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The Rise of Blu-ray
September 14, 2010
Blu-ray DVDs have taken a while to catch on. After going through their battle with HD-DVDs a few years ago, many experts predicted Blu-ray would overtake normal DVD sales and become the dominant format. Despite defeating HD-DVD, Blu-ray has suffered from low sales numbers due to high DVD prices and of the Blu-ray players themselves. The question remains: will Blu-ray finally be able to overtake the market and dominate as the leading format for DVD instead of standard definition?
According to PCWorld, the outlook for Blu-ray has improved dramatically since 2009. With the slow economy, Blu-ray had taken a while to become accepted by consumers. Home Media Research did a study after Black Friday last year, showing that Blu-ray sales increased an astounding $69.06 million, which ended up being a 224 percent increase from 2008. In comparison, standard definition DVD sales were down 7.89 percent. Why has Blu-ray experienced such a dramatic increase when consumers were not keen on accepting the new format?
For one, Blu-ray prices have dropped dramatically. In addition, the Playstation 3 now features a built-in Blu-ray player ($299.99), Blu-ray players at retail stores like Best Buy are priced between $129.99 and $179.99. According to Pricegrabber.com, in 2008 one of Sony's Blu-ray players cost $399.99, and even LG's BH200 cost $999.99. The price of Blu-ray players has drastically decreased within the last two years.
The only advantage standard definition DVDs have over Blu-ray is the price of the DVDs themselves. At retail stores like Target, the price of a standard definition DVD usually ranges between $14.99 and $19.99, whereas Blu-ray DVD prices range from $24.99 to $29.99. Despite having a cheaper price tag, though, Blu-ray DVDs have higher picture quality and better sound than the standard definition. When one sits down and watches both kinds of formats side-by-side, the difference in picture and sound is astounding.
While Blu-ray struggled in its first couple of years, it is starting to look like consumers will finally accept it. However, with the advent of 3-D television and movies, 3-D DVDs might become the dominant format within the next couple years. Until then, Blu-ray is poised to take over the DVD market. As long as prices continue to fall, there is no doubt that Blu-ray will overtake standard definition DVD and usher in an age of high-definition movie viewing.
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