Question Is the end of DVD/blu-ray players upon us?

I don't think Oppo pulled out of the player market because they could see the writing on the wall. It was a corporate decision to leave the audio visual market in it's entirety and concentrate on other parts of the business.

I managed to purchase a pair of the wonderful PM1 headphones just after the announcement. When you look at the quality of the piece and the detail in the manufacture let alone the gorgeous presentation box you wonder where the profit margin was.
 
In fairness it is not just Oppo. Denon, Arcam, Marantz, Cambridge Audio, Philips, Sharp, LG, Samsung, Yamaha, JVC and whomever else all gave up on selling bluray disc players. Now Pioneer seem to have given up the ghost that only leaves Sony and Panasonic. On top of the reduction in sales of blurays and takeup of digital the direction the segment is going in is obvious.
 
One answer is, "Not while there are Frozen films if you have daughters" :) Even though Disney delayed the sequel, it's still breaking records for sales as some people just don't want that monthly access charge and would rather pay once for no ads and some extras, which works even better for box sets of TV shows vs Sky TV (I'm thinking Game of Thrones before it hit NOW TV). As for UHD, they made sure the hi-fi players will play your old stuff bar maybe Video CD or other formats that never took off in the UK.

I digitally rented lots of films instead of bothering with Blu Rays and have gone back to Netflix but that just means you end up with Shaun of the Dead at three quid on DVD and £24.50 on UHD via Amazon, to name just one crazy set of prices and the Blu Ray was ~£12 which is ridiculous for a 16 year old film. Amazon/the market deliberately keeping prices inflated is contributing to people thinking the media is dying out, whereas I think people just price-watch and look out for sale prices. Hopefully there's going to be an August bank holiday sale to try and stimulate demand and get prices back down to a tenner and below for BRs and £15 for UHD, the latter definitely only happening in sales or maybe bundles.
 
Now Pioneer seem to have given up the ghost
Pioneer still have both LX500 and LX800 on their main site. AudioT is taking orders for both and I believe delivery will commence again late September. Will these be the last Pioneer players I suppose it's possible and they are doing a bloody fine job of shooting themselves in the foot with the HDR10+ firmware upgrade. Originally due in Spring 2019 it has been delayed yet again.

If they were hoping to move into the chasm left by Oppo departure in the high end market they'll have to do much better. Saying that I do love my LX500, it's a great performer that's built like a tank. Knowing Pioneer's model upgrades I would not expect these two to be replaced (if ever) for another three years under normal circumstances.

Plenty of dealers offering the LX500.
 
Pioneer still have both LX500 and LX800 on their main site. AudioT is taking orders for both and I believe delivery will commence again late September. Will these be the last Pioneer players I suppose it's possible and they are doing a bloody fine job of shooting themselves in the foot with the HDR10+ firmware upgrade. Originally due in Spring 2019 it has been delayed yet again.

If they were hoping to move into the chasm left by Oppo departure in the high end market they'll have to do much better. Saying that I do love my LX500, it's a great performer that's built like a tank. Knowing Pioneer's model upgrades I would not expect these two to be replaced (if ever) for another three years under normal circumstances.

Plenty of dealers offering the LX500.
I did read they were packing it in, can't remember where. Might wrong be and they would be sadly missed. I bought a second Cambridge Audio in case my first goes kaput but I am digitising most of my collection anyway.
 
Most of the bigger manufacturers have realised that vinyl is mainstream again, but those reasons for it coming back into vogue don’t work for the likes of BRs.

Whilst there are plenty of British turntable manufacturers, the only company that did have a presence, Arcam, exited the market some time ago, both for CD and video. We’re at the mercy of one or two global foreign manufacturers now, and whether we like it or not, we dance to their tune, they don’t dance to ours.

If companies still want to sell films to punters, rather than strike licensing deals with streaming companies, and physical media is on the way out, then as I see it, thst only leaves downloading, with all the machinations that will come with it.
 
Most of the bigger manufacturers have realised that vinyl is mainstream again
Netflix is mainstream, I know plenty of people with that service amongst the millions of Britons that subscribe. Buying a vinyl record is hardly that. I don't know anyone who buys records these days and I know a lot of people. It's pretty much, though not quite the same, for discs.

Just because we read plenty from enthusiasts on sites such as this does not mean something is mainstream. A mini resurgence does not imply mainstream either. There are still people that milk their own cows and some drive around in steam trains on the weekend but that matters not as to what is the norm or trend.
 
