Bu...bu...bu....but......we don't need Blu-ray. There aren't significant difference between it and DVD when you're 3000 feet away from your TV. It's too expensive. People don't buy HDTVs. (Insert other random anti-BR statement)

/sarcasm

I know this is good news, but blu-ray still has a long way to go before replacing dvd as the main format. I'm just saying that some people are acting like blu-ray is on top, when it still has a long way to go.

Its nice to see Blu-ray is doing pretty well, especially since I am so heavily invested in it. But they need to start improving on the ratio, I would like to see that number hit 25% during the holidays.

Also for people still mentioning the prices as a problem, stop buying them at brick & mortar stores and start buying them online. The price difference between Blu-ray and DVD on most new releases on Amazon is only 3-4 bucks. I know not everyone can do this because they dont have a credit card and such. But for those with the ability you have no excuse. I have only gotten 10 or so at actual stores the other 150+ I have all came from Amazon.

Is it really Anti BR or just common sense. At some point I may buy a player but currently I have no desire to purchase anything at additional cost. I will not be alone in this and staying with the cheaper upscaler option.

I am offered a pile of HD content through various channels such as Discs, Downloads or Satelite/Cable but all three lose out when they incurr additional cost for content that my wife cannot see any benefit in.

I have no doubt that DVD sales are hurting as they are being squeezed by a number of channels one of which is BR but they need to sharpen their pencil in my opinion.

I was intrigued by your statement so checked one Title "Taken" on the UK Amazon site, the result.

DVD - £6.98

BR - £17.68

US Amazon

DVD $14.99

BR $24.99

On the basis of that result I would suggest it is more than a few notes.

with the ps3's upconverting ability it only really pays to watch bluray on certain visual stunners. most movies look great on the dvd.

Sure if you only want the standard edition DVD for Taken yes,  but the Blu-ray has the extended version,  which the extended version DVD is 22.99 compared to 24.99.

Pretty soon Blu-Ray players will hit $99 or less. That's the next big step to making them a mass market item. It still will not get above 20-30% for a long while since only about 1/3 of households in the US have an HDTV, and not all of those purchase a blu-ray player.

At the same time more things are coming out to get in Blu-Ray's way.

1080p instant video streaming with 5.1 surround is about perfect for the majority of people's home entertainment centers, and as long as they have 8mbps internet, they are good to go!  That and Netflix keeps growing, as well as downloads and On Demand offerings (many people still just rent rather than buy, because most people will only watch the movie about 3-4 times if they own it, which to me just really isn't worth it).

There are even bigger problems for Standalone Players. It is nearly impossible to get an obvious advantage in the Blu-ray playback compared to the competitors. This means Blu-ray will be a Yes/No Feature. You have to use other possibilities to get an advantage compared to your co0mpetitors. One of them will be the quality of SD-playback, DVD and even materials like Divx, external Harddrives and Online streaming. They were forced to use an internet connection fpr firmware updates and Blu-ray 2.0 content, but they will use these features to get the edge around their competitors. In this market the PS-3 doesn't even matter due to the price difference! While thewy play Blu.rays they won't even advertise so heavily with this feature. They will go the route "We play everything, in the best quality".

This is much easier and more efficient for them. To get the Full advantage of Blu-ray you need big displays or beamers and a very good Surround equipment and the customer has to buy new films, while they might get to customners with small TVs. They might use the better capabilities later but this is uncertain or do you use everything that your systems can do?

So, what does this mean? Is this something that has been sustained over a period of time, or is this a blip? Long term, does this mean this trend will continue?