Are you ready to buy your entire Blu-ray collection all over again?

[Nightopian]

It's the question we all ask ourselves whenever a new format is released and the one we've been thinking about since the announcement of 4K UltraHD. Are you going to replace all your movies with the new format all over again?

For those of us who went crazy over the decades building up a DVD collection by the thousands and then having to replace said collection to Bluray because it just wasn't up to par with Full HD, is history going to repeat itself? The people who have now accumulated upwards of 1000, 2000 or 3000 Blurays...how do you feel? Have you simply given up and you're going to play the stubborn card? i.e I'm not budging... Perhaps you're one of the ones who are going to keep their current collection as is and move to 4K only for new releases? Or perhaps you're just going to replace only your favourite movies in the format...maybe you just don't see the benefit and the law of diminishing returns has stepped in and you'll continue to stick with Bluray the same way the general public stuck with DVD...is it "good enough"? Maybe you're planning to be a late adopter...wait it out until the format matures and/or Bluray is phased out if ever?

So where do you stand on the matter? Are you excited with the new format or are you frustrated? What are the biggest factors for you moving forward...?

[mckee74]

Nothing new.
Updated VHS to laserdisc.
Laserdisc to DVD.
DVD to HD-DVD and bluray.
All my choice. I know I'll choose UHD...
And my wife will choose to kill me.

[Dex Robinson]

Originally Posted by Nightopian

...Are you going to replace all your movies with the new format all over again?


...The people who have now accumulated upwards of 1000, 2000 or 3000 Blurays...how do you feel? Have you simply given up and you're going to play the stubborn card?...

So where do you stand on the matter? Are you excited with the new format or are you frustrated? What are the biggest factors for you moving forward...?

Nobody has to play the stubborn card. In fact, I think there will be very few decisions to be made. The number of UHD BDs is likely to be tiny. There is ZERO chance that anybody with a significant BD collection could ever replace them with UHD BD even if they wanted to.

I think the "transition" will be quite simple with very little angst or soul-searching reaching. We will see a trickle of movies (mostly mediocre) and we will have plenty of time to make decisions on each individual disc. It won't be like the days of a dozen great movies released every month and we have to allocate out budget.

My most recent Blu-ray pre-order (a few days ago) was for XANADU. I bought the first issue DVD in 1999. Blu-ray came to market in 2006. XANADU was announced for March of 2016. So it will have taken almost 10 years for that one movie to come out on BD...a movie that I bought over 15 years ago on DVD.

If somebody has 1000 BDs (I have just shy of 900), there will NEVER be UHD BD versions of all those movies. Never. Honestly, I would be surprised if the average 1000 BD collector will ever see 250 of those titles released on UHD BD.

So NOBODY is going to replace their entire BD collection with UHD BDs.

[Cevolution]

Originally Posted by Nightopian

It's the question we all ask ourselves whenever a new format is released and the one we've been thinking about since the announcement of 4K UltraHD. Are you going to replace all your movies with the new format all over again?

For those of us who went crazy over the decades building up a DVD collection by the thousands and then having to replace said collection to Bluray because it just wasn't up to par with Full HD, is history going to repeat itself? The people who have now accumulated upwards of 1000, 2000 or 3000 Blurays...how do you feel? Have you simply given up and you're going to play the stubborn card? i.e I'm not budging... Perhaps you're one of the ones who are going to keep their current collection as is and move to 4K only for new releases? Or perhaps you're just going to replace only your favourite movies in the format...maybe you just don't see the benefit and the law of diminishing returns has stepped in and you'll continue to stick with Bluray the same way the general public stuck with DVD...is it "good enough"? Maybe you're planning to be a late adopter...wait it out until the format matures and/or Bluray is phased out if ever?

So where do you stand on the matter? Are you excited with the new format or are you frustrated? What are the biggest factors for you moving forward...?

I feel great, because a massive amount of Blu-ray's in my collection will never see the light of day on Ultra HD Blu-ray. I don't like the concept of digital online distribution and paying to own content that way, I prefer physical media, therefore for many movies I own the last physical copy that will exist.

