Will on Demand Movies Stymie Blu-ray Growth?
VHS sure had it easy. 20 years ago, VHS battled Betamax in a winner-take-all contest that created a home video revolution. It was a simpler time then. The only real formats for home viewing were battling each other head to head. VHS won the battle against Sony’s Beta format and the rest is history.
Fast-Forward to the High-Def Revolution. Blu-ray Disc (Sony) battles out HD DVD (Toshiba). Blu-ray Disc triumphs when Toshiba throws in the proverbial towel on February 2008. Now Blu-ray is the clear winner and will go on to international fame and fortune, right? Not so fast.
Blu-ray Disc ran into a number of issues, the first being their pricing. When DVD first started competing with VHS, they had a price point that made a lot of sense. It didn’t take long for the players to get cheap. As for the discs, well, DVDs were just really cool CDs. No problem. Not the case for Blu-ray, however. They’ve faced numerous issues getting hardware down to consumer price points. It doesn’t help that the discs are more expensive to manufacture, driving the average cost of movies up about $10 per title.
The newest factor to Blu-ray adoption, however, is yet another option for consumers. Online movie downloads are starting to gain momentum just as Blu-ray was starting to get some traction. As recently as last year, it seemed that online downloads wouldn’t be viable for a number of reasons (including licensing issues and quality concerns). Now major sites are starting to invest in the technology and consumers are taking rapid interest.
Take Netflix, for example. They now have over 12,000 titles available to subscribers via their ‘Instant Watch’ catalog. That’s not quite the (over) 100,000 titles in their standard catalog, but it’s a huge leap forward in a short amount of time. Amazon has gotten into the game as well. They now boast a catalog of over 15,000 on demand titles. The Amazon titles are either rented or bought, but in many cases are available on the same date as the DVD release.
With the addition of services such as the Netflix API, applications are starting to form around these services. One service from DVDCorral.com allows users to search online movies from a number of different catalogs. These services are making it easier and easier for consumers to find the media they’re looking for. That removes just one more hurdle that was plaguing online movie watchers a year ago.
Feedflicks.com is a service based on the Netflix API which tracks trends in Netflix rentals. According to the Feedflicks site, this is the first year that Netflix Instant Watch movies (the Netflix version of online movie downloads) have exceeded physical DVD rentals. Furthermore, the number of Instant Watch movies viewed this year has already exceeded last year’s count. Clearly more and more people are choosing for the convenience of watching a movie online.
Consumers don’t have to suffer on quality, either. Amazon’s downloads are available in the Microsoft VC-1 format — known among Videophiles for its remarkable quality. The Amazon titles aren’t quite at the quality of Blu-ray, but apparently it’s close enough for viewers who want their media on demand. Being instant and having a similar quality to DVD certainly makes it an appealing choice.
A recent surge in media centers has also changed how online media can be watched. Netflix has integrated with Xbox360, Tivo and a number of other systems which can play video directly to a TV. No longer is online video restricted to a computer monitor inside a cramped office. Every day it gets easier to stream online video to a TV or home theater. Most online retailers are doing the same and some have even started including support for mobile devices.
Despite this growth in on demand video, Blu-ray Disc continues to increase in sales. This has been helped, in part, by more affordable players reaching the market throughout 2009. Blu-ray is projected to continue on an aggressive growth path and they’ve been right on schedule so far. So, could we be seeing the first time in home video history where two formats are able to successfully co-exist?
As it turns out, some of the media players which can stream Netflix ‘Watch Instantly’ titles are actually Blu-ray players. Maybe there will be peaceful co-existence after all.
By: Brian Geisel
About the Author:
Fast-Forward to the High-Def Revolution. Blu-ray Disc (Sony) battles out HD DVD (Toshiba). Blu-ray Disc triumphs when Toshiba throws in the proverbial towel on February 2008. Now Blu-ray is the clear winner and will go on to international fame and fortune, right? Not so fast.
Blu-ray Disc ran into a number of issues, the first being their pricing. When DVD first started competing with VHS, they had a price point that made a lot of sense. It didn’t take long for the players to get cheap. As for the discs, well, DVDs were just really cool CDs. No problem. Not the case for Blu-ray, however. They’ve faced numerous issues getting hardware down to consumer price points. It doesn’t help that the discs are more expensive to manufacture, driving the average cost of movies up about $10 per title.
