Blueray?

[Glanceblamm]

I heard the radio talking about some of the Block Busters closing down because DVD's were out and Blueray's were in.

Just what is a blueray?...am I going to have to replace my DVD players soon?

[MGMorden]

BlockBusters are moreso closing down for other things.  They could have adapted just fine to BluRay.  Specifically, BlockBuster is getting hit on multiple fronts: the red box automatic machines that rent movies for $1.  People who occasionally rent a movie are flocking to these.  At the same time lots of heavy movie renters have turned to mail order services such as Netflix.  They allow you to bank up movie releases you want to see, and since you keep them as long as you want (it's based on a monthly fee rather than per rental fee), there's no late fees.  Finally digital distribution is starting to ramp up too.  You can buy music, movies, and TV shows online now.  I for example have an Apple TV unit that syncs up with my computer.  I can get movies or TV shows through Apple's service and they sync right over (or if I want I can just purchase from the Apple TV itself since it has an internet connection).  Nothing like clicking a button and having the item just download and start playing without having to drive to the store .  These also allow you to rent movies this way too.  $4 for a regular release or $5 for an HD (you can choose whichever you want).   Click to rent and it downloads to the unit.  You have 30 days to watch it, but after you start watching it you have 24 hours (I think - maybe 48) before it deletes itself from the unit.

As to BluRay itself, it's basically just a new type of disc.  From a strictly technical standpoint it'll hold more information than a DVD (around 50GB compared to DVD's 10GB for dual layer discs).  This allows them to fit high definition movies onto the disc - basically the picture looks better.  You have to have an HDTV television to get any benefit though.  The difference is pretty significant though.  It does require a new player, and if you don't have an HDTV a new TV, but it's not really looking like a required upgrade.  They'll still be making regular DVD's for a long time, and the BluRay players still play all your regular DVD's just fine too, so you don't have to worry about replacing your DVD collection.

Personally I like my BluRay, but in the eyes of many in the industry it's probably the last gasp format for physically distributed media.  The digital distribution over the internet is looking like the way things will be going within the next decade.

[Questor]

A friend of mine just shocked me by saying that he subscribes to Netflix for some favorite old TV shows that he and his wife watch. It's about $9 per month. This guy is not a TV fan by any stretch of the imagination. It seems to me that things like Netflix are the best way to get movies these days. I checked into it  myself and although I don't watch broadcast TV at all except when I'm on vacation at a hotel, I still see value in Netflix. They have every movie I might want to watch. Video rental stores generally don't. So although I have not subscribed to Netflix, I do see it as a very sensible way of getting access to recorded TV shows and movies.

[Old Fart]

I'll probably get hammered for saying this but here goes anyway.
Until the price comes down dramatically HDTV and BlueRay aren't worth the extra money.
Yes there is a improvement in quality. But IMO not worth the increase in cost.
I'm one of those who got suckered into high def a couple years back.
I got to pay for all the research and development cost.

Of course the prices are starting to drop, more because the economy stinks than anything.
If they keep falling go ahead and buy. But just don't expect it to be life altering.
I think Dolby 5.1 was worth the increase in cost. I'm about 10 years into that improvement.
But this HD stuff isn't that big a deal. If you have a big flat screen it does allow you to use the whole screen.

[Matt]

Hmm, I just use my PS3 as my BluRay player and I have a Panasonic HD DVD Player for that and other formats...  I agree that the cost has not yet gotten to were I will buy a new player but in another year they should hit the $39.00 range for the low end models.

Matt

[rex6666]

I have a tv hooked up to a dish, when i push a button it comes on and i watch
 

[MGMorden]

Hmm, I just use my PS3 as my BluRay player and I have a Panasonic HD DVD Player for that and other formats...  I agree that the cost has not yet gotten to were I will buy a new player but in another year they should hit the $39.00 range for the low end models.

Matt

I'm about the reverse - dedicated Blu Ray player but I use an Xbox360 + an addon for my HD-DVD player .

They did have some good Black Friday sales on the players this year though.  $78 for a BluRay player at Wal-mart.  I'm sure with that already out there (even if on sale) we'll probably see $40 players by year's end.

It really depends on what you're looking for as to whether or not it's time to upgrade.  If you're going to be playing games on a PS3 or Xbox360 then going to an HDTV is a no-brainer (Wii isn't as clear cut as it won't do HD).  The systems don't really shine until you go up to that level.

If you've already got an HDTV to use then I'd say definitely go for the BluRay.  The movies really do look a lot better.  I'd also say that if you're already in the process of replacing an old TV or buying one for a spare room, then there's really no reason NOT to go HD these days.  Maybe only 720p instead of 1080p (my set is 720p and I still like it, even though I want to upgrade soon), but definitely HD.

Now, if you're just watching TV and regular DVD's and you're happy with your current equipment, then I'd say it is probably a good idea to wait on upgrading.

Also, FWIW, even though I'm personally a big fan of BluRay, my movie purchases still aren't exclusively BluRay.  Since the player works with DVD's too, I usually consider each movie individually.  If it's a particularly special effects heavy movie then I'll go BluRay (Avatar for example will pretty much certainly be a BluRay purchase for me).  If it's just something I purchase on a whim to watch, I'll often still buy the DVD version because it's cheaper.  The only movie that I previously owned on DVD that I felt the need to go out and rebuy on BluRay was Batman Dark Knight.

