In the last six years, there's been a significant shift in movie watching in the home. Where DVD signified a real change in the market – a massive step up from the antiquated VHS format – Blu-ray has struggled to grab headline space, despite offering undeniable image and sound improvements.
The cheapness of DVDs, coupled with streaming opportunities, iTunes downloads and on-demand all-you-can-eat services has meant that the format is battling for supremacy on a number of fronts.
According to Marty Gordon, Philips vice president and spokesman for the Blu-ray Disc Association, though, the format's resilience means that, six years on, it is finally burning bright in the market.
"We are really getting a lot of wind in our sails with Blu-ray. A big part of the reason for this is the longevity of the format," explained Gordon to TechRadar.
"From a hardware perspective you get the HD of the disc, as well as online connectivity on Blu-ray players and there is also the backwards compatibility with DVD. It really does do it all."
Despite the world's economic woes Blu-ray sales are on the up and the reason for the upsurge, according to Gordon, is twofold: hardware prices are dropping and the interest in retro movies is starting to pick up.
"We are seeing very encouraging growth in the UK – we are looking at 34.6 per cent of households by the end of the year having Blu-ray. In the US this is 49.3 per cent.
"We are starting to see people buying more than one Blu-ray player for their homes. They are now ready to replace the DVD in the bedroom now."
Retro revival
On the software side, it is thought that a total of 19 million discs will be sold this year in the UK, compared to 15 million in 2011. The growth rate in the US is as impressive, with a 23 per cent rise expected.
One of the biggest changes in the market is with retro releases; the likes of the upcoming Jaws restoration and Ben-Hur's HD revival last year are seemingly sparking consumers' interests in Blu-ray.
"Quality is a major factor – especially when you are watching a Blu-ray," said Gordon.
"There are many movies that are being lovingly restored and being re-released and we have seen a 11 per cent increase in consumers spending on these type of titles. People are paying out to get these library titles.
"Restoration is a compelling buying reason. We are always going to see the new titles but the reason there is a uptrend in this, is that people really want to see older films in the best way. That is Blu-ray's proposition, to see the movie as the artist intended."
Despite Lovefilm, Netflix and Sky looking to nab sales away from Blu-ray discs, Gordon is hopeful that will entice consumers to keep choosing the format.
"We are seeing a different consumer now, one that wants to watch content on a variety of different ways [but] the experiences of streaming and Blu-ray are complementary.
"When you buy a disc you can now get a download or a stream, so you can play the movie on various devices.
"What Ultraviolet does is it increases the ownership proposition. You can play it on the Blu-ray player, download it, stream it… it becomes a more compelling proposition.
"We do see UltraViolet as being essential to the Blu-ray experience. It is a digital extension of the Blu-ray player."
