Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[MifuneFan]

Wrong section + Garbage article = Nothing to discuss

[octagon]

Why would I buy a blu-ray player in 2014? I've already got five.

(the sick part is I probably will buy another one for some reason or another)

[OI8T12]

It's not like we buy a blu ray player every year.

[Jasonic]

I'm actually thinking of someday getting a region free blu-ray/dvd player. Though I currently only have one thing I need it for, and thats a Korean series I have on dvd.

[spawningblue]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Wrong section + Garbage article = Nothing to discuss

Yep.

[captveg]

I have had two blu-ray players since 2008 for my two TVs. By the logic of this article I am not interested in the technology despite buying over 100 discs a year....

[Braktastic]

The yearly pushing of streaming continues on schedule and unabated.

[Batmon77]

My buddy might invest in a Bluray player.
He's not a movie collector, but he likes Star Wars.
And there's plenty of Blu SW material to get him started.

[Al_The_Strange]

This article is ticking me off.

Why the frakk should I not buy a laptop or desktop computer? No, I will not frakking buy a tablet, I actually want a keyboard and mouse and hard drive and everything! I want processing power, memory, USB ports, optical disc drives, graphics cards; I don't see anything powerful about a frakking tablet.

What the frakk is wrong with a digital camera? I can't stand the camera in my smartphone; it's too limited, too low in quality. I need a proper camera to take proper pictures with all the proper settings and controls.

And yeah, the old "optical media is dying" argument. No, I don't want to frakking stream everything; I actually like to own copies of movies, especially oddball stuff you can't find on any service, and I'd actually like to view them whenever I want to.

Why does everything have to be on a frakking iPod? Frakk this...

[punkguy03]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

This article is ticking me off.

Why the frakk should I not buy a laptop or desktop computer? No, I will not frakking buy a tablet, I actually want a keyboard and mouse and hard drive and everything! I want processing power, memory, USB ports, optical disc drives, graphics cards; I don't see anything powerful about a frakking tablet.

What the frakk is wrong with a digital camera? I can't stand the camera in my smartphone; it's too limited, too low in quality. I need a proper camera to take proper pictures with all the proper settings and controls.

And yeah, the old "optical media is dying" argument. No, I don't want to frakking stream everything; I actually like to own copies of movies, especially oddball stuff you can't find on any service, and I'd actually like to view them whenever I want to.

Why does everything have to be on a frakking iPod? Frakk this...

It's just like cd's they still exist. People still like having them despite what people say. Blu-rays aren't going anywhere, how long have ipods been around and cd's are still here. Some people just like having physical discs and I for one think people are more likely to collect movies vs. cd's.

[blu-mike]

First off, streaming is over-hyped, I'd rather have the disc in my hands rather than being a lazy person and watching Netflix all day.

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by 50strat54

Gamers can also use their consoles, such as the Xbox One and PlayStation4, to watch DVDs.

Not from the opposite regions though.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by punkguy03

It's just like cd's they still exist. People still like having them despite what people say. Blu-rays aren't going anywhere, how long have ipods been around and cd's are still here. Some people just like having physical discs and I for one think people are more likely to collect movies vs. cd's.

Yeah, that's true. I have a thousand or so CDs myself. Some of them can't be found as MP3 albums, and I can take them all to work whenever I want to.

Looks like I'm becoming part of a rare marketing niche.

[mredman]

Originally Posted by punkguy03

[b]it's just like cd's they still exist. People still like having them despite what people say. Blu-rays aren't going anywhere, how long have ipods been around and cd's are still here.Some people just like having physical discs and i for one think people are more likely to collect movies vs. Cd's

^ this because i am one of those people

[Tok]

Originally Posted by Det. Bullock

My guess it's that the difference wouldn't be really that much unless you buy a huge TV.
Consider this: the 2k resolution used in the average digital cinema theatres isn't much higher than 1080p (though DCPs have less compression than Blu Rays of course) and 4k is used mostly for even bigger screens.
Probably most people don't have enough space in their homes for a TV screen big enough to really appreciate 4k resolution.

CE makers are banking on consumers being dumb to get them to upgrade to UHD sets.