The newest factor to Blu-ray adoption, however, is yet another option for consumers. Online movie downloads are starting to gain momentum just as Blu-ray was starting to get some traction. As recently as last year, it seemed that online downloads wouldn’t be viable for a number of reasons (including licensing issues and quality concerns). Now major sites are starting to invest in the technology and consumers are taking rapid interest.
Take Netflix, for example. They now have over 12,000 titles available to subscribers via their ‘Instant Watch’ catalog. That’s not quite the (over) 100,000 titles in their standard catalog, but it’s a huge leap forward in a short amount of time. Amazon has gotten into the game as well. They now boast a catalog of over 15,000 on demand titles. The Amazon titles are either rented or bought, but in many cases are available on the same date as the DVD release.
With the addition of services such as the Netflix API, applications are starting to form around these services. One service from DVDCorral.com allows users to search online movies from a number of different catalogs. These services are making it easier and easier for consumers to find the media they’re looking for. That removes just one more hurdle that was plaguing online movie watchers a year ago.
Feedflicks.com is a service based on the Netflix API which tracks trends in Netflix rentals. According to the Feedflicks site, this is the first year that Netflix Instant Watch movies (the Netflix version of online movie downloads) have exceeded physical DVD rentals. Furthermore, the number of Instant Watch movies viewed this year has already exceeded last year’s count. Clearly more and more people are choosing for the convenience of watching a movie online.
Consumers don’t have to suffer on quality, either. Amazon’s downloads are available in the Microsoft VC-1 format — known among Videophiles for its remarkable quality. The Amazon titles aren’t quite at the quality of Blu-ray, but apparently it’s close enough for viewers who want their media on demand. Being instant and having a similar quality to DVD certainly makes it an appealing choice.
A recent surge in media centers has also changed how online media can be watched. Netflix has integrated with Xbox360, Tivo and a number of other systems which can play video directly to a TV. No longer is online video restricted to a computer monitor inside a cramped office. Every day it gets easier to stream online video to a TV or home theater. Most online retailers are doing the same and some have even started including support for mobile devices.
Despite this growth in on demand video, Blu-ray Disc continues to increase in sales. This has been helped, in part, by more affordable players reaching the market throughout 2009. Blu-ray is projected to continue on an aggressive growth path and they’ve been right on schedule so far. So, could we be seeing the first time in home video history where two formats are able to successfully co-exist?
As it turns out, some of the media players which can stream Netflix ‘Watch Instantly’ titles are actually Blu-ray players. Maybe there will be peaceful co-existence after all.
By: Brian Geisel
About the Author:
Brian Geisel is a software developer and the founder of DVDCorral.com. DVDCorral is an online DVD catalog, providing users with a place to track their DVD and Blu-ray Disc collections online. The service is free and provides users with a movie blog, interfaces to search online movies, and a system to track their own personal databases. Brian can be found on twitter as bgeisel1 or behind a desk in a poorly lit room somewhere in Massachusetts.
In the battle for home entertainment high definition Blu-Ray has become the clear victor.
Blu-Ray players have already invaded the neighborhood electronics stores. eBay lists close to 3,000 Blu-Ray players, while amazon.com has a little over 2200 players for sale.
However when it’s time to go portable in the portable DVD player and car DVD player it appears Blu Ray has a long way to go before it can claim anything close to the majority of the market.
Consumer response has at best been cool…the geeks of course, have completely ignored the product.
There are reasons why the reaction to portable Blu-Ray players has been muted. These include:
* Image quality not visible on small screens: The Blu-Ray format is meant to enhance movie-watching experience by providing High Definition Video with resolutions from 1280×720 pixels or 1920×1080 pixels. The best way to enjoy these high resolutions would be on large screens-the larger the better. Portable DVDs with their 7” to 10” screens will not show any great improvement in video quality.
* Price: Prices of portable Blu-Ray players are likely to be above 500 US dollars. Just for reference you can get a regular portable DVD player for a little over 100 USD and a normal Blu-Ray player for a little more than 200 USD.
* Disk Cost: Blu-Ray discs are a lot more expensive than their standard definition counterparts, even for the special features they offer.
* Power consumption: Lithium-ion batteries are already straining to deliver three-hours of non-stop entertainment to the existing range of portable DVD players. The Blu-Ray players are going to strain this even further, as the higher video definition requires greater power.
