Afishionados,

I recently traded in a Nintendo Wii and some accessories for a Playstation 3 console Turns out the Wii is 1% entertaining and 99% gimmick, and I wanted a Blu-ray player. And I might have wanted to play Little Big Planet…

Anyhow, after getting a couple Blu-ray movies as gifts, I keep reading articles about the “death of physical media” as we know it. How the world is transitioning more to a “download mentality” and that Blu-ray will never take off and truly replace the DVD. It seems, however, that the articles I’ve come across fail to mention some very important points. I’ll be the first to admit that I am not an “expert in the world of video”, but I like to think I know enough about technology to give my opinion as to why physical media isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The first thing many articles point out is that more and more people are buying their music from online music stores like iTunes and Amazon. They try to relate this behavior to the future of how people will buy movies. But there are some faults with this logic.

The biggest problem (literally) is the bandwidth issue. Music albums take up such a small fraction of storage space that one is able to buy them through their cell phone. The iPhone, for example, will now let you purchase entire albums directly through AT&T’s 3G network. Sure, there are limitations (files greater than 10 megabytes require a WiFi connection) but how many song files are bigger than 10 MB? Not many that I have purchased. How much will file size change once all the tracks in iTunes go to 256 kbps AAC files? (Currently, many songs in iTunes are encoded only at 128 kbps in AAC, but this is scheduled to change by April). Yes, this will undoubtedly increase file size, but nowhere near the amount that video requires. And, since Apple is publicizing this new feature of the iPhone, it’s likely that AT&T will simply raise the file size limit beyond that of 10 MB. Notice, though, you can’t buy movies through the iPhone over 3G (or WiFi, for that matter). There’s a reason for that: the files are just too damn big.

If you’re fortunate enough to live in the United States, you may not worry about how much bandwidth you’re using. For those unfamiliar, think of your bandwidth like your checking account. You have so much to spend, and if you go over, you’re in trouble. For years now, companies have been roping in customers left and right with promises of “unlimited bandwidth” with their broadband Internet access. This is a catch-22 for Internet service providers: As more and more customers sign up (good), more and more people are using up more and more bandwidth, and thus slowing down these companies’ servers (bad). Bandwidth caps are more common in other countries, but things are changing in the U.S. as well. The days of unlimited everything appear to be fading.

Now, I highly doubt anyone is going to use up all their bandwidth by downloading music files. Albums just aren’t large enough to do all that much damage unless you are buying massive quantities of them. I purchased an album in iTunes that includes 11 tracks, all encoded at 256 kbps AAC and it only takes up around 77 MB. Not a big deal. Videos, on the other hand, are a completely different monster.

The Dark Knight, if purchased through iTunes, takes up 1.67 GB of space. That’s 1,710.08 megabytes. Quite the increase in file size when compared to a music file. If you’ve got a bandwidth cap of 20 gigabytes a month (Telstra in Australia, for example), that doesn’t leave much room for many movies when you consider that EVERYTHING you do online takes away some of your bandwidth (chatting, web surfing, console gaming, music streaming, etc.).

For argument’s sake, a 20 GB limit gives you access to about 10-11 movies a month after taking into account ~ 1 GB of bandwidth for surfing, etc. “But I don’t buy 10 movies a month” I hear you say. Well, do you ever rent them? Movies rented in iTunes take up the same amount of storage as their purchased counterparts. The only difference is they expire after 30 days time or within 24 hours of viewing. The amount of data transferred is identical. Personally, 10 movies a month is not that much.

The second fault with comparing online music purchasing habits to movies is many people don’t always want the whole CD. The benefit of iTunes and Amazon is that you can purchase just the songs you want for a small fee, rather than spend $13-20 on the whole album. But honestly, who wants just one or two scenes from a movie? Chances are, if you are interested in buying a movie, it’s because you want the whole thing, not just bits and pieces like you would an album. In my eyes, it’s like comparing apples to oranges.

The benefit of Blu-ray is that the video is in 1080p high definition (HD) with multiple audio channels for surround sound. I believe many new Blu-ray movies even support uncompressed audio. At the moment, you’re not going to find anything like this in downloadable form (shy of pirating a Blu-ray rip). iTunes movies, Amazon movies, and Netflix streaming services are less than DVD quality. This is not to say that it couldn’t change in the future, but as of now, you’re better off buying the DVD instead. And, if by some miracle 1080p suddenly did become a reality tomorrow, it goes back to my first point about bandwidth and storage space. Blu-ray discs (BD) hold 20+ gigabytes of content. If iTunes suddenly offered 1080p videos in the same codec as BD, the file size would eat up your bandwidth faster than Dubya can screw up an economy. While downloadable and streaming videos are convenient, the quality (up to now) is still a step backwards. Until the video (and audio quality, for that matter – to my knowledge, all the videos in iTunes are stereo only) are at least on par with BD, no one is going to give up a tangible disk anytime soon. I do want to point out that my own experience is limited to iTunes because I use a Mac. (Disclaimer: If Amazon offers true HD videos with 5.1 surround sound, it must be a PC only thing and, thus, I am unwaware.)

