Despite the fact that its limited rollout of Blu-ray discs has not worked out as well as it has hoped, Redbox will be increasing the number of BDs in its kiosks, according to Coinstar CFO Scott Di Valerio.
Di Valerio says that Redbox will soon increase its percentage of Blu-rays to 10% of its total number of stocked titles. He expects to see better BD rental performance as Redbox focuses on stocking titles from the most popular genres. Says Di Valerio:
“What we’re really trying to do is focus on genres that are more rentable from a Blu-ray perspective, and buying at the right [purchase] levels so we can get the levels of turns needed on those discs . . . We are very bullish on the Blu-ray opportunity and think it is certainly accretive.”
Have you rented a Blu-ray from Redbox? If so, did the $1.50 price point seem about right? Would higher levels of more popular BD titles encourage you to rent more of the high-def discs?
(via Home Media Magazine)
I have a Sony 3D Blu-ray disc player with surround sound. With that being said, I don’t rent BD from Redbox because they are 50% more than renting a DVD.
Blu-Ray just seems like a over-priced product the film industry is promoting to replace the excellent product (DVD’s) that has a stable position in the market. It’s interesting that Redbox feels that they should increase the number of Blu-Ray titles, although consumer response has already been soft. Redbox kiosks are already so crowded with non-DVD titles (games, Blu-Ray) that it is getting hard for me to find something I’d be willing to rent (even on days I have a free rental code).
You actually have games in your area?
Blu-Ray is the future of the physical format for the next 5 to 10 years. And for $1.50 you can’t beat it. If you have the right set up at home it is better than going to a theater. Please Redbox, buy more Blu-Ray
If it was $1.10 or $1.20 I’d go with BluRay. But since my wife doesn’t care *at all* and I care more on some movies than others, I don’t generally rent them for 50% more. We often keep them for several days, so it’s a couple of extra bucks.
The 50% markup is a sore point with me, as well. I’d bite at $1.25. Blu-ray discs are more expensive, but they’re not 50% more than DVD’s in the store.
If it is a visually striking movie (Avatar, Transformers, etc), I will rent the Blue Ray version of the movie. However, if it is a romantic comedy or buddy movie, I tend to go with the DVD version. $1.50 doesn’t seem too bad to me because Blockbuster still charges about $5.
Exactly. I only go for Blu if it’s a big special effects movie where the best picture quality is needed. For a drama or comedy I’m going to save the 50 cents.
I agree totally here. I try for BD when it is an effects or action movie (or cartoon). Comedies can be laughed at in SD. DVD is stable and I argued this until my home theater was built and I saw the difference. WOW! I like my home theater better than the theater.
I get the 50% mark up, but we are talking 50 cents people. Much better than Blockbuster, VOD, etc. $1.50 for 2 hrs of entertainment with my family vs. $30-50 at the theater (matinee prices). Easy decision.
i have stopped renting from bb express because no BR! i had stopped renting from redbox but last week they released 2 movies on BR so i started again!
i have been getrting them from BB thru the mail. i am trying to only watch HDEF
programs now. $1.5 is fine especially with a code so $.5 is real good!
there are 50 or more redboxes within 15 miles of my house and 1 within 1 mile.
there should be no reason that redbox doesn’t have at least 1 kiosk with
every released BR title within a 10 mile radius when there are that many boxes all over town that have DVDs. i should be able to see everything in BR.
people with that many kiosks in a given area should have a choice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
otherwise i will continue with BB until they go out of business which i doubt
since by mail business model obviously works; or switch to netflix if i have to!
i will not rent dvds so stop DVDs add BR!!!! every release!!!
tony
this is the second year of the decade now in the 21st century! get with it!
if you dont think br is worth it. syop watching dvds for 3 months and only watch HDEF then watch a few dvds, you’ll get it!!!!
good for you who cares.
More BD New Releases are welcomed! Remove ALL DVDs PLEASE!
$1.50 is alot cheaper than buying @$20 & watch once.
Perhaps if we could use codes + fifty cents for first day rentals of blurays I would rent more of them. Most of my redbox is full pay but I am used to gaming the codes when I get them.
Blu-ray is just a scam to get you to spend more money on bigger tv’s, new players, and more expensive discs…
It will be outdated soon enough.
Most movies aren’t worth the extra quality…the ones that are, are worth going to the theater.
I play both DVD and BD’s on my SONY BD player. Soooooooo very little difference on ether why pay $1.50 for almost the same. My personal feeling is the cost to you, “REDBOX” for BD is the same as DVD. So why are you gouging us.
