Best Uses for the DVD Format Going Forward

[milojthatch]

While I found threads wondering when DVD would die off or what new title someone has bought on DVD, I didn't see any threads talking about what uses DVD still had specifically in current year, so I thought I'd start one.

This thread isn't about if DVD should still be in use. For the sake of this thread, we're assuming it has lots of uses and we want to figure them all out. It's not looking at flaws. Rather, it's about trying to find the positives of the format still and what it's best modern uses still are.

So, with that out of the way, let me kick off a few uses I still see DVD having and why getting rid of the format would be a bad idea.

1.) Education titles. This one is close to my heart as I work in an education setting. Yes, there are many classrooms that use streaming, however sometimes the internet doesn't work at school (I've personally dealt with this issue) and the teacher has to find a disc. Sometimes a school is in a place where the internet isn't as reliable or streaming video eats up bandwidth really fast. So, having education based discs is still important. For the issues of cost, if a school district does supply some kind of physical media player, it's probably just going to be a DVD player and it's very rare to find an education title on blu-ray or 4K. You'll probably only ever find them on DVD. DVD can still have a niche market and use for this area.

2.) Pre-school/children's entertainment. This kind of continues from the last area, but also is very much it's own. You probably won't see episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Paw Patrol or Mr. Rogers make it to blu-ray. Even slightly older children's animation or shows just tend to be more available on DVD. If you look at the children's shows that do make it to blu-ray, like Gravity Falls or Batman: The Animated Series, they tend to be ones that have a sizable adult audience. Most children's shows don't. DVD is a great way to get these kinds of titles released on disc, and if DVD went away, so would the chances of seeing these kinds of shows on disc.

3.) TV Shows. There are a lot of TV shows from the past and currently on TV that have no chance of release in physical media if DVD were to ever go away. That said, there are a number of shows that have or will make it to blu-ray, but as of right now your only way to enjoy a show like Psych, Beverly Hill Billies or Reba is with good old fashion DVD. Some of these titles may get a blu-ray release one day, but most will never. DVD is the best way to get the largest collection of old and current TV shows possible on physical media and always will be.

There are three ways I see DVD still being of use in modern times. I'll end it there for now and let others share other ideas. I do have more, but I'd love to hear what other collectors have to say on this topic. While I personally have blu-rays in my collection and tend to go after a title on blu-ray first if it is available, I have no issues buying new DVDs or having them in my collection right next to my blu-rays. To me, discs are discs.

[slimdude]

DVD have thousands of movies, TV Series, concerts and documentaries that are not released on blu-ray and 4K UHD.

[Jay H.]

I don't see any reason why it should change at all.

[Lum]

The strange and unusual flourished on DVD. I continue to learn of niche releases like Kamen Rider V3.

[disneygeek98]

I agree with you on the points that you made. I personally am a fan of current Nickelodeon animated shows like SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House, and The Casagrandes all of which have Season releases on physical media from Paramount but on DVD only. As much as I’d love to have these shows on Blu-ray, DVD only is far better than only being able to have these shows available to purchase on places like iTunes.

I also agree with you about older TV shows too. As the Disney Movie Club is back to doing new Exclusive releases again, I’m really hoping that they’ll release more Disney Afternoon and Walt-era TV titles and I would imagine that if they do the releases would most likely be DVD only. I am aware that some of the Disney Afternoon shows like Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers and Goof Troop have been released in HD on places like iTunes, but I’d still think that getting them on Blu-ray would probably be a long shot.

[milojthatch]

Originally Posted by slimdude

DVD have thousands of movies, concerts and documentaries that are not released on blu-ray and 4K UHD.

Yes! There are a lot of titles that frankly will never get a physical media release on blu-ray or 4K that has been released on DVD. My feeling is there are still more such titles to go that would never get releases if DVD went away.

[Phillip c. Niethe]

...frisbees

[d3nt0n]

It's 2021, if you care even the smallest amount about physical media get a blu-ray player. There's no reason DVDs should be around. Everything being released should be on BD, there's no reason to exclusively release something on DVD nowadays.

[Phillip c. Niethe]

Originally Posted by d3nt0n

It's 2021, if you care even the smallest amount about physical media get a blu-ray player. There's no reason DVDs should be around. Everything being released should be on BD, there's no reason to exclusively release something on DVD nowadays.

Strangely given the choice most people choose the dvd over the Blu-ray. It's either most of the U.S is thrifty or they just don't mind the lower visual quality. About 3 out of every 4 people I know swear that they can't tell a difference ...although I did have one guy I work with complain that he purchased a high def flat screen and made fun of several people for falling for the Blu-ray nonsense because all his Blu-rays look the same as his DVDs, we told him he needed an HDMI cord and he said he had the right cords. I tried to explain the difference and he said that yeah he bought one of those two and no one was fooling him...about a year and a half later he aquired a HDMI cord and plugged it in, came to work all amazed at this amazing cord that makes all his movies look waaaay better lol

[KPackratt2k]

There are also old made-for-TV movies that were produced in standard definition and (likely) have no surviving film prints for HD restoration. Examples of such movies where I've noticed this being the case are pre-2005 Disney Channel Original Movies and many other made-for-TV movies from that era. If DVD was to go away, then the chances of seeing more of those getting released would be gone, as SD content on Blu-ray is a rarity that most studios don't bother with (and to be honest, it's practically a waste to release an SD movie on Blu-ray IMHO).

