It's 2013 and HD-capable TVs are the norm and Blu-ray players can be had for as low as $30. If you've got an HDTV, then there really isn't any good reason not to have a Blu-ray player.

Consumer electronics as a type of consumable product - has assigned a timetable or call it a lifespan for expectation of the product. If you were talking an automobile tire - it could be said that it gives you 30,000 miles , meaning the amount of tread on the tire remains within legal limits for safe driving for 30,000 miles.

Blu-ray has been strong in market penetration for the last 3 years, the price point for retail Blu-ray is now $5 at Target in store and for broad selection.

DVD set-top players have a consumable expectation of about 1 year for $60 retail purchase. Technically all DVD players are now discounted since the 3 year penetration of Blu-ray to a value of nothing today.

For any customer of mine today, that receives a Blu-ray disc from me, and tells me that he has only a DVD player...I offer the following - 1) a $40 credit against the purchase of any Blu-ray player of their choosing and 2) an offer to box and ship his old DVD set-top player for electronic recycling meeting state and federal law.

Can we be sure that all cheap Blu-ray player set-top boxes will read BD-R discs? I have a portable 10" BD player that plays commercial BDs (BD-ROM) but unfortunately not BD-R.

I bought it primarily to play DVDs, because all the portable DVD players I have seen have atrociously poor screen resolution. The portable BD player is slightly better than SD (not sure of the exact figures) and displays DVDs very well.

It now seems, however, that small portable BD players have come and gone. Not enough demand, apparently.

videoITguy : Thanks for correction around aspect ratio...

PeterDuke : Which hardware media player able to play ISO BD ? - this one is interesting...

"Which hardware media player able to play ISO BD ?"

I have a Dune HD Base 3 that will play BD ISO with full menu support.

I believe Popcorn Hour has models that will do this also.

Xtreamer has a model that will play a BD ISO, but it may not play the menu. Double check me on that.

John Cline, or somebody please point me to a $30 Bluray Player in the US. I have been watching every ad for a year and the lowest I have seen is $59 for a new one.


Dave T2

Maybe this is a good time to ask...I heard one could put about 15-20 mins of Blue Ray material on a standard DVD and play that in a BR Player.
I've never done this with DVDA..How can I do this?
I kinda tried burning BR from the timeline but it kept asking for a BR disc.
thanks!
mp

I'll also point out that the price difference between commercial DVD and commercial BluRay is still pretty high for most shoppers. DVD: everything you could ever imagine available for $3 to $24.95 with an average around $13. BluRay: most, but not all new titles, and a small smattering of classics: $15.95 to $31.95 with an average around $25.

Maybe the price difference in players is moot for a once in 3-year purchase, but if you buy a lot of discs, the extra $12 or so can add up quickly. The enormous quality and convenience leap from VHS to DVD was a no brainer, and the prices quickly dropped making DVDs as cheap as tape. The difference from DVD to BluRay is miniscule while the price difference is still high. DVD entertains them; BluRay drains their wallets.

When you get down to the average consumer, how many of them really care about HD resolution? Sure, almost anyone can see there's a difference if it's pointed out to them. But does it matter? Do they appreciate it? Big screen, yes, they care about that. But while they will certainly notice and care about the difference between a 27" and a 57" screen, whether it's SD or HD filling that screen is often ignored. Outside of the small group of professional image suppliers, i think viewers care far, FAR more about content than about resolution. Indeed, when i've visited friends and family and watched TV with them, most of them had no clue if they were watching an HD or an SD broadcast. All that mattered to them was that it was a show they wanted to see.

When i've discussed 4K with quite a few people, pretty much the overwhelming response is "Would i have to buy another new TV for it? Then forget it. Who cares?"

I heard one could put about 15-20 mins of Blue Ray material on a standard DVD and play that in a BR Player.
=======================
I haven't tried it, but Phil Lee posted his method here. It uses the X264 encoder and Vegas.

I do it using the methods found here and here. Tom Roper posted this method and it works well for me. You do have to render at between 15 - 18 Mb/s.

John

There was a lot in the thread Video IT Guy linked above so you should read that.

