Thu Sep 27, 2007 at 07:55 AM ET

With results sure to send a shiver down the spine of the high-def industry, a new survey conducted by Best Buy suggests that the vast majority of consumers are confused about HD.

The retailer recently conducted a telephone poll of 1,012 adults across the continental United States, and the findings are sobering: nine out of ten consumers are confused about high definition, and 40 percent of people who already own an HDTV also confess to being in the dark about high-definition.

Shockingly, four in ten of those surveyed could not even identify an HDTV as necessary to enjoy high-def content.

Yet perhaps most troubling for the manufacturers, studios and retailers hoping to sell the public on Blu-ray and/or HD DVD, more than half of respondents stated that their entire high-def home theater budget only allowed for spending on an HDTV, thinking "that would be enough to be high-def."

44 percent of respondents did not know they needed HD programming, such as a Blu-ray or HD DVD player and discs, while 62 percent did not know they needed a full audio set-up to reproduce multi-channel surround sound.

Not so coincidentally, the release of these survey results accompanies a new Best Buy marketing campaign designed to help consumers sort through the muddle. The retailer's www.AskABlueShirt.com website is at the heart of the campaign, offering an HD glossary, a “What is HD Done Right” feature, and Q&A for those planning to buy or setting up an HD-equipped home theater. The retailer has even set up a free HD hotline for customers at 888-237-8289 (888-Best-Buy).

"As more and more people invest in new high-definition televisions and expand their home theaters, Best Buy wants to ensure our customers fully appreciate what’s needed to get the most from their purchases," said Mike Vitelli, SVP and GM for Best Buy Home Solutions. "We want to serve as a trusted resource to our customers... so they can have a truly outstanding HD experience in their home."



SOURCE (http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Best_Buy/Industry_Trends/Best_Buy_Survey:_Consumers_Still_Confused_About_HD/1013)

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They've already started to bundle players. This is a start.. Buy this TV, and the player comes with it. They are mostly bundling HD-DVD players now (I am assuming because it's cheaper) but there are a few including Samsung BD players.

Particularily I saw a Pioneer Elite w/A20. It worked out to getting the player for about $220 more vs. the price of just the TV which is good for an A20.

I've also seen more of those "living room" setups with a HUGE "HD-DVD" sign beside the TV.

I've also noticed Best Buy (and Future Shop - Canadian sister company) have started putting high def versions of movies in-line with the regular DVD for all new releases. This is also good because at least people will see that they are two different types of media -- a la upconverting DVD player epidemic.

SOURCE (http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Best_Buy/Industry_Trends/Best_Buy_Survey:_Consumers_Still_Confused_About_HD/1013)

Not so coincidentally, the release of these survey results accompanies a new Best Buy marketing campaign designed to help consumers sort through the muddle.Stats gathered by Best Buy in order to justify expected conclusion. As such, they are immediately suspect.

Stats gathered by Best Buy in order to justify expected conclusion. As such, they are immediately suspect.
Wow...just wow.....
*puts on tinfoil hat*

I think what they are trying to say is that the general public is not educated enough to make a good decision or understand the benefits of HD and they are doing their part in helping spread the knowledge.(I know, BB isn't the sharpest group of people but they are trying.)

When people ask me about HiDef, I don't start spouting specs, I tell them what equipment is needed to enjoy HiDef.
Like if they buy a HDTV, will they see PQ improvements on SD cable ?
Very little but really not noticable.
If they get HD cable, then yes, they will see the difference.

Will they see improvements on the SD DVD?
Yes, if they have a 480p player with component outputs but not with 480i.

From my experience, everytime I'm at Bestbuy or Circuit CIty and ask about HD DVD they say "oh you mean that Blue ray thing?"

I'd like to see how they conducted the poll.

... And Best Buy can thank themselves for contributing to the confusion.

HDM will fail if looking at Best Buy or Circuit City. Everytime I go into one of those stores I never get someone with an unbiased view on things. I constantly get Sony fanboys filling FUD to the general consumer. I've even stepped in once and corrected the salesman when he was so content with stating how 'superior' BD was over HD DVD, all of which was untrue.

My own personal experience was at CC when I asked how HDM movies were selling and the guy said they are doing OK, a little slow but OK. So I asked about HD DVD and he instantly stated 'Thats crap man, you don't want that sh*t. Blu-ray is far superior picture and audio quality. All of Blu-rays movies and players do so much more, offer more, and are a better value'
I then asked him what he meant by that all being they both use the same codec and threw in some info about how BD's format isn't even completed and all stand alone players would have serious issues soon as BD1.1 and BD2.0 were released. I even asked if he had a PS3 and his answer was 'of course, it's beating xbox360 in everything' :rolleyes:

HD DVD will do better with those consumers who are confused.

