Blu-rays are 8 years old and DVDs still cling to them like a cancerous tumor. Why?

[scorpiontail60]

Blech.

Does anyone find it a bit ridiculous that most of the new stuff being put out on Blu-ray still has a bunch of DVDs and other worthless bullshit like digital copies crammed in there? 4K home video is almost here, Blu-ray is already beginning to feel obsolete, yet somehow this dinosaur of a format is still clinging on for dear life. Can you imagine if a cassette tape came bundled with every new music album released on CD?

I have hundreds of extra discs sitting on my shelf that I have no idea what to do with because of this nonsense. I thought this fad would die off years ago but it's still here... it doesn't even make sense for kids' movies anymore because Blu-ray has now saturated the market so thoroughly that the kids' room has ended up with a Blu-ray player.

I'm starting to think I should make some 'modern art' out of all these stupid DVDs like people used to do with all those AOL CDs. That's what all this cramming of DVDs into Blu-ray releases reminds me of. It's the AOL CD infestation all over again. Maybe we should make a site called NoMoreDVDs.com.

https://web.archive.org/web/20050302...oreaolcds.com/

[Oscar Rothman]

Blu-rays are 8 years old and DVDs still cling to them like a cancerous tumor.

[L.J.]

Have a lot of family and friends who haven't upgraded. I let them use the DVD.

[xander]

Originally Posted by scorpiontail60

Blech.

Does anyone find it a bit ridiculous that most of the new stuff being put out on Blu-ray still has a bunch of DVDs and other worthless bullshit like digital copies crammed in there? 4K home video is almost here, Blu-ray is already beginning to feel obsolete, yet somehow this dinosaur of a format is still clinging on for dear life. Can you imagine if a cassette tape came bundled with every new music album released on CD?

I have hundreds of extra discs sitting on my shelf that I have no idea what to do with because of this nonsense. I thought this fad would die off years ago but it's still here... it doesn't even make sense for kids' movies anymore because Blu-ray has now saturated the market so thoroughly that the kids' room has ended up with a Blu-ray player.

I'm starting to think I should make some 'modern art' out of all these stupid DVDs like people used to do with all those AOL CDs. That's what all this cramming of DVDs into Blu-ray releases reminds me of. It's the AOL CD infestation all over again. Maybe we should make a site called NoMoreDVDs.com.

https://web.archive.org/web/20050302...oreaolcds.com/

Annnnnnnnd that's where you lost me.

But I still collect new vinyl records, so I guess I don't count.

[demonknight]

Hmm. Well, some things don't have HD, or even widescreen, prints and never can. As of today, as much as 50% of all movies on VHS have not received a DVD release. What are the chances of all of them doing something like Mindwarp and just skipping the format?

[mysticwaterfall]

A lot of people haven't really seen the need or point to upgrading to blurays, DVDs work just fine for them. Then beyond that, a lot of people who have bluray players have dvd players in there kids rooms/cars/etc.

I don't find them useless though, I can usually sell the DVD off the combo pack for 10$ or so

[scorpiontail60]

Originally Posted by xander

Annnnnnnnd that's where you lost me.

But I still collect new vinyl records, so I guess I don't count.

You don't count.

Once you've watched some native 4K video on a 4K display you'll start looking at Blu-ray in the same way we all look at DVD right now.

4K video is impressive. It is 24x the resolution of DVD, after all. Blu-ray is only 6x the resolution of DVD.

You guys have probably yet to experience 4K though so you're still at the stage that all the Blu-ray naysayers were at back in 2005, right before Blu-ray was launched. Having never seen 1080p video on a 1080p HDTV before, you were thinking "what's the big deal? DVD is just fine! We don't need this stupid new Blu-whatchamacallit!"

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by scorpiontail60

it doesn't even make sense for kids' movies anymore because Blu-ray has now saturated the market so thoroughly that the kids' room has ended up with a Blu-ray player.

On the back cover of one of my Disney movies, it says the DVD is intended for SUVs that have built-in DVD players (and screens).

But when I was a kid, my patents crammed 3 kids in the back seat of a 2-door car. So this whole "I'm a parent now, I need to buy an SUV" mindset is stupid.

[Blu-21]

4K home media doesn't stand a hope in hell in getting anywhere near the mass popularity of BD let alone DVD. It will be the niche that ends all niches.

I can see the new 4K format ending up like D-VHS..

[xander]

Originally Posted by scorpiontail60

You don't count.

Once you've watched some native 4K video on a 4K display you'll start looking at Blu-ray in the same way we all look at DVD right now.

4K video is impressive. It is 24x the resolution of DVD, after all. Blu-ray is only 6x the resolution of DVD.

