Samsung Quits 4K Blu-ray Player Market

[TM2-Megatron]

Recent Samsung players didn't even support 3-D, IIRC. I've never so much as considered buying one of their players in years, and Samsung is among the few electronics manufactures that hold the distinction of not being present in my home at all. I've always found their stuff over-hyped, whether you're talking about their smartphones or televisions or anything in between. Never cared for them.

Little of value was lost here.

[Clark Kent]

I hate to say it, but this is a fairly damning indictment on the future of physical media as anything but a niche of a niche. Samsung is no great loss as a lower middle-end manufacturer of players, but executives are making these decisions with far better sales data than publicly available.

4K streaming must be absolutely gutting player sales.

[VirtuaBranson]

For real though, its bothering me a lot lately.

I'm about to jump into the 4K water, and I have a choice between a nice OLED for a lot of money or a nice LCD for less money. If Im going to be forced to go digitial in the future, against my will mind you as I've already invested in 4k disks (I'm on this site for god sakes) and I go OLED, its like buying a Ferrari to only go 20 mph down city streets.

I feel forced out of my niche lately. Something that brings me happiness in this stupid short life. All I ever see are things pushing for digital this and digital that. Its frustrating.

Im not even against it, Im all digital with games, but god damn streaming movies kinda sucks sometimes.

[Noremac Mij]

Originally Posted by VirtuaBranson

For real though, its bothering me a lot lately.

I'm about to jump into the 4K water, and I have a choice between a nice OLED for a lot of money or a nice LCD for less money. If Im going to be forced to go digitial in the future, against my will mind you as I've already invested in 4k disks (I'm on this site for god sakes) and I go OLED, its like buying a Ferrari to only go 20 mph down city streets.

I feel forced out of my niche lately. Something that brings me happiness in this stupid short life. All I ever see are things pushing for digital this and digital that. Its frustrating.

Im not even against it, Im all digital with games, but god damn streaming movies kinda sucks sometimes.

Why would you support LCD? OLED all the way. iTunes 4K looks spectacular on my C8.

[VirtuaBranson]

Originally Posted by Noremac Mij

Why would you support LCD? OLED all the way. iTunes 4K looks spectacular on my C8.

The only reason is burn in as I would use it with my PC and consoles for games also.

[TM2-Megatron]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

I hate to say it, but this is a fairly damning indictment on the future of physical media as anything but a niche of a niche. Samsung is no great loss as a lower middle-end manufacturer of players, but executives are making these decisions with far better sales data than publicly available.

4K streaming must be absolutely gutting player sales.

We were always headed into niche territory, but I'd imagine Samsung's executives have made this decision based more on the sales data for their own players specifically (vs those of other manufacturers), rather than overall disc vs streaming data. While Samsung may be many people's first choice for televisions (a bit of a mystery, but to each their own), their players don't have a particularly good reputation. And they haven't even attempted to come out with anything to match the more premium offerings of the likes of Panasonic, Pioneer, and Sony.

[antspawn]

The biggest nail to the coffin was Oppo exiting out of the digital disc.

Samsung? Who cares. Good riddance.

Sony is better anyways. Sony players have always been much more reliable. As long as Sony is there nothing else should matter.

LG players? Don't care either.

Samsung needs to stick with phones and TV's.

[Noremac Mij]

Originally Posted by VirtuaBranson

The only reason is burn in as I would use it with my PC and consoles for games also.

You just can’t worry about things like that. I’ve had my C8 since last September and it’s left on most of the day on news networks, etc. On full 100% OLED light output. Not the slightest hint of image retention. If anything shall happen, I’ll simply replace it with the upcoming C9, or whatever top of the line OLED is on the market at that time.

I have a family member who’s an avid video gamer and that C8 is also virtually free of image retention.

Is there a burn in risk? Sure. But it’s extremely small. Just be a bit more aware and careful. And in the meantime, enjoy the best TV technology of all time.

[Noremac Mij]

Originally Posted by antspawn

The biggest nail to the coffin was Oppo exiting out of the digital disc.

Samsung? Who cares. Good riddance.

Sony is better anyways. Sony players have always been much more reliable. As long as Sony is there nothing else should matter.

LG players? Don't care either.

Samsung needs to stick with phones and TV's.

Good riddance to Oppo as well. When it comes to UHD, it’s Xbox One X and Panasonic 820. Sony is acceptable.

[DuncJS]

Originally Posted by oilers73

"4K is just a number." - Michael Reuben

Ditto.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

I hate to say it, but this is a fairly damning indictment on the future of physical media as anything but a niche of a niche. Samsung is no great loss as a lower middle-end manufacturer of players, but executives are making these decisions with far better sales data than publicly available.

4K streaming must be absolutely gutting player sales.

Felt more like much ado about nothing to me. Interesting news, yes, but consequential? Not so much.