You'd be surprised to know how many SD made-for-TV movies are still not available on DVD to this day, some of them never made it past VHS as far as physical releases are concerned.

[R1978]

Originally Posted by Phillip c. Niethe

Strangely given the choice most people choose the dvd over the Blu-ray. It's either most of the U.S is thrifty or they just don't mind the lower visual quality. About 3 out of every 4 people I know swear that they can't tell a difference ...although I did have one guy I work with complain that he purchased a high def flat screen and made fun of several people for falling for the Blu-ray nonsense because all his Blu-rays look the same as his DVDs, we told him he needed an HDMI cord and he said he had the right cords. I tried to explain the difference and he said that yeah he bought one of those two and no one was fooling him...about a year and a half later he aquired a HDMI cord and plugged it in, came to work all amazed at this amazing cord that makes all his movies look waaaay better lol

Given the mentality of many people today I can see this being a situation for quite a few. When BR came out I passed it over till about 2014 when I got into it heavily. While I had adopted DVD with a passion back around 2000...I did not get to see BR in action till 2014.

However I went from watching 720p upscaled DVD on a 32 inch to seeing BR at 720p on a 32 inch till 2020. So anyone claiming the difference is not that much on 32 inch ( which many did years ago ) is utter nonsense. My jaw dropped the first time I saw BR films in action and to this day it's still amazing to me the kind of quality and detail from them.

I have a hunch though this is partly due to when BR came out and the fact HDTV was not quite as mainstream as it is today. The average user does not instantly ( back then ) go into their settings on a TV and BR player and adjust it all so if they were running composite it would make sense it would look the exact same.

PS3 came out what ? 2006 ? for many ( just like the PS2 being their first DVD player ) it was their first BR player. As time went on the players became about as cheap as BR players. The average person today does not care so much about tweaking even the most basic settings for home media watching. So I can easily see how this was a reality for people who ignored setting it all up and experiencing it when it was new vs now having a lack of almost anything but HDMI.

Anyone seeing BR and DVD even at 1080p through HDMI on any 30+ inch tv is going to notice a massive difference in detail.

The only explanation I could understand is people with REALLY bad vision. Like senior citizens or someone who lacked glasses or contacts, in which case they probably don't have money to be buying DVD's let alone BR.

[R1978]

Originally Posted by KPackratt2k

There are also old made-for-TV movies that were produced in standard definition and (likely) have no surviving film prints for HD restoration. Examples of such movies where I've noticed this being the case are pre-2005 Disney Channel Original Movies and many other made-for-TV movies from that era. If DVD was to go away, then the chances of seeing more of those getting released would be gone, as SD content on Blu-ray is a rarity that most studios don't bother with (and to be honest, it's practically a waste to release an SD movie on Blu-ray IMHO).

You'd be surprised to know how many SD made-for-TV movies are still not available on DVD to this day, some of them never made it past VHS as far as physical releases are concerned.

Actually it would make total sense to put a lot of SD content onto a BR disc as you can fit loads more. I can think of a lot of season DVD sets where this would be amazing vs having to go through multiple discs, especially set's where they have so many discs and they often get botched pressings.

The big mainstream studios in fact put out a high number of SD content ( partly out of being lazy ) extras on BR releases. Sometimes that has to be the case as it was shot in SD and the actors/directors/those involved might now be dead to consider a reshoot or new content.

In other cases I can think of quite a few films I own with lots of new extras and including SD ( VHS rips even! ) where no better version of that content exists. There was a scream factory Hammer film I believe that a user on here gave them because it was some rare TV cut of the film and it got added to the BR release. It also happened with the recent Full Moon release of The Hanging Woman but the botched pressing of that no longer includes the VHS cut extra.

It's not so known today but Laserdisc was really responsible for DTS ( that is what AC3 turned into...and most of the extras we have taken for granted started on LD ) and many of the commentaries on both DVD and BR are often going right back to their LD releases. What has happened over time however is that many of these commentaries are added to BR today and also the many early 2000s DVD content with NEW BR content.

A high % of this content is mostly SD though.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by d3nt0n

It's 2021, if you care even the smallest amount about physical media get a blu-ray player. There's no reason DVDs should be around. Everything being released should be on BD, there's no reason to exclusively release something on DVD nowadays.

Blu Ray players are great at DVD playback.

[deto]

the only thing i buy on DVD are childhood fav cartoon series and a lot of my daughters favs that aren't available on any other medium other than dvd such as The Muppet Babies and Bluey.

[smithb]

Originally Posted by d3nt0n

It's 2021, if you care even the smallest amount about physical media get a blu-ray player. There's no reason DVDs should be around. Everything being released should be on BD, there's no reason to exclusively release something on DVD nowadays.

