Sony to End Blu-ray Disc Media Production

[harley1955]

https://cordcuttersnews.com/sony-to-...optical-media/

[the-pi-guy]

There are already several threads on this.

This is Sony only ending recordable blu-ray production. They're still making movies, games.

[trespoochies]

Quite a few. And that announcement was aimed at the Japanese audience. It’s not a worldwide thing.

https://www.howtogeek.com/sony-hasnt...blu-ray-discs/

"In Japan, we have a culture to record TV programs in the Blu-ray disc and we sell blank storage Blu-ray discs for this use only in Japan. The subject products of this notification are these discs. No other products (recorded Blu-Ray contain our TV programs/movie sold by Sony Pictures or Blu-ray player sold by Sony Corporation etc…) are the scope of this notification."

[harley1955]

Well that's good to hear then! Thanks!

[BijouMan]

Originally Posted by harley1955

https://cordcuttersnews.com/sony-to-...optical-media/

Not sure why the thread I had posted on has gone away and now we have this one. I now have to reiterate the fact that, despite this being about recordable media, I am still mad about this move. Now there will be no more BD-R 128s made since only Sony made them, and also no more BD-RE 100s made since only Panasonic (who stopped making discs in 2023) and Sony made them. These companies just failed their domestic Japanese customer base. Now these customers will not be able to get these discs to use in their Blu-ray DVRs. Also, Sony will no longer be making MiniDiscs or DV tapes, so there's a blow to the communities of users of those systems. Funnily enough, the day this announcement was made, YouTube Creator VWestlife uploaded a video of a Sony MDS-JE500 MiniDisc deck he found at a thrift store, and in it, he mentions that Sony is still making MiniDiscs for the Japanese market. That surely did not age well, now did it?

[HDTV1080P]

I am not going to take the time to repost my detailed comments. But yes a entire thread appears to have been deleted when it should have just been moved to the Blu-ray media section of the forum.

[stonesfan129]

You can still get CMC and Ritek-produced blanks. I think they are Verbatim and SmartBuy. SmartBuy 25GB BD-R is like $25 for a pack of 50.

[BijouMan]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

You can still get CMC and Ritek-produced blanks. I think they are Verbatim and SmartBuy. SmartBuy 25GB BD-R is like $25 for a pack of 50.

Only Sony could ever make BD-R 128s that will burn in a supported drive. If anyone else decides to start making them, no drive in existence right now will burn them unless the drive manufacturers release firmware updates with their Manufacturer IDs. The same applies for if any company other than Panasonic or Sony decides to start making BD-RE 100s. BD-R 100s are subject to the same requirement but those discs are still being made for the time being, including M-DISCs. This requirement does not apply to BD-R 25s, BD-R 50s, BD-RE 25s or BD-RE 50s which can still be burned if there is no Manufacturer ID match, albeit at a limited speed.

[SANAFABICH]

Originally Posted by the-pi-guy

There are already several threads on this.

This is Sony only ending recordable blu-ray production. They're still making movies, games.

Sure, but it definitely means there's an obvious trend. I don't think physical media will disappear just yet, but it WILL become a niche market pretty soon, if it hasn't already. It's a shame because we are seeing the same situation when cassette tapes became popular, during the 80s. People prioritized convenience over quality, and this is what's happening today with streaming services.

[CWCprime]

Originally Posted by SANAFABICH

I don't think physical media will disappear just yet, but it WILL become a niche market pretty soon, if it hasn't already.

It already has. Not a single person I know IRL uses physical media besides me. And I've already given up on physical video games myself -- I held on for as long as I could on that front, but it's a losing fight and the writing's been on the wall for years. Physical movies still seem to be in a relatively healthy state, so I'm continuing to invest in them.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by SANAFABICH

Sure, but it definitely means there's an obvious trend. I don't think physical media will disappear just yet, but it WILL become a niche market pretty soon, if it hasn't already. It's a shame because we are seeing the same situation when cassette tapes became popular, during the 80s. People prioritized convenience over quality, and this is what's happening today with streaming services.

Digital ownership (oxymoron there) will also be niche soon, year over year sales have been flat for a while now, ownership in general is becoming a thing of the past. Those that go along with that, must be willing to pay the consequences, but disc will be here for a few good years yet.
I will simply stock up on a couple of players, a PS5 with disc drive as reserve and continue to enjoy well into next decade, when the time comes of course.

[CWCprime]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Digital ownership (oxymoron there)

Not really an oxymoron in all cases, especially if you rip your collection. Vimeo also offers DRM-free movie downloads, of which I've bought a couple.

[bhampton]

As long as it lives like Vinyl.

I really don't care that stores don't carry it because having it delivered for free is quite nice.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by CWCprime

Not really an oxymoron in all cases, especially if you rip your collection.

I believe we both know that our rips of our collection are not legal ownership. I also believe the content owners do not care about folks like me because I do not share my digital copies with anyone and I have a purchased physical copy of my digital copy. Still keep my databases for my physical copies and file them on shelves like I have done for 40 years starting with LD.

[I KEEL YOU]

I don't see how anyone who visits this homepage even only very occasionally can be worried about the future of blu ray/4K. In some ways, there are more discs being released than even at the very height of DVD.

Every time I go to blu-ray.com I see news announcement of a some newer, better release of a movie that I already own, which angers me because I'm not willing to pay and upgrade every movie I own.

The only things that worry me is the discs that I already own dying of disc rot and such, or that my player might die.

[BijouMan]

Once again, this news is about Sony's discontinuation of BD-Rs, BD-REs, MiniDiscs and DV tapes. This thread should be discussing the impact that this decision is having on users of these systems. Pressed Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray Discs will continue to be manufactured by Sony's American disc-manufacturing subsidiary, Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation (Sony DADC).