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PS3 is only 'bright spot' for Blu-ray, says report

5 August 2008 14:35 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 58 comments

According to a new research report by ABI research entitled "Blu-ray: Consumer Survey Results", the PlayStation 3 is the only 'bright spot' for the Blu-ray format right now, and without it the format would be struggling "mightily" to reach any consumer acceptance.

�While you might think gamers purchase fewer movie discs than others, we didn�t see any significant evidence of that in our results,� said ABI principle analyst Steve Wilson. �PS3 console shipments will go a long way to help bring down manufacturing costs and drive down Blu-ray player prices.�

Outside of these PS3 sales however, mass consumer adoption of Blu-ray is growing at a pace much slower then the industry would like, added ABI.

The report, which surveyed 1000 people, found that over 50 percent of the respondents had not plans to buy a Blu-ray player ever, and that an additional 23 percent are likely to buy, but not before 2009. Most of those polled also declared they would not upgrade simply because they do not have an HDTV and do not plan to buy one. Others simply felt standard definition DVD quality was "good enough." 50 percent of those polled rated Blu-ray quality as "much better" than standard DVD, but a large 40 percent said it was only "somewhat better."

ABI also added that they do not expect to see Blu-ray player prices to fall before 2009, and that the PS3 was still the bang for your buck if you do intend to upgrade. �We expect that [Blu-ray] player prices will remain above $300 for Tier One models for the remainder of this year."

Permalink to this article | Topics: Blu-ray Consoles HD DVD

Sony: No price cuts coming at Leipzig games fair (19 August 2008)

Blu-ray sales are impressive for 2008 (18 August 2008)

New Guide: Upgrading your PS3 hard drive (17 August 2008)

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PSP-3001 coming soon (14 August 2008)

New NEC chip will cut Blu-ray player costs (6 August 2008)

Pioneer develops 500GB Blu-ray compatible disc (6 August 2008)

US Xbox 360 pricecuts coming across the board? (3 August 2008)

Netflix begins charging extra for Blu-ray rentals (2 August 2008)

Blu-ray to outsell DVD by 2011, says Sony Pictures (2 August 2008)

LG bringing Netflix-streaming Blu-ray player (31 July 2008)

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8x Blu-ray burner coming from Buffalo (26 July 2008)

