High-def on the horizon for libraries
October 10, 2007
Netflix Instant On, Instant Hit?
Netflix sees great potential in its relatively new feature that allows subscribers to watch a movie title instantly on their...
More
October 10, 2007
Netflix to Showcase Instant On Feature
The company that staked its claim on mailing DVDs to monthly subscribers now wants to showcase it burgeoning ability to strea...
More
DISC DISH
October 9, 2007
New Adventures of Old Christine DVD
Julia Louis-Dreyfus' return to sitcom-ville is coming to DVD on Jan. 15 (prebook Dec. 11). Warner will de...
More
DISC DISH
October 8, 2007
Superbad DVD, Blu-ray, PSP
Sony has set $118 million-grossing Superbad, from the same filmmakers behind DV...
More
Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium star Zach Mills was named best emerging actor at the KIDS FIRST! award show in Malibu on Oct. 7.
Arts Alliance America recently held a screening of Run Granny Run with film star Doris “Granny D” Haddock in Keen, N.H.
Sony and Reef Check celebrated the DVD release of Surf’s Up at Malibu Bluffs Park in Malibu, Calif., on Oct. 6.
» VIEW ALL GALLERIES
» VIEW FEATURED GALLERY
ALSO BY THIS AUTHOR...
LIBRARY DVD GUIDE: Some check out Blu-ray and HD DVD, but most wait
By Chris Koseluk -- Video Business, 5/14/2007
|
|
According to a survey conducted for this supplement by Library Journal, 3% of librarians say they are carrying the new high-definition disc formats, Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD (see a list of upcoming titles). But while the small percentage who have bought the discs may be pleased with their performance so far, among the vast majority of other librarians, some appear poised to skip the new physical formats altogether and adopt video downloading instead.
Blu-ray and HD DVD boast crisp, high-definition clarity for a viewing experience unlike any seen before. But consumer response has been slow for the latest optical disc formats, both launched last year.
The Blu-ray and HD DVD camps report sales of about 1 million discs each to date, with Blu-ray a little ahead. Comparatively, in the second half of 1997, the year DVD was launched, more than 5.5 million discs were sold. Last year’s biggest-selling standard DVD, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Buena Vista Worldwide Home Entertainment), moved almost 5 million copies in its first day.
Format war
Launching two competing formats isn’t helping matters. People still remember the VHS-Beta war. Of course, each needs its own player. A Blu-ray device can cost about 10 times more than a $60 to $100 DVD player. HD DVD players can be bought for somewhat less, with the lowest-priced models now at $399. A machine just introduced to play both formats sells for more than $1,100. The retail prices of the discs, on average, are double a DVD.
Without question, DVDs are a popular addition to American libraries. According to the Normative Data Project, a nationwide study of libraries by SirsiDynix, 1,666,561 DVDs are currently in the nation’s public library system.
Kathleen Sullivan, collections development coordinator for the Phoenix Public Library, estimates that 10% of its $6 million budget will be spent purchasing DVDs. Leslie Burger, director of the Princeton Public Library, notes that one-third of the items checked out are non-print.
But there is no rush to incorporate Blu-ray and/or HD DVD. “The technologies are still just too new,” says Burger, who also is 2006-07 president of the American Library Assn.
LIBRARY DVD BY THE NUMBERS
Library Journal polled it e-mail newsletter subscribers to determine how materials budgets are being allocated to home entertainment formats. It found that 5% of the 189 publis libraries that responded either currently carry or plan to carry high-definition DVDs by the end of 2008.
Do you currently carry high-definition formats (either HD DVD or Blu-ray)?
If no, when do you plan to purchase high-definition format DVDs (either HD DVD or Blu-ray)?
“At this point, it’s so nebulous,” agrees Susan Caron, manager of the collection development department for the Toronto Public Library. “Our plan is to continue buying just the regular DVD, monitor the industry and then, at some point, either add another format or formats.”
But one librarian who has begun carrying the high-definition formats is happy he did. “They’re doing much better than anticipated,” says Douglas McDonough, director of the Manchester Public Library in Connecticut. “Once the discs come back, they go right back out again,” he says.
McDonough began carrying the new formats just after Christmas, when he saw people lined up to get the latest flat-screen TVs at the local Best Buy and Circuit City stores. “We knew people would be looking for content,” he says.
The Manchester library stocks slightly less than 200 high-definition titles now, from recently released movies such as Employee of the Month (Lionsgate) and Eragon (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) to the Discovery Channel’s Italy Revealed (Image Entertainment), with one or two copies of each. Most are HD DVD because originally there were more HD DVD titles available, McDonough says, but Blu-ray has caught up quickly. More studios are now releasing Blu-ray titles than HD DVD, but all the majors have begun offering films in one or both of the new formats, with more than 200 titles available on each.
Many considerations
Libraries have always welcomed better and more cost-effective ways of delivering content and information. But many factors influence the introduction of any innovation.
“There are lots of decisions when adding a new format—questions about packaging, what we need to do in our computer system, things like that,” says Jeff Gegner, senior librarian-popular materials specialist of collection management services for the 26 branches of Minnesota’s Hennepin County Library. “When we roll something out, we have a lot of people to take into consideration.”
Most believe high-definition discs won’t be seen in libraries in any great numbers until the format war is settled.
“We don’t want to look at things that will die out real soon,” says Carlos Latimer, department manager of audio-video for the Cleveland Public Library system. “So we look for stability within the consumer market. If it’s there, it carries over to the library.”
Library patrons’ demands often differ from those at retail outlets. Rather than getting requests for the new formats, some librarians are hearing from borrowers who are upset that VHS is becoming a thing of the past.
Most libraries didn’t even begin acquiring DVDs until about four or five years ago—five to six years after the format’s introduction. According to Bob Molyneux, SirsiDynix’s chief statistician, DVD circulation in libraries did not surpass videocassettes until the last quarter of 2005.
Looking to downloads
But collection managers appear more excited about downloadable technology. Many librarians have either initiated a pilot program to offer downloadable videos or plan to do so by year end.
“I’m frankly hoping that downloadable will save me the agony [of changing formats],” says Sullivan, noting that Phoenix offers a small selection of downloadable video using OverDrive. “Because truly, who knows what the next one will be?”
“Downloading is kind of our holy grail because, of course, it means not having to handle any kind of artifact at all,” agrees Toronto’s Caron, who currently uses OverDrive for e-audiobooks and plans to incorporate video later this year.
But Burger believes that as the traditional video store model changes, it might create a new value for library video collections. “As the Netflix model becomes more popular, if people really want to come in and browse a collection, libraries may be one of the few places to do that,” she says.