[Falaskan]

Since they're backwards compatible, no. Only the best of the best. Of course that's what I said about bluray...

[shireguy]

Originally Posted by Nightopian

It's the question we all ask ourselves whenever a new format is released and the one we've been thinking about since the announcement of 4K UltraHD. Are you going to replace all your movies with the new format all over again?

For those of us who went crazy over the decades building up a DVD collection by the thousands and then having to replace said collection to Bluray because it just wasn't up to par with Full HD, is history going to repeat itself? The people who have now accumulated upwards of 1000, 2000 or 3000 Blurays...how do you feel? Have you simply given up and you're going to play the stubborn card? i.e I'm not budging... Perhaps you're one of the ones who are going to keep their current collection as is and move to 4K only for new releases? Or perhaps you're just going to replace only your favourite movies in the format...maybe you just don't see the benefit and the law of diminishing returns has stepped in and you'll continue to stick with Bluray the same way the general public stuck with DVD...is it "good enough"? Maybe you're planning to be a late adopter...wait it out until the format matures and/or Bluray is phased out if ever?

So where do you stand on the matter? Are you excited with the new format or are you frustrated? What are the biggest factors for you moving forward...?

My short answer is NOPE.

My several thousand DVDs are sitting now in the garage.... and my Blu collection is about 1/8 of that. (Oh.. and the LaserDiscs are somewhere here.. there's only about 30 of them - the VHS and Beta collection got thrown in the in years ago !!)

I have a 60" Samsung plasma that I currently use - a spare 65in plasma in the garage (boxed) and a 1080p 3D projector.

From an Australian POV - whom travels yearly to the West Coast USA - I can't see 4K or UHD or whatever this format gets called - taking off. And 'why' ?? just travel to your local B&M store and see what is available; or what deals there are. Shows like CES can bring out the most fantastic of screens and gadgets - but in the end, it's the 'buyers' for the B&M stores that are the ones that need to be 'convinced' in terms of sales and volumes. And given what has happened to Blu - I don't think they'll be 'sold'.

In Australia - our major B&M store is JB Hifi - where at the moment you can buy 2 Blu for $20 or $30 (added today we have a 20% off sale - so 2 for 16 and 2 for 26 !) - there's hundreds of titles on sale - and yet, consumers are still buying DVDs. How many consumers are buying that title for the first time, or updating ? I suspect that the majority of consumers aren't updating.

Take the US - on my travels over the years, Blu has been diminishing in Walmart, Target and Frys. I keep coming back home with less titles. - granted if you want a year or so you'll always get them cheaper. There's the obvious $10 titles shelves, and in many Wallymarts, there have been almost NOTHING in Blu. There have been Best Buy stores that now stock the Blu title next to the DVD - can anyone really 'see' them now stack a more expensive 4K UHD title next to these two ??

Blu-ray has been out for nearly 10 years... and these B&M stores can't get enough of them.. sorry.. can't get rid of the stock that they barely keep !!!


I'm grateful that a few cult titles and complete TV shows have made it to Blu - but I can't foresee these ever getting to UHD.

[Jimmy Smith]

No since there is zero chance that every single Blu-Ray I own will come out in this format an many others came from 2k or less masters and thus certainly aren't worth any kind of upgrade others just aren't really worth spending the money to upgrade unless the price is super cheap

[Opips3]

I'll buy Ultra 4K player will backwards compatible my collection blurays.
I hunter 4K native on the movie for new my collection. some I buy old movie bluray, for as example

- The Piano
- Frida
- Cold Mountains
- The English Patient
- Shakespear in Love

they're not in UHD 4K. maybe long later 10 years.

[Nightopian]

Seems we have a few time travellers here who have been to the future and know the fate of UHD already...or perhaps its denial?

