Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[Tok]

Originally Posted by THXGuru

streaming and heavily discounted physical media compliment each other...at least that is what I see every Tuesday with the heavy discounts of the new release combo pack.

The studios aren't losing money on heavily discounted media. Pressing a disc, packaging it and shipping to a retail is still a small cost compared to the profit they make off a new release Tuesday discount price.

They wouldn't release the older low cost catalog titles to BD if they were going to lose money on them.

Few consumers are willing to pay full retail price and even with streaming people look for the lowest cost option... Netflix.

Not many are buying Digital Downloads for $20/title when after a few months you can get a BD version for $15 or less.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by THXGuru

streaming and heavily discounted physical media compliment each other...at least that is what I see every Tuesday with the heavy discounts of the new release combo pack.

Is there another kind of physical media?

Originally Posted by KRW1

..but you don't mind making a long term one because we won't be around to see the results, I think.

You're not planning on a lasting a few more decades? Geez, I thought I was old

[Packerfan75]

Gotta disagree on this one because:
1. DVD 's still have a large market even though bluray has been here for over 7 years. (Many people can't afford it or don't care enough to upgrade)
2. Convincing bluray owners to buy their movies again.
3. The memory it takes to store a full library of hi def movies.
4. Having to buy another machine for streaming/downloading.
5. 3D players and discs have yet to take off despite its success in theaters.

No, bluray will still be alive and well in 2016.

[THXGuru]

Summed up very well


Here's why you don't need 4K Blu-ray: it's dead tech walking. The optical disc is going the way of the bakelite telephone, elaborate sideburns, wax cylinders, my hairline and Miley Cyrus's modesty, and 4K Blu-ray is its last hurrah.

It's also completely pointless, because even when most content is recorded in 4K (also known as Ultra HD) - something that definitely isn't the case yet - most people won't get any benefit from 4K.

Sony's blurb about its 4K TVs is hilarious: the key benefit of 4K appears to be that you can sit much closer to your TV, which is something I'm sure we've all been clamouring for. At last we'll be able to sit 3.6 feet away from our 55-inch screens!

The average viewing distance for most of us is 9 feet. From that far away, you won't notice the 4K difference until your TV's bigger than most people's living room walls. According to Toshiba, for HD you should be between 5.5 feet and 8.7 feet from a 55-inch display; presumably for 4K you'd need to be so close you'd go cross-eyed.

It's like the megapixel myth in cameras: never mind the quality, just count the pixels.
At last we'll be able to sit 3.6 feet away from our 55-inch screens!

And that's not the only reason to be cynical.
If this is the answer, what's the question?

4K Blu-ray is designed to solve a problem, but it's not your problem: it's the consumer electronics industry's.

And it's rather like the problem the consumer electronics industry had in the 1990s when there was nobody left who hadn't upgraded from vinyl to CD. With CD players no longer flying off the shelves or commanding premium prices, they tried to foist endless new technologies on us: MiniDisc, Digital Compact Cassette, Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio.

They all flopped, because it turned out we didn't want higher bitrates: we wanted better convenience and lower prices. We wanted downloads and streaming.

History is repeating. Now everybody's upgraded from 4:3 to widescreen and from CRT to true HD, HDTVs are no longer flying off the shelves or commanding premium prices. Hence 3D, 4K and 4KBD. 4K Blu-ray promises "a stunning 32 channels of uncompressed audio".

Who on earth has a 32-channel sound system?

I suspect that for most of us, what we really want is downloading and streaming. I certainly do. I spent last weekend hurling endless discs into skips because all my media is digital, and while I'm sure Breaking Bad would be just great in 4K my house isn't big enough - and my pockets aren't deep enough - for the screen I'd need to notice the difference over Netflix's perfectly decent Super HD.

And of course Netflix is about the price of a Big Mac meal a month for all of BB and everything else Netflix has; the Blu-ray of the first half of Breaking Bad Season 5 is over £20/$30. I shudder to think what the 4K discs would cost.

Don't get me wrong. I'm sure the home cinema buffs who buy into 4K Blu-ray will absolutely love it, just as the audiophiles who bought into Super Audio CD and DVD-A absolutely loved those technologies.

But the former is going to suffer the same fate as the latter, replaced by technology that might not be technically superior, but which suits everybody better. The discs might have a niche for as long as movie buffs can't get fibre broadband, but it's a niche that won't last for long.

CDs are already obsolete. Movie discs are next.


http://www.techradar.com/news/home-c...c=rss&attr=all

[Tok]

CDs are still in the major retailers. The music industry went through a paradigm shift. The reason iTunes and such are successful is because consumers got tired of buying CDs that had one or two hits surrounded by throwaway filler material. iTunes essentially brought back the 'single' model and consumers decided to save money by only buying the songs they want. That's what is really killing the CD.

