Samsung Says Blu-Ray Has Five Years Left

[Logan Frederick]

Samsung Says Blu-Ray Has Five Years Left

Samsung has low expectations for the PlayStation 3's disc format, estimating its lifespan to be about five more years.

It was a happy day for Sony when Microsoft announced it was dropping HD-DVD support [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/81725], ending the high-definition disc war, but Samsung, a member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, doesn't believe Sony can enjoy victory for long.

"I think it [Blu-ray] has 5 years left, I certainly wouldn't give it 10," stated Andy Griffiths, director of consumer electronics at Samsung UK.

Despite a predicted short life-cycle, Griffiths expects 2008 will be the format's most successful year as prices for players drop.

"It's going to be huge", he added. "We are heavily back-ordered at the moment."

Instead of focusing on the disc technology, Samsung has been experimenting with OLED screen lighting, a more vivid and adaptable competitor to larger LCD screens.

"We will launch the OLED technology when it's at a price that will be appealing to the consumer, unfortunately that's not yet," explained Griffiths, predicting that the right time should be about 2010.

"In 2012 we will be in a true HD world. Everything from your television to your camcorder will be offering you pictures in high-definition, and we plan to offer you that HD world from all angles."

Source: Pocket-Lint [http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/17399/18423/samsung-blu-ray-5-years-left.phtml] via Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/04/blu-ray-has-five-years-left-says-samsung/]

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[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Eh, DVD's are basically "tech. zombies" - right now they are "dead" - but there are people who still use them and will use them for a long time. Blu-Ray may have a 5 year lifespan but people will use it for 10 years if it's cheaper than the format trying to kill Blu-Ray.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Blu-ray is too expensive for my taste. Why pay $35 on up for a movie I can get on dvd for $10? Besides, I watch more movies on my comp than anywhere else, which doesn't support blu-ray (though I hear it can be played like a dvd, which kinda defeats the purpose of the format.) Also don't have a Hi-Def tv, so it would just be more of a waste.

 

[Zerbye]

The format to replace/kill Blu-Ray is already around: downloadable HD movies on demand. The only limitations are the size of your hard drive, download speed, and availability. Mark Cuban had a nice write-up about this over a year ago, and as much as I like to touch my media as much as the next guy, he's got a point. If you can watch an HD movie at home of equivalent quality to Blu-Ray without a Blu-Ray player, why buy a player?

 

[Sethran]

How are DVDs dead? They're still getting universal support from every single major film studio.

They're said to be 'dead', just like PC gaming is said to be 'dead' or 'dying'. It's not true, but people like to claim it is. In the actual sense all it means is that DVDs are cheaper than Blu-Ray.

 

[OuroborosChoked]

I've actually been able to find Blu Ray movies for dirt cheap... probably because nobody's buying them because they're too damned expensive and nobody has the technology yet.

Check this out... I got the FIVE DISC Blade Runner collection (blu ray, of course) for less than $15.

Look around... there are bargins...

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Eh, DVD's are basically "tech. zombies" - right now they are "dead" - but there are people who still use them and will use them for a long time. Blu-Ray may have a 5 year lifespan but people will use it for 10 years if it's cheaper than the format trying to kill Blu-Ray.

How are DVDs dead? They're still getting universal support from every single major film studio.

They are like phone books.

They aren't actually "dead" yet, but... [http://www.cracked.com/article_16518_tech-zombies-6-technologies-that-dont-know-theyre-dead.html]

How are DVDs dead? They're still getting universal support from every single major film studio.

They're said to be 'dead', just like PC gaming is said to be 'dead' or 'dying'. It's not true, but people like to claim it is. In the actual sense all it means is that DVDs are cheaper than Blu-Ray.

(this man finished my sentence!)

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

What the hell was wrong with DVDs??

 

[Jumplion]

Like ElArab said, Blu-ray may have a 5 year lifespan, but depending on the conpetitor it will be used for 10. How long have DVDs been used so far? I'd like to say about 10 years, maybe 9.

Besides, blu-ray used for gaming platforms could probably be used more than for blu-ray movies and stuff. As games improve (hopefully) in quality, developers will want to extend to more things they want to do that is limited to the other formats. Movies don't really have to do that, you just need the movie and some extra content, they only need blu-ray for less compression. But for games, they can be stored for more things.

 

[KSarty]

It better not only last 5 more years. I'll be seriously pissed if these companies start expecting us to switch formats every few years, its ridiculous. While MGS4 maxed out a Blu-ray, I have yet to hear of a movie that has even come close so why bother even thinking about switching?

 

[internutt]

I still do not see Blu-ray being used properly. Blu-ray is meant to have larger space than DVDs, yet I have seen Spiderman 1-3 on three separate Blu-ray discs when Blu-ray itself should be able to hold all three films on a single disc.

 

[Aries_Split]

I still do not see Blu-ray being used properly. Blu-ray is meant to have larger space than DVDs, yet I have seen Spiderman 1-3 on three separate Blu-ray discs when Blu-ray itself should be able to hold all three films on a single disc.

Agreed. I love blu-ray, but they should be utilizing it's space. You can easily fit the entire PotC, Lotr, Star Wars(HUGE possibilities there), and other popular series.

 

[stompy]

Besides, blu-ray used for gaming platforms could probably be used more than for blu-ray movies and stuff. As games improve (hopefully) in quality, developers will want to extend to more things they want to do that is limited to the other formats. Movies don't really have to do that, you just need the movie and some extra content, they only need blu-ray for less compression. But for games, they can be stored for more things.

The thing with Blu-ray though is that, at its current technology, the laser doesn't read the information fast enough for gaming. Hence the installs and repetition of data on the disk.

I'm not trying to say that Blu-ray will never be useful for gaming, but that they need to work on the read-speeds before developers can use the whole 50GB without repeating data or installing.

 

[Jumplion]

Besides, blu-ray used for gaming platforms could probably be used more than for blu-ray movies and stuff. As games improve (hopefully) in quality, developers will want to extend to more things they want to do that is limited to the other formats. Movies don't really have to do that, you just need the movie and some extra content, they only need blu-ray for less compression. But for games, they can be stored for more things.

The thing with Blu-ray though is that, at its current technology, the laser doesn't read the information fast enough for gaming. Hence the installs and repetition of data on the disk.

I'm not trying to say that Blu-ray will never be useful for gaming, but that they need to work on the read-speeds before developers can use the whole 50GB without repeating data or installing.

That is a problem, I admit though I'm usually a patient man.

Thing is, who has ever really heard of Blu-ray before the PS3 was announced? I sure havn't, I know it was around before the PS3 but I never heard a single word about it until the PS3 started going on about "Next gen technology! BLU-RAY!".

The way I see it, Blu-ray has alot of appeal in the world of Video Games with developers wanting more space and such for more ideas and stuff. Blu-ray isn't nearly as dominant in the other medias, but since the PS3 primarily uses blu-ray you have games on Blu-ray disks, wether that was the developers choice or not.

So in a way, blu-ray is "dominating" just on one platform and only in one media place.

I think i'm jabbering on randomly here...