When I read threads like this, it does make me wonder if I should at some point invest in a spare player, when good quality ones are still available, ready for when mine breaks down. I have a collection of about 700 disks so far, and the Audiocom Signature version of the Oppo 105D.

How long do people here expect their players to last? It took me about 15 years to upgrade from my first hifi, which was still working fine at the time, so I'm thinking my Blue Ray player should be good for another 20 years at least.

I really don't know what player I could buy, that would be good for movies and also for playing CD and SACD, etc. I can't imagine anything currently available beating the audio of my Oppo. EDIT - I've just had a look at the Audiocom site, and it seems that the Pioneer LX800 is now the player of choice for decent analogue audio output but, unlike the Oppo, it only provides stereo output, not multichannel.

And all this HD, UHD, HDR, and 4K Blu Ray has gone right over my head - how many different formats are there?

I agree with all the comments that it's an outrage that newer format disks cost more money. It's as if the companies want people to turn to streaming instead. There's no way I can see myself forking out £15 for a disk, never mind £25. I have only fairly recently started buying Blu Ray disks rather than DVDs. I don't like paying more than £7 for a disk, and I try to stick to £5 or less, so they are almost always bought in bundles or second hand. The only exception is that I do sometimes buy more expensive ones from the Criterion Collection and Arrow.
 
Last edited:
I have two spare players, both new. Hedging my bets. I dug out my 10y old Panasonic BD65 machine yesterday. It still seems to work but is dog slow. I bought it in 2010, used it for about 6 months then boxed it up, preferring the Sony that I bought at the same time. I passed that on to a friend who is now using it. It does choke on some discs, but then it hasn’t had a firmware update in 6 years, or it could be the laser/drive. So, I reckon, if history repeats itself, those two spare players that I have will still be good some years hence. Or not.
 
the Pioneer LX800 is now the player of choice for decent analogue audio output but, unlike the Oppo, it only provides stereo output, not multichannel.
Like the LX500 stereo analogue is the only output. Multi channel SACD is via HDMI. Not too shabby either. Audio quality is really very good whether you are listening to multi channel music or films. Personally I prefer my music in stereo and I have very few multi channel SACD in my collection for which I use a Denon DCD 2500 NE stand alone SACD player.

I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to disc players. I have a Denon UBT-3313, Pioneer LX500 as UD players and a the Denon 2500 and Marantz sa8005 for SACD and CD play.

I've got a lot of money tied up in disc players, stop being so pessimistic.;)
 
I've got a lot of money tied up in disc players, stop being so pessimistic.;)
OK just for you let’s hope the tide turns and the public all starts suddenly wanting to invest £25 on UHD discs. Oppo ditches phones and all the manufacturers come back. The internet goes down for six years taking Netflix with it. And everyone on this thread to win big on the lottery too :clap:
 
Games are already exceeding the maximum storage capacity of Blu-ray by a significant amount requiring additional digital downloads to run, I wouldn't be surprised if the PS5 and XSX are the last Blu-ray consoles released.

So I'm not so sure you can count on future consoles being BD players, they are already toying with digital only versions.

Though collecting physical games is still a important activity for consoles so maybe a new format will be developed but that may or may not be compatible with Blu-ray.
 
Like the LX500 stereo analogue is the only output. Multi channel SACD is via HDMI. Not too shabby either. Audio quality is really very good whether you are listening to multi channel music or films. Personally I prefer my music in stereo and I have very few multi channel SACD in my collection for which I use a Denon DCD 2500 NE stand alone SACD player.

I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to disc players. I have a Denon UBT-3313, Pioneer LX500 as UD players and a the Denon 2500 and Marantz sa8005 for SACD and CD play.

I've got a lot of money tied up in disc players, stop being so pessimistic.;)
I will have to ask you sometime, Mr. Gibbsy, about the best way to buy myself some SACD's. I only have a few and I would like some more, that are particularly good examples of the format from some of my favourite bands, or particularly good multichannel mixes, but they seem SO expensive. I should also investigate Blu Ray music, I guess.
 
My one regret is parting with the OPPO 103D, I should of just kept it then added a UB9000.
 