The big reason not to get it: little native content and low quality streaming is probably going to be the only way to get it. Just because NetFlix calls it 4k doesn't mean it's the best 4K it can be. It will be a highly compressed over filtered joke.

[westonbyrne]

Originally Posted by lobo81865

I'll believe physical media is dying when I see the bandwidth necessary for blu ray quality streaming implemented in the U.S.

not to mention data caps. my sister had a 100Gig/mo data cap (Cox) rediculous.

Im paying $65ish for a 50Mb connection. Japan has a 2Gb/up 1Gb/down connection for only $51/mo

the ISPs here are rediculous. i remember hearing that one rep (for like, Time Warner, or Verizon or something) said that they did a survey, and their customers dont want higher internet speeds...... and i know many european countries are getting very high speeds for very low money. not to mention that some ISPs want to charge services like Netflix money because that's where their customers are using a lot of their bandwidth. So stupid.

[Krelldog1977]

Originally Posted by blu-mike

First off, streaming is over-hyped, I'd rather have the disc in my hands rather than being a lazy person and watching Netflix all day.

Will streaming also include 100% lossless audio codecs.

[Blu Titan]

This is a great article by Erik Gruenwedel from Home Media Magazine:

Hollywood Reporter: “A steep increase on the digital side saved the day.”
L.A. Times: “Digital video sales’ rise breathes new life into home entertainment.”
Chicago Tribune: “Boosted by Digital, Hollywood Home Entertainment Sales Grow 5%”
Home Media Magazine: “Studio Presidents Tout Digital at CES”

The headlines are bold and unwavering. Digital dissemination of movies and TV shows is saving the home entertainment industry. According to DEG, consumers spent nearly $1.2 billion buying movies and TV shows digitally in 2013, up from $808 million in 2012.

$1.2 billion is a lot of money — $100 million monthly studios collectively generate selling content with expansive margins compared to disc. The industry generated another $2.1 billion renting digital content. Together, digital generated $3.3 billion — less than half that of increasingly disregarded packaged media.

Indeed, disc purchases reached $7.8 billion — which while down 8% from $8.5 billion in 2012 — trumped digital revenue by 136%. In fact, packaged-media sellthrough in the U.S. topped China’s red-hot (and another Hollywood favorite) theatrical market by 116%, despite the fact the communist country boasts more than 18,000 movie screens and the world's biggest population at 1.36 billion.

Blu-ray Disc saw revenue increase 5% — the same percentage uptick as the industry overall, but virtually ignored by studio executives. Too bad, considering the high-definition precursor to 4K enjoyed its best holiday sales ever. According to data compiled by Home Media Research, Blu-ray sales in December 2013 amounted to approximately $416 million, up from the $404 million in December 2012.

$416 million is a lot of money, too. In fact, it’s 51% more than what Digital HD and transactional VOD collectively generated in December if you average digital revenue over 12 months. And it's 316% more than what consumers spent on average buying digital content. In other words, for every $1 spent buying digital content, consumers spent $4.16 buying Blu-ray.

Yet, studios executives — in an effort to appear prescient — are all on the digital bandwagon. It's what Wall Street wants to hear (i.e. growth sector). It's streaming coolness. It’s a strategy Netflix’s brass has employed for years, despite the fact by-mail rental discs still generate half of the SVOD pioneer’s profit margin.



It's also a strategy that is shortsighted, as underscored in a new Harris Poll.

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/New...1/Default.aspx

http://homemediamagazine.com/eriks-s...ong-start-2014

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Krelldog1977

Will streaming also include 100% lossless audio codecs.

It is in the CFF specification but AFAIK, it has not been used a single time. IMO, it (lossless audio) will not be used by streaming providers in the foreseeable future because the data rate would be almost the same as the video data rate currently used by Netflix’s Super HD and VUDU’s HDX titles. Netflix and VUDU does use Dolby + on some titles.

[720pDude]

My reasons are I seldom by new br unless they are under $10 new and I also buy used. I also only buy br for movies that are heavy on special effects or if the DVD is poorly mastered.

Plus I have great willpower and know how to wait and not run out and drop $20-$40 every Tuesday only walking away with 1 or 2 flicks.