Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[SarahS]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

It is a scary thought but not as scary as Hollywood making every film U rated or (I believe it's G rated in U.S). We are seeing the first signs of this with Sony's cleaned up versions. They may be scrapped but it will only come again weeks or months doen the line. Censorship and sanitised films are to me a stake through the heart for film. How long before Netflix, Amazon and HBO are loaded with kid friendly fare and adult drama is no more?

I am seeing no signs of this here in the states.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by TheGuyWhoLovesMovies

I am in the middle on this. I love buying digital movies like ultraviolet codes because you can buy new movies for a few dollars ,but I also like having tangible physical movies because digital movies don't always have all the bonus content or sometimes none at all. I also like some commentary which is rarely on digital movies.

Originally Posted by Steedeel

It is a scary thought but not as scary as Hollywood making every film U rated or (I believe it's G rated in U.S). We are seeing the first signs of this with Sony's cleaned up versions. They may be scrapped but it will only come again weeks or months doen the line. Censorship and sanitised films are to me a stake through the heart for film. How long before Netflix, Amazon and HBO are loaded with kid friendly fare and adult drama is no more?

Originally Posted by SarahS

I am seeing no signs of this here in the states.

Censorship, what does that have to do with Physical or Digital. Like Master said, that goes way back to the Origins of Film. The Studios have to balance this in the Movies they produce, and I'm sure the ones that make a profit will survive. The Pendulum swings both ways, and the Studios will find the profitable balance. Steedeel is grasping at straws now, because he sees he has lost the battle and Digital HD is beginning to bury Disc. You will see more and more Digital Only Versions of Movies, and Censorship will always take a back seat.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Censorship, what does that have to do with Physical or Digital. Like Master said, that goes way back to the Origins of Film. The Studios have to balance this in the Movies they produce, and I'm sure the ones that make a profit will survive. The Pendulum swings both ways, and the Studios will find the profitable balance. Steedeel is grasping at straws now, because he sees he has lost the battle and Digital HD is beginning to bury Disc. You will see more and more Digital Only Versions of Movies, and Censorship will always take a back seat.

Bluray is actually up after six moths of the year despite box office being down 4%. That is quite incredible.

Digital HD is a new release format far more so than Bluray. Luckily, many of my purchases are from boutique labels who are doing a fantastic job here in the U.K. It's likely most of these films will NEVER see a release on Digital HD. They may see a release on subscription services like Shudder but that's a different matter.
Also 4K is doing very well. That's a avenue I will go down soon when I buy tons of discs. In other words, I am well covered for the next few years. By the time that route is exhausted, Digital HD will have faded and we will have subscription.

Vudu is still a niche and most people are using subscription in America. I simply wouldn't have the confidence in a Digital HD collection, not with the control the studios will now have. Even those that support Digital admit they wouldn't pay full price for a film.

Finally, censorship can be implemented way easier via digital. Filtering tools, recalled titles etc.,

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by SarahS

I am seeing no signs of this here in the states.

You will.

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Bluray is actually up after six moths of the year despite box office being down 4%. That is quite incredible.

Digital HD is a new release format far more so than Bluray. Luckily, many of my purchases are from boutique labels who are doing a fantastic job here in the U.K. It's likely most of these films will NEVER see a release on Digital HD. They may see a release on subscription services like Shudder but that's a different matter.
Also 4K is doing very well. That's a avenue I will go down soon when I buy tons of discs. In other words, I am well covered for the next few years. By the time that route is exhausted, Digital HD will have faded and we will have subscription.

Vudu is still a niche and most people are using subscription in America. I simply wouldn't have the confidence in a Digital HD collection, not with the control the studios will now have. Even those that support Digital admit they wouldn't pay full price for a film.

Finally, censorship can be implemented way easier via digital. Filtering tools, recalled titles etc.,

Define full price. Virtually nobody that collects physical media will pay retail price either. As for digital prices, I like to buy things on sale usually, but I'm the same way with Blu-ray. I don't buy codes off of people, just like I don't buy used Blu-rays.

Yes, digital does give more control to the studios. I understand that fear. When a DVD/Blu-ray is recalled, those who previously bought it still have it. I'm not so sure the same thing would happen with digital.

