Portable Videodisc Players: Why They Still Make Sense

In a marketplace that’s filled with dozens of options for viewing video on the go, portable videodisc players still make sense if you want something that has a larger screen than a smartphone has and typically costs less than a $400 tablet computer does.

Portable videodisc players also make sense financially, because their prices continue to fall. The average selling price this year is $93, compared with $108 in 2009, according to consumer-research company The NPD Group. We even found models that were on sale for less than $70 online and in electronics stores in August.

Unfortunately, fewer models of portable videodisc players from which to choose exist these days. LG, Polaroid and Sylvania dropped out of the market, and we expect more manufacturers to leave in the next 2 years. Most manufacturers that remain cut their selections and now make only one or two models rather than the two to three choices that they offered in 2009. Although nobody with whom we spoke could give us an exact measurement of how much the overall market has shrunk, based on our research, we estimate that there are 25 percent fewer models in the marketplace than there were in 2009.

Outside of several more models that now include Blu-ray Disc playback, portable videodisc players are losing performance features as a way for manufacturers to keep costs—and thus prices—low.

BLU-RAY SURGE. The biggest change that we’ve seen in the market for portable videodisc players in the past 2 years is the release of more models that can play high-definition Blu-ray video. In 2009, only one such model existed: the Panasonic DMP-B15, which came at the exotic price of $800. But this year, portable Blu-ray players from Panasonic, Philips, RCA, Samsung and Sony come with an average price of $350. And Panasonic’s latest model, the DMP-B200, costs just $300.

We expect the prices of portable Blu-ray players to fall by $100 in the next year, and we believe that all manufacturers will offer at least one such model by 2013. That’s because sales of Blu-ray discs have increased every year since the format was launched 5 years ago and continue to rise faster than sales of any other video media, according to IHS Screen Digest, which studies technology markets. Blu-ray discs represented 20 percent of total videodisc sales in 2010, according to IHS Screen Digest.

And at least one manufacturer isn’t content with having just a portable Blu-ray player. In 2010, Samsung released its BD-C8000 ($500), which is the first portable videodisc player of any kind to support 3-D discs. But before you agonize over which type of glasses to get the kids for when you’re in the family vehicle, you should know that the model’s 3-D-video playback works only if the player is hooked up to a 3-D-enabled TV. In other words, you won’t see 3-D images on the portable videodisc player’s screen. (Instead, you’ll get a crisp, HD conventional image.) That’s disappointing when you consider that 3-D technology is possible in a small screen. For example, T-Mobile’s 8.9-inch G-Slate tablet supports 3-D video.

But if you buy the BD-C8000, you don’t need a separate conventional 3-D videodisc player (which typically costs $150–$300) for your living room.

The inclusion of 3-D functionality in a portable videodisc player would seem to be a natural fit when you consider that movie studios and TV-makers all are pushing 3-D video entertainment in the home. Consequently, although we haven’t heard of any other portable 3-D videodisc players being introduced, it wouldn’t surprise us if a few more appeared in 2012. However, we believe prospects are slim for a portable videodisc player that has a 3-D-enabled screen. That functionality would cost a lot, and we believe that the extra cost will prove to be a deterrent in a category in which manufacturers are looking for ways to save money.