Music portability is another factor, but I don't think consumers care as much if their movie libraries are portable. Watching a movie on a portable device detracts from the experience.

[octagon]

CDs are obsolete?

A bad week for CD sales in the US is five million units and CDs still account for roughly half of all US album sales. CDs are no more obsolete than books or newspapers (chanting 'print is dead' doesn't make it so).

If these guys can't accurately describe the present why should we take their predictions seriously?

[mredman]

THXGURU. You are out of your mind if you believe the drivel you post. First of all CD is still everywhere and artists still release them.

And if you think streaming for movies will overtake bluray and it will be obselete you are insane. Because people will just download illegally and the studios will not earn a cent anymore.

Physical media (blu ray) is here to stay and always has because the studios make tons of money on blu ray just look at the sales for the major blockbuster movies is huge if there was only streaming people would obtain their copies illegally and studios would lose tons of money.

[macfan]

Originally Posted by thxguru

summed up very well


here's why you don't need 4k blu-ray: It's dead tech walking. The optical disc is going the way of the bakelite telephone, elaborate sideburns, wax cylinders, my hairline and miley cyrus's modesty, and 4k blu-ray is its last hurrah.

It's also completely pointless, because even when most content is recorded in 4k (also known as ultra hd) - something that definitely isn't the case yet - most people won't get any benefit from 4k.

Sony's blurb about its 4k tvs is hilarious: The key benefit of 4k appears to be that you can sit much closer to your tv, which is something i'm sure we've all been clamouring for. At last we'll be able to sit 3.6 feet away from our 55-inch screens!

The average viewing distance for most of us is 9 feet. From that far away, you won't notice the 4k difference until your tv's bigger than most people's living room walls. According to toshiba, for hd you should be between 5.5 feet and 8.7 feet from a 55-inch display; presumably for 4k you'd need to be so close you'd go cross-eyed.

It's like the megapixel myth in cameras: Never mind the quality, just count the pixels.
At last we'll be able to sit 3.6 feet away from our 55-inch screens!

And that's not the only reason to be cynical.
If this is the answer, what's the question?

4k blu-ray is designed to solve a problem, but it's not your problem: It's the consumer electronics industry's.

And it's rather like the problem the consumer electronics industry had in the 1990s when there was nobody left who hadn't upgraded from vinyl to cd. With cd players no longer flying off the shelves or commanding premium prices, they tried to foist endless new technologies on us: Minidisc, digital compact cassette, super audio cd and dvd-audio.

They all flopped, because it turned out we didn't want higher bitrates: We wanted better convenience and lower prices. We wanted downloads and streaming.

History is repeating. Now everybody's upgraded from 4:3 to widescreen and from crt to true hd, hdtvs are no longer flying off the shelves or commanding premium prices. Hence 3d, 4k and 4kbd. 4k blu-ray promises "a stunning 32 channels of uncompressed audio".

Who on earth has a 32-channel sound system?

I suspect that for most of us, what we really want is downloading and streaming. I certainly do. I spent last weekend hurling endless discs into skips because all my media is digital, and while i'm sure breaking bad would be just great in 4k my house isn't big enough - and my pockets aren't deep enough - for the screen i'd need to notice the difference over netflix's perfectly decent super hd.

And of course netflix is about the price of a big mac meal a month for all of bb and everything else netflix has; the blu-ray of the first half of breaking bad season 5 is over £20/$30. I shudder to think what the 4k discs would cost.

Don't get me wrong. I'm sure the home cinema buffs who buy into 4k blu-ray will absolutely love it, just as the audiophiles who bought into super audio cd and dvd-a absolutely loved those technologies.

But the former is going to suffer the same fate as the latter, replaced by technology that might not be technically superior, but which suits everybody better. The discs might have a niche for as long as movie buffs can't get fibre broadband, but it's a niche that won't last for long.

cds are already obsolete. Movie discs are next.


http://www.techradar.com/news/home-c...c=rss&attr=all

roflol!!!

[Tok]

What's even more hilarious about the tech radar article that THXGuru linked was one of the other articles pointed to at the end of the article.

The title of that one "Blu-ray will be dead by 2012"

I guess the format backers and its growing number of buyers don't know that the format has been dead for nearly two years.

Who's running Tech Radar? Ron Enderle it just goes to show that those so called in the know tech sites are just spinning their own agenda and most don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

[THXGuru]

Originally Posted by Tok

The reason iTunes and such are successful is because consumers got tired of buying CDs that had one or two hits surrounded by throwaway filler material.

Really? What about convenience?

[Tok]

Originally Posted by THXGuru

Really? What about convenience?

That convenience card gets over played. Consumers still like going to brick and mortar stores that also carry CDs and BDs.

