Can Blu-ray or HD-DVD catch on? June 27

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Now that both formats are out, and some reviews have come on both, I’ve started really thinking that it might not be a question of which format will beat out the other, but if either format can become mainstream.

I started thinking about the challenges it’s facing, and here’s some I came up with during a discussion I was having a with a friend.

1) What the heck is it? I know what the difference between 780p, 1080i, and 1080p - you probably do too, but does the average consumer - well, not the ones I talked to. All the average consumer wants is something that is convenient, easy to use, and that they can mostly understand. But a Blu-ray or HD-DVD disc looks like a DVD, gets inserted into something that looks like a DVD player, yet costs a heck of a lot more. I think people have a hard time understanding just what the heck it is.
2) Not a Leap Forward. In 1982 when CDs were released - they were a leap forward. In 1997, DVDs were released - they were a leap forward as well. You no longer had to rewind the movie when you were done viewing - and the heavens rejoiced. The DVD and VHS look nothing alike. You can see the improvement in video quality and hear better audio on a regular TV with regular surround sound.

Blu-ray and HD-DVD I don’t really see as being a leap forward. They look like DVDs. The average consumer probably couldn’t tell the difference on a reguar TV - they’d need to buy entirely new equipment.
3) Expensive Equipment. The cost of the equipment is enourmous. I’m know we’re still talking about first generation devices here, but 1080p televisions that can take full advantage of the new formats cost as much as luxury cars. And High definition audio equipment is hardly a drop in the bucket.

This technology is out of the reach of most households - even with no payments, no interest for a year deals.

The one feature I do see the benefit of is the fact that these formats hold a lot of data - 25gb for Blu-ray (50gb coming out in October) and 30gb for HD-DVD. So these devices may be very useful for backing up large amounts of data. Blu-ray and HD-DVD may never make it in the mainstream home theater market, but I do see them becoming a common drive on a computer for burning large amounts of data to disc.

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First Blu-ray movies released today by Sony June 20

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The first Blu-ray movies have been released today by Sony.

The list:

50 First Dates
Hitch
House of Flying Daggars
Terminator
The Fifth Element
Underworld Evolution
XXX (with Vin Diesel)

Being released Tuesday:

Ultraviolet
Crash
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Saw
Lord of War
The Punisher

Running down to the store to pick up these latest release might not do much good, however, since there are currently no Blu-ray players available (there’s not supposed to be anyway, but there have been a few reports of Blu-ray players being on Best Buy shelves early).  But that’ll be fixed on Sunday with the release of the Samsung BD-P1000.  It’ll set you back about $1k.  Since it doesn’t even support the dual layer Blu-ray discs being released later this year, I think I’ll wait.