Port Washington, N.Y. - The percentage of U.S. HDTV owners aware of the next-generation Blu-ray Disc format has grown to 45%, from 35% in June 2007, but just 6% of all consumers and 9% of HDTV owners said they plan to buy a Blu-ray player in the next six months, according to a survey conducted by market research firm NPD Group.

Still, based on HDTV penetration, NPD saw promise for Blu-ray in the numbers.

"With HDTVs now in approximately 40 million US households, that percentage translates to a pool of almost 4 million potential BD player buyers," said NPD analyst Russ Crupnick.

In their reasoning for not buying a Blu-ray player, most consumers cited their high cost and a belief that standard DVD quality is "good enough."

Meanwhile, owners of set-top Blu-ray players expect 80% of their upcoming purchases will be on BD rather than standard DVD; by comparison, 43% of PlayStation 3 owners use the Blu-ray capacity on the devices at least once a month.

"The door is open for studios to feed the consumer's appetite for Blu-ray content, and we expect sales to increase, as prices for hardware and software moderate in the coming months," Crupnick added.

"Even so it will take a concerted effort by manufacturers and retailers to ratchet awareness even further and convince all of those potential buyers of the superiority of Blu-ray Disc versus standard DVD."

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