02/23/2008 1
This is a great deal that includes 7 free movies. In addition to playing HD discs, you can upconvert standard DVD discs to high-definition resolution with this player.
Answer by Expert Posted 02/25/2008

Wrong-O again. The current CompUSA and TigerDirect price also offers 7 movies.

BS.... A3's are $79.

http://www.compusa.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3304908&Sku=T24-9148&SRCCODE=COMPGOOBDF&CMP=OTC-GPRODUCTS

Not really BS, no reaching ;) I got 10 HD DVD's and the HD-A3 player for $99 last year, still a better deal. Nice getting deals from retailers blowing out excess inventory.

I was comparing to the price shown in that link, price is different than CompUSA it seems. Good work this time :)

It's still the same technology and all licence fees get paid to SONY. So slightly different from the competition Toshiba and HD-DVD was.

Sorry, Sony is only one player in the patent pool and not even the largest one. Many of the same players exist in both HD DVD and Blu-ray patent pools.

/carmi

I don't get why there is supposed to be a price drop every single day on Blu-ray players when no other product in history has had to do that. The fact that this report completely ignored any look at seasonal price trends for similar items shows a lack of real research and the proclaiming there is no chance for a price drop before fall is just asinine.

It's still the same technology and all licence fees get paid to SONY. So slightly different from the competition Toshiba and HD-DVD was.

According to posters here at AVS, Blu ray is competing with SD DVD, downloads, Flash memory, AppleTV, upconverting Toshiba HD DVD players, etc...

I'd say there's still plenty of competition.

Wrong-O again. The current CompUSA and TigerDirect price also offers 7 movies. Keep reaching... :rolleyes:

Where do we get the 5 free movies?

Says here the offer expired on the 28th of last month (notice your quote was from BEFORE then.)

http://www.thelookandsoundofperfect.com/hddvd/offers/
http://www.thelookandsoundofperfect.com/_pdf/perfect_hd_dvd_offer_redemption_form.pdf

It's a little soon to declare that this is evidence of Blu-ray prices shooting upwards now that there is no competition from HD DVD.

But I'm an HD DVD fanboy, so I'm going to declare just that anyways. ;) And I do think that if that graph is still flat 6-9 months from now, that's when you BD fans should start getting worried.

Seriously, though, I don't know why anyone expected any different. The only change we should expect from the demise of HD DVD in the near term is the end of BOGO sales on Blu-ray discs.

It's still the same technology and all licence fees get paid to SONY. So slightly different from the competition Toshiba and HD-DVD was.

More misinformation I see. They get paid to the BDA, where multiple companies get fees. It's not all to Sony.

More misinformation I see. They get paid to the BDA, where multiple companies get fees. It's not all to Sony.

Ok. But at least licence fees get paid to one order/company/whatsoever. Toshiba wasn't in the need to pay licence fees to the BDA/SONY/Pioneer/etc. and that's what I'd call true competition.

Ok. But at least licence fees get paid to one order/company/whatsoever. Toshiba wasn't in the need to pay licence fees to the BDA/SONY/Pioneer/etc. and that's what I'd call true competition.

Sorry, Toshiba has to pay license fees to many of the same players, including Sony. HD DVD players use the same CoDecs, etc. as Blu-ray players. Sony, Panasonic, Philips and many others hold IP that Toshiba needs for its players.

/carmi

Seems like the Neo's of AVS have taken the Blu pill. Prices are up on Blu, no doubt about it. I have not been able to find one Blu title under $10 for a long time now. And the players are up as well. Why is there such denial of this?

We've all been had. Knew soon as HD DVD was dead, the BDA would execute their evil plan.
The BDA will now increase prices on discs and players to make Blu-ray a top crust niche format. Making the format out of reach for simpletons/J6P.
They don't care about business or mass adoption.
The BDA is all about making hugh ROI off small unit sales.
Mass adoption was never part of the plan. The plan was to kill HD DVD and make Blu-ray the new niche format to replace Laserdiscs.
The BDA's master plan is VOD and get VOD appliances into each home for 99 cents with $10 VOD rentals.

*Muahahahaha*

Seems like the Neo's of AVS have taken the Blu pill. Prices are up on Blu, no doubt about it. I have not been able to find one Blu title under $10 for a long time now. And the players are up as well. Why is there such denial of this?

