DVD jukebox sales down because of Blu-ray?

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Apr 9th 2008 at 2:07PM

The high-end world of multi-terabyte media servers is usually well beyond our interests as some of them cost more than we make in a year, but we do like to dream. The upgrade costs for HD fans that're making the transition from DVD to Blu-ray might be a hard $400 pill to swallow for some, but if you want to store all your movies on a disk so they're available on demand, you'll have to be willing to spend much, much more. On a post on Automated Home, a masked installer confesses that "Right now I'm selling next to no servers at all....and the reason is that everyone wants a "High Definition" server." We can't say we blame 'em, seriously, once you take a look at Blu-ray on a nice display, it's hard to go back to DVD -- even if it means you'll have instant access to your entire library. If nothing else, this should help motivate the studios to get the managed copy part of AACS worked out, because as we've seen in the past, people will find a way to enjoy content the way they want it.

Filed under: Blu-ray, Media PCs

Tags: Blu-ray, Kaleidescape

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

MadMike @ Apr 9th 2008 2:18PM

1.) Buy PS3
2.) Add Blu-Ray drive to PC
3.) Install TVersity (free) on PC
4.) Rip Blu-Ray movies to H264
5.) Stream them to PS3

All HD Movies on demand - Simple.

Neutral

Nfinity @ Apr 9th 2008 2:33PM

Mad Mike.. the only thing that is waste of money here is the PS3:

1. Add Blu-Ray/HD DVD drive to PC
2.) Install TVersity (free) on PC
3.) Rip Blu-Ray and HD DVD movies to H264 or any other codec with AnyDVD HD
4.) Stream them through your PC to your TV or if you already have a PS3 or X360 use that.

There's no need to buy a PS3 for this.. only a good drive for PC so you can rip everything. And yeah, HD DVD (Plextor) is best solution because it allows you to rip HD DVD exclusives too. So you are not missing out on anything.

Neutral

Nfinity @ Apr 9th 2008 2:37PM

Actually, I was wrong.. Plextor is too expansive.. $180 LG drive that does Blu-Ray read/burn + HD DVD read is the ultimate solution.

Highly Ranked

MadMike @ Apr 9th 2008 2:53PM

You have a point there. I already have a PS3 so I just use that. I also want that Hauppauge HD PVR that can work with my Verizon FiOS HD Cable Box. That way I can rip shows. Right now I use Miro with a certain TV site, but that isn't entirely legal. Not like any of this is. It's probably illegal to rip your blu-rays on your computer and then streaming them is another charge. Etc, etc, etc...

We should start our own content label for music and movies. One that embraces net neutrality and fair use. We use digital content only, no physical media. We outsource the Blu-Ray burning to a 3rd party who will then market the content at a higher cost to give them a cut of the action. We save money on slush funds, cocaine funds, lobbying funds, etc and we don't get greedy. We could sell movies for $5.00 and entire CD's for $2 and still make a fortune. Of course we would be sued into oblivion by the MAFIAA. We could get artists and actors easy, because they will make more money off of us than they do with the MAFIAA.

Neutral

DrXym @ Apr 9th 2008 5:14PM

The PS3 makes a great multimedia juke box and unlike the 360 you can copy movies to its HDD rather than just stream them. I prefer copying the movies over since they start faster.

Neutral

mike @ Apr 9th 2008 11:11PM

faster? What kind of slow network you got? 54mbps on 802.11g wireless is good enough for hd streaming to the 360. I use a wired 100mbps connection, Or just play right of a dual layered disc, providing the movie is wmvhd..

As for ripping movies to the ps3 hard drive? Why would you want to do that? The hard drive is so small, and a proper hd movie is like 12gb, you gonna store 5 movies on your ps3 hdd? stick with your computers hard drive and a simple dvi-hdmi cable like mentioned above.

Neutral

Mark @ Apr 10th 2008 5:20AM

Maybe he's saying faster because playing from HDD is instant, and streaming isn't. Playing from HDD also means proper seeking, pausing, restart etc. It also means of course you can play the movie without PC being on, burning 2x the power. You have the choice of course to do either - copy to HDD or stream so its a matter of preference.

I find I do both but I prefer local storage. The HDD is also entirely adequate for SD movies, but you can expand it quite easily if space ever became tight.

Neutral

Marshall @ Apr 9th 2008 2:27PM

Step 1) Buy a Popcorn Hour A100...

Marshall
The Real HT Info Podcast

Neutral

Jon @ Apr 9th 2008 3:00PM

All Popcorn hour needs is cover art support and im set

Neutral

Marshall @ Apr 9th 2008 3:54PM

It's only a matter of time. Llink (a third party HTTP server), is supposedly there, but I couldn't get it to work on my system. Still, google it and check out the 1.9 screenshot.

http://www.lundman.net/wiki/index.php/Llink

And, TV PVR capabilities via a networked PC are also supposedly around the corner:

http://forums.gbpvr.com/showpost.php?p=249826&postcount=65

If they don't get sued or something crazy, I think the Popcorn hour is going to be pretty cool given another year of development.

Marshall
The Real HT Info Podcast

Neutral

dj496 @ Apr 9th 2008 7:14PM

HDTVs started out at something more than I earn in a year, (actually, a lot more, what am I thinking) but this will be the same. I just wish storage got cheaper, better, faster and bigger, SOONER.

Neutral

Mike @ Apr 9th 2008 10:00PM

Actually, you just need to inform your customers that Kaleidescape is already Blu-ray ready. The server and backend infrastructure is ready to go and it just will need the Kaleidescape Blu-Ray Movie Player to record/playback Bluray movies. We've been selling Kaleidescapes at the same rate we have before. In typical Kaleidescape fashion I'm sure they will offer an upgrade for current users if they want to trade in their current player clients for Blu players.

If people are having trouble selling them, then they aren't selling them right. IMHO.

Neutral

William @ Apr 10th 2008 12:07AM

Yes, It is backend Ready, But I want to store my Movies Now; Why would I spend upwards of 50k on a systems, that May or may not be able to stream Blu-Ray over the house in the future depending if they ever get the licenses to actually allow ripping from $ony.

Neutral

William @ Apr 10th 2008 12:08AM

Neutral

Mike @ Apr 10th 2008 8:38AM

Actually, they aren't $50k and if they are trying to sell Kaleidescape systems for that then that's why their sales are down. A complete system in under $15k.

Most people already have a large DVD collection and Kaleidescape currently offers the best management solution for those who can afford it. They are upgradeable to Blu-ray when that player is released. For now, a standalone BD player is the way to go for those who are buying systems now and can't wait until they can release a Blu player/recorder.

Neutral

boomhauer @ Jun 15th 2008 4:14PM

I know Phantom Data Systems in Norwalk, Connecticut has enterprise class bluray jukebox solutions. They provide Linux, Windows, Novell, MAC and UNIX drivers and support as well.
Considering the consumer space does not cater to those needs (consumer space being the cheaper desktop / home entertainment area). Medical Imaging, Broadcast industry and alike are heavily investing in enterprise class bluray systems as well. But I'll warn you these systems don't come cheap! Cost us an upward of 65K for a 6 Drive, 660 slot 34.5 Terybyte blu ray library appliance for all our broadcast video / episodes archiving and management. Being heavy on the MAC platform as well, I'd suggest you take a look.

http://phantomdatasystems.com/bluraydisc.html

B.

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