Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[deatheats]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

And good luck trying to find that 26K in titles at Costco, Walmart, Target, and soon Best Buy.

Luckily these retailers account for maybe 10% of my movie purchases (all online). I’m happy to keep supporting companies who specialize in selling media as their primary business.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by deatheats

Luckily these retailers account for maybe 10% of my movie purchases (all online). I’m happy to keep supporting companies who specialize in selling media as their primary business.

And there are many people who only bought their movies at those retailers.
Remember Walmart going Blu-ray only along with Warner Brothers was enough to kill the HD DVD format.

[C.C. 95]

Originally Posted by deatheats

Luckily these retailers account for maybe 10% of my movie purchases (all online). I’m happy to keep supporting companies who specialize in selling media as their primary business.

True. Target, Walmart and Best Buy really only dealt in populist blockbuster fare. Of the approx. 3000 discs in my collection, only about 150 came from those stores. Diabolik, Atomic, Grindhouse, Orbit, etc. are the places to go.

[Trekkie313]

Are these foreign editions, seasons boxsets and retailer variants counted as titles? I cannot imagine that many movies or TV shows getting released onto disc...

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by C.C. 95

True. Target, Walmart and Best Buy really only dealt in populist blockbuster fare. Of the approx. 3000 discs in my collection, only about 150 came from those stores. Diabolik, Atomic, Grindhouse, Orbit, etc. are the places to go.

Which most people do not go. The market won't survive on boutique-only.

[C.C. 95]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Which most people do not go. The market won't survive on boutique-only.

Boutique labels have their own sites.
These are retailers that compete with Amazon, Walmart, etc.
Except they have a more diverse selection.

The market will do fine. Best Buy, Target, and most bricks and mortar stores haven't been a main driver of physical media for a long while.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by C.C. 95

The market will do fine. Best Buy, Target, and most bricks and mortar stores haven't been a main driver of physical media for a long while.

[citation needed]

[bhampton]

My particular Best Buy is managed rather poorly. I will be happy to see them leave the area. I think maybe the good days are behind them.

The only reason to go there is if you want to leave with the item in hand but I get things online in a day and it has become even easier to buy and also to resolve any issues with damage or wrong items and so on.

I like the idea of Best Buy ..... or Circuit City or Frys.
The reality is they are the ones in trouble - Not Physical Media.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by bhampton

The reality is they are the ones in trouble - Not Physical Media.

How many posts about lack of extras, disc scratches, audio and video errors does there have to be? Studios have cut their physical departments to the bare minimum. To say it's not in trouble is...troubling.

[deatheats]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

How many posts about lack of extras, disc scratches, audio and video errors does there have to be? Studios have cut their physical departments to the bare minimum. To say it's not in trouble is...troubling.

Meanwhile more obscure and previously difficult to obtain films are being released every day as well as classics and blockbusters. If this is a market in trouble you wouldn’t know it by the qty. of available titles.

In regards to QC, Blu-ray & 4k is going to get more heat for an AV issue than say a VHS or DVD ever did, simply because the quality expected is so much higher. No one cared if a VHS tape had color issues or warbling audio, it was part & parcel of the medium. Now if a single frame is missing or colors don’t match their perceived memory people go absolutely batshit. As far as scratches go, are people actually having problems playing the discs or is it a cosmetic OCD thing…jury seems to be out on that.

[eiknarf]

Will True Lies ever see the light of day on blu?

[DTSBOY]

Originally Posted by eiknarf

Will True Lies ever see the light of day on blu?

March 12th 2024 - unless that's changed from last week.

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=33560

[eiknarf]

Originally Posted by DTSBOY

March 12th 2024 - unless that's changed from last week.

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=33560

Damn that’s awesome news

[eiknarf]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

How many posts about lack of extras, disc scratches, audio and video errors does there have to be? Studios have cut their physical departments to the bare minimum. To say it's not in trouble is...troubling.

Hmmmm. This is also true

So it’s true Brick and Mortar stores are doing away with blu-ray/physical media.
But it’s also true that studios have cut the amount of content on a physical release (as quoted above)

So we have to think:
What killed the cassette?
It’s not “The Compact Disc”

Cassettes died when car manufacturers stopped putting tape decks in their vehicles.

