The Martian 4K UHD (2015)

[SPIDERone]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

It sounds as if you're championing a format which you only have a casual familiarity with (my mistake if you've got loads of 3D titles), as most modern 3D releases from the majors come on separate 3D and 2D discs nowadays

I've actually got a big collection of 3D (194 titles), but wasn't familiar with the downgrade when played in 2D. I know most titles do have separate discs, but figured that was more to (1) not scare off people with 2D-only sets who might not want to buy a "3D" movie even if the disc plays in 2D and (2) to use that extra space for special features.
I figured if companies were doing the 2D/3D combo discs they must be fine, but that seems to not be the case.

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Basically, sticking all three separate discs in one package (UHD + 2D + 3D) for new releases would cost silly money and would kill the UHD format quicker than a bullet, it's just too much baggage IMO. Including the regular 2D Blu is all about providing a playback-agnostic (but still high quality) HD legacy version, not to pander to a specialised subsection of what is already a marginalised format.

And you could be totally right here.. it will cost more to include 3 discs opposed to 2 discs, but I think that's what the format needs when its starting out. Not for every title, but for those available in 3D.

I think the problem is that it forces people to choose between 2 formats: 3D or 4K.
With Blu-Ray it was easy.. Have a 3D TV? Buy the 3D disc and get the 2D free. Have a regular HDTV? Buy the Blu-Ray. Have a SDTV? Buy the DVD.

When you start to compare 2 different niche formats (1080p 3D and 4K 2D) and try to sell them as 2 different SKUs it can divide that market and cut into sales from the format you're TRYING to sell them on and get them to invest in (4K).

The Martian was a huge movie. The 3D release has been a widely-anticipated release for a while now. To launch a 4K release of it a month afterwards and only include a 2D 1080p copy will likely cost them some possible sales to people like me who would gladly pay extra to "future proof" their discs.
I don't have a 4K TV yet, I don't have an UltraHD Blu-Ray player yet.. but if I could have thrown down a few extra bucks over the 3D release to get that and start building a collection, it would push me to getting those.
As it is, I have little interest in the 2D 1080p release when there's a better option out there for me (3D).

Maybe I'm totally wrong though. I was an early adopter of both HDDVD and Blu-Ray.. bought up the new releases on day-1.. and it was an obvious choice. If a new movie was on HDDVD or Blu-Ray (alongside DVD) I'd buy the HD version.

For a new release a few months from now being sold as a $25-30 3D release and a $30-40 4K release.. it doesn't really give me much of an incentive to go out and rush to a 4K Player and discs, whereas including a 3D disc definitely would

(Just my personal thoughts on the subject!)