What is Blu-ray? That’s exactly what 99% of people are wondering as Sony attempts to bring its next generation DVD technology into the homes of millions. Is it some kind of high powered laser? Is a new breed of fish? Is the next phase of Star Wars? Geeks know that Blu-ray is Sony’s answer to high definition DVDs, but does the majority of the public know? Of course not.
If you follow the tech industry closely, like I’m sure most of my readers do, you know the Blu-ray does have some significant technological enhancements. The quality of the video is enhanced, the disks have more storage, etc. However, that means nothing to average person. Most people are satisfied with the quality of DVDs now, giving them no reason to look for better quality movies.
So, when Sony chooses a name that doesn’t say anything about their product, consumers aren’t going to know what the heck it is. That’s a problem when you’re dealing with a future product whose technological advances are miniscule to the average person. HD DVD has it right. They picked a name which says something about their product. Even if you’re completely satisfied with current generation DVDs, if you purchase an HDTV and you see disks called HD DVDs, you’re going to associate better quality with them. The name Blu-ray just doesn’t do it.
Does that mean that Blu-ray is going to fail? It depends what you classify as failed. The format certainly will be around for years to come, I just think that Sony is going to have a difficult time getting people to switch to their player. For the first year or two, I think the only reason why most people will have a Blu-ray player is because of the PS3. Sony knows that too, but they’re hoping that people will slowly start to buy the disks then, and eventually buy standalone players. While that may work, Sony certainly has a long road uphill to prevent Blu-ray from following PSP’s UMD format.
5 Comments
Yeah first thing I thought of was a fish
I wouldn’t mind seeing harder dvd media. I know the space is finite, but I would like to put at least one entire season on one disc. While Blu-Ray can make this possible, why shell out the extra cash?
I thought Blu-Ray was a cool name…haha.
What do you mean fish? When I read about it, it made perfect sense to me it had to do with the laser’s wavelength is in the blue range. As for the discs, I hope blu-ray works out and gets adopted. right now i am now statisified with sony, the ps3, the rootkits, etc., but i do like their products nonetheless and i would want a blu-ray unit when hdtv is more feesible to use. and of course anything with mikerowesoft’s backing i don’t want.
I read recently (sorry can’t remember the link) about some new players that will play various formats including blu-ray, HD DVD along with SD DVDs etc. Still waiting for a solution to burn the different formats.
Interesting comments so far, Gotta say I had the whole fish idea going on too, it’s because of the close association with Sting-Ray, but I also give credence to Jonathan, cause like him I also thought it was a pretty sweet name, kinda funky with a modern feel, HD DVD sounds like a technophobs nightmare, rather microsoft-esqe with it’s pin striped suits and stiff collar shirts, BUT, I do think there is a wise point to it all, the fact that it carries a combo name referring to that which has come before, will surely make it much more easier to market to the layman! But in the end which will win, who knows, but I heard in the past that Apple was with the HD DVD side of the debate, and that the Hollywood studios are very much divided on which camp to place their flag in, for instance I think I heard Disney/ Pixar are with Apple in the HD DVD brigade, where as FOX or Paramount are I think with Sony in the BlueRay Division. It could all come down to the Copy Protection laws, which system is easier for us to create on a personalised manner at home, my verdict is out on this one… quite a lot of variables, including if the PS3 is a mega hit or not… Hindsight will eventually show us the way
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