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August 20, 2008 10:22 AM PDT

Futuresource: Hi-def disc market doing well

by Dong Ngo
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More big titles are being released on Blu-ray at the same time as to DVD.

According to a recent report by Futuresource, a consulting company that did a survey on how many of us copy DVDs a while ago, the high-definition disc markets in both the U.S. and Europe continue to perform very well, thanks to the fact that the world shifted to one format--Blu-ray--at the beginning of the year.

Currently, taking only big titles into account, the share of total sales being taken by Blu-ray has already hit 5 percent to 6 percent. By the end of the year, this share is estimated to be more than 10 percent. With many hot title releases planned, it is expected that by the end of this year, consumers will purchased to up 45 million Blu-ray Discs in the U.S. alone (a 400 percent increase from last year).

In Europe, on the other hand, awareness and uptake are still lower overall, although in the key markets the retailers and the studios are reacting to an uplift in interest this year and are gearing up for a good end to 2008.

The latest analysis from Futuresource suggests that by 2012, between 40 percent and 50 percent of consumer spending on video discs will be allocated to Blu-ray thanks to the fact that Blu-ray players are getting more popular and more affordable.

July 22, 2008 1:23 PM PDT

Some salespeople still think flat-panel LCDs beat plasmas?

by Matthew Panton
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In a time when CNET's two top-rated HDTVs of the year are Panasonic's TH-50PZ800U and Pioneer's PDP-5020FD, we have to wonder why a salesperson would recommend flat-panel LCD HDTVs at the rate that J.D. Power and Associates claims in a recent report.

Pioneer Kuro PDP-5020FD

Pioneer's Kuro PDP-5020FD, one of our top plasma HDTVs

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The report, which surveyed more than 2,000 shoppers on their experience in big-box electronic retailers, a specialty television retailer, a mass merchant, and a warehouse store, found that retail salespeople recommended LCDs over plasmas at a three-to-one rate.

Sure, plasmas have a long list of supposed failings: they're allegedly bulky and power hungry, and have image burn-in issues and leaks, and a short lifespan. However, most of these problems--image burn-in being the most common with early plasma sets--have been resolved on modern plasma displays.

According to the report, however, "37 percent of salespersons warned their customers that images may be permanently burned onto the screen of plasma TVs." The lifespan argument doesn't hold up either, as both LCD and plasma lifespan claims are basically the same now at 60,000 hours each. And, with LCDs still costing more at equivalent screen sizes, it's certainly convenient for retailers to promote the LCD technology over its less expensive rival.... Read more

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