The Blu-Ray disc was first available commercially in 2003, having been first shown at various conventions in previous years. The disc allows for more data (video or other) to be stored due to a shorter wavelength laser (blue-violet) in comparison to the DVD technology. This allows for higher quality particularly when viewing movies.
The BD’s popularity has already soared since 2007 (source the daily telegraph) and many movie rental companies such as Blockbuster, Lovefilm or Netflix have made blu-ray releases available for rental. However, seeing as one needs to buy specific equipment in order to play these discs the price is still largely uncompetitive compared to a standard DVD.
So will films eventually only be released to the BD High definition format? Will it eventually replace the DVD? Or perhaps it is just transitional to eventually allow room for HD movie streaming on the net? Read on as this article looks at the newest tech-fad and attempts to answer some of these questions.
Movie Studios Support
Almost all of the major production houses have shown full support for the Blu-Ray HD format, as shown from the list on the Blu-Ray.com site. Some studios, such as Twentieth Century Fox have stated they prefer the BD format over High-Definition DVD’s but the new releases to DVD still seem to surpass the newly introduced format.
Most new films, such as “Slumdog Millionaire”, “The curious case of Benjamin button” or “Milk”, have both DVD and Blu-Ray releases but the number of re-mastered and old titles (such as “Lost Horizon” or “Arsenic and old lace” for example) released to DVD are still far more in number.
Does High-Definition only matter when new releases are involved (i.e. “The Matrix” or “Ironman”)? Would it really make a difference watching Hitchcock in HD or standard DVD format? Perhaps it wouldn’t or it is something to consider when upgrading your collection.
Cost Issues
Blu-Ray players prices start at $150 upwards, but to fully enjoy the High-Definition format you will also need a TV set which is HD ready. There are also Blu-Ray writers which are quite expensive starting at $300; it isn’t quite as accessible as a DVD writer which you can pick up for $50 and less second-hand.
As far as the actual discs are concerned, particularly speaking of new releases and not collections, there isn’t such a big difference in pricing: you would end up paying approximately $10 more for a newly released BD compared to a DVD.
Moreover, someone who has a large DVD collection will be unlikely to upgrade to BD simply because it isn’t feasible to do so. Despite new releases in the format and the fact that BD HD is way more popular than the HD DVD format, standard DVD's are still more convenient particularly for existing collections and due to more choice being offered.
In Summary
Yes, films are already being released to Blu-Ray but in conjunction with, or after, DVD releases. This means that the majority of collectors and movie-watchers will be likely to buy or rent the DVD, despite the difference in quality; the cost of upgrading is considerable and the HD format is really only suited to films with stunning visuals.
It is difficult to determine, as with any new technology introduced in the market, whether BD will replace DVD’s completely. It certainly won’t happen very soon unless prices in hardware drop dramatically.
This has been seen in many previous instances, such as VHS over BETAMAX or mp3’s/ITunes over CD’s. CD’s are still widely consumed by music lovers in spite of the Ipod and music downloads; hence it is unlikely we will see DVD’s disappearing off the shelves anytime soon.
Will Films be Released straight to Blu-Ray?
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