Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - (Page hghd11) interactivity on a verbal basis alone. Once we have some great titles that clearly show why the online connection is beneficial, it should be an easy sell. Taking this to its logical conclusion suggests that BD Live players should ultimately become the de facto standard throughout the industry. I HM: What do you say to consumers who claim to be satisfied with standard DVD? the best movie-watching experience, the difference is compelling. Our job is to ask customers the right questions to figure out what is best for them. If they are movie lovers and have a large HD television, we think Blu-ray is something they want to learn about. Once they get a look at the picture and hear the sound, customers are inspired by the difference. I HM: Do you think upconverting DVD players undercut the argument for Blu-ray? the most out of their home theaters, it’s the best option, and with prices coming down it’s becoming more attractive to mainstream customers. There is a place for both types of players in the house. I HM: Are specific titles or technology key to the success of Blu-ray among consumers? industry roundtable Tsuyuzaki: When we had VHS, I was very happy with the state-of-the-art 20inch televisions. When DVD came around, I think the state-of-the-art TV was 32 inches. What you are seeing now from our company is on average we sell 50-inch flat-screen TVs. People are buying flat-screen TVs by the millions. When you have such a big screen and it is demonstrated correctly what that TV is capable of, then Blu-ray becomes a natural complement to that proposition. To those people who say they are happy with standard DVD, when you are connected to a big-screen TV the detail just isn’t there. Parsons: People were satisfied with VHS too. DVD didn’t exactly explode on the scene in early 1997. It took about three years for most people to understand what it was and how much better the experience was over the incumbent format. Given enough time, consumers should be able to better understand how terrific a Blu-ray title can be, and I think the “DVD is good enough” argument will begin to fade. I recently dug up an analyst’s statement at the end of 1998 that predicted a “long and healthy life ahead for VHS” — thank goodness they were wrong. As for how to compel a transition to Blu-ray, I think this follows the adoption rate of HDTV in the home, which has been quite rapid in the past few years. All those TVs represent a significant investment in the technology by consumers, and we think they are hungry for high-def content. If high-def versions of new titles provide meaningful features that DVD simply cannot offer, it’s not hard to imagine BD eventually overtaking DVD. Hamburger: DVDs continue to be a strong category for Best Buy. For many people who have smaller televisions or don’t have 1080p screens, DVDs are probably the best option. But for people who have HD home theater systems and want Tsuyuzaki: Blu-ray is also an upconverting DVD player. Many people forget that Blu-ray plays DVDs. Right now we cannot dismiss the impact of the standard-DVD market. But what I am seeing is that the DVD player is shifting to your second room, or den or bedroom. We are in a state of transition of formats, so DVD is primarily used in home theater-in-abox applications, in portable applications and DVD recorders. That’s where we still see DVD having some meaning. Gordon: Yes, Philips sells upconverting players. But then there are different products for different needs. Again, if you have an HDTV, Blu-ray is still the best overall option. Sure, an upconverting player can improve the picture quality of standard DVD, but not to Blu-ray standards. Nor can you get any of the advanced special features. Again, consumer awareness is very important at this stage. Parsons: Yes, we make them, and they do not seem to be interfering with Blu-ray sales as much as you would think. Upconverting DVD players produce a simulated HD picture, since we’re using mathematical algorithms to guess what’s missing in the picture compared to an actual HDTV signal containing six times as much information. If you do the arithmetic that means that we’re filling in more than 80% of a picture that wasn’t there before. In this context, the methods do surprisingly well, until you look at the Blu-ray version side-by-side with it. Then you can clearly see the difference, particularly on a bigger display with 1080p resolution. Hamburger: Upconverting DVD players are a great inexpensive option for people looking to maximize the picture quality of their existing DVDs. If you don’t have a 1080p screen or if you have a smaller television, upconverting DVDs is a great option. Blu-ray offers both upconversion and true HD. For people looking to get Gordon: Content does drive consumer adoption, and technology is an enabler that allows the studios to really push the envelope when it comes to picture and sound quality and interactive features. The titles released in the fourth quarter appeal to a range of audiences. We think the strong summer box office will translate into a strong fourth quarter at retail. Keyes: Besides titles, Blu-ray is a huge opportunity for us. When DVD came in, we missed the retail opportunity and ceded that to our mass-merchandising competitors. We adhered rigidly to our rental model. And at $20 to $25, that was a missed opportunity because many customers found they could buy versus rent, and it was a better-use occasion, especially if you had small children. Blu-ray is a whole different proposition because in today’s world, $20 is still more or less an impulse purchase. But $30 crosses a consumer barrier, especially in today’s economy. Even though I can afford a $30 to $34 disc, I’m going to think twice about buying versus renting. We think this gives new life to the rental model and can stimulate increased consumer adoption of the format. Marmaduke: We have been renting Bluray since it came out, and we probably have the largest selection of any retailer I know of. I agree with Keyes that allowing customers to try Blu-ray is a great way of introducing them to the format without paying the higher retail price. You have to put yourself in the home of the non-early adopter video consumer. They already have a couple of standardDVD players and maybe even an old VHS lying around. And when they get Blu-ray movies, they are not going to just throw out all their DVD players. They are going to continue to rent both formats and not become an avid purchaser of Blu-ray until they are convinced the selection and availability of Blu-ray is up to the standards of DVD. And from their perspective, renting Blu-ray is low risk and high reward. September 2008 HOLLYWOOD goes HIGH-DEF 11
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 Fourth-Quarter Blowout Industry Roundtable High-Def Data Tables Blu-Ray Disc Listings Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 (Page hghd_c1) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 (Page hghd_c2) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 (Page hghd1) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 (Page hghd2) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 (Page hghd3) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Fourth-Quarter Blowout (Page hghd4) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Fourth-Quarter Blowout (Page hghd5) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Fourth-Quarter Blowout (Page hghd6) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Fourth-Quarter Blowout (Page hghd7) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Fourth-Quarter Blowout (Page hghd8) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Fourth-Quarter Blowout (Page hghd9) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Fourth-Quarter Blowout (Page hghd10) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Fourth-Quarter Blowout (Page hghd11) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Industry Roundtable (Page hghd12) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Industry Roundtable (Page hghd13) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - High-Def Data Tables (Page hghd14) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - High-Def Data Tables (Page hghd15) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - High-Def Data Tables (Page hghd16) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - High-Def Data Tables (Page hghd17) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Blu-Ray Disc Listings (Page hghd18) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Blu-Ray Disc Listings (Page hghd19) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Blu-Ray Disc Listings (Page hghd20) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Blu-Ray Disc Listings (Page hghd_c3) Home Media Magazine - Hollywood Goes High-Def - September 2008 - Blu-Ray Disc Listings (Page hghd_c4)
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