I don't think its a huge leap to say that iTunes probably sells more single tracks than whole albums. So I guess you could say that's a convenience since brick and mortar retailer don't sell 'singles' any more.

[Insomniac01]

Originally Posted by KRW1

I've no idea what you're trying to say there. Short term predictions are too difficult but you don't mind making a long term one because we won't be around to see the results, I think.

I suspect there'll still be threads like this one.

"24k streaming is just around te corner. The simple, general, everyday folk won't mind watching to compressed 8k stuff on they're 12 foot wall screens you kno. STREAMING IS THE FUURE"

Increased resolution is only beneficial when it can be seen. There is good reason for 4k and beyond. But 24k for example will never be needed as human eyes are simply not good enough to resolve detail over a certain level which 24k I am certain goes well beyond that.

The reason why I fell the short term is to hard to predict is it depends on how quickly internet speeds increase and so on. It is almost inevitable that it will though, hence why I fell in decades we will move all digital. Not that hard to understand. Many companies for example predict long term successfully but struggle with the short term so i'm not sure why you would find such a concept hard to understand.

[THXGuru]

Originally Posted by Tok

That convenience card gets over played. Consumers still like going to brick and mortar stores that also carry CDs and BDs.

I don't think its a huge leap to say that iTunes probably sells more single tracks than whole albums. So I guess you could say that's a convenience since brick and mortar retailer don't sell 'singles' any more.

Convenience is the biggest factor for portable success. Your whole library on a device while going to a gym. No more need to go the music store. No fumbling around or worrying about stratching a disc in your car.

The decrease in quality is offset by the benefits. Same type of thing for steaming movies.

[Insomniac01]

Originally Posted by THXGuru

Convenience is the biggest factor for portable success. Your whole library on a device while going to a gym. No more need to go the music store. No fumbling around or worrying about stratching a disc in your car.

The decrease in quality is offset by the benefits. Same type of thing for steaming movies.

Except don't most new blu-rays come with digital copies anyway? (i'm not sure as I never watch films on the go).

[macfan]

Originally Posted by THXGuru

Convenience is the biggest factor for portable success. Your whole library on a device while going to a gym. No more need to go the music store. No fumbling around or worrying about stratching a disc in your car.

The decrease in quality is offset by the benefits. Same type of thing for steaming movies.

I am confused: If I am an enthusiast and have built a high quality video and audio system, why again am I concerned about portable devices? With portable devices I am never giving them my full attention anyway and honestly can't tell the resolution on those tiny screens. For me to really sit down and enjoy a movie with my full attention it has to be on my big screen with overhead projector. I am not a teenybopper with ADHD.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by THXGuru

...gone no.

Actually, this time, Mr. Pagemaster, yes.

Pro-B

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by wormraper

yeah, I was wondering when this would get revisited again. been a while since Pagemaster left us, needed another one to take his place

Busted!

[Tok]

Originally Posted by THXGuru

Convenience is the biggest factor for portable success. Your whole library on a device while going to a gym. No more need to go the music store. No fumbling around or worrying about stratching a disc in your car.

The decrease in quality is offset by the benefits. Same type of thing for steaming movies.

Not even close. People still go to brick and mortar store and I don't know how many want a portable digital device so they can take their movies everywhere. It's not like I am going to watch a two-hour movie in the gym or on my commute to work.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Actually, this time, Mr. Pagemaster, yes.

Pro-B

Why dont we just ignore these posters from now on.we could just post on the 4k and normal bluray topics guys. Its just basically turning into a smackdown.

[KRW1]

Originally Posted by Insomniac01

Increased resolution is only beneficial when it can be seen. There is good reason for 4k and beyond. But 24k for example will never be needed as human eyes are simply good enough to resolve detail over a certain level which 24k I am certain goes well beyond that.

The reason why I fell the short term is to hard to predict is it depends on how quickly internet speeds increase and so on. It is almost inevitable that it will though, hence why I fell in decades we will move all digital. Not that hard to understand. Many companies for example predict long term successfully but struggle with the short term so i'm not sure why you would find such a concept hard to understand.

Your first paragraph- what?

Sorry but your posts fall into the weird grammar laws that you guys seem to follow. That's why they're hard to understand. I sort of understand your second go but not sure how it relates to anything you responded to.

Originally Posted by octagon

You're not planning on a lasting a few more decades? Geez, I thought I was old

Not with my lifestyle sonny. I actually meant this thread. It would be a petty person who dragged it up in 20 years time to post a picture of their 12k spaceblu disc.

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Why dont we just ignore these posters from now on.we could just post on the 4k and normal bluray topics guys. Its just basically turning into a smackdown.

Agreed, I've no idea what their agenda is but it's getting dull. I'm not even sure they're not bots at this stage.

Christ, is it Pagemaster again? That guy seriously needs to look at his life if so. I'm out of this thread now.