When will DVD production stop?

[moviegeek1992]

The UK is getting a lot of smaller movies released on DVD only. Juliet, Naked recently and soon Hell Fest and Assassination Nation will get a DVD only release here and honestly speaking I'm not interested spending 50% more to import the blu-ray! Not everything needs to be 1080p and secondly the fact that these are newer movies coupled with the upscaling abilities of my player, means that they're still going to look decent. Of course if one of these movies end up becoming my favourite, then I'll get the blu-ray copy, but DVD is still good enough for most titles.

[moviegeek1992]

Originally Posted by Slob

Agree. What I'm getting at is:
Mannix season 1 released 2008
Mannix complete series released 2017
The season one discs are identical in every way in both cases. Is it possible they were all pressed in 2008 and none have been pressed since? Would that mean it is out of production, though readily available, since none have been pressed in 10 years?

To put it another way. If a title is released with a limit of 3000 copies. All pressed at once. Is it immediately OOP when released because it is no longer being made, even though they take years to sell?

Or is OOP being defined as when stock runs out and no longer readily available as opposed to produced.

If all 3000 copies are made at the same time then yes it's technically OOP on release, but most reserve calling the release OOP of such limited pressings until availability is near the end of the 3000 printed stock, mostly because it could take years for those 3000 copies to sell out, which all depends on the popularity of the title.

[Spotty]

I think a lot of people are spot on when they say many computers don't have blu-ray players.

Also, DVDs just work. I mean something like 30% of the US doesn't even have access to high speed internet....having to constantly update your bluray players so it will play the latest copy protected discs in rural areas or in the car etc can be a real hassle.

Lastly, so many TV shows are trapped in SD resolution...and I believe TV shows are a major disc seller.

[huskersports]

Originally Posted by homevideogeek

I still can't fathom why DVD - a technology that was made obsolete the day HDTVs became mainstream, much less 4K displays - is still ticking. VHS movies were easily dead by this time in DVD's life cycle, and studios are shooting themselves in the foot by insisting on keeping standalone DVD releases alive. Blu-ray players are inexpensive and plentiful. There is no reason for DVD players to still exist when Blu-ray and 4K players are backward compatible. All it does is keep them out there as a dirt-cheap (but disposable) option in the market that unknowing people will still gravitate to. You've been able to get a 4K player for $50 for well over a year now, even if it's not a great player. Studios need to stop releasing standalone DVD, give people a phase-in period where they still put out Blu-ray/DVD combo packs for those who haven't upgraded (should have been done years ago) and get everybody up to speed on Blu-ray - which is itself an old and somewhat obsolete format considering how cheap and plentiful 4K TVs have become. With stores rapidly cutting back on shelf space for their movie departments, there is NO room for Blu-ray and DVD to co-exist anymore if you want to give people a good selection of titles to choose from at affordable prices.

</rant>

When Wal-mart goes belly-up, that's when DVD production will stop.

[Moonlight Shadow]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

I have never updated any of my Blu-ray players and I have never encountered a Blu-ray disc that wouldn't play. That includes Ultra HD Blu-ray players and discs as well.

This.
I have probably played more than a thousand Blu-rays on my various players and to this day I have never performed a firmware update on any of them.

I DID have to update the firmware on my DVD player in the early days though

[stonesfan129]

I have had a couple of defective Blu-ray discs that would just crap out at a certain spot. I ended up replacing these. I've never had to update the Blu-ray Player app on my Xbox.

[Slob]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

I have never updated any of my Blu-ray players and I have never encountered a Blu-ray disc that wouldn't play. That includes Ultra HD Blu-ray players and discs as well.

I was forced to update one time only. Avengers Infinity War. The disc loaded. The first screen is where you choose language. The background image of destruction was there but none of the text. Plus the player had froze and I had to unplug it. Tried a second time, same thing.
I went ahead and ran the update. Third try the text came up. Chose ENGLISH. Worked fine after that.

[The Great Escape]

My humble opinion is that we are the small market not DVD's. Everybody who is a member of this forum is crazy about movies which is really cool but I think a large number of the people in the world are not. They just like to pop in a movie and unless it looks like crap they will fine with the picture and sound.

Also if you go to a Thrift store like Goodwill, Salavation Army or your local store like that you can pick up DVD's really cheap for $2 or $3

Keep in my mind a lot of people don't have a lot of extra $$$ around to spend.

[oddbox83]

The problem with DVD now (and by default Blu-ray and 4K that have followed it but never caught up) was that it boomed, big, after VHS in the era just before streaming and hardly anything went out of print unless it was a Disney model or from a licencee where the licence expired. The icing on the cake was when studios discovered they could sell the same thing all over again by adding a few more extras on a bonus disc. This has left lots of heavily discounted, essentially worthless discs which has directly affected the update of the follow-on formats to the mass public, who, used to paying next to nothing and fatigued by endless double-dips for extras that once quite a special fad are now numerous throwaway commonalities, want the cheap streaming option instead.

Charity shops struggle to sell DVDs for £0.50p in the UK. Many now have handwritten notes up saying "5 for a £1" or even "10 for a £1" just to shift them. While most are the genuinely worthless (by and large Hollywood movies that were the most mass-produced), the lucky can find a rarer title for next to nothing.

