Why renting Blu-ray movies makes perfect sense
Sony's Blu-ray Disc is arguably overpriced and overhyped, and it probably won't be nearly as successful as DVD, but I came across an interesting tidbit of information over the weekend that may make some change their minds about the success of the high-definition video format.
According to Nielsen VideoScan figures for the week ending February 22, Blu-ray captured 10 percent market share, and sales were up 29.31 percent over the same week last year. DVD captured the remaining 90 percent share, but its revenues were down almost 12 percent, year over year.
Granted, that's just one week's figures, and it doesn't mean much in the broader sense, but if you look at previous weeks, those figures are much the same. In fact, Blu-ray is slowly gaining ground on DVD, and its 10 percent share is actually an impressive figure, given its history.
I usually spend my video-allocated cash on other formats, but there is one place where Blu-ray will always win out for me: rentals. I won't stream films, and I won't rent DVDs. Blu-ray is the only format that I will rent from my local video store or get from Netflix. It's as simple as that.
I've had too many lackluster experiences with streaming films. More often than not, if I stream a film through my cable video-on-demand box, it will look grainy, and its quality is the same as DVD even though it's advertised as an HD film. I watched "W" recently via a stream, and along with an absolutely ludicrous story, I found that the film's visual and audio quality were downright awful. But the worst part was having paid $4.99 for a DVD-quality film that was supposed to be in high definition.
The same is true (in most cases) when I stream films through my Apple TV. More often than not, the "HD" film doesn't look nearly as nice as it should, and part of that is due to the fact that those films are available only in 720p, but the other part is that, well, they're just not that great over a streaming solution.
In my long search for great visuals, I've decided to rent Blu-ray films. Notice how I said rent? Yeah, well, I still won't buy them--they're too expensive.
And I'm starting to believe I'm not alone. According to market research firm Adams Research, film studios witnessed a 23.4 percent decline in DVD and Blu-ray sales during the fourth quarter of 2008. Although the company didn't break out sales of Blu-ray and DVD, and failed to mention why it believed this happened besides the economy, I don't think that it's a stretch to say more folks are switching to Blu-ray and choosing rentals over retail.
Blu-ray simply looks best on my HDTV. It may not provide a huge value jump over DVD, and more often than not, the difference in picture quality is negligible, when I compare it to a film in my upconverting DVD player, but for $1 more at my local Hollywood Video or Netflix, it's worth using the next-generation format and finding those certain films that really do look much better on Blu-ray than anything else (I'm looking at you, "Dark Knight").
At this point, when I'm ready to start watching a film at my house, I want the most value for my money. I can't get that with streaming services today because so far, at least in my experience, their ease of use is overshadowed by their general lack of outstanding visual and audio quality. And I won't rent DVDs because it doesn't make much sense, when Blu-ray films are available in the next shelf over for $1 or $2 more. The price difference is so small that it makes perfect sense for me to look for the film on Blu-ray.
When the price difference becomes negligible between the two formats on store shelves, that's when I'll start buying Blu-ray films by the bushel. But until then, Blu-ray's niche in my entertainment life is in rentals, where the price difference is slight, and the relative quality is great.
It's the perfect rental format.
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
mchinsky -- no politics here. Yes, Don may have exposed his political inclinations. But you can't really tell if he liked or disliked or agrees or disagrees about the movie or not. This is a tech site. Let's keep it that way.
I'm not defending democrats, but you have to be either stupid or selfish to be a republican.
I now know which of the two you are....
All the Republican Party is nowadays is the Democrat party from 15 years ago. The Democrat Party is now the Socialist party. So yes, you would have to be stupid to be one.
Conservatives believe in having freedoms and being able to make choices for yourself. I'm sorry if you call me selfish for wanting to make my own destiny how I want to make it, but that's your problem. I like not having the government telling me what to do and babysitting me. That's what liberals want. So if you're a liberal, and you want that, by all means, go ahead. I'll stick to being a mature person and making my own choices instead of being a whiny baby who cries to its mother (the government) whenever it needs something.
As for Obama, his ideas are from the failed economic ideas of Keynes. They failed to do anything during the great depression, and they won't help today.
Go Obama. How's that for hidden.
I am a very infrequent renter and prefer to purchase movies, but Blu-ray is expensive, so I have reduced my purchases, but the real eye opener was an early Blu-ray purchase of a favorite movie and the quality was simply not there. I could watch the DVD upsampled on my Oppo and it looked as good as the Blu-ray disc that cost 3 times as much. The movie is a little older, but another release from the same timeframe was remastered and looks incredible.
So, caveat emptor kicks in and if I am unsure, I rent the movie first to evaluate it before purchasing.
As to downloads, I'm with you completely. If I don't like music downloads (quality, DRM, data retention, etc.), video is even more cumbersome and don't even get me started on streaming. I watched a movie at a friend's where he was streaming it from Netflix and it stalled twice which completely ruins the experience. It reminds me of the good ol' days where we had to flip the laserdisc over.
As disk storage prices continue to come down, this will matter less.
Somehow, I feel deja vu when reading your column. I think that one of your predecessors brought up the same argument when the video store shelves were full of VHS and Beta Tapes and the new kid on the block-DVD's occupied a fraction of the store's inventory.
I, personally, refuse to watch a DVD when there is a Blu-Ray version available. To me it's well worth the wait!
I hadn't heard about the bankruptcy thing yet, so I've searched out a recent link posted March 4th...
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10467659/1/blockbuster-no-plans-to-file-for-bankruptcy.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEFI
As an adult. the number of movies I watch more than once is extremely small. Maybe one in 50. Plus now with on-demand online options, you'll increasingly be able to watch any movie any time you want, and of course in a few years that will all be in HD quality as well. BluRay seems to me to have about 3 years of good mojo before it starts looking like the last dinosaur of physical media.
BluRay does look very nice at the moment, but I'm a videophile and I'm still not that tempted to get a player - the selection is STILL quite limited the really big popular movies.
Come on Don!
As long as the quality is "good enough" then convenience is always king.
I hope then that the few more Blu-ray-less readers that go out and buy a Blu-ray player based on your recommendation only to find the resolution/size of the TV(s) they have are insufficient for there to be a valuable difference, also realize the value of your commentary.
Perhaps you might consider qualifying the parameters of your advice.
Ironic that one criticized of being a left-wing liberal, does not even bother to consider/acknowledge the masses who are not in fact Blu-ray ready, and for whom traditional DVDs are still the proper value at the moment.
Indeed, whenever I rent a Blu-ray disc from my local Blockbuster, the clerk says, "Do you have a blu-ray player?... Sorry, I have to ask." I get that people are confused that a BD disc doesn't play in DVD player. I think the scale will tip by the end of this year.
What's needed is the ability to rent a video, download it in true high def over the period of a few hours, then watch it. You don't think this business plan will work? Netflix has already proved that people are willing to wait for their content. By making the content available for download overnight or during the day (order the movie that morning to watch with the family that evening), there's quicker delivery, no waiting weeks for a popular title, no shipping and return shipping costs, no media costs. What's not to like? --mark d.
- by sanjayb March 3, 2009 9:24 AM PST
- Hmmm.........Not that long ago Don was saying that streaming was king and Blu Ray's future wasn't very bright. And no argument from the contrary would sway him. Now he recommends renting Blu Ray. How soon will it be before he recommends buying Blu Ray movies. Don is starting to see the light.
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