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juankerr (Member) 6 August 2008 7:53
*Originally posted by SDF_GR:* If you google you'll see that there are rumours that by 2009 studios will start releasing some titles only in BD. I've seen the rumors about The Dark Knight and The Hobbit but they're really hard to believe at this point. A timed-release schedule may be more feasible. However, Christopher Nolan did say that the iMax sequences of The Dark Knight will be on the BluRay release only: http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/07/17/exp...ces-on-blu-ray/ I think TDK is one title that could actually move hardware. [ + quote]
Hyasuma (Inactive) 6 August 2008 9:43
*Originally posted by jab1981:* I love the psuedo articles that always love to say no one likes Blu-Ray by discounting it's biggest success. The PS3 is always used as an after thought. I'm sick of seeing headlines of this sort... "NO ONE WANTS BLU-RAY... unless you count the millions buying the PS3". You'd have to be insane to buy a stand alone Blu-Ray player at this point. The PS3 remains the cheapest option and it's got included wifi for future proofing with updates. There are very few options on the market to compete with that... and that's not even counting it may play some games. I personally own two PS3s and I bought both of them for the Blu-Ray player. I bought a Blu-Ray player and that's the model I chose, I'm sick of hearing how it some how doesn't count. As I see it it's the Blu-Ray player every other stand alone should strive to be. Blu-Ray is taking almost as long as DVD adoption... we should all be worried. I remember buying my first "mid-range" DVD player for $700... with that in mind my top of the line Blu-Ray player was a steal at under $400. And for this early in the formats life I'm already paying less for Blu-Ray than I was for DVD. I remember $30 being standard for all new DVDs... I have yet to pay over $16 for any Blu-Ray title and my collection is over 50 strong (including all the Harry Potters for under $8 thanks to a great sale at Amazon.com). Stop being sheep people, Blu-Ray isn't that expensive. [ + quote]
SDF_GR (Member) 6 August 2008 10:06
*Originally posted by blueroad:* first bold: well mate we werent talking about small size versus dual- we were talking bout the overall price of high storage (500GB-1TB) storage devices prices as opposed to total amount of a 1 layer bluray discs it takes to reach that capacity and with one measly disc costs 14$ its simply insane and not worth it-if you want low capacity storage 4.5/8.5 GB is more than enough to sut your needs with 50 1 layer dvds costing the price of one bluray disc and if you want high capacity its far more reasonable price wise and storage wise to go for the storage devices I was saying what is the issues that we havent seen movies in FD. BD's enemy isnt the mechanic storage drives, is the SSD drives...vs that bd capacity is way cheaper than any form of SSD drive, 8,5 gb arent enough even for 1 hour of HD content. *Originally posted by blueroad:* as for the 2nd bold: theres always those people that will download the pirated versions and i think that if they stop releasing dvds that number will just increase rather than the BD movies sales as we already know that many people dont even see the need to buy a bd disc and prefer to rent it so in the end that will hurt them and the risk is far greater than the gain-and bear in mind that it is a very gutsy move that could prove fatal to movie disc sales..i think that they will only do that after bluray has truly based itself as a known and widely used format worldwide not only in america (you are of cource forgetting that dvds are exported from the US for a worldwide release and here in israel and the middle east and even what ive been hearing from my friends in few countries in europe the format is not known to the main public. They may think that cause BD cant be ripped (in theory) it cant be shared so people will have to buy BD players...just a though, dunno. For sure tho i believe that will make some people that dont have BD player to buy, and sony by having all this studios can push things. Europe is like any other region HD content is known mostly to the people that care, nothing more, nothing less. *Originally posted by blueroad:* and yet we forget the fact that studios can be stupid on occation..so well just have to wait and see.. well if we count how many times they have paid for locking patents that proved useless... occasion becomes usual. *Originally posted by juankerr:* I've seen the rumors about The Dark Knight and The Hobbit but they're really hard to believe at this point. A timed-release schedule may be more feasible. However, Christopher Nolan did say that the iMax sequences of The Dark Knight will be on the BluRay release only: http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/07/17/exp...ces-on-blu-ray/ I think TDK is one title that could actually move hardware. It is hard to believe mate indeed and IMO X-trmely too early for a step like that, but sony this days can turn the world around. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 6 August 2008 10:07
Vr0cK (Newbie) 6 August 2008 10:50
I've compared a few different up-scale dvd players vs PS3 and up-scale doesnt even come close to looking HD. Sure it looks a bit better then on a standard DVD, but stop being so blind ppl, face facts that you know blu-ray picture is significantly better and you're just too cheap to afford one and trying to stand behind your dvd player. Keep telling your brain that but one day youll give in. And yea dvds were alot more expensive when it first came out because it was a completely new medium/technology then vhs so im going to assume that those that complain about blu-ray are either just haters or too young to remember when dvds were first introduced. [ + quote]
