The first quarter of 2012 saw promising gains in Blu-ray Disc sales, with steady increases in electronic sell-through (EST) and video-on-demand (VOD) spending, and modest growth in sell-through, according to the latest figures released by The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG).

Overall consumer spending was up 2.5 percent compared to the first quarter last year, DEG said. Blu-ray Disc saw double digit growth (up 23 percent) in sales over first quarter 2011. Blu-ray Disc now accounts for one out of four of all of the physical sell-through dollars spent by consumers compared to less than 15 percent two years ago.

Highlights for the first quarter include:

- Blu-ray Disc and EST continued their steady gains with consumer spending on Blu-ray jumping 23 percent and EST up 17 percent compared to the same period last year.

- Physical sell-through of theatrical product was up two percent for the quarter, while catalog sales on Blu-ray Disc were up 27 percent, and TV on Blu-ray sales were up 54 percent, underscoring that Blu-ray Disc is the standard for quality home entertainment.

- With most major studios backing UltraViolet, and with the support of major retailers, consumers have embraced UltraViolet?s flexibility and value of ownership by opening nearly two million UltraViolet accounts to access and enjoy their movies and TV shows in the cloud.

- The number of Blu-ray homes continues to climb, with 2.4 million players sold in the first quarter (including BD set-tops, PS3s and HTiBs). Total household penetration of all Blu-ray compatible devices now stands at more than 40.8 million U.S. homes.

- Further, 6.5 million HDTVs were sold to U.S. consumers in the first quarter 2012. HDTV penetration to date is now at more than 77.6 million U.S. households.