So the belief is that in 10 years time UHD won't have the same amount of titles ported over as Bluray currently has? Do you think it will be abandoned for 4K streaming or there simply won't be people buying them? Or the companies just wont be bothered with it? Are we even at a stage where our internet can cope with 4K streaming and maybe that could persuade people to get their content in disc form?

It will be interesting to see how well it takes off. I'm guessing it will be a slow burn like Bluray was for a few years...however, I think the way they have marketed it is a lot more clever...People go in to buy a new 4K UltraHD TV and seeing that these new discs are called 4K UltraHD, it will make sense to the average consumer to make the purchase. It will also be straight forward to the shop assistant to sell it to them without having to go into detail...

When 1080p Full HD TV's came out they were marketed as that. When Bluray's came out they were just called Bluray with no reference to 1080p Full HD resolution in the name whatsoever. The average Joe Blow didn't have a clue that to get the most out of his new 1080p TV he needed to watch Blurays...Hell, I still hear those same people referring to them as "Bluray DVD's".

It will be interesting to see how well they push 4K discs...they may well take off better than Bluray. People who never made the jump to Bluray may completely bypass it and go straight to the 4K discs.

[shireguy]

Originally Posted by Nightopian

Seems we have a few time travellers here who have been to the future and know the fate of UHD already...or perhaps its denial?

A lot of these 'time travellers' have been travelling with the video market for few decades : I've even got a few 'souvenirs' of Beta / VHS title catalogues from Warner, CIC, Thorn EMI and Paramount from the '80s !! (feck I'm showing my age)

Originally Posted by Nightopian

So the belief is that in 10 years time UHD won't have the same amount of titles ported over as Bluray currently has? Do you think it will be abandoned for 4K streaming or there simply won't be people buying them? Or the companies just wont be bothered with it? Are we even at a stage where our internet can cope with 4K streaming and maybe that could persuade people to get their content in disc form?

I suspect that UHD disc is already 'dead in the water'.

As I've already mentioned - it's not the consumers that need to be 'sold' on this new disc - it's the B&M 'buyers' - and they've already been somewhat 'burnt' with Blu-ray - they must be asking how many times can the 'same titles' be rehashed again and again. I'm sure that they (the buyers) will be awaiting the 10th Anniversary UHD of The Hunger Games to stock on their shelves, next to those unsold DVDs and Blu's.

Originally Posted by Nightopian

It will be interesting to see how well it takes off. I'm guessing it will be a slow burn like Bluray was for a few years...however, I think the way they have marketed it is a lot more clever...People go in to buy a new 4K UltraHD TV and seeing that these new discs are called 4K UltraHD, it will make sense to the average consumer to make the purchase. It will also be straight forward to the shop assistant to sell it to them without having to go into detail...

I think it will be a slow.. no... short death. Price will probably kill it. Or Adam Sandler titles on the format.


People, or lemmings may be buying new 4K TVs.. but that's about it. Lemmings that think that they are in the market for a screen are finding that the OEMs are having to discount them to get them moving off the shelves (remember : they need to keep their manufacturing factories in Malayasia and Korea pushing out 'stuff' - otherwise they'll close). And WOW...... it's looks pretty and bright with those static images of European cities. They look so pretty in the stores.... until you get them home.

And the lemmings are loving those soundbars as well. And those Home Theatre in a Box.

Originally Posted by Nightopian

When 1080p Full HD TV's came out they were marketed as that. When Bluray's came out they were just called Bluray with no reference to 1080p Full HD resolution in the name whatsoever. The average Joe Blow didn't have a clue that to get the most out of his new 1080p TV he needed to watch Blurays...Hell, I still hear those same people referring to them as "Bluray DVD's".

and I still hear reviews on the radio refer to new releases as DVDs as well. Average Joe knew what they were - they just didn't want to spend more $$ for them - you can blame the distributors for putting a premium price on it.

You might wish to even 'explain' to Average Joe what Dolby Digital is, or DTS... or DTS HD... or 5.1... or 7.1.... or DoublyTrue... or Atmos... or DTS X.... and whether or not the soundbar can play that.

