There are plenty of different ways to get your high definition content these days. So, we want to know if you’re buying habits have changed. Are you still buying Blu-rays like you did last year?
Netflix now offers 1080p video with 5.1 channel surround sound. Sony, Microsoft, VUDU and others all offer near Blu-ray quality downloads. Even YouTube has 1080p content. There are a lot of ways for you to get your HD.
Of course, if you’re attached to physical media, you can rent Blu-rays from Blockbuster or Netflix. Even Redbox kiosks now offer Blu-ray rentals.
We want to know, are you still buying Blu-rays like you did last year? Are you switching from physical media to downloads or streaming? Are you holding out for 3-D? Hit the poll for a quick answer, and give us the scoop in the comments below.
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Alex
Oddly enough, I find myself holding out for catalog titles a lot more these days. When a catalog title comes out on blu-ray, I jump on it like a lion on a wildebeast, but for new releases I’m a bit more cautious. Maybe it’s the economy, maybe it’s that recent movies have largely teal and orange rubbish. Either way, I still buy blu-rays, but I’m focused more on the older stuff.
Dail Whiteley
im watching netflix. i get the blu reantals from them and there is so much crap out there and the money is tight and it saves a lot of space.
William Henley
I am in a better place financially than I was last year, and the year before that, the titles out there were sparse and I was hurting for content. So yeah, I am buying more now than ever. In fact, I think I bought mroe in the past two months than I did in all of 2007.
As for streaming stuff, its hard to know exactly what Netflix offers at 1080p. I don’t think anything I have watched so far has actually been at that, and I doubt movies with lots of visual information will look that great streaming. YouTube is pretty good in its 1080p offerings, with very good quality, but I doubt I am going to pull a full movie off of YouTube.
J.J.
I hardly purchase Blu-rays now. The last few have been toon movies (How to Train Your Dragon, Beauty and the Beast) because I think they hold greater replay value. Other than that, though, I hardly purchase them. Instead, I Netflix.
Jane Morgan
I’ve been netflixing blu-rays (and hd-dvds before that) because of the math. $1 per movie rental makes a hard argument. I would have to watch a movie 25 times to make owning it worth while.
I watch 100 movies per year, maybe 5 of them I watch twice. That’s $200 vs $2500. Spread that savings over 10 years, the life of a format, that’s $23,000 I get to keep in my pocket.
We know in 10 years we’re all going to switch over to 4K Ultra High-Definition Video. What’s the point of building a temporary collection?
William Henley
I’m with you, but I usually save Netflix for movies I have never seen. I buy movies that I know I am going to rewatch. A few I picked up after I saw them on Netflix (Interview with The Vampire and Let The Right One In are two that come to mind).
I do think, however, that after this holiday season, my buying will take a huge nose-dive. Many of the movies I wanted on the format have now been released. Pretty much just waiting on Jurassic Park and a few lesser-known Disney films, and we know how Disney’s release schedule is. I am sure that I will see something listed here and there, and be like “Oh my gosh, I got to have that!”.
I said all that to say this – Yeah, Netflix is my crack!
motorheadache
I too have Netflix, but there’s always movies I actually want to buy. I’m much more selective on what I buy than I was during the DVD days though.
Oh, and to Jane Morgan: You think studios have a tough time convincing people to upgrade from DVD? It will likely be damn near impossible to convince people to upgrade to 4K from 1080p. You’d have to have an ENORMOUS projector screen to even notice a significant difference. As far as I’m concerned, Blu-Ray is pretty much it for watching movies, until they invent holo-cubes or something 🙂
Jane Morgan
I think in ten years we’ll have high bitrate 4K streaming, and 150″ screens.
Think about where internet speeds were ten years ago. Think about where home theater projectors were ten years ago.
4K will be a much easier transition. It will be a hardware-only upgrade. And we’ll finally switch over to having unlimited monthly subscriptions.
besch64
Demand for HD content + fetish for physical media = I buy way too many BDs.
