Jim Di Griz
Outstanding Member
Transformers... Blu-rays in disguise!
The reason DVD is such a massive success is because it isn't 'videotape'. Being able to buy a film on a CD sized disc encouraged millions of people who rented VHS films to buy them instead. If DVDs were removed from the market 15 years ago, the result would have been the vast bulk of people who bought DVDs stopping buying discs altogether.I see most people buying DVD because of price, and of course, because the option is still there. Bluray has been around for almost 15 years now, and DVD is still here - DVD should’ve been discontinued a decade ago. If Bluray was the only option on the shelf, they’d buy that instead. Old formats need to go in order for new formats to make any impression on the sales stats, and to make it relevant.
If when Bluray was released, a DVD copy was included in all Bluray releases, the discontinuation of the stand alone DVD release would have made way for a genuine Bluray take over - we’d now be seeing Bluray at the top of the format sales figures, and things would look very different, no matter how you view the stats.
People still buy DVD because they can.
I think the real tragedy here is that Emmerdale isn't yet available on UHD Blu Ray in glorious native 4k with HDR.I think there is "physical media being replaced by streaming" and also the similar subject of "aerial/cable/satellite being replaced by the internet".
What is frightening me at the moment is that I have a horrible feeling we currently have broadcast programmes mostly in 1080 and some in DD5.1. Are we looking in the next few years to a change to broadcast TV being from the internet and being at the same quality the on demand players are now? I.e. 720 with max 2 channels?
At the moment, we have "recorders", but I have a feeling that (for example) whenever a Sky box comes out that will work through the internet, if you click to "reserve the whole series of Emmerdale" when you go to watch one from yesterday it will directly link to the poor quality on demand version. Instead of now, where we can record it and have our own better version on a hard disc that doesn't need any connection to watch.
I think the real tragedy here is that Emmerdale isn't yet available on UHD Blu Ray in glorious native 4k with HDR.
I also don't like being tied to a service. If I pay £10 for a 4K disc it doesn't cost me anything to watch it again, no monthly subscription required. The fact that some try to charge a lot more for UHD streaming is annoying too. Netflix for example, £12/month £144 per year, add a few more services to that and it's going run into £100's per year, every year.
I suspect they all know 4K is more or less the endgame for home entertainment. No more chances to sell you the same film over and over, hence the "rental" system. You "buy" it but then pay rent to watch it year after year. If I buy a UHD disc and the quality never gets any better I never have to pay them again. This must have been raised in many boardrooms?
That owning a 1080p (non curved) OLED TV is not an option is likewise why I detest media giants making it progressively harder to avoid paying monthly fees for a streaming service-at least for content which never was issued on 1080p BD, or which boutique BD brands haven’tExcept no , that is not going to happen , there will be no optical disc niche market.
Once optical media dies its gone forever.
Optical disc players require specialist semiconductors to work.
Specialist semiconductors require an up and running semiconductor fabrication line , and these cost billions to set up and are very expensive to keep running.
When declining media sales hit a certain level , these lines will shut down and they wont be back.
The Situation is like the Spitfire vs the Vulcan bomber.
The Spitfire is still flying , mainly because its simpler tech and you could build one in a shed , much like a record player.
The Vulcan is not flying anymore , because it is much more complex technology and the means to maintain it safely is gone , obsolete and passed into history.
This is the fate of CD and optical disc media , once its gone , its gone forever , most of the major manufacturers are out of the player market , only one or two left , and when they go , then the semiconductor lines shut down and its simply a matter of how long existing players live and then that's it.