LOL, under $10. What special land where you traveling to shop to? I don't remember ever seeing titles of either format for under $12.99 at a regular retailer, online or not. I sold and found a few HD-DVD's under $10 in private transactions and the like, but that's about it.

panny's are in demand, retailers cannot keep them in stores.

panny's are in demand, retailers cannot keep them in stores.

Ding ding. A spike in demand will cuse a spike in price, it's all short term. The HD-DVD prices are just fire sales, so platting them together is just poor journalism.

The graph and article do not state what is causing the uptick in price, but it could be supply, demand, or both, or even price gouging. Too early to tell in my opinion.

Wow, that panasonic is a phenom! Its been going up, and some places were selling them for hundreds more than MSRP. Other than that though...

Samsung is only a little more than it was in the beginning of the year... an up and down trend.
Sony, is up 10% from its average
Sharp is down drom earlier this year

You also have to realize that stores are probably trying to clearout their HDDVD inventory. So they are probably not discounting the BDP players as much.

On a good note, I have been snatching up clearance BD players in my area like crazy(for friends and family)
Sony BDP-S1 - Clearance at sears - $147/$147/$142/$120
Samsung BD-P1000 - Clearance at sears - $112
Panasonic DMP-BP10AK - Clearance OB at CC - $160

I took a look for those Sony BDP-S1's. Only one I could find was $799 at Boscovs.

The site Tom's Hardware was as pro-HD DVD as you could be for the entire length of the format war. You can safely ignore anything they have to say about Blu-ray. Prices will drop on current Blu-ray players when new models are released. Toshiba was subsidizing heavy losses on HD DVD players to try and win the format war. Blu-ray players will come down in price like every other piece of consumer electronics has gone down in history...over time.

Let's see how this looks in six months.

So what about the sound, are we going to upconvert that as well, :0

Complete FUD. The prices of some receivers has also gone up since the Christmas sales season, but I don't see anyone claiming that surround sound is doomed! Two months of data does not equal a trend, so let's compare prices to this date last year to see the real trends.

Complete FUD. The prices of some receivers has also gone up since the Christmas sales season, but I don't see anyone claiming that surround sound is doomed! Two months of data does not equal a trend, so let's compare prices to this date last year to see the real trends.


Exactly, you would think that chicken little was the hero of some of these people. Do you seriously think that CE prices don't bouce after christmas? Do you seriously think that a product that several companies are pushing for mainstream adoption are going to rise in price over the long term?

Seems like the Neo's of AVS have taken the Blu pill. Prices are up on Blu, no doubt about it. I have not been able to find one Blu title under $10 for a long time now. And the players are up as well. Why is there such denial of this?

So, prices aren't as cheap as they were during the holiday season that ended two months ago?

And...we're supposed to be surprised by this? Why is Christmas like this mysterious never heard of phenomenon to so many people?

The Sony BDP-S350 and Samsung BD-P1500 come out this summer at $399.99 which is $100 less than the previous model which will most likely be no more than $299.99 when the new models come out. Phillips is suppose to come out with one in April BDP7200 priced at $349. I would expect during the holiday season to see Big name players priced at $199.99 as last year you could easily find them for $299.99, and something like the Funai for $99-$150 during Christmas sales which is expected to street for $199.99.


Since Toshiba announced that they are dropping HDDVD:

Samsung BD-P1400 price dropped $34
Sony BDP-S300 price dropped $11
Sharp BD-HP20U price rose $34
Panasonic DMP-BD30k rose $63

The Panasonic has pretty consistently rose in price since the start of the year.
The Sharp has swung wildly every 5 days except 2/15-2/25.
The only reason HDDVD players keep falling is people are clearing them out and before they Toshiba tried countering the WB announcement their player prices were increasing.

It doesn't really matter, whether Blu-ray prices go uo, down or sideways. Nothing will bring HD-DVD back and there is no use arguing about it unless you just want to argue about something. A better solution if you don't want to pay the Blu-ray prices is to purchased a discontinued HD-DVD model or up converting SD Player and be happy with upconverted DVDs. You can still use a good receiver to get improved audio depending on how the SD media was mastered. Price trends really don't mater anymore for comparison purposes, when one format is discontinued.

It doesn't really matter, whether Blu-ray prices go uo, down or sideways. Nothing will bring HD-DVD back and there is no use arguing about it unless you just want to argue about something
Eh? This is not about bringing HD DVD back, this is about being annoyed that Blu-ray remains expensive.

