Why Isn’t 4K UHD Blu-ray Selling & What Does The Future Hold?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ค. 2023
- Even though the 4K UHD Blu-ray format launched in 2016, it still is not selling at anywhere near the pace of physical media formats that came before it.
Let’s explore why this may be with feedback from you, my own hunches, and market research and talk about the future of this format and why I think it still has a bright future!
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#Bluray
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#physicalmedia - บันเทิง
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I saw your video it's good personality i prefer dvd and blu-ray disc i do buy and play and collect game's because I'm a huge fan of playing and collecting. Now for 4k i didn't buy any of them because i just didn't have any interest in them. But that's just me anyway good video physical is the way to go in my opinion.
Money and not prepare missions and knowledge about how to use it.
For me, a 4K UHD is only worth buying if it's a must-see film with a terrific transfer. Anything less and I'll pick the Blu-ray. I have a feeling most people feel the same way.
Especially if you've gone from VHS to DVD to BLURAY, all the while upgrading your collection.
@@dannoromeo I've upgraded my Batman collection recently to 4k. I've only had the OG movies in a 4 disc dvd box set, and the Nolan Trilogy on Blu-ray. But I managed to get the special collectors editions of those movies on 4k. Most movies I've gotten on 4k I either never owned before or I only had them on dvd. Minus the Matrix movies, I'll keep adding them to my collection until they stop upgrading them 😂😂
exactly, and I compare a title with the google play version cost, usually I can't justify the expense, especially when on sale on play and in 4K. The other issue I have had is sometimes the 4K discs have physical quality issues that glitch out a section of the movie in my player :(
Agreed. I have DVD and Blu Ray versions of some of my favorite movies. Unless it's really a worthwhile upgrade, I'm done with the never ending update cycle.
I agree. I went from vhs to DVD to Blu-ray. I am fine with Blu-ray.
Not many people in the world are movie or home theater enthusiasts. For the few that value the movie-going experience in the best quality, salute to y'all for buying physical movie disc!! Let's keep the culture alive !
I think you kinda backed into the reason they aint selling, this has become niche kinda like vinyl, the perceived value to most is non existent as they've moved on from physical product.
@@AdastraRecordings That's just a fact. Not many people are into cinema or the home theater experience. It is what it is.
Some prefer streaming. Others regular Blu rays due to cost. All movie fans.
I agree that newer movies don’t benefit greatly from 4K (I’ve seen Top Gun Maverick on both formats and both look great). However, watching older films that have been restored with a new 4K scan of the original negatives and graded for HDR is an incredible experience. It’s like going back in time and seeing it for the first time.
*HDR is marketing bullshit
Yes for Jaws they spent about 3 hours working on every frame of the movie!!
lol. not true. @@Coneman3
How do you know? Ok maybe not every frame but many or most.
@@Coneman3 That's about 60,000 hours or 7 years. Must have worked around the clock.
Physical movies will never die for one huge reason. People are scared of losing their movies. At any time a company could just remove the movie from the digital platform and or from peoples accounts and poof. It’s gone from existence. There will always be that fear. Movies on Disney+ that have no physical nor buyable digital release recently got removed.
Idk lol I'm not spending $40 on a movie.
@@ramsaybolton9151 That’s why many people buy bluerays online nowadays.
@@ramsaybolton9151but you'll spend $40 every single month to watch what studios will let you watch?
They'll die when companies just stop making them because the copyright licenses are pulled. The production studios don't want physical media available to people. Why sell you a DVD once when they can sell you a digital stream a dozen times? From what I've heard they want to eliminate permanent purchases of digital content, they want a per-viewing fee structure.
@@nodak81 Many have said it would die when Netflix came yet it is still here so.
4K Prices are crazy high here in Japan so I only bought when they were on sale but they no longer do much sales. They are easily over 80USD...
Can you tell me the name of your favorite online seller of Japanese 4k?
Same here in Canada, John Wick 4 is $53.00 for example, thought Canada was the only Country getting the shaft :)
@@studlygoorite5955 53$? Hell what...and I thought prices in Europe are high, with around 30$
80?!?! Holy shite! Wow! Can you buy them from US Amazon and get them shipped to you?
I've watched around a dozen 4k blurays, and the only player that has never skipped is PS5. But it's really, really annoying to sit down with a group of people and the movie starts freezing up. At this point, I give up until they update to solid state from bluray.
