Say hello to Blue Ray and bye bye to your current DVD writer

[BJ_M]

it is doubtfull many exsisting films would be converted to high def , except for a few top ones ..

if they just use the existing scans for dvd and reformat to HD , the quality is no better really than DVD (source was still only 1k scans or less) ..

if the film is re-scanned for 2k resolution (for HD) , it is very expensive.. about $375,000 for scanning and color correction and reformating again (for a 120 minute film) .. then where do you get blu-ray disks pressed?
right now - no where it seems. But they are pressed , im sure the cost of that will be very high at first.

[energy80s]

I see Blue Ray as a recording format (like minidisc) rather than a pre-recorded format like DVD or CD. The problem with existing DVDR technology is that there isn't enough room to record 3 or 4 hours of high quality material onto it, that's where Blue Ray will score.

[Thorn]

I think Blu-ray technology is dead in the consumer market already. There's just no practical need for it. Of course I'd be happy to beta test one of those machine though.

Not to be argumentative, but I do disagree... A lot of technology seems lavish and of no real use when it's first invented. However, several years down the road when it matures it can become the minimum standard for use. I know people who don't use VCRs anymore because they're old and the quality would be embarassing on a HDTV. So as technology advances (and everything becomes cheaper) people will want and moreover *expect* these higher quality devices. Fifty years ago people probably said similar things about getting a television. Now many (and probably most people in this forum) consider it almost a bare necessity

There's a price threshold for everyone. At least once BDR costs what DVD players cost now we know people will buy them, even if it's just to replace that VCR they want to get rid of.