It will be some time before you see portable DVD players supporting the Blu-Ray format on consumer shopping lists. Right now it is an untested product, as it is not yet commercially available. But more important the portable format defeats the very purpose of the disc, which is high-definition video quality.
Consumers looking to buy portable DVD players are essentially looking for a “second” entertainment source away from their homes. This could be used by the traveling executive or by kids on a family vacation. Cost is a concern as is the ability of the player to multi-task. This is what a wish-list of a portable DVD consumer could include:
* Digital TV compatibility: With the FCC-mandated June 12 deadline for ceasing analog transmission in the US, around the corner a portable DVD player capable of receiving digital signals will be a huge decision tilter.
* Card Ports: Can you plug in your camera memory card into the portable player direct? Card ports capable of handling multiple formats will a great help to play those holiday videos and look at the pictures on a bigger screen.
* Gaming Console Connectivity: Can the player be hooked up to a gaming console. Helps on those long road trips with a couple of kids in the back seat.
For now, consumers are looking for a host of different features, accessories to enhance their portable DVD players.
Pick the right player or the right accessory and you are more likely to net more consumers. Blue-ray is not yet a hot USP.
Get the portable DVD player that comes loaded with everything your customers want. Visit Chinavasion.com or paste this link into your address bar: http://www.chinavasion.com/index.php/cName/home-audio-video-portable-dvd-players/
By: Rose Li
About the Author:
Blu-Ray players have already invaded the neighborhood electronics stores. eBay lists close to 3,000 Blu-Ray players, while amazon.com has a little over 2200 players for sale.
However when it’s time to go portable in the portable DVD player and car DVD player it appears Blu Ray has a long way to go before it can claim anything close to the majority of the market.
Consumer response has at best been cool…the geeks of course, have completely ignored the product.
There are reasons why the reaction to portable Blu-Ray players has been muted. These include:
* Image quality not visible on small screens: The Blu-Ray format is meant to enhance movie-watching experience by providing High Definition Video with resolutions from 1280×720 pixels or 1920×1080 pixels. The best way to enjoy these high resolutions would be on large screens-the larger the better. Portable DVDs with their 7” to 10” screens will not show any great improvement in video quality.
* Price: Prices of portable Blu-Ray players are likely to be above 500 US dollars. Just for reference you can get a regular portable DVD player for a little over 100 USD and a normal Blu-Ray player for a little more than 200 USD.
* Disk Cost: Blu-Ray discs are a lot more expensive than their standard definition counterparts, even for the special features they offer.
* Power consumption: Lithium-ion batteries are already straining to deliver three-hours of non-stop entertainment to the existing range of portable DVD players. The Blu-Ray players are going to strain this even further, as the higher video definition requires greater power.
It will be some time before you see portable DVD players supporting the Blu-Ray format on consumer shopping lists. Right now it is an untested product, as it is not yet commercially available. But more important the portable format defeats the very purpose of the disc, which is high-definition video quality.
Consumers looking to buy portable DVD players are essentially looking for a “second” entertainment source away from their homes. This could be used by the traveling executive or by kids on a family vacation. Cost is a concern as is the ability of the player to multi-task. This is what a wish-list of a portable DVD consumer could include:
* Digital TV compatibility: With the FCC-mandated June 12 deadline for ceasing analog transmission in the US, around the corner a portable DVD player capable of receiving digital signals will be a huge decision tilter.
* Card Ports: Can you plug in your camera memory card into the portable player direct? Card ports capable of handling multiple formats will a great help to play those holiday videos and look at the pictures on a bigger screen.
* Gaming Console Connectivity: Can the player be hooked up to a gaming console. Helps on those long road trips with a couple of kids in the back seat.
For now, consumers are looking for a host of different features, accessories to enhance their portable DVD players.
Pick the right player or the right accessory and you are more likely to net more consumers. Blue-ray is not yet a hot USP.
Get the portable DVD player that comes loaded with everything your customers want. Visit Chinavasion.com or paste this link into your address bar: http://www.chinavasion.com/index.php/cName/home-audio-video-portable-dvd-players/
By: Rose Li
About the Author:
Rose Li is the PR Manager for Chinavasion, China’s premier dropshipper for wholesale consumer electronics