I am wondering. Now that the format war is over. Blu Ray Sales are rising. Still, they are nowhere near the DVD's sales.

Is Blu Ray the Laserdisc of the 21st Century?

Meaning: Blu Ray being the superior format but prices for software are way higher than for SD Discs.

Will it ever replace DVD or will it always be an entusiasts format that only those of us will embrace who really care what we watch and especially how we watch it.
I myself have a Full HD TV, a Blu Ray Play and a Receiver that can play the HD Sound formats. I myself am totally willing to pay almost twice as much for a disc just to enjoy the advantages of Blu Ray. (As I did with HD-DVD)..

What do you think?

I think so, though there will be plenty of people who will disagree with me. I don't think it'll ever take off like DVD did because the improvements are still negligible for most people. The improvements of DVD were huge over VHS.

Plus what about all of those people who still don't have HDTVs. They have no reason to buy Blu-ray. And then are the majority of people who have HDTVs and think that DVD looks good enough, or don't even realize they aren't getting an HD picture.

I don't mind if Blu-ray becomes a nitch format. As long as prices are reasonable I will continue to buy.

The format wont' be mature for a number of years...be patient.

I think this will end about like the last thread on this very same topic did.

The format wont' be mature for a number of years...be patient.

I think the question will be the patience of CE's and studios in light other other oppurtunities. The race to be the next "itunes" for movies might take emphasis over optical media a few years leaving BR on the back burner.

Couple codec efficiency + super high speeds broadband expansion at a rapid rate and you'll have the medium for delivery of even 1080p movies.

I know the argument always end up with "how many will have ultraband?" I'd say around the same number of tech enthusiasts interested in BR. It's the same market.

In the end, I don't care about market penetration. Just cheaper prices on the media. It used to come from competition with HD DVD but that's gone. Now hopefully it'll come from an out all push to gain marketshare over DVD and hold off DD.

All studies show that Blu-ray will be the new DVD and in a few year will surpass DVD sales.

I think many of us have speculated here on AVS over the last couple of years whether HDM (previously Bluray/HDDVD, now just Bluray) is destined for mass adoption or niche status. I do not recall exactly, but I believe at its height, LD had an installed base of about 2 million players.

My own opinion is that Bluray will do substantially better than laserdisc, and will co-exisit along with SD DVD and internet downloads as a content delivery medium.

Already Bluray players are less expensive relative to DVD players than Laserdisc players were relative to VHS, and the price premium for Laserdice was at least partly due to the more costly disc and disc packaging (not to mention distribution cost) due to its larger size. Bluray has no such structural disadvantage relative to SD DVD.

If Bluray pricing come more in line with SD DVD, say a $5 premium per disc and sub $250 players (both of which I believe will happen) then I think it will have a pretty broad appeal and do substantially better than laserdisc. SD DVD 'aint going away anytime soon however.

The area BD will have hardest time to replace DVD is the smaller releases.

Mandatory AACS increases the price very much if you do a small scale printing like 500 BDs.

But as for LD, my impression is that its already passed that, LD didnt even make its way in Europe. The few who bought LD were forced to import. Also hometheater users is a much larger install base then it was when LD arrived.

I think so, though there will be plenty of people who will disagree with me. I don't think it'll ever take off like DVD did because the improvements are still negligible for most people. The improvements of DVD were huge over VHS.

Plus what about all of those people who still don't have HDTVs. They have no reason to buy Blu-ray. And then are the majority of people who have HDTVs and think that DVD looks good enough, or don't even realize they aren't getting an HD picture.

I don't mind if Blu-ray becomes a nitch format. As long as prices are reasonable I will continue to buy.

I bought my HD-DVD and Blu Ray Player before I bought my Full HD TV. I found the the picture still was better. Also I mostly did it for the sound. Because I have an Onkyo 605 receiver that can get the HD Soundformats bitstreamed.

The format wont' be mature for a number of years...be patient.

Technically speaking, the HD-DVD Format was mature from Day 1. All options worked. You didn't need Profile 1.1 or even 2.0 to get internet features and so on. Sadly Toshiba wasn't able to market it right.

All studies show that Blu-ray will be the new DVD and in a few year will surpass DVD sales.

Studies often show all kinds of things. I work at an electronic retailer (The worlds 2nd largest actually). When I look in the DVD Department People are leaving with hands full of DVD's. I seldom see someone buying a Blu Ray. Maybe it'll change. Still I think DVD and Blu Ray will co-exist.

The area BD will have hardest time to replace DVD is the smaller releases.

Mandatory AACS increases the price very much if you do a small scale printing like 500 BDs.

But as for LD, my impression is that its already passed that, LD didnt even make its way in Europe. The few who bought LD were forced to import. Also hometheater users is a much larger install base then it was when LD arrived.

You are right about that. There were no good european releases. The only one I ever bought was "Last Action Hero". For about $100.

Didn't matter that Sony produced most of their US Discs in Austria. I found that rather funny. I ordered my LD's in the States and then they had a sticker: "Made in austria".

I really believe Blu Ray will continue to be an enthusiasts forum for quite some time

The only thing that could really boost it would be, if they released some of the following titles:

Star Wars 4-6
Indiana Jones 1-3 (and then the 4th installment)
Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Well you get the idea..

to the original posters question,

No.

I know the argument always end up with "how many will have ultraband?" I'd say around the same number of tech enthusiasts interested in BR. It's the same market.


Well Comcast want $150 a month here. That's even too rich for this elitist Blu-blood. :D

Is Blu Ray the Laserdisc of the 21st Century?

...one can only hope. But, given the increase in DNR and EE being pumped out by the studios, it is clear they are marketing to J6P, not to HT enthusiasts....