I typically sell 1-2 BR versions of a Dance Recital or musical that I shoot out of 40 - 60 DVDs. I charge $10 more for it. Maybe that is the problem. The problem I have with it is that it isn't worth it. After applying color correction to a 2 hr production it takes around TWO DAYS to render using Vegas Pro 8 with a reasonably fast computer. I use the Glenn Chan FX chain most often, available on his Vaast Absolute Training for Sony Vegas Volume 4 (Color Correction) DVD. I believe it is discontinued, but that FX chain gives me great results. It does however add massive processing time to the render.

Unless Glenn has a better way to speed up the process? Not sure.

John

On my last paid gig, about 15% requested Blu-ray. I offered DVD, Blu-ray, and a DVD/Blu-ray combo. Some ordered multiple DVD's, a few ordered Blu-ray, but no one ordered the combo. Price for Blu-ray was just 2 dollars more than DVD.

I'm in an affluent, forward-thinking, and hi-tech area within metro-DC. I still fail to understand the populace's wedding to DVD. However, that is my problem, not theirs. I'm selling and they're buying. 'Nuf said.

"I still fail to understand the populace's wedding to DVD"

We, who focused on event video or video in general terms, will always follow the innovation and technology....
But, for other people who didn't pay attention specific on media technology, busy with their own business of different field, will not pay attention for this onw...

" I still fail to understand the populace's wedding to DVD."

Then as a vendor to the populace, you should gain a better understanding of your customers.

As i alluded to before, DVD was a *huge* jump in quality and benefit over the precursor VHS, but BluRay is a tiny, almost unnoticeable improvement over DVD. For most consumers it's not worth the price increase. I was a very early DVD adopter, and back then DVD players and DVDs cost a whole lot more than BluRay does now, but i suspect i'll never own a BluRay player or disc. There's just not enough benefit.

I make only BluRay.

Why would anyone use anything else?

@SWS

I’ve burned HD content onto DVD-5 and DVD-9 a lot. Before I had a Blu-ray writer, I used a DVD writer. I even burned HD-DVDs for a while. Here are some links where the subject was discussed.

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=659929

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=740841

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=781091

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=712668

A few thoughts.

I think the difference between those who are solely delivering Blu-ray and those selling DVD's are who their clients are. I do event work and have tried offering DVD's and Blu-ray at the same price and find almost everyone is only interested in the DVD. It is almost not worth my time offering the Blu-ray option. These are regular Mom's and Dad's, not corporate clients.

We are video enthusiasts and appreciate the difference. For the average person although they can see the difference it is not that important. The convenience of DVD over VHS mattered, digital over analogue mattered but Blu-ray is just another shiny disc(menus's, second audio track, bonus features etc...) - more of the same.

The bigger the screen the more the quality difference shows itself. On a 40" TV a Blu-ray is sharper with more detail. Projected on a 120" screen, Blu-ray is fantastic but DVD is blurry. I still watch plenty of DVD's blown up to that size though and enjoy them. Content is king!

Delivering Blu-ray content on a DVD is problematic as the discs do not play on all Blu-ray players. I've tried on my Sony and had no problems, on a Panasonic it did not play. No problems with properly burnt DVDA Blu-rays on any players and I have tried going into Best Buy and putting the disc in every Blu-ray player they sell.

Thanks John!

Just DVD here, for our event-videography work.
We delivered over 3,000 DVDs last year, of close to 100 school events, musical performances, etc. Haven't had even one request for Blu-Ray. We have had a VERY small handful of requests for a streaming format, but we don't deliver that way - too much hassle for less than one request per gig.
It's still very much the case here (in a "mixed" economic community including a lot of quite well-off people) that as long as it's widescreen, it's perfectly fine.
(Maybe not for commercial Hollywood discs and stuff like that, but definitely for our community-level event shoots.)

One thing I here from clients is how much easier it is to install the DVD movie onto a local media server so they can play it on any TV in the house.

A 100Mb Ethernet connection is ample for streaming DVD at its best encoding rate. Not so for BluRay.

By the way, anyone notice how the number of Bluray burners have dropped over the last year? I was a bit surprised when I had to get another one and only found a handful of companies still making them.

My stuff is under a minute. DVD or FTP.

RCourtney, I was talking about streaming video.

Streaming Bluray at 100Mbit (11MBytes/sec) is pretty ugly, if you are trying to stream 1920x1080 @ 24p.