But movies are usually recalled very early on in their run, so I know you like to buy movies once a year. By the time you've gotten to your purchasing, a movie may have been recalled. Of course, with it being physical you could still buy it from someone online, but they'd charge an arm and a leg for it.

In your case, I see why you prefer physical. You've stated your case clearly, albeit to varying degrees of believability as far as predictions go. You seem to collect a lot of boutique titles, as you say. Yes, those don't pop up as consistently on digital as on physical.

I grew up loving mainstream movies, so I don't often venture far from them. So in my case, most of the movies I want are on digital, and I can't envision many of them being recalled. Usually that happens when there's rights issues or something particularly controversial involved. Again, I can't think of a movie that was recalled years later. It usually happens very early on, and not that often.

Going out of print is very different from being recalled. If something goes out of print, it won't affect the digital copy. If anything, they just won't sell the digital copy in their storefront anymore.

I know we'll never find a middle ground on this topic. I wish we would, but I understand how opposed you are to digital and all the possible futures of cinema you've predicted. Just know that despite our differences, we both love cinema. Something keeps drawing us back to this debate, and I think it's our mutual passion for movies. We keep expecting our newest post to inch us closer to an agreement of some sort. Or at least an acknowledgment.

So I'm here to acknowledge your side of the argument. I know you believe strongly in what you say. I stand by my words too. I respect the argument for physical. It's just not my current preference. It was for years, but I see digital as the next big format (which has been slowly evolving for over a decade now). I know we differ on that. I don't expect us to high five now. I just wanted to say those things.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by master gandhi

Define full price. Virtually nobody that collects physical media will pay retail price either. As for digital prices, I like to buy things on sale usually, but I'm the same way with Blu-ray. I don't buy codes off of people, just like I don't buy used Blu-rays.

Yes, digital does give more control to the studios. I understand that fear. When a DVD/Blu-ray is recalled, those who previously bought it still have it. I'm not so sure the same thing would happen with digital.

But movies are usually recalled very early on in their run, so I know you like to buy movies once a year. By the time you've gotten to your purchasing, a movie may have been recalled. Of course, with it being physical you could still buy it from someone online, but they'd charge an arm and a leg for it.

In your case, I see why you prefer physical. You've stated your case clearly, albeit to varying degrees of believability as far as predictions go. You seem to collect a lot of boutique titles, as you say. Yes, those don't pop up as consistently on digital as on physical.

I grew up loving mainstream movies, so I don't often venture far from them. So in my case, most of the movies I want are on digital, and I can't envision many of them being recalled. Usually that happens when there's rights issues or something particularly controversial involved. Again, I can't think of a movie that was recalled years later. It usually happens very early on, and not that often.

Going out of print is very different from being recalled. If something goes out of print, it won't affect the digital copy. If anything, they just won't sell the digital copy in their storefront anymore.

I know we'll never find a middle ground on this topic. I wish we would, but I understand how opposed you are to digital and all the possible futures of cinema you've predicted. Just know that despite our differences, we both love cinema. Something keeps drawing us back to this debate, and I think it's our mutual passion for movies. We keep expecting our newest post to inch us closer to an agreement of some sort. Or at least an acknowledgment.

So I'm here to acknowledge your side of the argument. I know you believe strongly in what you say. I stand by my words too. I respect the argument for physical. It's just not my current preference. It was for years, but I see digital as the next big format (which has been slowly evolving for over a decade now). I know we differ on that. I don't expect us to high five now. I just wanted to say those things.

I do respect that. You are certainly right about the mutual passion. I will say I don't think Digital HD is the future. Digital is the future but that will be subscription. I still think disc is ok for the next several years. I honestly don't think Digital HD has the legs.

I also think the portability aspect will be used by the industry to boost prices for watching on a big screen. A industry CEO has already suggested this. Pay a small fee for the mobile version or pay through your nose for the full fat 4K version. In other words, you won't have the choice or playing back media on several devices like you do now.

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I do respect that. You are certainly right about the mutual passion. I will say I don't think Digital HD is the future. Digital is the future but that will be subscription. I still think disc is ok for the next several years. I honestly don't think Digital HD has the legs.

I also think the portability aspect will be used by the industry to boost prices for watching on a big screen. A industry CEO has already suggested this. Pay a small fee for the mobile version or pay through your nose for the full fat 4K version. In other words, you won't have the choice or playing back media on several devices like you do now.