It's also annoying to see that Sony intends to bring its next low end machine out at $400. Sure, it's a much better machine in terms of profiles, but I had hoped for an MSRP of $299 instead of $399.

Eh? This is not about bringing HD DVD back, this is about being annoyed that Blu-ray remains expensive.
Remind me, when did Toshiba wave the white flag?

LOL, under $10. What special land where you traveling to shop to? I don't remember ever seeing titles of either format for under $12.99 at a regular retailer, online or not. I sold and found a few HD-DVD's under $10 in private transactions and the like, but that's about it.

Amazon had both HD DVD and Blu BOGOs with titles at 19.95 so that each title was under $10.

For those of us with the 10% discount on top of that it made them about $9 each. Bought a bunch that way.

So, prices aren't as cheap as they were during the holiday season that ended two months ago?

And...we're supposed to be surprised by this? Why is Christmas like this mysterious never heard of phenomenon to so many people?

lol, oh noes!!:eek:

Eh? This is not about bringing HD DVD back, this is about being annoyed that Blu-ray remains expensive.

It's also annoying to see that Sony intends to bring its next low end machine out at $400. Sure, it's a much better machine in terms of profiles, but I had hoped for an MSRP of $299 instead of $399.

For me it's not so much annoyance as worry that they won't attract mainstream buyers, therefore keeping this a niche product. If that happens, then we can kiss a lot of possible catalog titles good bye.

Well 1 thing to keep in mind, this is the worst time of year to try to sell electronics, aside from TVs during Super Bowl Sunday. The next holiday to buy anything of this sort is maybe Mother's day... more like Father's day. Retailers won't have any kind of major sales event until Mother's day or Memorial Day weekend... Easter is more for candy & clothes.

Let's see how this looks in six months.

People have been saying that about oil and cable prices for years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand

I guess it should be mentioned that the price of 1.0 players will eventually drop...which is why there are 1.1 players..but they will eventually drop...which is why there will be 2.0 players.

It's a great business model.

People have been saying that about oil and cable prices for years.

And TV's.. Guess which is more related to blu-ray players ;)

It's a great business model.

Seems to be working a lot better than their competitor's "business" model.

My LCD TV I bought before Christmas for 1799$ is nowhere to be found under 2000$... LCD TV are doomed ! Prices are going up !

Seems to be working a lot better than their competitor's "business" model.


Not really... the only BD player selling in any kind of impressive numbers is the PS3, which is 2.0 capable I believe.

Seems to be working a lot better than their competitor's "business" model.

As I said, it is a great business model. They are heading toward something subscription based, or similar to leasing...force users to buy a new version every year or so. Microsoft is great at that, and car companies have been trying to do the same thing for years.

Not really... the only BD player selling in any kind of impressive numbers is the PS3, which is 2.0 capable I believe.
The BD30 is selling very well.
It's probably the most popular selling stand alone Blu-ray player besides the PS3.

Even at $450, people don't seem to mind and buy one(those intending to buy Blu-ray players) since it's at least final profile 1.1.

I don't think the point is that it's suprising that prices are flat this time of year with only one format.

The point is that with two formats there would have been sales all through spring and summer. For both formats. So far the only ones benefitting from there being only one format are those buying players and movies for the losing format.

I expect it will be like this untill after summer when we'll hopefully see more releases start showing up.

Not to defend the BDA and their marketing, pricing, or monopolistics practice, just to add to those we now have a dollar/yen relationship that is not going to thelp get BD pricing down.

I have a PS3.. bought a good while ago with the $150 off with a new Sony credit card.

My second BD player is a combo HD/BD PC drive in a new HP HTPC, an S330T for $799. I did NOT buy thit PC for its BD capability but it looks attractive in that regard especially when you look at BD standalone pricing. Blu-Ray has had a value propositon problem since day one and the beat goes on.

I will continue to buy new releases that I’m interested in as they come out on BD since they are averaging only about $5.00 more than the exact same new release title on DVD. To me it is well worth it and I’m happy to support BD for just a little more than the cost of DVD.

Last year I purchased around 90 titles on BD and a large percentage of those were for double dipped titles that I could not pass up on as a BOGO or at a significant sale price. This year there have been 3 new release titles that I’ve picked up to date so I’ve averaged about 1.5 titles per month. I do think as Universal and Paramount start releasing on BD there are at least 10 titles and a couple of boxed sets I will pick up.

I expect to see new releases stay close to their current prices, but I do expect to see sales on catalog titles as we have seen in the past.