Again, just the name "HD" DVD, will tell them exactly what they need to know. I think Bluray will be a harder sell to those who are not informed.

And that doesn't begin to speak to the price issue. At $199 or less, HD DVD players are far more likely to find acceptance from these consumers than a $499 Bluray player.

I constantly get Sony fanboys filling FUD to the general consumer. I've even stepped in once and corrected the salesman when he was so content with stating how 'superior' BD was over HD DVD, all of which was untrue.

I get the same most of the time. It's one of Sony/BDA's marketing plans. Spread enough rumor and gossip and people will eventually believe it.

Most people I know are like "Oh, Bluray holds more.. so of course Bluray is the thing to get". Most don't realize it's a little more complicated than that.

Couple that with Sony's "The only way to see 5 out of 8 movies in HD" marketing campaign. It's sad that they feel the need to market using fear, lies, and deception rather than letting their product speak for itself.

I'm happy that HD-DVD hasn't stooped to those levels, but at the same time.. I would chuckle and smile if I saw a "The only way to see 5 out of 8 Bluray movies in 2008 is if you buy another Bluray player" ads. :)

HD DVD will do better with those consumers who are confused.

Again, just the name "HD" DVD, will tell them exactly what they need to know. I think Bluray will be a harder sell to those who are not informed.

And that doesn't begin to speak to the price issue. At $199 or less, HD DVD players are far more likely to find acceptance from these consumers than a $499 Bluray player.

Agreed, but not unless (for example my experiences) all salesmen stop their biased remarks towards product or brand. It's clear BB and CC has a lot of young folk working there and the general public who may be interested in the great picture he sees he'll ask questions. Sadly the fanboys won't praise anything of the competition but rather bash it to oblivion. This will either work for BD or work against HDM if the consumer leaves without making a purchase.

as many biases opionions that exist here, you can't really expect the j6p salesperson to be any different. if anything they'd be worse as shown by your experience.

just another example having 2 formats is hurting HDM. there's quite a bit of confusion with the term "hd dvd". while it is the name of a format, i think some think it's hi-def dvd which in turn they ask "is it that blu-ray thing?".

how can we expect anyone to understand all the format hoopla when there are ppl who have a hdtv but dont even know they're not feeding it hd sources?

most people think that an HD-DVD player is simply an unconvert or progrssive scan player. they dont even realize its a whole new format.

Education and information is what is seriously lacking.

Worse is uneducated and ill informed salesmen and saleswomen in the myriad of mainstream retail outlets.

The war will be won based on what the mainstream public goes with and not the enthusiasts, plain and simple.

So far the pattern here in Australia is Blu-ray is more mainstream and HD-DVD is more the domain of the speciality and enthusiast crowd. Main reason? BD is better marketed here at least.

They really need to keep things simple at Best Buy. They make a lot of money selling TVs and the current buzzword is 1080p. I just remember buying a component cable with a PS3 and they really wanted to convince me to go 1080p so that they could sell me a $150 Monster HDMI cable.

I've been saying this for a year. ATM, most consumers either think DVDs are HD or think that DVD is more than they need to watch a movie once. The facts aren't pretty.

I don't think I'm smarter than anyone else, and I'm not confused at all. All it takes is interest, a little bit of research, and there ya go. Now, a lot of people probably just aren't interested, hence the confusion as they just don't care to research anything. That's why I think HDM will remain a niche for quite some time. All we can do is try and let people know how much we like it, the benefits, etc. I show as many friends as I can how great it looks, tell them about price, which companies support which sides, and then let them decide. I have no close friends who've yet to invest. It's just not on the top of most people's lists like it is for us home theater geeks. :)

I think the situation is similar to SACD and DVD-Audio in one respect. I have many engineer friends who understand very well that digital is digital and think that digital means "perfect." How could anything be better than CD which is bit for bit copy of the "master?" I've also had friends make similar comments about DVD. DVDs are perfect digital representations of some digital master -- right? I gave up a long time ago trying to explain to very smart people why some DVD players are better than others. With HDM, it is easy to talk about the difference in resolution, but you are invariable asked about upscaling DVD players that also do 1080p.