You guys have probably yet to experience 4K though so you're still at the stage that all the Blu-ray naysayers were at back in 2005, right before Blu-ray was launched. Having never seen 1080p video on a 1080p HDTV before, you were thinking "what's the big deal? DVD is just fine! We don't need this stupid new Blu-whatchamacallit!"

Well now you just sound like a snobbish prick, so how about you piss off and start 4k.com and leave us peons to our obsolete crap?

[nagysaudio]

DVDs are still around for one reason and one reason only. The world is full of cheap people. Just take a look around here. Thread after thread, post after post filled with stories of how someone called Amazon's customer service and demanded to price match Wal Mart in order to save 4 pennies. What do you expect?

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by Blu-21

4K home media doesn't stand a hope in hell in getting anywhere near the mass popularity of BD let alone DVD. It will be the niche that ends all niches.

I can see the new 4K format ending up like D-VHS..

I used to have a camcorder that used D-VHS. Pretty good quality (compared to regular VHS) but it was slow to transfer to a computer. Good thing we now have HDD and SSD camcorders.

I've also used, Hi8, Digital8, Beta, VHS, 16mm, and something else I can't remember the name of over the years.

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by xander

Annnnnnnnd that's where you lost me.

But I still collect new vinyl records, so I guess I don't count.

Except that Vinyl is still the superior format over cd's

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by xander

Annnnnnnnd that's where you lost me.

But I still collect new vinyl records, so I guess I don't count.

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

Except that Vinyl is still the superior format over cd's

As I see it, listening to vinyl records should be the same as owning an actual reel of 35mm or 70mm film and watching it on a projector and screen.

I don't know about all of you, but I'm not hardcore enough to invest in a projector, screen, and film reels. I'm happy with digital 2K movies (not sure if I'm really enthused about 4K yet though).

Then again, I'm not hardcore enough to invest in records either. But I do enjoy a good 320 kbps MP3 file, or compact disc.

[CraigThom]

I think DVD supplanted VHS not because the picture quality was better but because it was more convenient. No rewinding, no big clunky package, no machines eating tapes, random access, etc.

Blu-ray offers no such improvements over DVD (except that the discs are harder to damage, and when do you ever hear that touted as a benefit?). The picture and sound are better, but for most people that's not a compelling reason to buy a new player. I think most people are perfectly happy with the way DVDs look.

For the rental stores, DVDs took up less floor space and were less likely to come back damaged (and never unrewound). There were compelling reasons for the stores to switch from VHS to DVD and lead the public with them. But Blu-ray offers no business reasons for them to switch, and the stores are pretty much gone, anyway.

So DVD isn't going away because it offers nothing but better sound and video, which we care about, but we are a minority.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Well, the DVD format still has some life in it - as I mentioned on another thread, recently the '80's Monsters TV series & L.A. Law S1 were released only on DVD, not Blu.

There are still a lot of films that have not been upgraded to Blu yet (from DVD). Hell, there are a lot of films that haven't even made it past the VHS format...

And, not everyone has a Blu player - I myself didn't get one until about a year & a half ago.

That all being said, I do agree that DVD's packaged with Blu's almost seems like a waste, unless you give away the DVD's; obviously you won't buy a Blu unless you have a Blu player, and you wouldn't use the DVD if you have the Blu.

IMHO, 4K is a long way off from becoming a mainstream format. My understanding is that 4K Blus look best on 4K TV sets, and from what I've seen, those sets are prohibitively expensive ($6,000 - $7,000). And, though I believe that 4K Blus themselves aren't that much more expensive that regular Blus, they don't always have the special features that Blus have; i.e., based on what I understand the 4K Blu Taxi Driver looks slighly better (maybe, depending on your set) than the regular Blu TD, but the 4K has no special features, unlike the regular Blu...Just my .02...

[bluearth]

DVDs are probably being thrown in to help people adopt bluray. Lots of people probably still have DVD equipment everywhere, and they're afraid to buy something that isnt compatible with all their DVD players.

Once bluray players get into the $20 range they will overtake DVD players and people wont care about not having a DVD packed in anymore.

[iank]

Loads of people still have old CRT TVs and are not going to get much benefit from Blu-ray. My TV was 18 years old when it copped out two months ago and as a result I have only just got a HD TV and thus started collecting Blu-rays. Prior to that they were of little use to me, and I wasn't about to lash out $500-600 on a new TV when I didn't need to. Most people are probably the same in that respect.

[chip75]

Blu-rays are 8 years old and DVDs still cling to them like a cancerous tumor. Why?

Because content rules over format. The average person couldn't care less about what their movies are on, just that they are on.

[buzzwoody]

The difference between DVD and VHS is HUGE. There is very little reason to change from DVD to Blu-ray. The next logical move for the market is to change to digital and skip blu-ray altogether.