Blu ray is doing well even during the slow season

[Woochifer]

So doesn't it mean that as long as there are people interested in older films (even a few years older for that matter), the DVDs will still be there? I'm not one who only buys new films, in fact I prefer older ones, classics as well. So people like me have tons of DVDs to choose from and only a small number in Blu Ray.

DVDs will still be there because the studios produced thousands of copies that are still sitting on retail shelves and in warehouses, but that doesn't mean that they generate much interest or sales. As I pointed out earlier, those DVD bargain bins exist because these older titles won't sell unless the prices get slashed. Retail stores are not libraries where inventories sit forever, they are places of commerce where shelf space is expected to turn product placement into sales and do so in a timely manner. Things that sell get restocked, things that don't get discontinued and price-reduced for quick sale. Stores are rapidly expanding their Blu-ray sections because that's increasingly the more productive use of valuable shelf space.

Older titles routinely go out of print after their sales dip below a certain threshold. Just because ~110,000 R1 DVD titles have been released does not mean that all or even most of them are currently available. VHS had well over double that number of titles released, but that didn't stop stores from discontinuing them or studios from deleting them from their catalogs once it became clear that format's sales decline was terminal.

Complaints like yours also accompanied the DVD format during its early stages. It takes time for the back catalog to fill in. You're only looking at the current state of the title availability on Blu-ray, not where it will be next year or five years from now when the DVD format will likely be at an end.

And what's the point of watching a black and white in Blu Ray anyway?

What's the point of HD? What's the point of watching an old B&W film on a big movie theater screen? What's the point of watching something on DVD when VHS was "good enough" (a common refrain on this board 10 years ago)?

Last time I checked, B&W movies were filmed and projected using 35mm film -- a medium whose resolution happens to be greater than even today's 1080p format. B&W cinematography can be every bit as compelling an art form as color (with many directors making B&W movies as an artistic choice even after the advent of Technicolor), so why would you not want Blu-ray for black and white movies?

Color or not, film is a high resolution medium and the DVD format does not even come close to capturing the detail that's in those 35mm negatives. Blu-ray picks up much of the fine grained details and does a much better job at conveying the look and feel of quality film projection. If you don't see the benefit of higher picture resolution, then you might as well stick with analog TV and DVDs.