"what ??? you can have speakers in the ceiling?? Even in my RV ?? You're just playing with me !!"

Originally Posted by Nightopian

It will be interesting to see how well they push 4K discs...they may well take off better than Bluray. People who never made the jump to Bluray may completely bypass it and go straight to the 4K discs.

'who' is going to push it ?? The B&M stores ?? It's just another product line in a large line of stocked items. 'And how's all that stock that we've already bought going on our shelves ?? Is it selling or not selling ?" The Studios ? Well - that's all well and good, but we, the consumers, have access to various other sources for our entertainment - and how many times do we need a rehash of a title - wow.... Fight Club has a new cover OMG, or a steelbook, or an anniversary edition......or an extended edition... wow.. an extra 2mins !! .... you have to love sarcasm and how it melds with reality .

There's not a lot of people that can 'push' this : you need to convince a lot of people to spend more $$ buying more equipment ("so I need to buy another player ?? why ??"} - and let's not forget the new amp, and more overpriced HDMI cables !!!

Added - the Average Joe isn't a film fanatic : they'll collect a few titles - but not like the 1000s that many of the 'nuts' in here do


Go and ask the entertainment buyer for WallyMart and Target and find out what they 'think' will sell. Just don't hold your breathe on 4K discs.. just yet


... now... over to YOU for your 'feelings' about this product line !

[spectre08]

Throwing out this "rebuying your collection" stuff is usually just some sort of cheap "gotchya" by people opposed to the format.

It belies a deep misunderstanding of the UltraHD Blu-ray format and it's technology and purpose.

The vast vast vast majority of movies currently on DVD and blu-ray, especially those made in the last 15 years, will never see the light of day on UltraHD blu-ray. This is because of the simple technological fact that they were mastered in 2K (1080p) from the beginning, in many cases even shot in 2K.

UltraHD Blu-ray is much more akin to the introduction of Blu-Ray 3D than to the move from DVD to Blu-Ray.

It will most likely remain a "value add" format, until sometime after when the overwhelming majority of major studio films are being shot and finished in 4K or better.

[Jimmy Smith]

Originally Posted by spectre08

UltraHD Blu-ray is much more akin to the introduction of Blu-Ray 3D than to the move from DVD to Blu-Ray.

I disagree with that just because the number of Ultra HD mastered movies far exceeds the number of 3D movies. The number of 3D movies has exploded in the last decade but the number of movies shot on 35mm or above film or 4k cameras is far higher and go back the earliest filmmaking

[Dex Robinson]

Originally Posted by Nightopian

Seems we have a few time travellers here who have been to the future and know the fate of UHD already...or perhaps its denial?

The only time travellers were members of the BDA and they got it wrong.

The people in denial are people who think they'll be getting most of their old collection available on UHD.

Look at the top sticky in this forum about 4K Blu-ray being "confirmed' for late 2015. That thread goes back to 2014. We see links in that thread telling us:

"According to Victor Matsuda, Chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association Global Promotions Committee, the BDA expects the specs for 4K Blu-ray to be finalized in the first half of 2015, paving the way for commercial availability by the end of the year. " and:

"He added that they expect consumers to be able to buy the first 4K UHD Blu-ray discs in time for Christmas. The expectation is that 4K Blu-ray players will also appear around that time."


Well, they missed Christmas. And, despite those people who want to down play the fact, missing a Christmas season at this point in a format is bad...especially considering that they seemed confident over 15 months ago when they started making promises.

Now, we are days away from 2016. Many of the major studios have told us NOTHING of their UHD BD plans. Players don't even availability or pre-order dates. We know nothing about disc testing from production equipment. Has anybody seen a clip of a production disc being put into a UHD BD player?

Those of us predicting a less than stellar future for UHD BD are taking our cues from the BDA itself who have fallen way short on every promise and prediction that they have made.

[Jimmy Smith]

Originally Posted by Dex Robinson

The only time travellers were members of the BDA and they got it wrong.