All in all though, it's still all just personal choice for the time being.  I'd wager that they won't stop making DVD's for at least 5-6 more years, and it's quite likely that they'll keep making them well past that (possibly for just as long as they make Blu-Ray discs).  If you prefer to stick with the DVD's then you'll be good.  The only thing working against you is that the movie industry would love to switch to BluRay completely since the copy protection scheme on DVD's isn't as strong (DVD's was a joke - geeky companies used to make t-shirts with the Perl source code printed on the back that can crack a DVD's encryption ), but market pressure won't likely allow that anytime soon.  I could go on for pages about the evils of DRM/copy protection, but I'll save that for another day .  

[Glanceblamm]

MGMorden, thanks for the informative read. Our main TV is not even a digital and has the converter box where the cable comes in. We do have a little 21" Vizio in the 1080 in a spare room that the Wife got for a good price. I could not even tell you if that one is HD capable. Some folks around here have the HDTV but yet dont have the service for it on all channels unless they want to dig deeper in the pocket. Rates IMO are already too high for the basic digital channels unless you like recording & saving programs on their server.
Good to hear that the DVD's are not in imminent danger...I think players are still avalible to play or record the VCR onto DVD.

BTW I thought it a joke  when they formatted the DVD for digital and you would get the blacked out section above & below the main picture. I guess it is ok but it barely makes the grade on our old 32" TV and I would much rather see a full screen DVD or even a VCR tape. It is laughable IMO to walk into a store these days and see the narrow little movie playing on a small but high resolution monitor.
Does The Bluray Do This Also?

[gypsyman]

You mean that they make tv's that don't have the magnifing screen on the front anymore?? gypsyman

[MGMorden]

BTW I thought it a joke   when they formatted the DVD for digital and you would get the blacked out section above & below the main picture. I guess it is ok but it barely makes the grade on our old 32" TV and I would much rather see a full screen DVD or even a VCR tape. It is laughable IMO to walk into a store these days and see the narrow little movie playing on a small but high resolution monitor.
Does The Bluray Do This Also?

Yes, but it's a good thing once you understand it .  It all has to do with aspect ratio.  Standard television screens have an aspect ratio of 4:3 - for every 3 inches of height there's 4 inches of width.  Movies however, are typically filmed in a 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 ratio.  So for every 3 inches of height they have 5.6 and 7.1 inches of width, respectively.  If you want to maintain the aspect ratio of the picture (ie, not squash it), you cannot make the movie take up the full frame of the television's height without having the edges of the pictures hanging off the screen (figuratively speaking ).  The result is that to fit the whole picture, you have to squeeze the width until it fits, and at that point the height now only takes up a portion of the full TV's screen.

DVD's marketed as "Full Screen" literally chop off the edges of the picture to make it take up the full screen, but that is often very, very bad.  Certain movies are even actively hard to follow.  For example on the movie "The Haunted" with Aidan Quinn and Kate Beckinsale, the main character looks up at a hill astonished in one scene.  In the "Full screen" version of the film the audience doesn't know what's going on because the ghost of the little girl on the hill that he's supposed to be seeing is half chopped off.  In the letterbox/widescreen version of the film she's plainly visible.

All BluRay's are formatted like this because they are meant for HDTV's which typically have a 1.85:1 ratio.  That means that movies filmed in that ratio will take up the full screen now.  Movies filmed at 2.35:1 will still have some black bars to fit, but it's generally accepted that it's mostly movie buffs upgrading to HD and movie buffs almost universally go for the whole picture and just live with the black bars.

A really interesting fact too: old 4:3 filmed TV shows, or movies that have been chopped into "full screen" movies also don't fit on the new TV sets.  That's why when they're played they either look "streched" sideways (since there's not enough picture to fill that screen), or if scaling is turned off you'll actually get black bars on the *sides* rather than the top and bottom of those .

For a good read with some picture examples on the subject:

http://www.moviesbystarlight.com/widescreen/widescreen.htm

You used to be able to get VHS tapes in letterbox too (mostly because some directors absolutely refused to let their movies be chopped for full screen).  "Always" and "The Last of the Mohicans" I remember specifically being letterbox only for their VHS releases.  Titanic was available (though not exclusively) in letterbox for VHS. 

[Questor]

Gypsyman:

Right on! +1, as they say in web land.

[Glanceblamm]

You mean that they make tv's that don't have the magnifing screen on the front anymore?? gypsyman

 

I dont think that we ever had one of those but I could remember dad having one of those color filters over the black n white in my pre-teen years. I think he had it on upside down for the first three days or so.

MGMorden, I have read of what you are saying about the viewer not getting the full impact of what is happening because of something being chopped. Still doesnt seem right though as there has been many a great movie worth watchin on the TV even before the VCR came out. Guess that I am just an old dog.

[GRIMJIM]

they don't come with pliers to change the channel anymore either.

[rex6666]

Just another way to spend more money.
When they figure that everyone that is going to buy has, then we get
something new.
As long as it is in color(can i say that) and i can hear it, it works for me.