PS: Start streaming for a $1.00 and save on the cost of kiosks, DVD, BD. Take over the market of streaming at $1.00 per one night download. You have done a good job at the kiosks, now start with streaming. Don’t end up like BB because you waited toooooooooo long.
And another thing, why can’t we use free codes online. I get the run-a-round when I ask this question when I call.
I sure hope some one at REDBOX reads this!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank You Coinstar/Redbox. I enjoy the increased picture quality and I can definitely tell the different due to having a 1080p tv and connect my blu-ray player with an HDMI cord. No one else offers an amazing price for great content. I agree that having more titles would great for getting more rentals because it would encourage me to check the machines more. I still plan on only renting Blu-rays and am glad to see the format going in a positive direction with Redbox.
Once you start watching blu-ray you hate to go back. How can anyone complain about paying $1.50 for a movie?
I am already renting more Blu-Rays from Redbox than Netflix because Netflix seems to always have a long wait for the more current movies, whereas Redbox has so many locations I can usually find the BR movie that I want easily. The price point of $1.50 is just right, I think. Generally, the higher video quality of the BR movies is worth the extra cost to me. If Redbox offers more BR movies, I will definitely rent more from them. For me, Netflix has become more of a “nitch flick” site for those hard to find, rather obscure movies. They are very good at that.
I was curious as to why “Megamind” was not offered in BR format in this area (Louisville, KY) but only in DVD?
All of the kiosks that I use carry BR movies, BTW.
Yeah I agree, I hate watching DVD’s unless I have to. Even Netflix streaming looks better than DVD most of the time. I guess if you can’t really see the difference, then go with the cheaper DVD. But for me, my TV clearly shows a huge difference between a DVD that is encoded at 6-8 megabit/sec and a Blu-ray which is encoded at 20-40 megabit/sec. I know many older people have trouble seeing the difference as well as people with a poor video setup using the wrong cables or bad equipment. So buy what you like, but for me, I choose the superior Blu-ray experience. The price could be cheaper though. I would cancel my netflix and rent only from Redbox if they stocked all titles in Blu-ray and dropped the price to $1.00.
In places where there are 2 boxes (a growing trend I hear), they should have one with DVD and the other with BD and games. That might work.
I see a lot about “no difference” and gouging us and getting us to buy bigger TVs. Truth in a lot of that except for difference. I held out a long time on BD. Finally got one for my home theater, and well, BD makes a difference. Still some bugs in the technology, but it is amazing. Even CGI cartoons have incredible depth that isn’t as recognizable in DVD-form. In fact, few movie houses look as good as my home theater now (never gone to a digital theater). The only thing better I have seen was Dark Knight on IMax and Avatar in 3D.
in response to Bob Vitry’s comment, if u cant tell the difference between a dvd and a BD with a SONY blu ray player than u obviously are more of a technology retard than my entire family who know nothing about changing the freakin menu on a vcr player, if u actually spent the money on a sony and cant tell the difference i suggest a setup with a different player, i have 37″ vizio with Samsung Cr5500BD and the picture quality is amazing on blu ray, next time anyone wants to bash blu ray and compare it to dvd get your facts first so u know what youre talking about
im sure some people here that rent blu rays dont have their hdtv connected
using hdmi cables. they see the 50 dollar price for hdmi cables at best buy etc. and say no way jose. go to newegg or monoprice get some hdmi cables and
hook up your blu ray player to your hdtv and you will see how good the pic looks. the only thing is some people with hdtvs only have 720p. you have to
have a 1080p hdtv to see how good blu ray movies really look.
you then have to get a new 7.1 or 7.2 receiver to hear how good blu ray movies
sound in lossless true dolby digital or true dts sound. they blow away regular
dolby digital and regular dts. you have to have some decent speakers also. it does not cost much to get all this done with todays prices esp if you shop around online via newegg and some other online stores that have way better prices than best buy etc.
just think of much money you would save watching at home compared to going to the movie multiplex. your movie ticket price is between 6 to 11 dollars per person vs 1.50 for a blu ray. if you buy any concession stand items at multiplex thats like 4 to 8 bucks per item vs about 1 dollar or less at your house. you dont have to waste gas or time driving to movie theater. you dont have to wait for all the previews to be done. you dont have to worry about someone behind you kicking your seat or talking too much.
it all adds up. home theater is the way to go PERIOD
some newer movies at not filmed in hd so they wont look quite as good in
blu ray format. most movies in the future are gonna look awesome in blu ray format.
i think once blockbuster is gone we will see redbox and netflix get new releases
a lot quicker then they are getting them now which will make all of us happier.
if you go to http://www.tvpredictons.com you will see great info and articles about hdtv and hd content. they recently had article that blu ray is in about 25 million homes if i remember the number correctly. that number is only going to go up. the number of homes with either 720p hdtvs or 1080p hdtvs is also gonna go up a lot in the future.