The people in denial are people who think they'll be getting most of their old collection available on UHD.

Look at the top sticky in this forum about 4K Blu-ray being "confirmed' for late 2015. That thread goes back to 2014. We see links in that thread telling us:

"According to Victor Matsuda, Chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association Global Promotions Committee, the BDA expects the specs for 4K Blu-ray to be finalized in the first half of 2015, paving the way for commercial availability by the end of the year. " and:

"He added that they expect consumers to be able to buy the first 4K UHD Blu-ray discs in time for Christmas. The expectation is that 4K Blu-ray players will also appear around that time."


Well, they missed Christmas. And, despite those people who want to down play the fact, missing a Christmas season at this point in a format is bad...especially considering that they seemed confident over 15 months ago when they started making promises.

Now, we are days away from 2016. Many of the major studios have told us NOTHING of their UHD BD plans. Players don't even availability or pre-order dates. We know nothing about disc testing from production equipment. Has anybody seen a clip of a production disc being put into a UHD BD player?

Those of us predicting a less than stellar future for UHD BD are taking our cues from the BDA itself who have fallen way short on every promise and prediction that they have made.

HD-DVD and Blu-Ray were promised originally to come out in 2005 but both formats ended up getting launched well into 2006. Ultra HD Blu-ray was never going to be a hot selling Christmas gift for 2015 anyway so it missing Christmas is not a big deal at all. We will probably get the first dates soon enough and I am sure there will be a big showing for this format at CES which is only a few weeks away

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith

I disagree with that just because the number of Ultra HD mastered movies far exceeds the number of 3D movies. The number of 3D movies has exploded in the last decade but the number of movies shot on 35mm or above film or 4k cameras is far higher and go back the earliest filmmaking

this is ONLY true if you include all 35mm shot and mastered films. As far as new films, 3D is still far far far more common than a 4K master.

But catalogue titles are almost completely irrelevant when it comes to a new format. The studios make their money on new releases.

[Stanton]

I still own movies in every format (VHS/LD/DVD/BD) and selectively "re-purchase" new titles only when there is a clear benefit (I did the same thing with LP/CD). I suspect my UHD purchases will follow the same path as BD: for new releases I will probably buy the new format; for catalog releases with obvious video/audio improvements (like Atmos or 4k re-masters), I may selectively upgrade to UHD.

[Jimmy Smith]

Originally Posted by spectre08

this is ONLY true if you include all 35mm shot and mastered films. As far as new films, 3D is still far far far more common than a 4K master.

But catalogue titles are almost completely irrelevant when it comes to a new format. The studios make their money on new releases.

Catalogs do count and the cost to master a film from say the 70s into a great looking Ultra HD presentation would be far less than giving it a quality 3D conversion and likely far more true to the intent of the original filmmakers. So yes the number of movies released since the creation of cinema that can benefit from Ultra HD Blu-Ray far exceeds the number that will benefit from Blu-Ray 3D

[dvdmike]

Maybe 15% of my blus will not benefit from 4k being from a 1080p or below master.
Then add 3d that is not going to cross over at all, then add the 2k masters, then add the UHD HDR regrades of older movies where they will be bought on a case per case basis.
Bluray is the last format for most movies for me.

Do people really want UHD HDR 28 days later?

[ilovenola2]

Answer:

"No."

[MisterXDTV]

Originally Posted by spectre08

UltraHD Blu-ray is much more akin to the introduction of Blu-Ray 3D than to the move from DVD to Blu-Ray.

It will most likely remain a "value add" format, until sometime after when the overwhelming majority of major studio films are being shot and finished in 4K or better.

I said this in the past few months: when Blu-ray 3D came out, any PC Blu-ray drive could play those discs and the top-selling Blu-ray player in the world (aka PS3) could play those discs.

That's not the case for UHD as PC drives might not even get on the market, and the next-gen consoles are not going to support them (99% sure)

So the only thing in common with the previous format is the laser color, but so did CD and DVD...