When I wake up tomorrow morning, 4K players, and better ones than any that Samsung ever offered, will continue to be made and so will the discs to play in them.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

I hate to say it, but this is a fairly damning indictment on the future of physical media as anything but a niche of a niche. Samsung is no great loss as a lower middle-end manufacturer of players, but executives are making these decisions with far better sales data than publicly available.

4K streaming must be absolutely gutting player sales.

You don't know any numbers either, and your assumptions are influenced by your biases the same as anyone's. This isn't a "damning indictment" unless Samsungs sold the same as most others and sold very poorly. We don't know either to be the case. Like Oppo this could just be a matter of prioritizing company assets, or even if Samsungs sold poorly maybe that's because Sony and Panasonic players sold well. You. Don't. Know.

Originally Posted by VirtuaBranson

Should I be worried about this? Im getting mixed signals.

Depends on what you're worried about. Are you worried discs will vanish overnight? I wouldn't be, as any glance around the site should show you that discs are still pouring out for anything mainstream, and there's many things you can only get on disc like label remasters (Waterworld, 12 Monkeys, The Thing) and foreign exclusives (Escape From New York, The Deer Hunter). Discs will be around in some form or another for a long time and many players will be coming out whether Samsung focuses on other things or not.

However should you be worried discs are becoming more niche? That streaming is the mainstream format? That there will be things only available on streaming? Sure, those things are all happening at record pace. You're gonna have to mix and match to get everything, and that's annoying but is what it is. And some want to be "in the zeitgeist," they want to be doing the "in" thing, and if that's you then switch to streaming now because that's what most people will be doing.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by VirtuaBranson

Should I be worried about this? Im getting mixed signals.

Very.

[danny24]

Looks like they are also stopping production on 1080p Blu-ray players as well. So yes Samsung is dropping out of the market, no more Samsung disc players.

If Sony, Panasonic or LG ever stopped making disc players that would be more alarming. Sony has new 4K UHD players with DV coming.

Still it's obvious streaming is becoming more and more mainstream.

[dcforsyth]

In my opinion,

The more options for consumers, the better. Competition=more jobs for all.

I understand companies need to make profits so the millionaire/billionaires can take vacations.

But if one company dictates the price for a product or service, look out, you will be paying absurd amounts. Just look at cable companies.

To me, the more options for the consumer the better (obviously).

[Noremac Mij]

As I’ve said before, this is a perfect time for movie fans to start investigating streaming. I’m personally a huge supporter of iTunes. There’s a lot of great exclusive content there, especially Dolby Vision related. But at the same time I buy and support UHDs. This is the best of both worlds and forces one to be ready and stay informed on the latest technologies.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by dcforsyth

In my opinion,

The more options for consumers, the better. Competition=more jobs for all.

I understand companies need to make profits so the millionaire/billionaires can take vacations.

But if one company dictates the price for a product or service, look out, you will be paying absurd amounts. Just look cable companies.

To me, the more options for the consumer the better (obviously).

Yes, I agree. I stream and play discs and it's awesome.

Originally Posted by Noremac Mij

As I’ve said before, this is a perfect time for movie fans to start investigating streaming. I’m personally a huge supporter of iTunes. There’s a lot of great exclusive content there, especially Dolby Vision related. But at the same time I buy and support UHDs. This is the best of both worlds and forces one to be ready and stay informed on the latest technologies.

I wish Vudu gave you a menu option for movies like iTunes does, it makes it feel like you just put a disc in.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Noremac Mij

As I’ve said before, this is a perfect time for movie fans to start investigating streaming. I’m personally a huge supporter of iTunes. There’s a lot of great exclusive content there, especially Dolby Vision related. But at the same time I buy and support UHDs. This is the best of both worlds and forces one to be ready and stay informed on the latest technologies.

I did just investigate iTunes and found the quality lacking for many films. I'll use it if I have to, but discs still trounce it for quality. Reason enough to ride this train until it stops, let alone the ownership/content alteration factors.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Noremac Mij

As I’ve said before, this is a perfect time for movie fans to start investigating streaming. I’m personally a huge supporter of iTunes. There’s a lot of great exclusive content there, especially Dolby Vision related. But at the same time I buy and support UHDs. This is the best of both worlds and forces one to be ready and stay informed on the latest technologies.

It is by staying informed that I knew to avoid the Xbox One for a 4k disc player. Not a single review website named it as a top pick. Doing research made me aware of this fact.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I did just investigate iTunes and found the quality lacking for many films. I'll use it if I have to, but discs still trounce it for quality. Reason enough to ride this train until it stops, let alone the ownership/content alteration factors.

Yes, in no way does any iTunes stream beat the actual disc and the processing power of a great quality player but at times it comes close I'll give it that. Still probably good enough for most people.