NexGen76 (Member) 6 August 2008 11:49
*Originally posted by Vr0cK:* I've compared a few different up-scale dvd players vs PS3 and up-scale doesnt even come close to looking HD. Sure it looks a bit better then on a standard DVD, but stop being so blind ppl, face facts that you know blu-ray picture is significantly better and you're just too cheap to afford one and trying to stand behind your dvd player. Keep telling your brain that but one day youll give in. And yea dvds were alot more expensive when it first came out because it was a completely new medium/technology then vhs so im going to assume that those that complain about blu-ray are either just haters or too young to remember when dvds were first introduced. Couldn't said it better myself........ [ + quote]
ematrix (Junior Member) 6 August 2008 17:24
Yes, I've compared upscaled DVD vs BD, and I have seen pictures on screens with upscaled DVDs, that i thought came from BD; in the other hand i have seen screens with BD pictures that were so bad that it looked like they came from VHS or VCD. Yes people, is the equipment you use to view either upscaled DVD or BD movies, not the resolution on the discs itself. Nobody is denying that Blu-ray offers more resolution than DVD, but the bottom line is that if you use the proper equipment, and regardless of what BD backers insist to say, you can achieve superb picture results from DVD. It may not be as equal as BD, but if it's close and good enough for most of the people around the world, then so be it. Movie studios will not stop releasing titles on DVD, because that's were they get their big profits, which they aren't getting from BD. Rumors of the contrary are just that... rumors. I dislike that BD backers keep insisting that everybody should jump on the BD wagon, like we didn't have a choice... guess what? We do have a choice and we're exercising it... We choose not to be blind enough to early adopt every single new format, just because they say you should, nor to be sheep in buying corporate propaganda, patronized articles, sponsored analysis and predictions, with the sole purpose to misleading consumers that you must purchase their products. [ + quote]
Hunt720 (Junior Member) 7 August 2008 13:05
I use my PS3 to upscale my DVD's AND to watch BD films. My TV DOES support 1080p and I have copies of movies on BOTH formats. That being said both sides of this arguement have a point. I know that I own many films that I enjoy in HD on BD. Action/Sci-fi/any movie where things explode is SOOO much more enjoyable on a disk that stores it NATIVELY in HD. I notice details that I had never seen, I see things sooo much better and slo-mo looks F#$KING amazing. Favorite movies of mine I prefer to buy the discs in Blu-ray but I agree that prices still need to come down for me and many other consumers. Thats why instead of whining on AD about prices, I look for deals on Amazon or ebay instead of taking Best Buys prices as the end all be all. Many call this "critical thinking" or "problem solving skills". There is NO other HD disc-format right now. Period. HD-DVDs still look great but the selection is offically stagnant. HD downloads can take a long time and are actually less conveniant for me that ordering a disk online. I aslo enjoy HD content on TV, but its not as crisp/clear and this is true of many cable companies who consider 720p as high as HD needs to go. ON THE OTHER HAND... I also have many DVD's that I will NOT upgrade to BD. Many comedies and films where PERFECT clarity isn't essential to me look great upscaled to psuedo-hd and I am happy with them. For instance: I won't be buying a BD release of Old-School as watching Will Ferral streak is just as funny when upscaled. If you want to watch films right now in the highest possible quality (and you have an HDTV.. cuz if you DON'T then this is proabably a lost topic on you) then Blu-Ray is the most accessible. Otherwise you are upscaling a non HD film and lying to yourself. I can trick out my SAAB all I want... its still not a porche. [ + quote]
ematrix (Junior Member) 7 August 2008 16:35
The point is that most people aren't interested in watching movies at the highest possible quality (otherwise "piracy" wouldn't be such a big issue for movie studios) most people don't care much if with Blu-ray you could see pores and acne scars from an actor's face, or wireframe from fences at the distance, they just want to watch good movies. Period. If most people find that upscaling DVD is good enough to enjoy good movies, then so be it... after all it's just a movie... they aren't lying to themselves, they're being more objective, that they rather spend their money in more meaningful things than in home entertaiment... surely a lot of people could grab their savings and buy themselves a Porsche, but rather buy a SAAB and enjoy other things in life, after all a car is just a car, and either one will drive you to work, or go on vacations, to a picknik, even to the movies with a date, family or friends. PS: Surely a Porsche will impress more a date, and increase the chances you getting lucky, but hell I rather be with those accept me for who I am, not for what I have. [ + quote]
samshizze (Junior Member) 7 August 2008 21:08
Pretty stupid article if you ask me... Only bright spot of Blu-Ray is PS3? Thats like saying the only bright spot of DVD was the DVD Player. If this journalist actually has seen a blu-ray disc being played, then he'd know how incredibly much better it looks than standard dvds. Plus with Blu-ray RW computer drives on the way (some already here), this article makes even less sense. [ + quote]
Hunt720 (Junior Member) 7 August 2008 21:45