Another issue with online files is the fact that you are all but required to have a broadband Internet connection. The definition of “broadband” is broad in its own right. Some poor bastard with a 768 kbps DSL line is considered to have “broadband” even though it’s slow by today’s standards. While it’s true that more and more people all over the world have broadband Internet access in some form, there are still unfortunate souls connecting to the web via dial-up (or worse yet, not connected at all!). I’d be willing to bet that more folks own DVD players than have broadband Internet access. Plus, it wasn’t so long ago that more folks had VCRs (shudder) than DVD players. As demand increased and prices dropped, the VCR went the way of the Dodo. With the prices of BD players dropping (many of which play standard DVD discs as well), is it really so hard to fathom that they will replace the DVD player as the standard? And who really wants to wait a couple hours to download a whole movie in less-than-DVD quality anyway? I get around 4 Mbps download speed on a good day here, but I have a friend in Switzerland who caps out at 2.5. I can download a whole movie in an hour and a half to three hours (depending on the movie), but why should I have to wait? I can just go to Wal-Mart, buy it there, and have it home, unwrapped, and queued up in less than 20 minutes.

Yet another issue with downloadable-only movies is the way they are viewed. How many people have their computers connected to their TV? Or even know how? I’m speaking about the average person out there, not the quiet nerdy kid who can fix all your shit but can’t tie his own shoes. Do you even know how to connect your own computer to your television? And if so, what connector(s) are you using? Composite? S-Video? VGA? How many people can connect their computers via a high def source like HDMI, DVI, or the new Display Port? Does your computer even HAVE that option?

(Most?) People want to watch their movies on a TV, not their computer screen. And they want their movies to hook up to their surround sound systems. While companies have tried (and failed, in my opinion) to offer folks the best of both worlds, I still don’t think we’re there yet. Arguably, the best frontrunner is the Apple TV, but even it only supports 720p movies (below that of BD’s 1080p) and no surround sound. It does offer 5.1 surround sound via optical output, but do the HD videos feature it? I honestly don’t know, because I don’t own one.

Situations with the Apple TV also bring up another critical aspect of the downloadable-only video format: DRM. While it’s true that BDs feature copy protection, the copy protection is “universal” in that it will play on all BD players. You can buy Wall-E on BD and watch it on a Samsung BD player, a Sony BD player, and a Playstation 3. Try buying a movie in iTunes and watching it on a Zune. Or anything other than a Mac, iPod, or PC with iTunes. The FairPlay DRM is not a standard that plays on everything.

This DRM is authenticated via an online server after you first obtain the file. Let’s say, for example, that you want to watch a movie at a friend’s house so you burn your iTunes movie purchase to a DVD. But your friend doesn’t have Internet access. How are you going to watch it, because it has to be authenticated? Also, with many DRM schemes, you are limited to how many computers you can watch it on. iTunes currently allows for up to 5 computers to play the file (and it’s rather simple to de-authorize a system, though I know friends have forgotten or otherwise messed this up). No Internet access is required to play a BD movie, so long as the person has BD player.

And what’s worse than not being able to authenticate? What happens if Apple decides to go belly-up and their authentication servers go down forever? This has already happened with MSN music and Yahoo Music. Where will you be then with your collection? Or if your hard drive fails and you lose ALL your data? Do YOU have a daily backup of all your files? Are you guaranteed the ability to re-download ALL your movies and music? I know that I own some music tracks that are no longer available to buy in iTunes. I highly doubt I’d ever get them back were it not for my backup copies. What’s to say the same couldn’t be true for movies?

For me, one of the cooler selling points for BD (and special edition DVDs) are the extras included (besides the obvious superior picture quality, of course). I like the behind the scenes stuff, the documentaries, the easter eggs, and the commentaries. These are not always available with downloadable movies. Prices for downloadable movies are also not always better than DVDs. The Dark Knight is currently $14.86 at Wal-Mart, as compared to $14.99 in iTunes. Sure, the price difference is minimal, but you’re getting better video quality, surround sound, and a special feature or two for the difference. Plus, it will play in any DVD player and on any computer with DVD software.

Finally, there is the selection issue. DVD probably holds the record for most titles available, followed by download and then BD. As time goes on, I’m sure more and more will either be BD or downloadable, but for now, DVD is still king in this regard. As more people adopt HDTVs, the demand for HD video will go up. And as I have already mentioned, until bandwidth, storage, and quality of downloadable movies exceeds that of DVDs (let alone BD), I just don’t see how physical media is going anywhere that quickly. Expect more titles to be released on BD in the next few years (including “older” movies that came out before BD was even around).

I think people like having tangible cases for most things, especially for their movies. I would rather own the movies I really love in a nice plastic case on a physical disk. There’s just something about having something in your hands versus seeing a file version of it on the screen. It’s the same reason eBooks haven’t killed off paper ones, and why people still read newspapers in addition to watching the news. Clients prefer a printed proof to an onscreen demo: people want to hold the final product in their hands.

So, then, can a compromise be reached? Yes. And thankfully, it already has been by many studios in at least one form. My favorite method is to include a downloadable version for free with the purchase of the DVD or BD. Films like Wall-E and The Dark Knight already do this. Many even give you the option of an iTunes version for Mac or PC, or a Windows Media (yuck!) version for PC. The choice is up to you, which is good for the customer. BDs with downloadable copies is the best of both worlds, and I think (at least for the time being) that this is the way of the future. BD may get replaced with something else, but I’m willing to bet it’s going to be something tangible.