OK, What is a BOGO?

I will continue to buy new releases that I’m interested in as they come out on BD since they are averaging only about $5.00 more than the exact same new release title on DVD. To me it is well worth it and I’m happy to support BD for just a little more than the cost of DVD.



As long a people are willing to pay $5+ for BDs over SD DVDs, prices will remain high. The reason for HDM is not to get HD versions of video to the masses, the reason for HDM is to make more money from people willing to double dip, and spend $5-10 more per disc.

While studios like people who pay $14.99 for new releases, they LOVE people who pay $24.99 for the HDM version.

Well atleast they base their data on several years instead of just a few months.

Reminds me of politicians that only need one dot to draw a line to show a trend...

I took a look for those Sony BDP-S1's. Only one I could find was $799 at Boscovs.

It was at sears. You can also check Circuit City for the Panasonic DMP-BD10AK and the Sony BDP-S1

They were on clearance... so its going to be a tough find. Also, sears (as well as best buys) clearance prices vary from store to store.

OK, What is a BOGO? Buy One Get One free offer :D

same as B1G1

Usually counts as two sales at the point of sale retail level for inventory tracking and industry sales charts like Nielsen Videoscan.

Maybe listed on the consumer receipt as 50% the price of each of the two titles or may be 100% retail price for one title and the cheaper title is $ 0.00..

Thanks Kosty...its hard to keep up with the acronyms...

Zomby

My LCD TV I bought before Christmas for 1799$ is nowhere to be found under 2000$... LCD TV are doomed ! Prices are going up !

Seriously. I paid $910 for mine, and can't find it anywhere for less than $1150.


Prices are up. They always are after Xmas. This has nothing to do with blu-ray, and everything to do with seasonal trends.


Too much fanboyism around.

Seriously. I paid $910 for mine, and can't find it anywhere for less than $1150.


Prices are up. They always are after Xmas. This has nothing to do with blu-ray, and everything to do with seasonal trends.


Too much fanboyism around.

Actually January is a great time to buy. Tons of open box specials and clearence of stuff that did not sell during the holidays.

Also, I am sure that everyone say the article where Sony said $200 are at least a year away.

Actually January is a great time to buy. Tons of open box specials and clearence of stuff that did not sell during the holidays.

Also, I am sure that everyone say the article where Sony said $200 are at least a year away.

It's a good thing Sony isn't the only manufacturer...

Actually January is a great time to buy. Tons of open box specials and clearence of stuff that did not sell during the holidays.

Also, I am sure that everyone say the article where Sony said $200 are at least a year away.

January is a great time to buy last years models and closeouts but obviously BR players are the ones being closed out.

January 07 is when I bought my JVC LCOS from BB and it wasn't until this holiday season that I could get it for as good a deal.

Originally Posted by Calamus
I will continue to buy new releases that I’m interested in as they come out on BD since they are averaging only about $5.00 more than the exact same new release title on DVD. To me it is well worth it and I’m happy to support BD for just a little more than the cost of DVD.

As long a people are willing to pay $5+ for BDs over SD DVDs, prices will remain high. The reason for HDM is not to get HD versions of video to the masses, the reason for HDM is to make more money from people willing to double dip, and spend $5-10 more per disc.

While studios like people who pay $14.99 for new releases, they LOVE people who pay $24.99 for the HDM version.

I would have a problem the closer you get to $10.00 difference, but as you can see below, some titles are exactly the same price (National Treasure: Book of Secrets ).

Amazon prices listed below
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Treasure: Book of Secrets [Blu-ray] (2007), List Price: $34.99, Our Price: $23.95
National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) (DVD - 2008), Buy new: $34.99 $23.99
DVD and BD price difference = $0.00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gone Baby Gone [Blu-ray] (2007), List Price: $34.99, Our Price: $23.95
Gone Baby Gone (DVD - 2008), Buy new: $29.99, $19.99
DVD and BD price difference = $3.96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No Country for Old Men [Blu-ray] (2007), List Price: $34.99, Our Price: $23.95
No Country for Old Men (DVD - 2008), Buy new: $29.99 $18.99
DVD and BD price difference = $4.96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gattaca [Blu-ray] (1997), List Price: $28.95, Our Price: $19.95
Gattaca (Special Edition) (DVD - 2008), Buy new: $19.94 $14.99
DVD and BD price difference = $4.96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Brave One [Blu-ray] (2007), List Price: $35.99, Our Price: $24.95
The Brave One (Widescreen Edition) (DVD - 2008), Buy new: $28.98 $19.99
DVD and BD price difference = $4.96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Enchanted [Blu-ray] (2007), List Price: $34.99, Our Price: $23.95
Enchanted (Widescreen Edition) (DVD - 2008), Buy new: $29.99 $16.99
DVD and BD price difference = $6.96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We Own the Night [Blu-ray] (2007), List Price: $38.96, Our Price: $26.95
We Own the Night (2007), List Price: $28.95, Price: $18.99
DVD and BD price difference = $7.96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The problem comes with NEW Blu-ray releases when there is a several year old DVD version (example below), but this not a fair comparison IMO (apple to oranges) as one is a new release and the other is old.