*Originally posted by ematrix:* The point is that most people aren't interested in watching movies at the highest possible quality (otherwise "piracy" wouldn't be such a big issue for movie studios) most people don't care much if with Blu-ray you could see pores and acne scars from an actor's face, or wireframe from fences at the distance, they just want to watch good movies. Period. If most people find that upscaling DVD is good enough to enjoy good movies, then so be it... after all it's just a movie... they aren't lying to themselves, they're being more objective, that they rather spend their money in more meaningful things than in home entertaiment... surely a lot of people could grab their savings and buy themselves a Porsche, but rather buy a SAAB and enjoy other things in life, after all a car is just a car, and either one will drive you to work, or go on vacations, to a picknik, even to the movies with a date, family or friends. PS: Surely a Porsche will impress more a date, and increase the chances you getting lucky, but hell I rather be with those accept me for who I am, not for what I have. Maybe the word IF was lost on you. As in : "IF you want to wacth movies in the highest possible quality". IF you don't, then stay "objective" and you can still be right. I wasn't arguing against it, just saying that upscaled DVD's are not the higest quality. And afterall that is what the format is about, better quality. So if you dont want the porche, and are happy with your SAAB, then you don't fall into the insecure "IF" category and are thus without a point when responding to it. Enjoy doing the speed limit. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 7 August 2008 21:47
varnull (AfterDawn Addict) 7 August 2008 22:04
blah blah blah.. same old trolls.. same old gang bashing.. Sony are cooking the figures they are pulling out of thin air yet again.. I don't even know why these pointless topics are posted.... oh hang about.. trolls need income.. yeah. Run it's course here Vurbal... the fanboys have arrived and started shouting any contrary opinion down again. Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work. OOps.. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/25/...es_dead_hurrah/ [ + quote]
kishan73 (Newbie) 7 August 2008 23:01
I have a Sony PS3 (60g) and enjoy watching Blu-Ray titles but my HD DVD Player for my 360 is still kickin' ass and takin' names! I like that fact that I don't have to swap out game and movie disks whenever I want to watch or play either one. They need to have a multi-disc player that holds like 5 or 6 discs. That would be awesome! [ + quote]
ematrix (Junior Member) 8 August 2008 6:55
The fact is that most US consumers have expressed, that they're content with DVD and that's good enough for them. Nobody is denying that upscaled DVD isn't the highest quality possible, but most people are pleased with the results and don't see much benefit from BD. Also even when BD is all about a higher format than DVD, it's presented on old fashioned optical discs, which is for me a huge step back in this era of LCD and Plasma screens, portable HDD, USB and Flash cards. If they came up with a new revolutionary format that could offer more benefits than BD, hell even if the format's media is non optical disc would be a huge step forward, then I'll be supporting it from D-Day, otherwise I'm sticking with DVD, thanks. If you rather have BD movies or even a Porsche, good for you, but if others are content with DVD movies or proudly drive a SAAB, so be it. The problem is that you early adopters who support BD, keep insisting that anybody that is content with DVD quality, and have expressed amazing results from viewing upscaled DVDs, are simply lying to themselves... can't you respect that others preffer upscaled DVD rather than BD? Really what's the big deal? There are just movies! [ + quote]
Hunt720 (Junior Member) 8 August 2008 10:00
Then why own an HDTV? [ + quote]
kesma594 (Junior Member) 8 August 2008 13:13
For those they say they dont see a difference from DVD to Blu-ray must be watching it on a CRT TV. For me I see a dramatic improvement on my TOC Samsung when I run a Blu-ray. [ + quote]
ematrix (Junior Member) 8 August 2008 16:36
Comm'on! You should know better to pull such arguments... you already know by now that when people is talking about upscaled DVD, and its amazing picture results, it because they're viewing them on HDTV screens... really it's becaming tiredsome, give it a rest. You guys preffer Blu-ray, good for you, just respect that the rest of us are being content with upscaled DVD. [ + quote]
HDNow (Newbie) 8 August 2008 17:47
Upscaling or upconversion is *PSEUDO-high def* and a weak compromise. [ + quote]
stumpied (Junior Member) 8 August 2008 20:17
Blu ray is to TV what preminum gasoline is to cars. Some people want the benefit and will pay the added cost and others will not. Who are you (or I)to say our opinion counts for more or less then others. If people want the benefit, let them have it. For those who choose not too, respect that decision. You can't have the best of everything. People I know of that are even interested in Blu Ray are few and far between. It's going to be a long time before that changes. [ + quote]
Hunt720 (Junior Member) 8 August 2008 22:33
*Originally posted by stumpied:* Blu ray is to TV what preminum gasoline is to cars. Some people want the benefit and will pay the added cost and others will not. Who are you (or I)to say our opinion counts for more or less then others. If people want the benefit, let them have it. For those who choose not too, respect that decision. You can't have the best of everything. People I know of that are even interested in Blu Ray are few and far between. It's going to be a long time before that changes. ageed [ + quote]
ematrix (Junior Member) 9 August 2008 0:27