It's one thing for a CEO to spitball an idea like that, and quite another for the industry to actually implement it. There's marketing departments, test groups, etc where ideas like that will likely fall by the wayside.

As for subscriptions becoming more and more prominent, I don't doubt it. But there will always be some form of storefront, just like with music. Many people use Apple Music, Spotify and/or Pandora, but you can still buy music. I don't see that ever going away for movies either. The world as a whole would see that as a step backwards.

[Gamma_Winstead]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

They are the exception I think. Most films are PG or PG 13 (I consider them the same).

You can't consider them the same because they are NOT the same. You can't change what's reality in an effort to keep a debate going that you have no proof to support. In the US we call that "moving the goal posts" and it's a sign that someone is determined to be right no matter how wrong they actually are.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Gamma_Winstead

You can't consider them the same because they are NOT the same. You can't change what's reality in an effort to keep a debate going that you have no proof to support. In the US we call that "moving the goal posts" and it's a sign that someone is determined to be right no matter how wrong they actually are.

Question. Do they both restrict adult themes such as violence, nudity, gore and sex?

Answer. Yes, of course they do. A PG13 might manage more challenging scenes but that content is still watered down compared to a 15 and a 18. Hence, I consider them the same. They are still sanitising for the sake of a wider audience. PG, PG13, whatever!

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Question. Do they both restrict adult themes such as violence, nudity, gore and sex?

Answer. Yes, of course they do. A PG13 might manage more challenging scenes but that content is still watered down compared to a 15 and a 18. Hence, I consider them the same. They are still sanitising for the sake of a wider audience. PG, PG13, whatever!

PG is typically for family movies. PG-13 covers quite a large range of movies. Anything from your average superhero film (not Deadpool, Logan or Watchmen, of course) to suspense and thrillers, as well as many comedies and dramas.

Extreme violence, graphic sex or excessive coarse language is reserved for R. Just because a movie isn't rated R doesn't automatically make it watered down.

Not every movie needs to push things to the R arena to be satisfying. In fact, sometimes filmmakers throw in enough rated R content just to make their movie seem more edgy. When American Pie was a hit, rated R comedies became popular again. But putting rated R content into a comedy can sometimes feel contrived when it's overdone.

I know you like horror. The gore-filled horror is reserved for the adult rating. Nobody would expect a slasher film or zombie film to be PG-13. Most horror is rated R or unrated (usually on video). So I can see why you would view PG-13 as watered down. Typically, a modern PG-13 horror film does feel watered down, but those aren't made nearly as often as adult rated horror.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by master gandhi

It's been this way for decades. I argued with my mom about it back in the early '90s when Terminator 2 and Batman Returns came out and I was getting the toys. My mom thought those movies were inappropriate for me, but I was arguing that they make toys for me to buy, so I should be allowed to watch the movies (I ended up having to wait until they were on video). This is nothing new, but thanks again for making a mountain out of a mole hill.

You should listen to this particular episode of this podcast called "The Geek Easy Podcast."

It's all about toys from the 80s and 90s based on R-rated movies. It's a pretty fun to listen to.

http://geekeasypodcast.podbean.com/e...ned-kids-toys/

[sirdizzy]

I buy a lot of digital movies as to me $3-5 to watch a movie I haven't seen seems like a great value, I hate redbox and returning movies and that's what we used to pay to rent from Hollywood and Blockbuster. All value has gone down how many $5 dvd bins have you seen, go to a pawn shop how many $3 movies could you pick up. At one time home video was a premium product with most VHS costing $100 (I paid $60 for my Shawshank Redemption on VHS). DVD changed all that it brought the whole market down. I honestly don't think a Bluray is worth $20 unless you are giving me a premium product like steelbook and including digital with it. So yea I don't pay $20 for any movie unless its a premium product like steelbook. If they sold $5-10 digital copies only in the stores I'd be all on them or through there platforms like vudu. No they are still holding onto the antiquated concept that new movies are worth $20-30 when honestly I'd just wait 6 months and pick them up for half that.

The reason the value of digital is even less then physical is that we aren't protected from the whims of someone who could yank them out from us at any time. I prefer digital any day of the week and would pay for protection that would allow them not to decide at some future date to take my movies away.

