Winning the battle against HD DVD was a huge step for Blu-ray disc, and all who back the new video format, but the war is with the consumers. Will people actually shell out the extra cash to replace the movies they already own on DVD and upgrade their HD equipment to make Blu-ray worth it.
Blu-ray boasts 27 giga-bytes of storage capacity, which is more than five times the amount of a standard DVD, this makes Blu-ray capable of holding HD movies and special features. Blu-ray is also compatible with full 1080p HD resolution and the highest quality digital sound. These features make Blu-ray the best possible in-home movie experience. The problem Blu-ray backers, such as Sony and Samsung, face is in order to get the most out of a Blu-ray disc consumers must first buy a 1080p TV, a surround sound system and special cables to hook everything up. When it all adds up the entire process cost no less than $2500. According to a report by Suzanne Choney of msnbc.com 39 percent of households have HD TVs, but only a small fraction of those TV's are 1080p. 1080p resolution is the only way to truly tell the difference between HD and standard definition movies.
Another problem with Blu-ray according to Choney is stand alone players do not have internet capabilities. This is essential because companies like Sony are still improving the technology and with out being connected to the internet the Blu-ray players can not receive updates so they become outdated. It's going to be hard to convince someone who bought a $400 piece of hardware that their new toy is obsolete one year later.
The final hurdle for Blu-ray to make it over is with people buying the movies. Priced at $30 a Blu-ray movie is double the price of a DVD, so if the HD picture is not stunning most people are not going to update their collections. Plus not all Blu-ray movies turn out with the same quality. A great site for skeptical consumers, blu-ray.com rates every movie released on Blu-ray disc and evaluates the picture and sound quality. Different movies receive different reviews, and there is no consistency in which movies look great, and which movies look like standard DVDs. If I'm paying double the price I expect double the quality and not all Blu-rays can guarantee that. From a personal standpoint I have noticed movies made this decade and especially those made in the last two or three years tend to appear much sharper and crisper. Old movies that get converted into HD don't seem to impress me at all, and according to blu-ray.com they usually look "grainy." Grainy: a dirty word when describing picture quality.
The technology will improve with time, just as all new technologies do, but it may be later rather than sooner. If I had to give Blu-ray a yes or no today I would say yes with about five asterisks next to it. Yes*****
*if you have a 1080p TV
*if you have 5.1 or 7.1 Dolby Digital surround sound
*if your Blu-ray player has internet capabilities
*if you have high quality HDMI cables to hook the player to the TV
*if you like the current selection of movies available on Blu-ray.
Not the resounding YES! that Sony needs to make the HD movie revolution Blu.