Some ideas on how to make the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format more sucessful

[HDTV1080P]

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format was introduced in 2016 which is 4 years ago. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format has a better picture and sound quality when compared to all existing streaming formats on the market. In order for the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format to be successful it needs to have a wide selection of players at different price points. For example, in the ideal world Sony should release a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player for around a $1,000 that offers more features like HDR10+ and better build quality like the Pioneer 4K and Panasonic 4K flagship Blu-ray players. This $1,000 player would be a notch above the Sony UBP-X1100ES line.

In addition, for the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format to be successful a company like Sony and Panasonic should release an entry level 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player with a list price of $99.99 (which might be hard to do if inflation increases the price of electronic parts). Sony Blu-ray players are engineered in Japan and made in China (100% of all Blu-ray players are currently made in China). For example, Sony should make a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player below the quality of the UBP-X700. While its ideal to have streaming features built in every Blu-ray player on the market, a very cheap entry level model would not need streaming features if the goal was to keep prices super low (all modern flat panels have streaming built in and if someone needs streaming they would just buy the medium priced Blu-ray player instead of the entry level model). A new entry level 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player might need to drop the streaming features to make the player cheaper. So, in the ideal world Sony and Panasonic should release an entry level 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player with a list price of $99.99 for the year 2020 or 2021. Maybe $79.99 black Friday street price for the entry level 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player. The following is a suggestion for a BDA mandate, but not a reality: Then the Blu-ray Disc Association should consider mandating that by January 1st 2022 that all new Blu-ray players released should be able to play native 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs. This would stop consumer confusion since some consumers do not understand why they cannot play a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc in a standard Blu-ray player. However, if the BDA decides not to mandate all new Blu-ray players with the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray feature, then standard 1080P Blu-ray players need to drop in price to compete with DVD players. Sony and Panasonic should consider coming out with a standard 1080P Blu-ray player with a list price of $49.99 (maybe without the streaming features to keep prices low). The reason for a $49.99 Blu-ray player would be to compete with the several models of DVD players for $20-$25 at Walmart and other stores. One of the reasons why streaming and DVD is so popular is because the streaming players are free and included with every modern Smart TV and DVD players at half the price when compared to a $50 Blu-ray player. When one can buy a DVD player for $25 many consumers go with that lower quality option. With inflation in electronics it is getting harder and sometimes almost impossible to find an entry level Blu-ray player for $49.99. The cheapest entry level Sony Blu-ray player has a list price of $69.99 (BDP-S1700). And at Walmart the Sony BDP-S1700 sales for $69.99. Gone are the days of finding a Sony Blu-ray player on sale for around $50. However, there is still plenty of DVD players for around $25 at Walmart. Overtime streaming will most likely do away with all physical media including DVD. If physical media were to die then we would most likely see the 2016 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format go first, then 3 to 5 years later the 2006 Blu-ray format would disappear for new releases, and then maybe 10 years after that the 1997 DVD format would completely disappear for new Hollywood studio releases since it’s a little bit stronger since its been around longer. Then streaming and download would take over as the format that wins the format war replacing all optical media including the audio CD.

For the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format to be successful there needs to be a rental option with the Netflix unlimited Blu-ray rental by mail and more REDBOX 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray rentals. REDBOX does offer 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc rentals at select locations, but they should expand their selection nationwide. For any optical disc format to be successful there needs to be a wide selection of movie categories for everyone’s interest (The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format is lacking in title selection when compared to the standard Blu-ray format). For example, people have different worldviews when it comes to watching the movies they like, and while some people are offended by certain types of movies, a successful format like the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format needs to have the same type of movies and TV programs that are found on the Blu-ray format, DVD format, and streaming formats. For example, there has only been two faith based titles released on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format in early 2016 and none after that (Exodus: Gods and Kings, and Risen). It might be the changing culture where faith based movies are not as popular as they once were and that is the reason why there is only 2 faith based 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray titles released over the last 4 years. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format and standard Blu-ray format is a much more family friendly format when compared to DVD and streaming. For example, there has been absolutely no hardcore porno movies released on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format and only around 1,500 hardcore porno movies released on the standard Blu-ray format (mostly high budget titles). However, when it comes to the standard DVD format there has been over 120,000 hardcore porno titles released and over 80,000 hardcore porno titles released on the streaming formats. Over the years since the BETAMAX, VHS, and Laserdisc days many experts have claimed that to have a successful video format hardcore porno titles is a requirement (And with the changing culture that might be one of the reasons why streaming and DVD are much more popular).

Hopefully physical optical disc media is going to survive for many years, but there are signs that streaming might one day replace all optical media. With more consumers getting 1Gbps and 10Gbps Internet it is now possible to stream a 128Mbps 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc with as little as 150Mbps Internet speed, that is if the streaming providers in the future decide to offer 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray image streams (some companies currently offer 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray image downloads to a 16TB or 20TB hard drive server). By 2026 if no 8K optical disc format appears on the market, we might see companies like Netflix and VUDU offering high bit rate native 8K movies with lossless audio. If that were to become a reality then the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format would be placed into checkmate. But for now for those consumers that want the best picture and sound quality they go with the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format. Star Wars and Star Trek fans enjoy seeing their favorite 4K movies with an outstanding picture quality and sound quality (both 4K Blu-ray and standard Blu-ray have the exact same sound quality).