Should Companies and Studios "Force" the Market into 4k for all?

[Gold Ranger]

Should Companies and Studios "Force" the Market into 4k for all?

What would happen to Home Video if 4k, come Christmastime was the ONLY Disk-Based Video Format around?

What if they all decided to completely stop DVD and BD Pre-recorded movies and TV Shows and just completely utilized 4k Disks?

[FlipperWasIrish]

I don't think so. It would make no sense to kill revenue streams. DVDs will be around a long time.

[imsounoriginal]

This would never happen. It would require everyone to upgrade to a 4K TV and disc player right away. All this would do is alienate consumers and push them towards streaming even faster. 4K discs/players/TVs will always be a niche market and will never replace 1080p Blu-ray or DVD.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

This would never happen. It would require everyone to upgrade to a 4K TV and disc player right away. All this would do is alienate consumers and push them towards streaming even faster. 4K discs/players/TVs will always be a niche market and will never replace 1080p Blu-ray or DVD.

You would only need a player. The current 4K spec supports 1080p content and players will be able to downres 4K content to 2K. A new 4K TV is only needed to take full advantage of 4K.

[spectre08]

I'm a big 4K proponent, but this would be an absolutely terrible idea.

UltraHD Blu-ray isn't for everyone, even blu-ray isn't for everyone.

As much as I would love to see as many UltraHD blu-ray titles as we have regular blu-ray titles and DVD titles, it's never going to happen.

Hell, the MAJORITY of movies even made today are still hamstrung by 2K scans and DI. If UltraHD was the only format all you'd end up with would be a ton of crappy upscales anyways.

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

You would only need a player. The current 4K spec supports 1080p content and players will be able to downres 4K content to 2K. A new 4K TV is only needed to take full advantage of 4K.

Interesting, didn't know that. But even still, releasing only 4K discs would require people to have the player, which is an expense not nearly enough people are willing to bear, at least right now.

[spectre08]

the majority of movies made from 2000 to today simply do not exist in 4K in any way, and a majority of that majority can NEVER exist in 4K unless they were completely remastered and recut. A sizeable group of even THAT can never ever under any circumstances exist in 4K, because they were SHOT using 2K digital cameras.

[spectre08]

great. now i've gone and depressed myself

[Coenskubrick]

They won't even do anything to drive people towards blu ray over DVD, what makes you think there is a remote opportunity of making 4K blu ray the only option? As mentioned above, most movies will never utilise 4k anyway, and 4k is meant to feel like a premium product so if you don't differentiate between a 4k movie and a 2k movie on a 4k disc what's the point?

[octagon]

Originally Posted by spectre08

great. now i've gone and depressed myself

That might be depressing if 1080p were merely adequate but it's quite a bit better than that.

Now, maybe UHD will be everything its most ardent advocates think it will and in a few years significant numbers of reasonable people will find 'plain old HD' unwatchable but I dunno, I don't really see it happening.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

...What would happen to Home Video if 4k, come Christmastime was the ONLY Disk-Based Video Format around?

You really think that’s a possibility?

[Strapped4Cash]

In my opinion they have tried to drive more people to Blu-Ray, with combo packs, placing the digital copies with BD only, having exclusives that are only available on Blu, and store exclusives that are only available on Blu's.

And maybe BD has had more success due to these actions and maybe it hasn't, but the market has spoken and an increasing number of titles today can't get BD releases, while others can't even get dvd releases, that would have a few years ago.

Some consumers don't want better quality pictures, some can't see the difference, some might think it a very low priority. Some might be daunted by the prospect of rebuying their entire libraries yet again. With all the people moving to digital then an action like this might just kill physical media that much faster.

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by octagon

That might be depressing if 1080p were merely adequate but it's quite a bit better than that.

Now, maybe UHD will be everything its most ardent advocates think it will and in a few years significant numbers of reasonable people will find 'plain old HD' unwatchable but I dunno, I don't really see it happening.

plain ol HD is ok. but OK isn't, and shouldn't be, good enough

[octagon]

If - just to pick one example - Out of the Past never looks better than it does right now I'm pretty sure I would okay with that.

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

You really think that’s a possibility?

No.
That is why I phrased it the way I did.

[thecalm_7]

Forcing people's hand is never a good thing to do. A friend works at HH Greg and she says people still come in PO'ed about HD, cable boxes, and why they had to change...

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by thecalm_7

Forcing people's hand is never a good thing to do. A friend works at HH Greg and she says people still come in PO'ed about HD, cable boxes, and why they had to change...

LOL, everything changes over time and we could ask that about anything. I wonder if those same folks don't think twice about upgrading their cell phone every 1-2 years. If so, then we could ask them why they have to change their phone ... what's wrong with the old one.

SD is no longer the crème de la crème.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by spectre08

plain ol HD is ok. but OK isn't, and shouldn't be, good enough

Agree completely.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Agree completely.

So Blu-ray is no longer glorious? It's just okay now?

Interesting.

[Strapped4Cash]

Of course people should be forced to upgrade to 4k.

In the same way that everyone should be forced to upgrade their wardrobes every quarter and throw out every article of clothing they own after 6 months, at most. And every citizen who can prove that they are fashion-sensible should be awarded "vetoes", which can be used, when a particularly objectionable object of attire is spotted, to force that clothing's wearer to immediately disrobe and destroy said object.

Clearly some people aren't enlightened enough to understand fashion, but those people shouldn't spoil the world for the rest of us. They can do without other things, even food if need be, as obviously fashion is the highest priority that exists (just above picture and sound quality) and anyone who can't understand that doesn't deserve a voice or a vote.