Comments on: Sony beefs up Blu-ray strategy

New real-time movie database, called MovieIQ, will be included with several new Blu-ray Disc releases this fall. Plus, a new Blu-ray-enabled notebook.

[Alphaman63]

Erica Ogg wrote: "That sounded like an admission that none of the BD-Live features thus far have been all that compelling."

Good one, Erica! I lmao'd at that one! But I, for one, think that yes, they've finally found an interactive feature that does sound like it would be useful. I've turned BD-Live off on my BR player -- I haven't seen any benefit from it. But this does indeed sound useful, because I know I've been caught in that position of having to identify a cast member via credits, then having to go look them up on IMDB, then going back when I found I got the wrong character to figure out the right name many times.

To all the HD-DVD fanboys: get over it. Go to Best Buy or Target or WalMart or anywhere else, and count the number of HD-DVD's on the shelves, and then look at the growing ranks of Blu-Ray titles. My local MovieStop's overflowing their shelves with Blu-Ray, and my Target is having to find other shelf space as they've overrun their alloted space for BR. Life goes on -- you can continue to live in the past, or move on with your lives. I don't particularly care what you do in your homes, but quit your whining about how great HD-DVD WAS on these forums! Yeesh!

[r13k1]

I think that both Blu-Ray and HD-Dvd have an exceptional picture. I think the biggest problem going forward is the fact that everything depends on how the movie was originally recorded. My point is simple! I have watched over a hundred movies in high definition and some were not that great. I recently watched the dvd version of Taken and was blown away by how clear the picture was. FYI, I have a tv that is 1080p and larger than 40" so an inferior tv is not the reason it was so good. I guess if Hollywood wants to sell Blu-Ray now that HD-Dvd is gone, maybe they should consider out of focus dvds instead of ones that are breathtaking?

[Heebee Jeebies]

The thing that bothers me about all of the BD-Live stuff, well there are actually two things.

1. Why after paying a higher price for a clearer pictured copy of what is usually a so-so movie should I have to provide the storage space for the extras that I apparently paid for? I don't think I should. It include it on another disc and get one with it. This also leads to bother number 2.

2. How long are these BD-Live features that we are paying for when we buy a disc actually going to be available. In 10 years, 15 years, 20 years will I still have access to them or did I basically pay extra for a ghost that only hangs around as long as it makes money for the studio? Again, include the stuff on the disc and get it over with. If it can't be included on the disc because it is some bull poop things like in movie pop-ups from IMDB then don't include it. I want what I pay for, I don't want to pay for something and then not have it when I want it. This probably why I own two Blu-Ray discs and over 1,000 DVD.

Robert

[victor_nyc]

If another company (or even Sony for that matter) would come out with a smaller, solid state, reprogrammable, holographic storage medium that had even half the storage of BR, BR (as well as anything that has a lot of moving parts to break) would die an instant death.

I'm personally not really interested in BR and I'm a fairly hardcore techie. There's just not enough draw for me. I download HD content to my TV through TiVo from Amazon, YouTube, Netflix, etc. already and that's getting better all the time. And, what I can't download directly to my TV, I download to my PC or I get it delivered from Netflix. I already have a library of a few hundred DVD's that I don't watch now. Why would I want to buy another disc and increase my unwatched library even more. For me, downloading has already wounded BR to the point that, unless Sony brings their price for a full featured BR player below $200, I can't pretty much guarantee I won't be buying one. (and I don't play video games much so it wouldn't pay to buy a Playstation - I still have a first gen Nintendo) Having a physical disc in my hand is not worth as much as being able to download and store on my own storage media, wherever I have broadband Internet connection (which is everywhere I go these days) to watch anywhere I choose on whatever device will play video like my PC or TV or iPhone or laptop over my home network or on a plane or at work, Starbucks, etc. Downloading is much more portable and I don't have to buy another piece of hardware or carry around another kind of player.

[megustansalchichas]

let me see, when was the last time I paused a movie to go find out where I've seen that actress that looks familiar -hmmm.... NEVER.
if i sit down to watch a movie i want to watch a movie, not pop up videos or a thousand effing trailers that are obsolete by the time the disc is launched. give me high quality at a low price, not gimmicks at a high price, that's all I'm saying.