The DVD Is Dying - Page 5

It's available and like 3D content in general - scarce.

The issue with 3D content is the difference between frame packed 3D BD and all other methods used for broadcast or streaming. There is a 50% difference in resolution. Only 3D BD provides 1920x1080 per eye.

And how does that codec you keep repeating relate to that situation? I'm just interested in your take, fwiw; I do have a 3d set and some glasses/discs but really don't like having to wear the glasses as I like to do other things, like AVS, while I watch a lot of things...waiting for that great holography that I thought, or had hoped, we could do by now

It doesn't. They use AVC MVC for 3D BD. 3D streaming/broadcast is treated like HD streaming/broadcast because the frame that contains the two eye images (L & R) is 1920x1080 (or 1280x720). That's why the seperate L & R images are Half HD each. These 3D formats are called Frame Compatible as in compatible with existing HD standards. A 3D BD frame is 1920x2205. It is called Frame Packed because there are two 1920x1080 images (with a 45 pixel blanking seperation zone between them) in each 3D BD frame.

But as you can see from the link I posted, they are talking about using H.265 for Autostereoscopic 3D (no glasses) which requires more than just 2 views (L & R). Usually 7 to 9 views are used.
Edited by Lee Stewart - 8/30/12 at 8:02pm

Why buy a painting to hang on your wall when you can just Google up an image of it (perhaps even a high-res image) on your computer for free? We buy things because we like them and like having them around. Yes, this is an emotional decision. Most things in life are. I don't feel that this needs to be justified.

The fact that the economy tanked during that period has had more than a little to do with that trend. People who have less disposable income buy fewer of the things they may want. Doesn't mean they don't want them anymore.

I don't often agree with Lee, but I'm going to this time .. the economy has had little, if anything to do with declining sales .. it's consumer preference ..

As well, there really are no compelling reasons left anymore to buy .. especially with older consumers such as myself that have yearned for an end to the continued format changes since Beta ..

Rent at a B&M if you have a good one left in your area / Rent by Mail Netflix / Redbox .. VUDU etc .. / DVR HD when a series runs I want to see ..

My days of building a library ended a while back .. I will admit, however, when something comes out like LOTR Boxed / Extended, I'll still buy when the price is right .. but is a rarity with that kind of material ..

Well - that is your opinion. Movies are available to own and rent. So once you remove the emotional decision, then you are left with the financial justification.

And your painting analogy sucks BTW. Totally difference viewing experience - art on your wall versus looking at the art on your PC. There is no difference in the viewing experience whether you rent the disc from Redbox or buy it from Best Buy.

Consumers have changed their mindset due to the economic meltdown. They realize that they don't have to buy a movie to see it. They can rent it for a fraction of the purchase price.

I don't think we'll see a study on how the economy effected consumer preference on buy vs rent vs stream .. so it's all a guess ..

My guess remains it's a matter of consumer preference that purchases of the media have declined .. the proliferation of portable devices, the easy access to on-line cloud content, etc .. if the economic climate had a part, it was minor ..

I'm sticking with the physical media!

I agree with Josh that the economy did have a large effect on consumers. Buying movies on disc has always been an impulse buy using disposable cash. When people's disposable cash disappeared, they turned to renting. The proof is that Redbox's business skyrocketed. They now represent almost 50% of all optical disc rental revenue.

So many consumers realized they only watched the movies they bought only once. Many had them unopened on their shelves. Their mindset changed. Now years later, they are in "rent mode" and no longer in "buy mode." A new habbit replaced an old one.

Yep.

And you can see it if you bother to notice how the space devoted to physical discs in retailers like Walmart continue to shrink year after year.

Enthusiasts may be all over lossless sound and better picture quality but the vast majority really don't give a damn about that last few percent of quality.

I guess no one cares about quality anymore. Pretty sad,same with music.
Hey hun,let's watch a movie oh wait i have to get up and put a disk in. Easy fix, let's watch it on Netflix

This happened before with the CD vs. MP3 war.

There will always be a niche market, myself included, that prefers to have the highest quality over convenience, but the majority will choose convenience. Just like they did with MP3s.

EDIT: I see others have already made similar comments. Sorry

Was at Walmart yesterday. Passed their display for the new movie BATTLESHIP:

DVD: $16.96

BD Combo: $19.96 - includes BD, DVD and Ultraviolet

When did they mass market ever care about quality?

We all have our priorities. Not everyone is into HT enough to get a system that will take advantage of lossless. Blu-ray is still here for those who want it.

If it becomes a niche, I guess everyone will have to do the same thing laserdisc devotees did. Keep chugging along.

Unfortunately sometimes the "science" is the spec sheet and not the ability of the owner to perceive the difference.

My old Econ Professor must be rolling over in his grave.....

The driving force is cost....MP3 @ 99 cents a song versus CDs @ 10 bucks (with many songs not even liked/wanted by the buyer).
Case in point: the success of 45 vinyl records back in the day.

Just like my home: I like owning and not renting. This is sad.

I've never once purchased an MP3, and never will, While I appreciate the convenience of online streaming media, the quality is crap, and I didn't spend $2500 on an HD TV to see Crap video pushed out in two channel stereo. I will go down with the ship, and I'm taking my CD's, DVD's and BD's with me

You are my Hero-of-the-Day.

Why is it sad? Hollywood hasn't stopped offering movies for purchase. Nor will they. The market for optical discs is still almost the same split it was back in 2006; 2/3's of the revenue comes from sell thru and 1/3 comes from rental. Only the numbers ($) themselves have changed (down).

Well, I suggest buying some life rafts... As one who got burnt by laserdiscs, RCA videodiscs, beta video and so on I don't really care for another debacle. It's pretty clear what is going to happen. Videophiles, though, have always managed to survive. The rest of us are adapting to less than optimal video and sound. It becomes easier to do as one grows older.

Philip

I think cost is a big factor as well, but I'm not sure that it trumps convenience for the average consumer today.

If the price of CDs was dropped to 99c, would the iPod generation suddenly start buying CDs and stereos to play them?

Others, as well as myself, need our "collections", so Im hoping the article is full of it lol.

LOL - in denial huh?

You may have a good point, the religion of Apple has created some of the most fantastic gadgets known to man , that resulted in compressing audio and video technology for the sake mobility, and made it so easy to use that even my parents figured it out, who by the way could not figure out how to connect a VCR, and it was only one piece of coax able, just daisy chain the darn thing to the TV, and put it on channel 3 duh.

Good question...I don't know.
Once a person "adopts" a technology, most are reluctant to change.

I want the highest image quality and sound quality. I also want the entire movie to reside locally on my CinemaPC (whether on an optical disc I buy or rent, or on HDD from purchased-disc-transfers [rips]).

Therefore, I prefer discs to streaming.

Further, as I have been claiming for about 20 years, bandwidth is the currency of the future. For streaming to get to current optical media quality would require about 30 Mbps, which is higher than many ISPs support. And when they do support such bitrates, they will charge much for for terabyte-per-month levels of service. Paying such rates without ever "owning" a license to view the content whenever one might choose... not what I would choose.

physical or streaming, I don't care. As long as they have Blu-ray quality or greater picture and audio then I will watch the movie the cheapest/easiest way available.

You're talking about the Redbox disc that's had the movie compressed onto a single layer, stripped of all bonus features, and has 35 forced non-skippable advertisements before the menu? That Redbox disc?

These things are cyclical. We are a consumerist society. The economy will rebound eventually (maybe not in the near future, but eventually), and when people have money again, they will start buying the things they like again.