Blu-ray is Here to Stay

By Liz Savery, Sharp

It's hard to believe that just a year ago, we were all still waiting to see where the chips would fall in terms of high definition optical discs.  Blu-ray is so ingrained in our lexicon now - already - and judging from the range of products available here at CES, it's here to stay.

It's true that there's a huge range of choices available for movie-watching in other formats, like Netflix's deal with TiVo, but you still want to have your favorite movies in your home, so you know they're there when you need them.  Last Saturday night, I was all set to watch "Gone Baby Gone" via my Netflix account, and my home network went down.  No more Netflix.  I nearly went out that very night to buy the movie, because I was so disappointed.  I may not have as large a Blu-ray collection as, say, my VHS collection used to be, but I still want my movies at hand.  I'm pretty sure there are a lot of folks in my camp on this issue - I've heard from a number of sources that the Blu-ray version of "The Dark Knight" flew out of stores to the tune of 600,000 copies in one day!

U.S. viewers own about 10 million Blu-ray players, from a wide variety of manufacturers.  Sharp was an early proponent of Blu-ray and has upped the ante here with an AQUOS series of LCD TVs that boast built-in Blu-ray players.  No muss, no fuss, everything you need for movie night in one gorgeous package.  All you have to do is load a disc - the TV will turn itself on and start playing your movie.  They come in a range of sizes from the 32-inch class up to the 52-inch class, to give you home theater options for the living room, bedroom or home office.

Stop by the Sharp booth in the Central Hall and check them out!