The Longest Day [Blu-ray](Blu-ray - 2008) Buy new: $39.98 $27.95
The Longest Day (DVD - 2006) Buy new: $19.98 $9.99
DVD and BD price difference = $17.96

The Panasonic BD30 is currently on sale for $449 on bestbuy.com and in their stores, and it shows 2 free BDs of the user's choice from the under $35 ones online. Not sure if that applies in stores. Also, it is backordered online and from a quick check of stock, it looks like less than half of the Best Buy stores have it in stock. A local Costco had these for $449, but it looks like they sold out within the last couple of weeks and didn't get anymore. It looks to me like demand for that model is currently rather high for the supply.

--Darin

^^^^
While that is good news for HDM, am I way off in guessing that more than one buyer does not know it has no internal decoding for Hi-Def codecs?
I haven't seen the packaging so I don't know if it states this on the box.

Interesting YTD graph of player prices

Move along, there is nothing interesting or useful in this graph. We have ~60 days of post holiday sales data that shows what amounts to no/little change in real world pricing.

Lets talk again come January 2009 when we actually have useful data.

A far more interesting graph would be player sales volume. Anyone got a source for that?

I would have a problem the closer you get to $10.00 difference, but as you can see below, some titles are exactly the same price (National Treasure: Book of Secrets ).

Amazon prices listed below
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Treasure: Book of Secrets [Blu-ray] (2007), List Price: $34.99, Our Price: $23.95
National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) (DVD - 2008), Buy new: $34.99 $23.99
DVD and BD price difference = $0.00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gone Baby Gone [Blu-ray] (2007), List Price: $34.99, Our Price: $23.95
Gone Baby Gone (DVD - 2008), Buy new: $29.99, $19.99
DVD and BD price difference = $3.96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No Country for Old Men [Blu-ray] (2007), List Price: $34.99, Our Price: $23.95
No Country for Old Men (DVD - 2008), Buy new: $29.99 $18.99
DVD and BD price difference = $4.96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gattaca [Blu-ray] (1997), List Price: $28.95, Our Price: $19.95
Gattaca (Special Edition) (DVD - 2008), Buy new: $19.94 $14.99
DVD and BD price difference = $4.96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Brave One [Blu-ray] (2007), List Price: $35.99, Our Price: $24.95
The Brave One (Widescreen Edition) (DVD - 2008), Buy new: $28.98 $19.99
DVD and BD price difference = $4.96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Enchanted [Blu-ray] (2007), List Price: $34.99, Our Price: $23.95
Enchanted (Widescreen Edition) (DVD - 2008), Buy new: $29.99 $16.99
DVD and BD price difference = $6.96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We Own the Night [Blu-ray] (2007), List Price: $38.96, Our Price: $26.95
We Own the Night (2007), List Price: $28.95, Price: $18.99
DVD and BD price difference = $7.96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The problem comes with NEW Blu-ray releases when there is a several year old DVD version (example below), but this not a fair comparison IMO (apple to oranges) as one is a new release and the other is old.

The Longest Day [Blu-ray](Blu-ray - 2008) Buy new: $39.98 $27.95
The Longest Day (DVD - 2006) Buy new: $19.98 $9.99
DVD and BD price difference = $17.96

Nice. Many of your examples are not out yet, and prices have already changed!

No Country for Old Men which does not come out until next week, now is:
DVD:Price: $15.99 & eligible for free shipping with Amazon Prime
BD: $23.95 & eligible for free shipping with Amazon Prime

Your National Treasure 2 example is not available until May! I am sure the difference will be closer to $10 by then.

My point all along is that studios LOVE people willing to pay $5 - $10 more for a title. Its why they have "special editions" and HDM.