DVD, Blu-Ray, Download or Streaming?
In what’s become the new “Paper or plastic” question, producers are asking, “Blu-Ray or DVD?”
When DVD replaced VHS, it was an obvious move and choice for us. Better overall quality, more durable, and the players had trays for the DVDs that wouldn’t hold peanut butter sandwiches. But now there’s a new kid in town: Blu-Ray. OK – it’s not new, but it hasn’t become as widely adopted by consumers yet.
Why? I think there are a few reasons: price point of the players, price point of the discs, and the fact that you have to have an HD television in order view the Blu-Ray means you have to buy a new television if you don’t have an HD one. (That would be me. I admit it – I still have a TV that doesn’t hang on a wall, is deeper than 3 inches, and is not HD unless I buy some of those glasses “as seen on TV.”)
That’s the cost-analysis side. Let’s look at the technology side.
Many movies can be downloaded from iTunes now. My family is here for a visit and my nephew has an iPod Touch. He loves watching movies and television on that. He was disappointed when a DVD of some older films he bought didn’t have a digital version he could download from iTunes. If you want to capture the younger generation, it may be time to think all-digital.
I don’t know for sure what the viewing future is for Christian film, but producers have to think about all of these options when they’re getting ready to release a film. Making movies just got a little more complicated.
What’s your viewing choice? Are you HD, Blu-Ray, DVD, streaming, downloading, or still wondering what happened to Beta-Max?
I like DVD and downloading (preferably HD downloads.) I have a couple Blu-Ray but don’t use it much.
August 9th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
If I want the best viewing experience possible, I get a Blu-ray. I don’t buy DVD’s anymore, unless the film isn’t on Blu-ray. Download can be OK, but lets be honest, computer monitors aren’t properly calibrated TV’s. Will they do? Sure to watch something but if I want to give something my full attention and such I want it on a TV. Some would say “well yea but you can play it on your TV from your computer now-a-days.” While that may be true, it isn’t going to look anywhere near as good as a properly encoded DVD or Blu-ray. I really prefer to get my monies worth, and perhaps that’s because I”m such a big film guy, so really I’m looking for the best representation of the creators intended image, and right now that’s Blu-ray. Also I really do prefer having something I can put on a shelf. There’s just something about having a physical piece of data, not file-based only that I like. I feel more like a collector with a case/disc. A folder with files in it doesn’t feel anywhere near as cool to me, or as safe (from deletion or whatever).
August 10th, 2010 at 11:23 pm