Across the Pond Archives

The New York Times had a good read out yesterday on the upcoming challenges for Blu-ray.

The argument comes down to, while Blu-ray may have ousted HD-DVD as the optical format of choice, consumers increasingly have far more to choose from than traditional optical media.

Blu-ray’s backers, including Sony and the Walt Disney Company, face a growing chorus of skeptics that says the window for a high-definition disc format may be closing fast.

One reason is that discs of all kinds may become obsolete as a new wave of digital media services starts to flow into the living room. On Monday, for example, the Korean television maker LG Electronics plans to announce a new line of high-definition televisions that connect directly to the Internet with no set-top box required. The televisions will be able to play movies and television shows from online video-on-demand services, including Netflix.

“The Blu-ray format is in jeopardy simply because the advent of downloadable HD movies is so close,” said Roger L. Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates.

Personally, I think the Times has this nailed. We’re not there just yet, and Blu-ray probably will be a financial success for the industry, but it’s worth taking pause if you’re thinking about investing heavily in a Blu-ray centered home theater. [Dad, take note. ]

Between Hulu, Netflix On Demand, the iTunes Store, and many other handy devices or services coming to market, it’s worth taking a second look, even if you’re not the most technically savvy.

More on this in a future post…