While it may not make sense, I'd say the opposite is true. If you care about physical media leave DVD alone. DVD out sells blu-ray and UHD by a wide margin. The consumer masses has flocked to DVD for the cheaper price and benefits over VHS, while accepting it as good enough.

Trying to force consumers to blu-ray at this late date with streaming available could very likely kill physical media completely. Let the masses have their DVD's, while allowing profits from DVD sales to help fund blu-ray/UHD restorations. Killing DVD is not going to help blu-ray, but could easily hurt physical media as a whole, best to just let it be.

The idea of using blu-ray for SD content to cut down on the number of disks required (primarily for TV series) has been discussed since the beginning. The blu-ray spec discouraged this approach as being confusing to the consumer. It has never taken hold and I doubt ever will be considered seriously.

[ps3bd_owner]

Music DVDs with PCM or Lossless Audio, yes "Music DVD" already exists, but it feels like no one cared about it.

The other use would be uncompressed SD on DVD, as data files and so there could hopefully store a couple on DVD9. This is a thing on BD already (SD-BD).

That said, it feels like physical media is dying and being replaced by digital/streaming content. Not really happy about that, heck, I stopped using a smartphone on a daily basis because they're so big (6.5" so almost a tablet) these days and I only need it for phone calls and txt messaging. I do have a camera on the pouch case too so if I need or want to take a photo/video, I'll do.

People find it weird a young dude using a basic phone than a smart phone. It feels refreshing to not checking the phone every so often.

[d3nt0n]

Originally Posted by smithb

While it may not make sense, I'd say the opposite is true. If you care about physical media leave DVD alone. DVD out sells blu-ray and UHD by a wide margin. The consumer masses has flocked to DVD for the cheaper price and benefits over VHS, while accepting it as good enough.

Trying to force consumers to blu-ray at this late date with streaming available could very likely kill physical media completely. Let the masses have their DVD's, while allowing profits from DVD sales to help fund blu-ray/UHD restorations. Killing DVD is not going to help blu-ray, but could easily hurt physical media as a whole, best to just let it be.

DVDs are only a few bucks cheaper then a BD wholesale, and the manufacturing cost is a matter of cents. The people who buy DVDs because they're the cheapest will probably still buy the blu-ray when it's the cheapest. Studios can save the money needed to make the DVD and manage a separate sku. The BD should be the budget option at this point, with UHD being the high-end option.

[fredman]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Blu Ray players are great at DVD playback.

Not necessarily so. My DVD collection (about half of my movies/TV) took a serious back seat to viewing preference with my first BD player (a cheap Samsung). One would think it was because of the much superior PQ of BD but after I upgraded again to a UHD player I realized it was mostly because of the poor DVD playback quality of the Sammy. With a better player I am now enjoying my DVD library more than ever, side by side with Blu-rays and 4K UHDs.

[smithb]

Originally Posted by d3nt0n

DVDs are only a few bucks cheaper then a BD wholesale, and the manufacturing cost is a matter of cents. The people who buy DVDs because they're the cheapest will probably still buy the blu-ray when it's the cheapest. Studios can save the money needed to make the DVD and manage a separate sku. The BD should be the budget option at this point, with UHD being the high-end option.

Yes, logically that makes sense from our perspective.

However, the standard TV has been 4K for several years now, blu-ray players can be had at the same price point as cheap DVD players from several years ago. Likely, anyone that has upgraded hardware in the last 5 years is already 4k and blu-ray capable. TV and player manufacturers have pushed the issue, yet DVD sales have consistently out paced blu-ray/UHD by a wide margin. Whatever the reason, consumer masses aren't biting, and there is no guarantee they will if DVD goes away. The majority may just go completely streaming.

Right now studio's have a three tier pricing system with DVD, blu-ray, and 4K/UHD. While DVD is the low-end, blu-ray and 4K/UHD carry the high-end together. 4k/UHD hasn't established the sales to carry the high-end on its own, and blu-ray sales aren't going to replace DVD sales in any near future. Physical media is sustaining itself for the time being. If abandoning DVD made financial sense why haven't the studios done it already? It only took a few years for DVD to force VHS out of the market due to consumer preference. We are a decade into blu-ray, but it hasn't taken hold of the market.

Why shake it up? What possible benefit is to be gained by removing the most profitable media format, DVD, from the market? Especially, given that it could possibly reduce physical media to nothing more than a niche market.

[smithb]

Originally Posted by fredman

Not necessarily so. My DVD collection (about half of my movies/TV) took a serious back seat to viewing preference with my first BD player (a cheap Samsung). One would think it was because of the much superior PQ of BD but after I upgraded again to a UHD player I realized it was mostly because of the poor DVD playback quality of the Sammy. With a better player I am now enjoying my DVD library more than ever, side by side with Blu-rays and 4K UHDs.

Agree. DVD and blu-ray playback can take different paths within the video chain of the player. There is no guarantee the DVD path is going to be a focus of the manufacturer, which is why my first blu-ray player was an Oppo. I don't know about players of today, but that was a definite concern for those with large DVD libraries when blu-ray players first came to market.