lamphorn

Exactly, to catch their eye and distinguish from the competitor. Name me another video/audio format that has a big prominent uniform color bar at the top. I don't think you can. Then look and see the two formats that did it- BD and HD-DVD. Why do you think they did it? The only explanation that makes sense is to distinguish from each other.

Gizmo

You mean all the other Red/Blu was not a clear giveaway? They had to add extra plastic at the top?

And why the hell are we even discussing this? It's the most ridiculous thing I've seen someone complain about the format. Too much plastic

lamphorn

What do you mean "all the other red/blu"?

If the cover art had encompassed the entire cases, without leaving the big blue or red bars visible, it would have been difficult for the average consumer to quickly pick out the BD and HD-DVD shelves in the store and discs could have easily been mixed up and many people would have bought the wrong disc.

Yeah, it's not worth complaining about... unless you take an environmentalist perspective. Now that there's only one HD format, there's really no need for that extra chunk of plastic that serves no purpose other than being different from the now-defeated HD format.

Gizmo

The red/blue along the spine. It's pretty obvious what color the case is without the extra stuff at the top.

And they will likely never drop it since its been the standard for 3+ years now. Too much work.

HappyRabbit

LOL at this thread

lamphorn

Nope. There is no red/blue along the spine. You can see it in the little bit that pokes out under the label and the big chunk that is above the label. Without that big distinguishing banner, you'd have to look very closely at the case to figure out what color it is. For customers wandering around a store, looking for the right section of discs (back when HD-DVD was still around) that would have caused confusion.

The shape of the box isn't going to change soon, but they're already varying up the color of the case. The Hulk movie came in a green case and I think fairly soon, the studios will start experimenting with different uses for that hunk of real estate over the cover art.

JimRochester

Pros:

slimmer, take up less room on the shelf
not a snapper case
contains a movie in HD

Cons:

Not particularly sturdy
blue stripe cheats me out of 1" of artwork

Sorry, not a deal breaker for me.

Gizmo

Even if you ignore the top part of the case its pretty obvious the case is Blue. Unless the consumers was a. stupid or b. colorblind they would have no trouble figuring out BLU-ray comes in a BLUE case. Hell, the format might as well just be renamed Blueray with everyone adding an e to the end of it.

lamphorn

Nope. Without the blue bar on top, you'd have to look pretty closely. We're talking about the masses here, not tech-junkies who look for details.

If you have any memory of the way dummies would mill around Best Buy bugging the employees about what the hell Widescreen was and watch those little gears click in their heads when they finally decide that Fullscreen is the way to go... you'd know that to sell shit, you need BIG BOLD COLORFUL and distinct branding if you're going to compete formats.

Gizmo

Most people can tell colors apart just by looking - far less would actually read the top of the DVD where it would say Widescreen/FullScreen or even worse - flip it over and read the tiny tiny tiny words saying Widescreen/Fullscreen. If people can't tell the difference between a bright Blue and a dark Red...well, maybe they shouldn't be buying a HD format.

I stand by the extra plastic at the top. I can't recall how many DVDs were ruined thanks to the stupid security seals.

Cameron

i just wonder how long before we get this shape of case for standard dvd. Makes sense that they want another way to double dip back catalog, not to mention its cheaper to ship (in bulk) due to it being a bit lighter. Black case with dvd logo.... Matrix HD-DVD set is technically the first to do it with the bonus stuff.

I'd also love for them to go thinner in the future, but I know many hate that idea.

Gizmo

Huh?

MEJHarrison

I won't comment on the absurdity of the rest of your post which has already been responded to quite adequately. I'm just wondering what world you live in where you think the average consumer is intelligent enough to distinguish between DVDs and Blu-rays if it weren't for the distinctive packing. Most people are complete dumb asses and I'd be shocked if people still aren't picking up the blue cases thinking they're getting a DVD. If the cases were black, it would be utter chaos.

GenPion

I like the Blu-ray cases more than the regular DVD cases. To either their own. I doubt they will ever change the design. It's nice, fit's the name, and get's the job done.

gimmepilotwings

Worst. HD. Thread. Ever.

Jason

The reason for the packaging, of course, is to differentiate the product in the marketplace. BD, DVD, and the now defunct HD-DVD are all the same size disc-wise, so they all have similar size cases. The blue cases help people to tell the difference, and make it a "new" product in the consumers eye. There's more to it than "OMFG, joe the sixpack is too stupid to tell the difference".

Blu Man

Worst. DVDtalk. Thread. Ever.

DeanoBKN

The case is different because it's a new format. Look at any media format (music/movies/video games) and as a new generation comes out, the case is always different in some way.

I have no problem with the case, although sadly I'm still sour over no inserts other then the random Blu-Ray ad.

A more formal complaint is why do the companies still bother to sell us Blu-Ray via an ad before the movie starts or a paper insert. If we're watching a Blu-Ray disc, we already own a fucking Blu-Ray player! You don't need to tell us how good it is!

AmityBoatTours

hows this for a question will DVDTALK ever be rid of Hideous pointless Threads such as this one.

TheMovieman

Yeah, that always bugged me. Makes no sense, lol.

Kim Olav Svines

If you only knew how many people pick up a Blu-ray (or HD DVD when that was in production) and though it was a DVD. Most people had not even heard about the formats, and when I told them it was new format called Blu-ray, they replied "so it's not a movie?".

Even in a Blu-ray case, with multiple stickers saying it is not a DVD, and will only play in a Blu-ray players, people still had to be spoon-fed. Some insisted it would play, since the salesman told them their DVD player could play everything, including DivX and MP3.

JackBurton

Fixed

Brian Shannon

Nothing wrong with the thread but doesn't it belong in the cases forum? I was not aware that there was a resolution difference with plastic

JimRochester

I've been asked so many times at Blockbuster, that now when I walk up to the counter I just say ; "Yes I have a Blu-ray player"

Moopher

Nuke the whales.