Cassette and CD were coexisting until cars stopped coming with a cassette player.

(I know this as I was a mastering engineer at one of the leading cassette and CD manufacturers in the North East for 20 years)

What killed the CD?
Again, when car manufacturers phased out CD players, CD sales slowed even more/faster.

So is there anything today with Blu-ray that has the same equivalent effect as car manufacturers had over the sales of cassette and CD?

1. If Sony and Samsung stop manufacturing Blu-ray players

2. If Streaming takes away the need or desire for consumers to want physical

3. If Studios dont want to make discs anymore.

If any combination of those three things happen, it’ll put a bigger nail in the coffin of physical Blu-ray


.

[classicmaterial]

Originally Posted by eiknarf

So is there anything today with Blu-ray that has the same equivalent effect as car manufacturers had over the sales of cassette and CD?

Yes - Playstation offering disc and non-disc versions of their systems

I realize that not everyone owns a gaming system but since the PS2 came out that has been the disc player for many people

I didn't start buying blu-rays until I got a PS3. Now I have since bought blu-ray players but for many people (myself included) the upgrade to blu-ray didn't happen until the PS3

Fast forward a decade and getting a PS5 is when I started getting 4k discs

Now, anyone who bought a PS3 (or PS4) could play blu-rays, but the PS5 was the first time Sony offered an option to purchase the console with or without a disc drive (with the non-disc option having a lower price point)

So again, while I know not everyone buys gaming consoles for movie consumption, the PS5 is the closest equivalent to car manufacturers no longer including cassette or CD players

I think what we're seeing today is similar to the vinyl market. Niche collectors care about vinyl (and even cassettes and CDs) and some artists cater to that while most others solely release their music digitally. I can see a future where some major studio releases don't get 4k or blu-ray releases but these boutique labels continue to restore old films for the niche collector's market

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by eiknarf

[Show spoiler]Hmmmm. This is also true

So it’s true Brick and Mortar stores are doing away with blu-ray/physical media.
But it’s also true that studios have cut the amount of content on a physical release (as quoted above)

So we have to think:
What killed the cassette?
It’s not “The Compact Disc”

Cassettes died when car manufacturers stopped putting tape decks in their vehicles.

Cassette and CD were coexisting until cars stopped coming with a cassette player.

(I know this as I was a mastering engineer at one of the leading cassette and CD manufacturers in the North East for 20 years)

What killed the CD?
Again, when car manufacturers phased out CD players, CD sales slowed even more/faster.

So is there anything today with Blu-ray that has the same equivalent effect as car manufacturers had over the sales of cassette and CD?

1. If Sony and Samsung stop manufacturing Blu-ray players

[Show spoiler]2. If Streaming takes away the need or desire for consumers to want physical

3. If Studios dont want to make discs anymore.

If any combination of those three things happen, it’ll put a bigger nail in the coffin of physical Blu-ray.

Samsung did kill their blu-ray players.

Oppo deciding to get out of the BD/4K market was what alarmed me, especially after the acclaim and being sought out by the high end.

Both Microsoft and Sony offer disc-less versions of their game systems with this generation. Also not a good sign.

[Nunab18]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Samsung did kill their blu-ray players.

Oppo deciding to get out of the BD/4K market was what alarmed me, especially after the acclaim and being sought out by the high end.

Both Microsoft and Sony offer disc-less versions of their game systems with this generation. Also not a good sign.

I dunno about Microsoft, don't like their consoles anyway because they're useless bricks without internet activation since Xbox One, but PS5 disc edition far outsells the digital edition. So at least there is some positive there. However, PS5 is moving to a singular console now with a detachable/replaceable disc drive. So now all consoles will be capable of having a disc drive installed.

[C.C. 95]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Studios have cut their physical departments to the bare minimum.

??

More discs are being released in 2023 than in the history of physical media.
I'm having trouble keeping up with the sheer number of releases.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by C.C. 95

??

More discs are being released in 2023 than in the history of physical media.
I'm having trouble keeping up with the sheer number of releases.

More often than not just slapping older masters onto a disc without much effort.

[C.C. 95]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

More often than not just slapping older masters onto a disc without much effort.

Example?
(Seriously- I can't remember a recent blu ray that looked like an old master that was just slapped on a disc. There have been BAD transfers, yes...)