Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoff D
It sounds as if you're championing a format which you only have a casual familiarity with (my mistake if you've got loads of 3D titles), as most modern 3D releases from the majors come on separate 3D and 2D discs nowadays
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I've actually got a big collection of 3D (194 titles), but wasn't familiar with the downgrade when played in 2D. I know most titles do have separate discs, but figured that was more to (1) not scare off people with 2D-only sets who might not want to buy a "3D" movie even if the disc plays in 2D and (2) to use that extra space for special features.
I figured if companies were doing the 2D/3D combo discs they must be fine, but that seems to not be the case.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoff D
Basically, sticking all three separate discs in one package (UHD + 2D + 3D) for new releases would cost silly money and would kill the UHD format quicker than a bullet, it's just too much baggage IMO. Including the regular 2D Blu is all about providing a playback-agnostic (but still high quality) HD legacy version, not to pander to a specialised subsection of what is already a marginalised format.
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And you could be totally right here.. it will cost more to include 3 discs opposed to 2 discs, but I think that's what the format needs when its starting out. Not for every title, but for those available in 3D.
I think the problem is that it forces people to choose between 2 formats: 3D or 4K.
With Blu-Ray it was easy.. Have a 3D TV? Buy the 3D disc and get the 2D free. Have a regular HDTV? Buy the Blu-Ray. Have a SDTV? Buy the DVD.
When you start to compare 2 different niche formats (1080p 3D and 4K 2D) and try to sell them as 2 different SKUs it can divide that market and cut into sales from the format you're TRYING to sell them on and get them to invest in (4K).
The Martian was a huge movie. The 3D release has been a widely-anticipated release for a while now. To launch a 4K release of it a month afterwards and only include a 2D 1080p copy will likely cost them some possible sales to people like me who would gladly pay extra to "future proof" their discs.
I don't have a 4K TV yet, I don't have an UltraHD Blu-Ray player yet.. but if I could have thrown down a few extra bucks over the 3D release to get that and start building a collection, it would push me to getting those.
As it is, I have little interest in the 2D 1080p release when there's a better option out there for me (3D).
Maybe I'm totally wrong though. I was an early adopter of both HDDVD and Blu-Ray.. bought up the new releases on day-1.. and it was an obvious choice. If a new movie was on HDDVD or Blu-Ray (alongside DVD) I'd buy the HD version.
For a new release a few months from now being sold as a $25-30 3D release and a $30-40 4K release.. it doesn't really give me much of an incentive to go out and rush to a 4K Player and discs, whereas including a 3D disc definitely would
(Just my personal thoughts on the subject!)