The Blu-ray disc is said to portray the sharpest, clearest and finest picture and sound quality to date, this naturally comes at a price as Blu-ray disc sales will many times double the price of a regular DVD to roughly £20. Though in spite of this, last year, the Digital Entertainment Group Europe (DEGE), the people who brought us the Blu-ray disc saw unit sales soar to 167 per cent which helped offset the 9 per cent decline in European DVD sales in the same year.
In 2009, the Blu-ray disc was worth an estimated £400 million.
Chairman of DEGE – Yves Caillaud, speaking at the annual general meeting in London earlier today said that…
“Blu-ray is gaining further momentum in Europe thanks to a concerted cross-industry promotional effort, near universal penetration of high-definition TVs, increased consumer awareness and greater player affordability… Last year was never going to be easy, but in comparison to many other similar sized industries, the European home entertainment businesses in 2009 held up well.”
This is all very well as you can’t fault the numbers but according to the consumer watchdog – Which?, the disc may not in all instances live up to its high price tag as results reported by the watchdog found that less than one in three Blu-ray films delivered the fantastic viewing experience that they’ve been advertised to do.
Sourced from Which? (who tested 17 titles) we’ve got the results for you below…
Films that showed little to no difference include the following:
- Matrix Reloaded – On DVD – £5. On Blu-ray – £27.29
- Die Hard – On DVD – £5. On Blu-ray – £16.92
- Ghostbusters – On DVD – £4.09. On Blu-ray – £12.30
- North By Northwest – On DVD – £4.49 . On Blu-ray – £23.96
- Gangs of New York – On DVD – £5.53. On Blu-ray – £12.62
- Master and Commander – On DVD – £3.59. On Blu-ray – £9.99
- The Untouchables – On DVD – £2.99. On Blu-ray – £13.57
- The Graduate – On DVD – £6.05. On Blu-ray – £12.30
Films that showed did better:
- Ghandi – On DVD – £5.00. On Blu-ray – £19.67
- Grease – On DVD – £2.99. On Blu-ray – £20.18
- The Matrix – On DVD – £5.00. On Blu-ray – £22.40
- Terminator 2 – On DVD – £3.99. On Blu-ray – £12.99
Films that showed a major improvement:
- Avatar – On DVD – £11.99. On Blu-ray – £17.99
- Casino Royale – On DVD – £4.14. On Blu-ray – £9.99
- From Russia with Love – On DVD – £4.64. On Blu-ray – £11.69
- The Wizard of Oz – On DVD – £14.99. On Blu-ray – £19.42
- Zulu – On DVD – £6.00. On Blu-ray – £12.43
As you can see, the list isn’t exhaustive and these DVD’s and Blu-ray’s were picked at random and tested simultaneously on two identical televisions. The results garnered a bit of a chasm between the worst and the best.
The point to all this that even though the Blu-ray disc continues to do well in the current economic climate and taking the watchdog’s results into account (I’ve also noticed that not all Blu-rays give the same ‘hi-def’ experience), do you think this is something that Sony will still be holding onto in the future with regards to the PlayStation 4 or will something else be taking it over the reigns??
What do you think? Do you buy into the Blu-ray experience? Leave your us your thoughts.