BD is pretty much all I watch. I don’t mind paying $1.50, but I wish Redbox would carry more titles on BD so this is good news. On my 107″ 16:9 projection screen the difference is HUGE.
heres article about blu ray in over 27 million homes in the usa:
http://www.tvpredictions.com/blu010711.htm
the article states:
The number of homes with HDTVs is now more than 50 million, which means that Blu-ray is in half of the homes with high-def sets.
this article was dated january 7, 2011 so the numbers have gone up since it was published.
heres the whole article for thoese of you that dont want to clink on the link above:
CES: Blu-ray Now In 27.5M U.S. Homes
By Swanni
Washington, D.C. (January 7, 2011) — Blu-ray players are now in 27.5 million U.S. homes, according to the Digital Entertainment Group, an organization that represents companies involved in the high-def disc industry.
PC World reports that Andy Parsons, chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association, said yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show that sales of Blu-ray titles have doubled in the last year.
“That’s bucking the trend with what’s going on with packaged media in general,” said Parsons, referring to declining DVD sales and rentals. DVD sales and rentals fell 11 percent in 2010 to roughly $14 billion.
The DEG reports that Blu-ray sales and rentals jumped 53 percent in 2010, rising to $2.3 billion. By comparison, Video on Demand rentals generated $1.8 billion in 2010 while digital downloads (rentals and sales of movies streamed over the Net) brought in $683 million.
The news is good for Blu-ray enthusiasts who have predicted that the high-def disc format would eventually replace the DVD. The number of homes with HDTVs is now more than 50 million, which means that Blu-ray is in half of the homes with high-def sets.
“If you look at the adoption rate of the market we could sell into, almost everyone could buy a DVD, be it a PlayStation 2 or standalone DVD, because everyone had an SDTV,” says Parsons, according to PC World. “Blu-ray was selling the same number of units as DVDs, but it was doing so into less than half the market size, because not everyone had an HDTV yet. So that really means the adoption rate has picked up much faster than DVD.”
Blu-ray player sales are expected to rise again in 2011 with the emergence of Net-enabled units which allow users to watch streaming videos from Netflix, Vudu and other services. However, the streaming videos could cut into the sales and rentals of the Blu-ray disc.
now heres some interesting news for blu ray movies in the future:
http://www.tvpredictions.com/bluhdmit011211.htm
Blu-ray Will Need HDMI Connections
Washington, D.C. (January 12, 2011) — If you’re buying a new Blu-ray player this year, make sure your High-Definition TV has an HDMI input.
That may seem obvious to most people who have purchased a high-def set in the past few years; newer model sets come with at least one HDMI port. But many older sets, dating back to the early 2000s, only have Component connections.
And now the studios are invoking a clause in their content agreements that will require new Blu-ray players to only output HD content via HDMI cables, reports the web site Electronista.
The move was first threatened several years ago, but the studios dropped the idea when early HDTV owners protested. However, the studios are concerned that pirates can too easily make illegal copies of Blu-ray movies if they are transmitted over Component lines.
The studios will now be able to include technical specs on their discs that will prevent a Blu-ray player to display an HD image over a Component line. Electronista writes that movies displayed over Component lines will be restricted to 540p video, which is below normal HD standards.
Blu-ray discs purchased before 2011 can not include the Component restrictions. So, your current library of Blu-ray movies will still work fine with an HDTV that does not have an HDMI port.
COINSTAR/REDBOX IS FULL OF S***!!!!!!! More BR!!! So where the F*** is
UNSTOPPABLE AND SWITCH IN BR?????????????????????????????????????
F U!
at tlockner
Your previous post had some point to it. You want what you want and you want Blue Ray.
Everybody is entitled to their opinion….but I don’t see the reason or what your above point is or what you think that kind of post with all the innuendos and swear words etc. will accomplish.
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Coinstar is not living up to its promise of stocking more BD, at least not yet.