Originally Posted by BlakkMajik3000

This kind of proves how fragile digital is.

People do not value digital media the way they do physical. Digital codes aren't just issued, they come from physical media. Without physical, there would be 0 market for codes.

Would you be willing to buy a digital movie for what it costs on BD? Be honest. Fact is, the perceived value of a digital copy is far below that of physical media.

I am a big supporter of digital (my collections are available for all to see), but I'm realistic. My collection, especially UV, would be about 1/4th the size without a combination of D2D, codes, and sales. My BD/DVD collection, on the other hand, would still be the same size, if not a couple hundred BDs larger.

[zodwriter]

Originally Posted by Vor4

Where I live, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target all cleared out their physical media section except for PS4 and XBox One games. I think it has to do low sales and I see no one browsing at movies and music anymore. I even heard rumors that Walmart might sell Vudu movie code cards within the next few months. I also heard from one of the workers at Best Buy that Best Buy looking into their start their own video streaming service that is tied to the UV locker.

Best Buy already has it's own streaming service. It's called CinemaNow!

https://us.cinemanow.com/

[jcflman]

Originally Posted by zodwriter

Best Buy already has it's own streaming service. It's called CinemaNow!

https://us.cinemanow.com/

Well, they did, they sold it 3 years ago.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by BlakkMajik3000

This kind of proves how fragile digital is.

People do not value digital media the way they do physical. Digital codes aren't just issued, they come from physical media. Without physical, there would be 0 market for codes.

Would you be willing to buy a digital movie for what it costs on BD? Be honest. Fact is, the perceived value of a digital copy is far below that of physical media.

I am a big supporter of digital (my collections are available for all to see), but I'm realistic. My collection, especially UV, would be about 1/4th the size without a combination of D2D, codes, and sales. My BD/DVD collection, on the other hand, would still be the same size, if not a couple hundred BDs larger.

Originally Posted by sirdizzy

I buy a lot of digital movies as to me $3-5 to watch a movie I haven't seen seems like a great value, I hate redbox and returning movies and that's what we used to pay to rent from Hollywood and Blockbuster. All value has gone down how many $5 dvd bins have you seen, go to a pawn shop how many $3 movies could you pick up. At one time home video was a premium product with most VHS costing $100 (I paid $60 for my Shawshank Redemption on VHS). DVD changed all that it brought the whole market down. I honestly don't think a Bluray is worth $20 unless you are giving me a premium product like steelbook and including digital with it. So yea I don't pay $20 for any movie unless its a premium product like steelbook. If they sold $5-10 digital copies only in the stores I'd be all on them or through there platforms like vudu. No they are still holding onto the antiquated concept that new movies are worth $20-30 when honestly I'd just wait 6 months and pick them up for half that.

The reason the value of digital is even less then physical is that we aren't protected from the whims of someone who could yank them out from us at any time. I prefer digital any day of the week and would pay for protection that would allow them not to decide at some future date to take my movies away.

We all like the best deals on stuff, and that includes Movies. What gets me are these Disc Lovers that claim Digital HD is the Demise of Film, but yet don't want to pay Market Value on these Discs. I say it's all Digital whether on Disc or Digital HD, and if they last 5 to 10 years in my Collection I'll be happy. The only advantage I see with Disc is that you can resell that Movie, where Digital HD you can't. I'm really not worried about Movies being pulled or lost, if hasn't really happened in 5 years I'm sure my Collection will be around 10 to 20 years.....That's enough for me!

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by alchav21

We all like the best deals on stuff, and that includes Movies. What gets me are these Disc Lovers that claim Digital HD is the Demise of Film, but yet don't want to pay Market Value on these Discs.

I can't speak for all of those who prefer discs, but I personally buy a lot of new releases often on the day of release, or at least within the first week if for some reason I can't get to picking it up on release day.

There are some titles that I may not buy immediately and get on sale, but I still buy a lot of titles when they are new and when it's most important to support them.

I say it's all Digital whether on Disc or Digital HD

Yeah, and we've already poked all kinds of holes in that extremely flawed logic a number of times.

I'm really not worried about Movies being pulled or lost, if hasn't really happened in 5 years I'm sure my Collection will be around 10 to 20 years.....That's enough for me!

There's more of that stellar logic of yours.

