Blue Ray may have won.
But since that victory. At least as of April. Sales of blue ray players has been way down. 40% to be exact.
But with the price of players comming down.
NPD group predicts Blue Ray sales to double this year.
http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6596816.html?nid=2705 But, if you take into account the 40% drop means overall sales will only be up by 40%.
Plus this prediction was made back on Sept 16th. when the economical outlook was slightly less gloomy.
So I highly doubt they would stand by that prediction today.
But even back then..
"Still, the high price of Blu-ray players and customer satisfaction with standard-definition machines remain deterrents to further growth of the next-generation machines, said Rubin, citing a recent survey of about 1,500 consumers. More than a third of those surveyed said they're either waiting for Blu-ray player prices to drop further or see no need to upgrade from standard-definition machines, while just 5% polled said they planned to buy either a stand-alone Blu-ray player or PlayStation 3"
Also its my understanding that most cable companies broadcast in 1080i. Not 1080P
And even then
"The resolution of the human eye maxes out 768x1366
"at the average viewing distance, with the average size of consumer HDTV sets, the human eye would not actually be able to perceive the difference in resolution between 720p and 1080p. This is because the 720p image "saturates" the perceivable resolution of the eye at this distance"
Good discussion going on here
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/395872In any event. If you watch mostly TV and occasionally watch movies
You would do just as well with a 720P as a 1080P.
And odds are you probably wouldnt notice the difference.
If you play alot of Video games then the PS3 makes more sense to me then buing a stand alone Blue Ray player.
I've seen blue ray and I've seen High Def. and fer sure the blue ray looks better.
But if you only watch movies occasionally.
Whats the point?
You would be better off with the PS3 and waiting for lue Ray players...and disks to come down to more sane levels.
But thats just my 2 cents
Myself I have a 50 inch Vizio Plasma.
Its only 720. but I've been over people houses looking at programs on their significantly more expensive brand HDs at 1080P I wach at home at 720 and thought mine looked better wiht only few exceptions.
LG's being one of them
After a year and a half mine still has a WOW factor on me .
Almost every time I watch it at some point I see something on the screen and say "WOW. look at that picture"