Could Bond Put a Sour Taste in the Mouths of Blu-ray Owners?

Is James Bond giving Blu-ray a bad name? Reports are flooding the 'net that James Bond Blu-ray DVDs from a new collection are failing to play in many Blu-ray players, leading to customer frustration and anger. This isn't good news for a format that's only just begun to resonate with the average buyer.

According to various online forums, like Amazon and AVS Forum, the new DVDs, which include titles like Die Another Day, Live and Let Die, and From Russia With Love, reportedly begin to play but then cut out part way through; get stuck in the menu; or just lead to a black screen. This has been reported from owners of a variety of Blu-ray players from a number of manufacturers; although it appears from comments that the discs play just fine on a PlayStation 3 gaming console (which has a built-in Blu-ray player). I can't attest to the issues from personal experience since I haven't tried the DVDs myself. But given the high number of angry customers posting online, it appears that an issue does indeed disc with at least a few of the titles in a few players. However, many cite that a firmware upgrade will rectify the problem.

The Bond franchise is hugely popular, so there have likely been major sales of these titles. Will these issues turn people off of Blu-ray? While a firmware upgrade might eventually solve the playback issue, it doesn't solve the initial frustration of curling up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn only to watch a black screen. Luckily, I gather from sifting through the comments that some consumers are forgiving.

"My positive experience with so many other discs gives me optimistic confidence that the problem with these 6 discs will soon be a fading bad memory," says one commenter on Amazon.com. However, he's obviously an early-adopter and technophile, claiming to already own upwards of 100 Blu-ray discs.

Other buyers are unfortunately not so forgiving.

"The end result is a big fat black eye for Blu-ray," chimes in another buyer. "The Blu-ray Disc Association, the hardware manufacturers, and the content producers need to get their act together."

One techy reader on AVS Forum claims that these issues are the very reason he won't recommend Blu-ray to "ordinary people". "The worst part is just because these player's firmware can be upgraded, the studios think it's okay to break compatibility at will," he says. "It's not like they can't test these discs on the available players. There has to eventually come a point where they expect the mass market to be able to buy Blu-ray and they will have to freeze the feature set to what works on all players in the marketplace."

On a positive note, all those who did manage to get the discs playing cite impressive video quality and great sound.

Bottom line: it's clearly beneficial both visually and audibly to make use of the Blu-ray format, despite any one-off issues that might occur during these relatively early stages. Remember: HDMI didn't come out of the gate perfect either, but it has quickly become the de facto standard in home A/V connectivity.

DVD Player Free with Cable Purchase?

I just received an e-mail from a CE industry member with the following subject line: the state of the consumer electronics business. The message read as follows:

Our business has certainly changed. “free hardware” if you buy a “hook up cable”?
I am reading an ad from [retailer name withheld]
FREE- [brand name withheld] 1080p upconverting DVD player when you purchase a [brand name withheld] HDMI Cable 1080p cable for $149.
I am wondering how long it will be before the ads read “FREE 46” LCD’s” just to sell a hookup cable

Wow. There's a powerful message! I am absolutely stunned if this really is a valid promotion. It's no secret that retailers make more money on accessories than they do on big-ticket items, like computers or flat-panel TVs. Regardless, the PC and flat-panel TV still remain the central piece of hardware within a home theatre or computing system. To offer something like a DVD player for free when you buy the cable that connects it is just crazy! Sure, DVD players are available for $50 these days. But that still doesn't explain how we've come to a point where retailers are pushing the sale of the cables more so than the major hardware. Aren't we supposed to be working on upselling the customer to the cable with his big-ticket purchase?

What does this all mean? Has the focus completely shifted to making a sale (and profit) in-the-moment rather than building a relationship with the customer, meeting his needs, and providing an experience that will make him want to return? I'd be lying if I didn't say that I love a good deal whenever I can get my hands on one. But such a promotion simply makes the DVD player look like an unimportant part of the home theatre equation when, in fact, it's an integral part. Maybe there's more to this than meets the eye. Perhaps this is a sign that Blu-ray has already taken over. It must have if "regular" upconverting players are now practically being given away.

Note: I purposely removed the retailer and brand names from the original e-mail copy simply because I didn't think they were needed in order to illustrate the point.