I will have to ask you sometime, Mr. Gibbsy, about the best way to buy myself some SACD's. I only have a few and I would like some more, that are particularly good examples of the format from some of my favourite bands, or particularly good multichannel mixes, but they seem SO expensive. I should also investigate Blu Ray music, I guess.
Discogs and flea bay are the best ways to buy although sometimes you do find the odd disc cropping up on Amazon, usually via Market Place. Most of mine have been bought on Discogs. If you want to see what new discs are being released on SACD then a visit to the MoFi website is worth it but ordering from them to the UK is very expensive when taxes are added and this is where Amazon can help.

 
Hopefully, the PS5 and Xbox Series X will help generate new interest in Blu-ray 4K movies and help physical media sales. It is nice to own physical movies in the highest possible quality that you can watch anytime you like without worrying about them being removed from a subscription streaming service.

4K UHD discs at £25.00 are a hard sell for the mainstream when you can pick up several monthly subscriptions for the main streaming services for around the same price which will provide hours of entertainment.

Blu-ray players are becoming more niche and a harder sell compared to streaming media players like FireStick/Chromecast/Roku/Now TVApple Tv etc.
It's a shame that Samsung/LG decided to stop manufacturing Blu-ray players.
 
What does surprise me is the number of people who still buy SD DVD rather than blu ray or 4K discs even though most more than likely have new 4K TVs. I don't think that the studios are doing themselves any favours by keeping the cost of new 4K discs artificially high. Who needs a 1080 disc bundled in with them if you've already got a 4K player and display.
I can't agree that most "more than likely have new 4K TVs" because, unless I'm some exception to the rule, I know far more people who have HD rather than 4K TVs. I even know a few who don't even have a TV. As for BDs: they are more costly than DVDs as we all know and for some it makes a difference if buying a lot of discs.
 
A lot of guess work going on in this Thread even if it's slightly educated guess work or not...just go on Youtube and you'll see similar from all the movie disc reviewers ....In the UK 4K discs are far too expensive.....So named 4k Streaming services.....are a bloody joke....Passable.yes.... physical media is still king....and will still be for a good long while.....New releases are non existent for now....so hopefully studios will release all them back catalogue movies we all wish for on 4k will happen soon
 
I did wonder if perhaps studios might move to downloadable versions of their titles, negating the need for players and media, in longer term. After all, it’s possible to do that now with certain titles. I’ve never tried it, and have no idea what the quality is like, but that would work for me if I could be guaranteed the same quality, both for picture and sound. DRM rears its ugly head though.
Studios already produce digital copies which look like a really bad idea as you've got to get onto a website to play the copy. With physical media you either just load it into your player or rip it for streaming to your player (and in both cases the player is connected to my AVR).
 
Discogs and flea bay are the best ways to buy although sometimes you do find the odd disc cropping up on Amazon, usually via Market Place. Most of mine have been bought on Discogs. If you want to see what new discs are being released on SACD then a visit to the MoFi website is worth it but ordering from them to the UK is very expensive when taxes are added and this is where Amazon can help.


I just took a look at Discogs and, although the prices seem reasonable, the shipping charges are excessive. EG: CD costing €8.00 with shipping charge €7.50
 
The Elephant in the Room....;)
As long as there are gamers there will be a 4K player available.
With 5g technology games consoles maybe a thing of the past....
 
Article here on the diminishing trends in disc sales and take up of streaming services. The trend presumably continued into 19/20 and there were 167 million Netflix subscribers at the end of 19 which has gone up to nearly 200 million during the pandemic.


So not dead but dying.
 
I can't agree that most "more than likely have new 4K TVs" because, unless I'm some exception to the rule, I know far more people who have HD rather than 4K TVs. I even know a few who don't even have a TV. As for BDs: they are more costly than DVDs as we all know and for some it makes a difference if buying a lot of discs.
My eldest grandson works for Currys and the sales of 4K TVs at all price levels was high before the lockdown. Almost all new TVs are now 4K. He said that sales have picked up well since his branch re-opened.

My neighbour bought a 55'' 4K LCD a couple of years ago but he will only buy DVDs because he cannot see a difference even though he has a BR player. Never says no if I ask him if he wants to borrow a BD from me though.
 
The only future I can see is maybe physical media in the form of memory chips, but I still think that 4K discs have a future, I just wish they could release more SACD versions of classic rock albums, they are so much better than cds.
When 8 K movies become available we will see what format is successful, nothing lasts forever but I love my discs.
 
With 5g technology games consoles maybe a thing of the past....
Sorry but it won't.
Using mobile can have great data rates until you hit peak usage.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom