Blu-ray Technology

[Phi for All]

What a fascinating piece of technology!

 

The industry obviously failed to get the market primed for this new format change, what with the economy and consumers that are getting tired of the hype. The technology itself is pretty great, quality-wise. I'm not that into the depth of experience offered with Blu-ray movies, watching the endless "making-of", deleted scenes and inside stories offered, but the picture and sound quality are definitely a cut above.

 

My problem is that, with the earlier format war with HD DVD and the slow market, the Blu-ray players have moved past my original dilemma of how to keep playing my DVD collection while building a new format library and are now into streaming Netflix and Pandora and trying to act like my smart phone for versatility. I run Netflix through my Wii console so I'm really just looking for a player that plays both Blu-ray and DVDs but I'm on my second Blu-ray player and it's now refusing to be consistent with the old format. I don't know if this is an attempt to push us further away from the old format, or if they are just skimping on something that will eventually die anyway, or if I'm just not spending enough on a player I only need to do one thing, play disk movies.

 

I'd like to hear what others think of the technology, and what the economic slump means in terms of how long and how much and wtf is going on with Blu-ray.

[A Tripolation]

I use my Blu-ray to watch HD movies and I use my 360 to stream Netflix. I don't understand what you mean by "wtf is going on with Blu-ray". Am I missing something?

[insane_alien]

I think it's quite good. my internet connection certainly isn't good enough to be downloading such large movies all the time and i haven't had a problem playing DVD's or even some old VCD's

 

I just wish xbox would use blu-rays as well so you don't have to change disks in big games.

[Phi for All]

I have more DVDs than Blu-ray movies, and I'm finding the Blu-ray players I've had don't play them as well. The disks freeze in spite of being in pristine condition. I get a lot of "No Disk" messages also.

 

I'm also concerned about the investment. Blu-ray took such a long time to dominate the market, and what with the economic slump, I find the hardware to be very cheaply made. The first Blu-ray player I had had to have the buttons on the top because it was too light to push them from the front. I'm wondering how much to invest in a physical format when downloading technology seems to be getting much better.

[Xittenn]

It is most likely not a format compatibility issue. It is more likely that you bought a cheap piece of junk whose lenses or something else in the transport are glitched. What model?

 

Honestly it's like a printer, why pay $150 a piece for five printers over ten years when you can buy one for $500 and it will last ten years.

 

Blu-Ray is most likely not going to be displaced before the end of this decade. Holographic disks will probably be making their appearance over the next few years ( appearance. )

 

 

 

*** usual disclaimer ***

[Appolinaria]

To be honest, I've never even seen a Blu-Ray disc.

 

If I want to watch a movie, I'll just watch it online :x

 

The main purpose of my TV is for background noise or COD.

[Xittenn]

I have a Blu-Ray drive in my crate and HD looks really good on a monitor! Compressed video is lossy, but I guess the difference is dependent on the viewer and if he or she feels one way or the other about it. I haven't used Netflix yet and I found iTunes a bit of a pain and somewhat disappointing; D/L speeds were excellent.

[Leader Bee]

 

I just wish xbox would use blu-rays as well so you don't have to change disks in big games.

 

I believe this is because Blu-Ray is a Sony developed technology and when the PS3 came out it was one of the cheapest players around. Perhaps Sony wouldnt let Microsoft use the technology or MS just didnt want to pay the licence fee's.

 

Sony were making a loss on their PS3 hardware as far as i'm aware but the fact they had the cheapest players and an already established target audience (Gamers) they knew they'd have enough units in households to make up for this in Blu-Ray sales later down the line... Partly why HD-DVD failed to become popular from how I understand it, not that it was inferior.

Edited November 4, 2011 by Leader Bee

[Phi for All]

It is more likely that you bought a cheap piece of junk whose lenses or something else in the transport are glitched.

This is most likely the case. I didn't buy the cheapest one the first time but it still wasn't terribly expensive, maybe $120. The second one was an impulse buy for like $75.

 

Honestly it's like a printer, why pay $150 a piece for five printers over ten years when you can buy one for $500 and it will last ten years.

 

Blu-Ray is most likely not going to be displaced before the end of this decade. Holographic disks will probably be making their appearance over the next few years ( appearance. )

This makes sense. I'll have to start looking for a good model. Any recommendations?

 

I believe this is because Blu-Ray is a Sony developed technology and when the PS3 came out it was one of the cheapest players around. Perhaps Sony wouldnt let Microsoft use the technology or MS just didnt want to pay the licence fee's.

 

Sony were making a loss on their PS3 hardware as far as i'm aware but the fact they had the cheapest players and an already established target audience (Gamers) they knew they'd have enough units in households to make up for this in Blu-Ray sales later down the line... Partly why HD-DVD failed to become popular from how I understand it, not that it was inferior.

This is what I'm used to. Ever since Nintendo started the trend of practically giving away the players and making their real profits on the games, I've been used to the players being fairly high quality. And although I so much preferred the CD and DVD formats over their predecessors, I was also aware of how much more markup the manufacturers were making. DVD disks are so much cheaper to make than VHS tapes were, they were cheaper to ship, cheaper to store, had fewer defects, yet they charged almost 50% more for DVDs.

 

That always pissed me off, and it only got worse as the market became disk saturated. By the time they let us start burning our own CDs and DVDs, we knew how cheap the disks were, yet the price for movies only came down a couple of bucks, and they started marketing all the stuff that normally ended up on the cutting room floor as "Bonus Features". Actors flubbing their lines became "Gag Reels". So when Blu-ray promised even more of that, I have to say it didn't make me real excited.

 

Yes, the HD picture is very good. But after a while, without the old standard sitting next to it to show how much better it is, it just becomes the standard. It's still pretty breathtaking right now, but I know marketing and I know there is a lot of hype to force this format change. And now the disks are again much more expensive, packed with camera angles I don't really need and director's narratives I won't listen to and deleted scenes I wish had been left deleted.

[Xittenn]

Anything from:

 

- Denon

 

- Merantz

 

- Cambridge Audio

 

- Onkyo

 

- Harmon Kardon

 

- Oppo

 

 

but these are high end players and can range anywhere from $400 - $1000. These players are fitted with nothing but the best components. The only thing with these are they tend to be a little behind in terms of next best thing where currently many of them still do not support net streaming.

 

Maybe check out Denon's DBP-1611UD which does support streaming. It's their entry level model and runs for like $400.

 

Just make sure the player carries all the features you require. Like with Denon's DBP-1611UD, it doesn't have 7.1 Analogue Outputs.

 

 

--- or ---

 

 

If you still prefer to stick it out on the budget side but get a player with a higher success rate, go . . . . . I bite myself for saying this . . . . Sony. I have had bad experiences with Samsung and am a bit disappointed about their current product. Reviews for Samsung haven't been so great either. Reviews for Sony have been excellent. Hell you might even want to go PS3 . . . .

 

Sony 3D Wi-Fi Blu-ray Player -- BDPS580 or BDPS780

 

Avoid entry level budget units they come at a price of cheap components that tend to not hold up under all circumstances!

 

I guess with Sony it's like their Trinitron TV's, and the PS3, I guess they make the occasional decent product. Just be careful with them!

 

my #1 choice

Edited November 4, 2011 by Xittenn

[Phi for All]

Anything from:

 

- Dennon

 

- Merantz

 

- Cambridge Audio

 

- Onkyo

 

- Harmon Kardon

 

- Oppo

 

 

but these are high end players and can range anywhere from $400 - $1000. These players are fitted with nothing but the best components. The only thing with these are they tend to be a little behind in terms of next best thing where currently many of them still do not support net streaming.

Perfect. And that's actually just what I want, something to play the disks in both formats.

 

What I don't want is another situation like I have with my smartphone. I use my Blackberry Curve as an alarm clock, a timer and a stopwatch and it's got more songs than my iPod. I use it as a notepad for shopping at a dozen stores, it's my calendar and my source for email on the go. I can't hardly live without the map function and it takes good pictures and video. The only thing I don't like is it's not a very good cell phone. Gah!

 

If you still prefer to stick it out on the budget side but get a player with a higher success rate, go . . . . . I bite myself for saying this . . . . Sony. I have had bad experiences with Samsung and am a bit disappointed about their current product. Reviews for Samsung haven't been so great either. Reviews for Sony have been excellent. Hell you might even want to go PS3 . . . .

 

Sony 3D Wi-Fi Blu-ray Player -- BDPS580 or BDPS780

 

Avoid entry level budget units they come at a price of cheap components that tend to not hold up under all circumstances!

I'm not a big fan of 3D, and wouldn't that require me to get a 3D TV as well?

 

Some movies are just incredible in 3D, totally justifying the extra expense, like Avatar. I guess it's the flying element, it always seems so perfect in 3D. Most of the stuff I see in 3D seems gimmicky and contrived for the format. I've read where the industry loves 3D because it's so hard to pirate. I can understand that, but I think they're involved in a little piracy themselves when they get to charge extra for the glasses every time and then make you give them back after each performance. When pressed, the theaters say it's because people always forget them, so they just automatically charge for them as a "convenience".

[Xittenn]

What I don't want is another situation like I have with my smartphone. I use my Blackberry Curve as an alarm clock, a timer and a stopwatch and it's got more songs than my iPod. I use it as a notepad for shopping at a dozen stores, it's my calendar and my source for email on the go. I can't hardly live without the map function and it takes good pictures and video. The only thing I don't like is it's not a very good cell phone. Gah!

 

These units play disks, and a few might stream. They target a market where the optimal experience is preferred and streaming isn't necessarily the best way to achieve this. Individuals who build quality systems also tend to be collectors and the disk format fits well.

 

Earlier you mentioned the price of disks, "we knew how cheap the disks were". This isn't necessarily true. Quality disks are very expensive and prints of films are almost always released on quality media. Cheap disks are a nightmare, something most noticeable when doing info critical data backups.

 

I'm not a big fan of 3D, and wouldn't that require me to get a 3D TV as well?

 

3D is just an added feature of that player, the player itself is still their better model regardless. You would need the proper TV to view in 3D.

[Phi for All]

my #1 choice

I really like the features on that McIntosh. It looks like a quality unit so I just ordered two of them, one for my home theater and one for the servant's quarters.

[Xittenn]

You can always build it yourself. You could even buy all of the same components, less the case, which you would probably rather make your own of anyway. It's not rocket science.