Will Blu ray still be here two years from now? - Page 3  

OK, I may have to look into that again. For now I use Blockbuster (Blu-ray) with the 3-At-A-Time plan for $16.00 a month. May switch back to Netflix if they come up with a better deal.[/quote]


With the numbers X-Men Origins and other top A titles are doing plus the drop in player prices you may be right. I was somewhat surprised at the large stacks of BD players at the local Wally Worlds and Sam's Club (I consider myself in a technology desert). The 4th Q should be interesting for BD.

Do some research. Bandwidth caps have more to do with anti-competitive practices. The caps do not reflect the financial realities of the ISPs, in particular how much it costs them to provide the bandwidth versus how much they are charging.

Caps are all about protecting content provider monopolies.



That may be true if DVD plummets at an average of 20% a year. I am sure the studios would be happier if Blu-ray was growing the pie instead of taking a higher revenue percentage (at higher cost) of a shrinking pie.

Too bad about your area. I am getting great ISP performance.

And the "DVD quality" is a total misrepresentation. No major video provider is hindered by DVDs limitation of MPEG-2. In fact, those providing Digital Distribution services have more flexibility to implement codec improvements than Blu-ray.

To be fair, none of the folks currently doing Digital Distribution match Blu-rays quality however they are providing very good 1080p video at a fraction of Blu-rays bandwidth.

If there is consumer demand for even great video quality, I have no doubt that Digital Distribution will surpass Blu-ray quality in the next 2-3 years. The only issue is whether there is demand for such quality from the consumer.

It's amazing to see the same names shilling for each format Disc or downloads. However the question was will blu-ray be around in 2 years. I would guess most probably. As a Collector I have about 50 VHS tapes, over 500 DVD's, and haven't bought any of those in recent memory, and over a 75 Blu's, and growing. There is currently no hold in your hands format other than Blu, and its predecessor DVD. I know I am not the only "weirdo" who likes to collect movies, concerts, National Geo specials, and as Blu gets more mainstream there will be more people joining my ranks. Downloads and VOD are great for time sensitive programming like TV shows, and renting movies that are not keepers, but I am having more and more difficulty spending 4-5$ for On demand that has a 15 day max window, vs about 20$ for keeping something forever especially when my viewing habits change month to month.
I am not going to discuss B/W caps, and speeds as those really dont pertain to this discussion, other than for those who prefer downloads should really pay for the infrastructure to support it. As the early adopters for all formats do.

What BS. Until you tell us which level of performance you are paying for such statements are irrelevant. With the $99.00 a month plan you should be getting great performance.

Yes, I have been doing that a long time in this section. For many years we dominated this area with D-VHS D-Theater® related post. Most of us knew that format would have a relative short life span (I still have one D-VHS machine). If I am around when the next physical (holographic film, SSM, etc.) format comes along then I will be here posting for that format.

Yep, Blu Ry will be here. People like physical media... and cheap Christmas gifts!

I am certainly not paying $99 a month.

My performance is stable and great for video streaming. There is not a single service I have used where I do not consistently get the best quality out there. And I know I am not alone.

Getting good video streaming to the home is not a major issue for most people. And the numbers are improving all the time. Comcast has been doubling their customers speeds (at no extra charge) over the last few months with the roll-out of DOCSIS 3.0, and expect to have that complete to all their customer by the end of 2010.

Things are improving and will only get better.