That's the equivalent of someone in 1992 saying that if they can still rent movies from Blockbuster video in 5 years times (in 1997), then they will certainly still be able to do that 20 years later. And here we are in 2017. How many Blockbusters are still around?

I'm not saying that digital distribution in general is going to go away, far from it, but things can change, shift, a presently relevant company could go under, get bought out, and/or have their thunder stolen by another company that comes along that for some reason many people find more appealing, and they lose business to the "new guy." A movie studio could get bought out by another (or at least some titles could be sold to another studio potentially), and that could interfere with access depending on which services each studio do and do not do business with.

[zodwriter]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

I'm not saying that digital distribution in general is going to go away, far from it, but things can change, shift, a presently relevant company could go under, get bought out, and/or have their thunder stolen by another company that comes along that for some reason many people find more appealing, and they lose business to the "new guy." A movie studio could get bought out by another (or at least some titles could be sold to another studio potentially), and that could interfere with access depending on which services each studio do and do not do business with.

The problem with this is that it assumes studios want to take movies away. Using VUDU as an example: anytime a movie goes out of print or is not for sale for any reason it's just not in the storefront anymore. The purchased copy is still available in the customers library. What incentive do studios have to remove already purchased movies? How does that make any sense when the whole business model is based on customers continuing to purchase content? What you are saying would be the equivalent of someone breaking into your place and stealing your Blu Ray collection. If a movie studio gets bought out and the film library is taken over by a different studio, the purchased VUDU copy stays where it is. The new studio would simply re-release their version and that version would appear in the storefront. It's debatable if studios even know what movies each individual customer has in their personal digital library anyways. I have had a few movies like that in my VUDU library where new studios have taken over a title and I still have the previous studio version untouched.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by zodwriter

The problem with this is that it assumes studios want to take movies away. Using VUDU as an example: anytime a movie goes out of print or is not for sale for any reason it's just not in the storefront anymore. The purchased copy is still available in the customers library. What incentive do studios have to remove already purchased movies? How does that make any sense when the whole business model is based on customers continuing to purchase content? What you are saying would be the equivalent of someone breaking into your place and stealing your Blu Ray collection. If a movie studio gets bought out and the film library is taken over by a different studio, the purchased VUDU copy stays where it is. The new studio would simply re-release their version and that version would appear in the storefront. It's debatable if studios even know what movies each individual customer has in their personal digital library anyways. I have had a few movies like that in my VUDU library where new studios have taken over a title and I still have the previous studio version untouched.

For the most part, I don't think that most studios will take away access just to be evil and greedy. I wouldn't completely rule it out as a possiblity, but given the bad PR it would create, I can see them treading carefully in that regard.

My point is more so, for example, that if one digital service goes under or gets bought out by another, you could lose access to at least some of the content that you bought. Maybe most of the content that you paid for transfers to the new service buying out the old one, but there could be some content that they just don't offer at all. In that case, you could lose access.

Also in the case of a studio buying out another, if both studios were already working with the same digital platform(s), then it's less likely that a title would be removed from your access than if the studio buying out the film didn't work with that service.

At any rate, you are thinking too specifically on the examples that I wrote out. My point is that this isn't a black and white issue. Depending on what happens with a digital service, a studio, and/or any other company involved, it's possible that something could occur in which all kinds of complicated legal red tape could potentially interfere with your ability to access your content.

For that reason, I'll opt for physical releases, and redeem digital codes when it suits me, but I won't rely solely or even primarily on the digital distributed versions. I just prefer not to put all of my eggs in a basket that I have no control over. Too many people here are fine doing that, while assuming that nothing could possibly go wrong. For your sake, I hope you are right. But I'm not going to hold my breath.

[jcflman]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Bluray is actually up after six moths of the year despite box office being down 4%. That is quite incredible.

Here's the first half numbers the past 3 years from HMM posted on this forum:

2017 -- $2314.03
2016 -- $2544.02
2015 -- $2714.26


Yes, blu-ray is up 0.2% but overall disc sales (Blu + DVD) are down $230 million from last year. This point last year overall disc was down $170 million which lead to a year down over half a billion. This year will probably be around the same.

At the end of 2012 total disc sales were just under 8.2 billion. After this year they will be around 4.9-5.0 billion. Stores like MovieStop & Hastings closed last year, Sam's Club removed their media sections this year and eBay is closing media driven half.com next month. While the latter two won't have a huge impact they will have one.