Thanks stumpied, I totally agree with your comments, and with those I rest my case, peace. [ + quote]
gnovak1 (Junior Member) 15 August 2008 10:12
My brother has a PS3 with Blu Ray and i watched one movie in Blu Ray and yes it is superior in quality but not enough to make me want to switch. VCR to DVD was a more significant upgrade as compared to DVD to Blu Ray. Of course, if the prices go down i'll jump on Blu Ray. 400 to 600 dollars for the players and 30.00 for the movies? Sorry !! No way. Plus being video streaming might be the next thing, blu ray may not have a long shelf life anyway. [ + quote]
hermes_vb (Senior Member) 15 August 2008 17:49
*Quote:* If you google you'll see that there are rumours that by 2009 studios will start releasing some titles only in BD. Totaly agree with you mate. If they kill DVD now, they will loose huge. Some people cannot afford BR Players and Discs. They are going to get their content from pirates, even if the quality sucks. *Originally posted by stumpied:* If people want the benefit, let them have it. For those who choose not too, respect that decision. You can't have the best of everything. Totally agree with you. I personally don't care much for Blue Ray.Of course Blue Ray is better than SD or ED (enhanced definition, not Erectile Dysfunction LOL), but my upconverting DVD player is good enough for me. I care more about content and plot. Besides, the change, although discernible, is not critical. It's not like I'm going from grainy B&W picture to HD. Most people are not Audiophiles or Videophiles. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 15 August 2008 18:01
Phloop (Newbie) 21 August 2008 10:55
As it appears to me, they will begin to phase out DVDs some time after the Digital Switch in Feb,2009 and UHF analog sets will become glorious paper weights/white nose machines. Once that occurs you will most likely see the price of HDTVs drop and HD media also go down in price. Right now most people don't have screens that can even properly display 1080p. Until the majority of house hold have upgraded to HD there really isn't much call for people dropping big money on Blu-Ray players and BR-Disks. Blu-Ray won the format war because it was marketed better and the use of the larger capacity on the disks allowed for even more perks to be stuffing onto a movie disk. Better picture and more Extras with special edition and cuts. Sony also had an ace in the whole and knew Blu-ray wouldn't lose because of the PS3 using it as a primary optical disk as opposed to the external add-on HD-DVD player that Toshiba licensed out to Microsoft for the 360. So bottom line here is, point of this article is rather obvious. PS3 clinched the format wars so of course they are currently the only "bright point". Now there really isn't any rush to be the next big thing until most everyone has and HD screen that can handle such movies. The biggest use of BDs is for video games and thusly those are the sole users of BDs. I foresee bigger and better things to come in the future of Blu-Ray and just like VHS tapes, CDs, and DVDs in the past, the prices will come down and new standards will be set. Blu-Ray will have its day. Until then those who have them and enjoy them... Good for you and those who don't and like what they do have... Goof for you too! And let us not forget that Sony is a Japanese company. The rest of the worlds gets the all the goodies Sony and other Japanese companies make once the Japanese are already tired of them. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 21 August 2008 11:30
Vulcan94 (Junior Member) 21 August 2008 11:18
*Originally posted by domie:* *Originally posted by varnull:* Philips have a history of making world changing developments.. yet they don't ever seem to push it down peoples throats unlike sony. They exist in their market happy to invent and pick up whatever sales they can get and what do Philips get for their non-aggressive policy ? what they get is usually a lot of very angry consumers like me who were suckered into buying their new technology only to see it disappear a year later through lack of promotion and studio support - cases in point 1) Philips V2000 video tape in the early 80s 2) Philips CDV discs ( gold coloured ) in 1989-90 stupid me paid � 500 for a Philips CDV 475 player in 1989 on unending promises of " it's the enext big thing " and " massive studio support " - only to see the whole carpet pulled from under my dimwitted feet 10 months later and the format dropped down the pan. anything that Philips invent from now on they can shove up their arses as they don't have a clue how to promote it.- most recent case in point - anyone bought one of the new line of Philips PCs or laptops that came out 12 months ago ? where are they now ? down the pan with most of their other new line ventures. if i was to buy into a new technology like blu ray etc then I would want an aggessive pushy company like Sony behind it to push it and make sure it didn't die - not pussy whipped bum boys like Philips who charge the earth for their "inventions" and then go home and spend nothing on promoting it. It could have been worse. You could have bought RCA's SelectaVision like my Dad. Vulcan94 [ + quote]
eliplan (Newbie) 27 August 2008 23:46
I dont see why they even made blu-ray in the first place. I dont know anyone who wants to get a PS3 or an expensive blu-ray player just so they can get some dumb exra features on an (also expensive) blu-ray disc [ + quote]
rvinkebob (Member) 28 August 2008 1:27
*Originally posted by eliplan:* I dont see why they even made blu-ray in the first place. I dont know anyone who wants to get a PS3 or an expensive blu-ray player just so they can get some dumb exra features on an (also expensive) blu-ray disc You do know that it has extra space for more content, right? [ + quote]