Patrick
Streaming still stinks. Until I can get high bitrate 1080p with full 7.1 lossless audio then blu-ray still wins out. If you’re just watching on a PC/latop or small TV then it probably doesn’t matter but for larger screens and nice audio setups, streaming is currently pretty pathetic.
Rhoq SolidEnt
I’m more selective with my purchases now. I just can’t afford to buy as many as I have in years past.
bluediscs
I’m buying less than last year and even less than the year before. If I really, really, really like a movie, I’ll get it on Blu. Other titles that get the Blu treatment are Pixar and Disney new releases (for the kids). Also, titles that are on my list of favs will get the Blu treatment when they move from DVD to Blu.
bluediscs
BTW, when is Pulp Fiction going to be released on Blu?
DieHard
I am a lot more selective on buying new releases since in general they really aren’t much cheaper than they were when the format first hit the market (and in the case of Disney movies even more expensive,) however, with more places migrating to bd, places like Blockbuster and others end up selling used copies (and a lot of year old+ releases) for the same price as renting the normal dvd. It is those deals that I find myself far more attracted to now. When you can buy 25 decent blu-ray movies in one shot for around $100, you can’t really lose.
As far as 4K goes, the 2K discs already in circulation are virtually identical to the 1080p ones and even on the best televisions you see no technical differences. (Of course it doesn’t help that really no television has been created yet to match the 2K specs…and they are only the tiniest bit more than 1080p.)
DieHard
Ok, I forgot that Toshiba released the 4K x 2K prototype, but I hardly see that taking over any time soon, although I’m sure they are already working on the 8K version since there is material out there for it…
EM
I answered that I’m buying fewer, though I’m not sure that is actually true. It seems more Blu-rays that I want to own are coming out, but for budget reasons I am more often delaying purchases lately. I’m not sure whether the final result is that I am buying fewer, but it feels that way, with all the wanted discs I am missing.
Bumbuliuz
I´m buying more and more. I really haven’t bought a Dvd in about 2-3 years. I live in Iceland and HD streaming is not an option for me and we are unfortunatly quite behind in these matters, though our Internet speeds are really good.
Blu-Ray is a clear winner for me, also I really like to have something physical and I really love the better quality in picture and sound plus all the HD extras.
Judd Jacobs
Does anyone know when the iTunes store will start to offer full 1080p HD movies? Currently, I believe their “HD” movies for sale on the website are only 720p.
Forgive me if this question has already been asked. There’s too many comments to read through. I know that I, personally, will start buying all my movies online through the iTunes store once they offer full HD. I could care less about the physical discs. I’d prefer to have my whole library on a hard drive.
Matthew Guerrero
Amazon’s pricing makes it easy for me to buy blu. They’re always cheaper than the B&M and no tax to boot. Can’t argue with that.
Daniel O'Reilly
I Netflix a great deal, but renting is still not like buying. If I really like a movie I rent, I’ll usually buy it. I also didn’t buy a blu ray player until this year, so by default I’m buying more blu rays than I was last year.
Thulsadoom
I rent, but essentially just to see what I missed at the cinema. If I really like a rental, I’ll still buy a copy.
As for buying, I find that these days, as someone else said, it’s the catalogue titles that have me more interested. There’s very few ‘new’ films I’m that bothered with, and even those that I do, I’ll wait till they come down to mid-price/budget before jumping, because they’re rarely good enough to make me buy on day-one. In fact I can’t remember the last film I did that with…
William Henley
Wishing they would introduce a “Like” feature like on facebook! That way, I can agree with a comment that someone makes without having to actually leave another comment!
Marc
I’m still buying about two a month. I have a dedicated home theater (and a decent TV setup in the family room, both 5.1) so I notice the PQ and SQ over DVD. I’ll still buy a DVD if the price is right (~$4). That’s cheaper than a rental or On-Demand for me. (I don’t Netflix.) I’m so busy I can’t be sure I’ll watch a rental within a week. I’m sticking with physical media (but I have an 8 Tb media server.)
Lone_gunmen
I tend to only buy movies I really enjoy. The rest, I just rent on Xbox Live Arcade rentals. To be fair, I go to the cinema a lot.