Blu-ray Tips

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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The Pioneer BDR-101A Blu-ray burner is now shipping. The BDR-101A is an internal drive for the PC. This is the first Blu-ray recorder on the market - currently the competing HD-DVD format has no recorder.

The BDR-101A is a 2x recorder, and is also capable of burning DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW discs.

However, don’t buy this drive is you’d like to burn CDs with it. It will not burn to a CD or even read any type of CD.

There are definitley limitations to this drive - although for a first generation device - the $999 price dag isn’t all that bad. However, for most people this would really be just another expensive toy rather than a useful tool.

Currently, this drive will only record to single layer Blu-ray discs. Currently dual layer discs are available although nothing can record to them at this time. However, the 25GB capacity of a single layer disc still leaves a lot of room for storing data.

One other thing to note - if you buy this recorder, you still won’t be able to watch Blu-ray movies as the drive does not come with the software to watch movies - that software is has not been released yet either.

Pioneer Blu-ray BDR-101A Burner Recorder Drive

Pioneer Blu-ray Burner BDR-101A Recorder Drive

An analyst firm has reported that Toshiba loses approximatley $200 on each HD-A1 HD-DVD player it sells.

The company currently charges $499 for the player, but it’s estimated costs for the entire unit are estimated to be in the $700 range. The firm beleives that Toshiba is trying to buy its way into the market. The current Blu-ray players currently cost $999, so an HD-DVD player currently costs half as much as the new Blu-ray format.

HD-DVD Toshiba Blu-ray HD A1 Player DVD Movies

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.

PCs will have a major role in deciding which format ultimately wins in the Blu-ray vs HD-DVD format wars.

Of the world’s three largest computer manufacturers, only Dell has committed to one format - Blu-ray.  Both HP (#2), and Lenovo (#3) are planning on supporting both formats at the moment.

Acer just released four notebooks with HD-DVD drives, but has said they plan on releasing models with Blu-ray drives as soon as they are available.

Computers will Blu-ray drives could start shipping as early as late June.

The scheduled release date of the first Blu-ray movies is set for June 20th according to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.