milo bloom

I still think there's a perception issue that Bluray is an alternate format to DVD. The hardware manufacturers could probably step up and do more to make people understand that a Bluray player will also play DVDs. Hell, they should label them "combination DVD/Bluray" players and that might help.

Otherwise, you have a large group of the consumer population who simply see no need to upgrade. Shoot, I'm one of them. For new releases (and "new" catalog titles) I lean towards Blu, but there's still a ton of titles only on DVD that look perfectly fine upconverted.

LorenzoL

I have been streaming a lot more recently and I have become more "accepting" of how a movie or TV show looks while being streamed or on DVD but Audio wise, there's no comparison. Lossless audio is way superior than what streaming or DVD can offer. Mind you, most "regular" people probably don't have the proper set-up to notice the difference.

d2cheer

Bingo! And most never will. Netflix streaming quality is very, very good for me as well. And add me to the category that thinks upconverted DVD's look just fine and will not upgrade any previous DVD titles unless it wasn't Anamorphic Widescreen to begin with. I will upgrade some older Charles Bronson films but that is about it. And even those were not a huge improvement.

slop101

That reminds me, just a few month ago, a friend of mine (who works in video production and editing, he's also done DVD extras and menus, and has worked on many movies you've heard of) was watching Raiders blu-ray with his kids, and not only was his LCD TV way off calibration (brightness way up, contrast way up, color way up), he had the motion thing on where it looks like cheap HD video with zero grain, rather than film. When I pointed it out to him, he didn't seem to care at all. He barely noticed, and he's just like "whatever". And this is a guy who's fucking JOB is video productionand DVDs and he doesn't seem to care. What chance does the average joe have?

orangerunner

I've found myself buying a lot more DVDs than Blu-ray simply because DVD has such a deep list of titles for cheap and are easily found.

Sure we're starting to see quite a few B-list catalogue titles rolling out from Kino, mostly stuff from the MGM library. But look at the price - $29.95!

Will they be available at Best Buy & Wal-Mart? Probably not.

Am I willing to ditch my DVD that I paid $2 for and run out and buy the Blu-ray for $30? Not a chance especially when you multiply that by hundreds of titles I've already bought on DVD.

Paul_SD

And this is why I've been SO thankful for all the diverse catalog that made it out this year- especially in regards to the robust pursuit of the MGM/UA catalog by various independent labels.
And it's why I'm fairly convinced 2014 is the pinnacle of the format in terms of content. Warner will step up in 2015, but they've been an also ran up till this point so even if they quadruple their output (which I think is possible), they'll still only have kept pace with MGM by this time next year.

As far as stuff like the Kino MGM (and Olive titles)- you need to wait for the right sales and then load up. I've bought a bunch this season from B&N and Deep Discount for around $15-$17 each. You just need to be patient. B&N should be having a B2G1 sale in a few weeks. That should be another opportunity to get some of them at least for that lower price range.

arbogast777

Do you have the number for DVD for comparison? Are they just flat?

bruceames

For DVD:

-10.9% for the year (3 weeks left)
-11.1% since beginning of July
-13.3% for this quarter


So DVD is down 11.1% since the beginning of July, while Blu-ray is down 14.4%.

Compare that to the first six months, where DVD was down 10.7% and Blu-ray down only 0.2% (essentially flat).

So while the change in DVD growth has remained flat from the first six months to the last six (-10.7% vs -11.1%), Blu-ray has fallen dramatically (-0.2% vs. -14.4%).

I believe it is due to the growth in Digital HD sales cannibalizing Blu-ray revenue much more than DVD (by percentage, since most of Blu-ray revenue is new and recent release sales, while only a part of DVD sales is from that category). The Digital HD growth IMO is being fueled by the two week early window for digital.

hanshotfirst1138

The early release was a pretty smart thing for them to do, and it definitely seems to have paid off.

Alan Smithee

arbogast777

There was an article this week regarding Fox that said a title like X-Men DOFP sold 15% of it's total copies digitally whereas last year Wolverine sold 3% of it's copies digitally that's a decent jump. Twilight time indeed...

LorenzoL

I think I'm resigned to the fact that the North American market will become similar to the one in Japan for physical copies. Limited amount of copies and higher prices. Twilight times indeed!

hanshotfirst1138

I'm not saying I like it, but it's obviously benefitted them financially.

hanshotfirst1138

I have horrible nightmares that this will happen, based on the available evidence, it sounds like the most likely outcome, and not far off.

Alan Smithee

The revenge of DIVX.

arbogast777

Not far off hell for catalog titles we're there now!

bruceames

Meanwhile new release blockbusters are getting cheaper, $15-18.

JimRochester

Was at my sister-in-law's today, Samsung 55" TV. had the settings on torch mode. made my eyes bleed. Perfect example of people who buy great stuff but don't really care what it looks like, or least has no idea what it really is supposed to look like.

Adam Tyner

I hadn't been inside the Walmart down the road in about a year, but I went in to return some gifts this morning and swung by the Blu-ray section to see if they had any post-Christmas deals. Errrrr...the only problem was that there wasn't a Blu-ray section anymore! Things had always been kind of jumbled there, but there were always a couple of display units dedicated to Blu-ray discs. Now there aren't any. I walked around the entire electronics department and did see a couple stray BDs, but the entire place is essentially DVD-only now.

Why So Blu?

Sales are low, because the studios don't release that many popular films at once like they used to.

Also, the 2 week (and sometimes longer) digital HD window doesn't help physical media at all.

sleepyhead55

Yeah, I can usually tell when the tv is too bright and uncalibrated. My eyes burn and itch and hurt like crazy. I have no idea how people can watch tv on such high settings for so long periods of time.

Sub-Zero

December 20:

milo bloom

Damn, and that would include Xmas shopping. This hobby is on it's way out. It's just going to be us hardcore nutters and our slipcovers

OldBoy

i just don't understand the disparity that DVD sales outnumber Blu-ray??

bruceames

With 2 weeks to go, Blu-ray is DOWN -8.2% for the year, DVD is DOWN -11.4%. DVD's decline is close to normal, however Blu-ray's is obviously not.