I believe overall disc sales just had their worst week ever:



Physical disc sales are down year after year and that's not the fault of the Box Office only. Hopefully Movies Anywhere will launch this year or early next year to unite all the studios and clear up the confusing digital ecosystem for the average consumer. Debate all you want about physical versus digital but in my opinion physical has already lost. There's not enough growth in Blu or 4k to offset the massive losses DVD is sustaining year after year.

People can make up their own minds. I'm just providing some factual numbers and an opinion based on those numbers and the media outlets that keep disappearing. If people want to keep collecting Blu-ray to the end that's cool. Do what you enjoy. Those discs won't evaporate so watch and have fun with them as long as you like. I've been enjoying Vudu for 4 years and expect many more years to come. If some doomsday scenario occurs where I'm forced into a subscription to view my movies I'll either accept it or find an alternative. All I know is physical discs are a thing of the past. Just ask Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Hastings and on down the line. The studios want to make money and physical is on a steep decline so digital is the alternative.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by jcflman

Here's the first half numbers the past 3 years from HMM posted on this forum:

2017 -- $2314.03
2016 -- $2544.02
2015 -- $2714.26


Yes, blu-ray is up 0.2% but overall disc sales (Blu + DVD) are down $230 million from last year. This point last year overall disc was down $170 million which lead to a year down over half a billion. This year will probably be around the same.

At the end of 2012 total disc sales were just under 8.2 billion. After this year they will be around 4.9-5.0 billion. Stores like MovieStop & Hastings closed last year, Sam's Club removed their media sections this year and eBay is closing media driven half.com next month. While the latter two won't have a huge impact they will have one.

I believe overall disc sales just had their worst week ever:



Physical disc sales are down year after year and that's not the fault of the Box Office only. Hopefully Movies Anywhere will launch this year or early next year to unite all the studios and clear up the confusing digital ecosystem for the average consumer. Debate all you want about physical versus digital but in my opinion physical has already lost. There's not enough growth in Blu or 4k to offset the massive losses DVD is sustaining year after year.

People can make up their own minds. I'm just providing some factual numbers and an opinion based on those numbers and the media outlets that keep disappearing. If people want to keep collecting Blu-ray to the end that's cool. Do what you enjoy. Those discs won't evaporate so watch and have fun with them as long as you like. I've been enjoying Vudu for 4 years and expect many more years to come. If some doomsday scenario occurs where I'm forced into a subscription to view my movies I'll either accept it or find an alternative. All I know is physical discs are a thing of the past. Just ask Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Hastings and on down the line. The studios want to make money and physical is on a steep decline so digital is the alternative.

No, what you are doing is leaving a few facts out to suit your own argument. First of all, Digital HD is not replacing the decline in DVD either. It's not showing the growth it should be at this stage in its life. It's just not. Vudu is a niche still and people are not interested in collecting movies anymore GENERALLY. The massive growth is in subscription. THE GENIE IS OUT OF THE BOTTLE with folk only wanting to pay a few dollars to have access to a large library of content. Think Netflix, Amazon etc.
As for Hastings, he would say that! .
Blockbuster you say? Dead because of Netflix. It's that simple. People aren't renting Digital in any great numbers either lol.

Hollywood has been in decline for years now. Digital isn't going to save it. You need to get used to constantly shifting titles, exclusives only available on one service and all the rest. Subscription is indeed the future. If your precious Vudu starts to struggle growth wise, it ain't expanding. I mean, do you know what a mess UV is in in all other countries except U.S.A? It's much easier forcfolk to just wait for releases on Netflix, Amazon and soon, ITunes subscription service. Amazon are expanding to include the likes of Shudder, MGM, BFI etc..

It's not difficult to see the way it is heading. In the meantime, I'm sure that Disc, just like the CD compared to MP3 downloads, is going to be around in 15 years. (Experts said downloads would kill it, and now streaming is killing downloads ) 4K Bluray is doing great at this early stage. Not so sure Vudu will still be here.

To summarise, subscribe subscribe subscribe, you might as well start now. I will hang on to my discs, safe in the knowledge that we likely won't be seeing better releases of some great cult/boutique titles for decades.