Is Blu-ray losing its shine, despite format win?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Saturday, 03 May 2008 15:13

Opinion and Analysis

Offering Blu-ray recording units paired with terabyte hard drives at consumer friendly prices could also set off a boom in consumer high-def video recording, but unless these units can smoothly integrate with cable and satellite TV equipment, and are affordable, they won’t help in the short term.

Add to the fact Blu-ray is loaded with DRM and consumers can easily see why Blu-ray recorders haven’t yet made it to market, despite Blu-ray recorders being available in Japan, and in selected high-definition consumer level video cameras.

That all said, Blu-ray recorders are slated to arrive in the US later in 2008, but if history is any guide, prices will be astronomical.

Blu-ray’s success will lie in prices for players and discs dropping to DVD prices, especially in a global financial downturn – who has the spare cash to splurge up to US $50 on a new Blu-ray movie, when the same film on DVD is much cheaper?

Some still believe Blu-ray just needs more time to gain traction, but time is a quantity Blu-ray is running short of when the Internet video revolution grows ever stronger.

With Blu-ray meant to win once HD DVD was vanquished, the sales figures simply aren’t very encouraging, the publication of which may well be giving its backers a serious case of the blues.