Counterpoint: Blu-ray's Just Begun

[THE FOLLOWING IS A REBUTTAL TO "POINT: BLU-RAY'S ALREADY OVER."]

Corey, you ignorant misguided slut.

Corey, you flannel-clad dilettante

Corey . . .

Dude,

I understand your pain. We've all been there.

You have, what mental health experts call, Post-Traumatic-DVD-Audio-Syndrome. You were dumped by a format you loved, and now you're a bitter hater, unable to love any other format again. And poor, pristine, never-hurt-a-soul (except for HD DVD) Blu-ray is the unfortunate object of your wrath (so sad that this should happen to one as young and vital as yourself).

Well, lookee here, Corey Greenberg (if that is in fact your real name), I'm here to slap you upside the head and rub the salve of truth into your gaping DVD-Audio wound (I'll wear sterile latex gloves, of course). I will help you out of your funk and show you why Blu-ray's here to stay (at least for a good long while).

First off, on what kind of TVs are you watching those HD downloads? Does it say, "Made in Kazakhstan" on them? That could be your problem right there. All I know is, I tried the download route — not Apple TV, but, rather, XBox Live. And believe me, I could see the poorer HD quality on those downloads instantly. The picture wasn't as bright or sharp. And I certainly wasn't watching on some high-falutin' Kuro! (My 50-inch Pioneer plasma is the previous year's model.)

As for those home theater "experts" who couldn't tell upconverted DVD from Blu-ray from four-feet? Are we talking about those avid TV watchers in the Old Folks With Cataracts Home? Because all our S&V guys here can tell the difference instantly.

Okay, I know lots of people out there do watch DVDs on their HD screens and are perfectly happy. But then many people out there are watching standard-def channels thinking they're watching HD! Plus, the ones who are actually watching HD channels are sometimes stuck with cable providers who compress the hell out of the signal. So no wonder DVDs look good to all these people!

Let's not forget that special time when DVDs first took off. Everyone definitely noticed how clear the picture was, compared to VHS. Believe me, the same will happen as more and more people start buying Blu-ray.

Meanwhile, once prices of BD players drop below a certain level, people will have no reason to opt for upconverting DVD machines when they can get so much more for a little bit more dough.

And let's not forget human nature: People are collectors. There will always be those who will want to own a movie in a physical format — a collection of which shows the world just who they really are. Plus, discs offer rewards that downloads don't: bonus features, and now, interactive abilities.

A this point, only one Blu-ray occurrence would change my mind: Were I ever to see a Blu-ray disc entitled, The Corey Greenberg Show, I would most certainly have to concede that Blu-ray, is indeed, "over."

Nah, never mind. Blu-ray's here to stay, baby. Deal with it. —Rob Medich

Rob Medich is Sound & Vision's online editor. He projects that by fall 2009, he and Corey Greenberg will be best buds.

Comments

[Mike Hatch]

BRAVO, Rob! You are SPOT ON about Corey's opinion. How do I know that Blu-Ray is incredible (and will last)? Because it blows away VHS, DVD...hell...even my local cineplex. While watching, "I Am Legend" on Blu-Ray last night, I could CLEARLY make out the CGI of the Red Mustang barreling through New York City (sitting 7 feet away from a 1080i 32" CRT TV). Try making that out on DVD (even upconverted to 1080i)! Apple TV? WHATEVA!

[morrismrinak]

I agree with both pundits. People like to own "stuff" but the eventuality of HD downloads, for those of us not concerned with collecting "stuff", is surely just around the corner. It may not be just around the next corner but we all know it's coming and it will be a gold mine for the movie/music
business. With no physical packaging to deal with it doesn't get more "green" than that.

[Rocco Loschiavo]

I tend to agree with both, too.
I think Blu-Ray could have a chance, but they'll have to find a way to lower the prices both of the discs and the players, like it happened with normal DVD's.
That's the main problem, as I see it.
Football lovers have already big, Hi-Def screens in their homes, but it's rare for them to be also movie buffs, and it's the latters who buy the DVD's.
At the times DVD came over, being a fanatic movie lover, I owned several hundred VHS cassettes and even if it was a quite large economic waste, I was only too glad to throw away (nobody wanted to buy them at any price) those horrible renditions of my beloved movies, with their murderous pan-and-scan artifacts, muddy images and green or tan skies! Over the last ten years I bought again patiently, and with economic sacrifice, all those films, plus a lot more, of course, in the DVD format (I have now more than 1,600 titles)and gloried in the pristine images, the anamorphic wide screen, the digital sound and everything, watching them on a medium-priced, ($350) but high quality HDMI player on an LCD screen with 1380 pixels resolution, ($700) and they truly look great.
Now, do you think it would be sane throwing all this in the wastebasket again, to buy a $ 800 player, a $ 2,000 HD screen and 1,600 discs at $ 29,95 each?
That's the kind of reasoning most people will make and what Blu-Ray has to face. I think you can guess the answer.
I do not believe it's so much in the downloading or not: that's a thing for PC lovers, who watch over their tiny screens, while most people love the impact of a giant screen.
While the transition from LP records to CD was essential, like the one from VHS tape to DVD, the one from CD to SACD wasn't, just like the one from DVD to Blue-Ray.
Not at the current prices, anyway.

[Darrell Reid]

I have a 60 inch Sony SXRD and Samsung Blu-Ray player...I just bought Celine Dions's Caesar's Palace LV Concert in Blu-Ray disk format....having seen the concert at Caesar's Palace, I was thrilled, amazed and grateful for the wondrous format that enabled viewing of this event in my family room for family and friends whenever the urge arises. Picture and sound..Spectacular!! Blu-Ray redundant? HUMBUG!!

[S Roe]

Everyone noticed the picture quality of dvd over vhs befoe buying because every tv in the store was playing a dvd. Today the blueray is lucky to be on 2 tv's while the hundreds of other tvs in the store play compressed cable crap. Those 2 tv's are usually smaller than 40" instead of being featured on a on a 60" plasma.
The audio is plugged into the tv or an el-cheapo home theatre in a box, so like SACD and DVD-Audio before, I can't hear if the new Hi bitrate audio formats sound any good.
There is a very good reason not to buy even if prices fall tomorrow. There is no content. At the local video rental chain there were 48 titles total combined for blueray and Hddvd, about half of which I would consider watching.That is not enough to get me to invest in a new player.
And yes poeple are collectors. How does one get them to start collecting blueray discs instead of dvd's, stamps, rare books, stuffed toys, painted dishes, or a millions other things that they collect. If I happen to like to collect movies, I can get a lot more of them at 10 to $15 for dvd's than bluerays at $35.

[Murray Thompson www.rapalloav.co.nz]

I too are all for Bluray and hope it lasts. Im sorry to see HD DVD go as I thought it was a great format, but pleased I didnt buy too many discs. I still have a large collection of standard DVD titles and probably may never see those old classics on BD for a long long time. I think we will see both formats running side by side for many years and today I still continue to by both formats.

[aus]

My 5 year old noticed that the HD-DVD version of "Transformers" was better while watching it at Sam's club!!! I didn't even ask him, he just said, "daddy, their Optimus is shinier."

And we have a 1080P 50" Panny at home that plays the SD-DVD from an OPPO 970 at 480i to an Anthem AVM50 that does the upconverting.