So, no, I don't lay the blame solely at streaming for how throwaway physical media has become to the public at large. The physical media market is increasingly just for enthusiasts like ourselves who buy high and rarely sell on.

[mrveggieman]

Originally Posted by huskersports

When Wal-mart goes belly-up, that's when DVD production will stop.

^^^^This^^^^^

[mrveggieman]

Originally Posted by The Great Escape

My humble opinion is that we are the small market not DVD's. Everybody who is a member of this forum is crazy about movies which is really cool but I think a large number of the people in the world are not. They just like to pop in a movie and unless it looks like crap they will fine with the picture and sound.

Also if you go to a Thrift store like Goodwill, Salavation Army or your local store like that you can pick up DVD's really cheap for $2 or $3

Keep in my mind a lot of people don't have a lot of extra $$$ around to spend.

That is exactly what I do. I also use ebay, pawn shops and I stay looking in the bargain bin for deals on movies. Regardless of it's a DVD, blu ray or video game I refuse to pay more than $5 for it.

[yellowcakeuf6]

Originally Posted by Slob

Agree. What I'm getting at is:
Mannix season 1 released 2008
Mannix complete series released 2017
The season one discs are identical in every way in both cases. Is it possible they were all pressed in 2008 and none have been pressed since? Would that mean it is out of production, though readily available, since none have been pressed in 10 years?

To put it another way. If a title is released with a limit of 3000 copies. All pressed at once. Is it immediately OOP when released because it is no longer being made, even though they take years to sell?

Or is OOP being defined as when stock runs out and no longer readily available as opposed to produced.

Good question, and one that would need some serious research, and inside numbers access to answer. We know that early DVDs were full screen or letterbox (within a 4:3 frame), then later released widescreen enhanced for 16:9, so for the latter you would need to know at least the initial production run. Those 16:9 DVD transfers were around a good 6-7 years before Blu-ray, so I assume they sold well if they were popular movies, but I have no problem thinking that less popular movies may still be out there from the only production run.
I assume popularity would also apply for TV seasons.

[GRD43L]

1. DVD is still cheaper.
2. There are still working DVD players at home.
3. DVD was a huge 'convenience' improvement over VHS but DVD>BD>UHD are not.
4. Majority of people who buy DVD don't really care about VQ/AQ.

So the working DVD players at home would have to die out before it is replaced by BD.

UHD will get a huge traction with next gen XB & PS.

[smithb]

While DVD production stopping would potentially increase the possibility of some DVD only releases going to blu-ray, the stronger likelihood is that many releases that would have come out on DVD, just wouldn't be released at all on physical media.

The reality is that there are many pre-existing masters that can be dumped to DVD with little effort (especially within TV shows) and that fits the business model. The cost, in many cases, to prepare up-to-date HD masters just doesn't have the return on investment to warrant a blu-ray release.

In addition, many studios aren't ready to go the discount route on blu-ray. So when they have tried that route the cost model didn't work. Especially, when a consumer can purchase a full series on DVD (originally released years earlier) for the cost of one season on blu-ray. Even though the DVD season may have originally been priced similarly to a new blu-ray release now, the discounted price years later makes it hard for many consumers to swallow.

[andyman1970]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

I have never updated any of my Blu-ray players and I have never encountered a Blu-ray disc that wouldn't play. That includes Ultra HD Blu-ray players and discs as well.

I used to have a Panasonic Blu-ray player that was discontinued and about 3 years ago Panasonic stopped all firmware updates on the model. Then about a year and half ago it quit playing all Blu-ray disc's, even older ones that used to work fine but still played DVD and CD's just fine.

[smithb]

Curious, for those stating they have never updated the firmware on their blu-ray player, do you have it connected wirelessly to the internet? If so, it is possible you received them automatically.

[PenguinInfinity]

Originally Posted by smithb

Curious, for those stating they have never updated the firmware on their blu-ray player, do you have it connected wirelessly to the internet? If so, it is possible you received them automatically.

No, I have never connected any of my Blu-ray players to the internet.

[Spotty]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

I have never updated any of my Blu-ray players and I have never encountered a Blu-ray disc that wouldn't play. That includes Ultra HD Blu-ray players and discs as well.

That is very interesting. I am always encountering people (friends, family members, etc.) who cannot play newer releases. They can play older bluray releases just fine, but not new ones. I help them update their firmware to the latest version and poof, all their new discs suddenly work fine.

I always just assumed the latest firmware included the updated AACS certificates to play the latest releases....

Now I wonder what is going on.

Originally Posted by andyman1970

I used to have a Panasonic Blu-ray player that was discontinued and about 3 years ago Panasonic stopped all firmware updates on the model. Then about a year and half ago it quit playing all Blu-ray disc's, even older ones that used to work fine but still played DVD and CD's just fine.

This sounds like your Blu-ray laser head has burnt out to me. I believe Blu-ray, DVD, CD all have their own laser diodes for playback...so if it won't play Blu-ray discs that it used to be able to play, my guess is hardware failure.

[Rob89]

I predict it'll be the year 2028.

[JEDGAR1000]

In case anyone hasn't posted relevant data regarding sales yet here