The main problem is, we built up our collections on DVD and had to upgrade because blu ray was such a big deal, and now they want us to upgrade yet again, companies like Scream Factory and Criterion, who are rereleasing the same movies over and over again is what’s pushing people away, we already bought Halloween, we already bought dawn of the dead, we already bought all the classics on criterion, and now they want us to buy them again for a newer transfer so we have to upgrade and sell our old collection yet again, it’s just a rinse and repeat, how many times can these movies be released, 8k will be next and we have to do it all over again, it’s just become a money grab
ill just buying dvds and if they end then ill have a big collection of classics anyway. what does a movie like goldfinger or oz really benefit from the upscales anyway. its like retouching mona lisa. sure you can do it but why would you. people who say they wouldnt watch scarface unless its 4k are few and far between.
the returns are diminishing and companies are desperately trying to find solutions. that why digital purchases are great because companies can take the old collection away when they feel like it. sometimes certain companies even feel hostile which clearly doesnt help with customer image
That is exactly how I feel. I've bought a few 4K but only ones I don't already have on BD. I still have a few DVD's because I seldom watch those particular movies anymore and I am not going to constantly buy the same movie over and over again.
@@kallemetsahalme5701 Glad you mentioned Scarface, as it's 1 of the 4k Blu-rays of the 61 4k
Blu-rays I have, that has video quality INFERIOR to that of the 1080p Blu-ray that came with
the 4k disc! I saw that comparing those 2 discs on our calibrated 77 inch Sony A9G Master Series OLED TV, with a Panasonic UB-820 UHD 4k Blu-ray player, playing the 4k disc and an inexpensive $80 Sony 1080p Blu-ray player used to play the 1080p Blu-ray of Scarface. So
after making that careful comparison, that included comparing the exact same scenes of
Scarface, switching back & forth between the 2 players, as both discs were playing, I'd say
that even devoted fans of that Al Pacino classic, as I am, should just get the newest 1080p
Blu-ray edition of the film, that I'd hope is the same transfer to Blu-ray as that Blu-ray that
accompanies the 4k Blu-ray when it's purchased. Anyhow, money saved by sticking with
the 1080p disc version, can allow movie fans to have funds toward buying another film.
It comes down to, do you want that crisper more natural picture for your favorite movies or not? When you look at caps-a-holic and see the 4k looks 5x better than that blu-ray you thought was "pristine", is that worth it? Most people today don' really care, and that' will contribute to the death of physical media. Granted, there are mor eimportant things going on in life right now to worry about.
The 8k spec does not improve color space, only resolution. I kind of doubt there will even be physical media 8k release given there won't be much of an improvement. Maybe for newly made content and only for really large screens, 4k is the last upgrade worthy cycle.
The point about marketing is spot on. I remember the push for blu ray, it was everywhere. I think the reason for that is simple. These companies didn’t want to continue producing physical products when they can just upload a file. Very little overhead. They did next to no marketing for hdr or 4K blu ray. Luckily companies like shout, criterion and arrow are going to save the format for us collectors, as they know their market. It will just be a small niche that isn’t going anywhere.
The truth is, 4K TVs that most people buy aren’t capable of showcasing the benefits of UHD Blus. If you own a $500 65” 4K TV it’s not going to be able to properly display HDR. The bump in resolution (especially on most transfers pulled from 2K intermediates) won’t be enough to get people to spend extra for the UHD.
It didn’t matter what type of TV you had when DVD came out, you can easily see the improvement over VHS. It didn’t matter what HDTV you had, you could see the difference in quality between DVD and BluRay (assuming your TV was big enough to notice. Probably not too noticeable on a 32”). It’s just not the case with UHD. You need an OLED or a flagship LCD with a solid dimming feature.
I went all in on 4K in the summer of 2018 after doing a lot of homework. One of your videos explaining how the quality of 4K physical media is different than streaming VOD, and blu-ray (1080) was very educational and influential in my decision. Thank you for that video! I'm also very passionate about movies, so I didn't mind spending the money on top notch hardware when it came time to make the jump to 4K. Here are some reasons I think 4K UHD has been slowly adopted:
1. Niche market (4K physical media seems to be more for "collectors" than the average person who will defer to whatever is easy to understand and convenient such as VOD)
2. Upgrade fatigue (Existing fans of physical media may be tired of upgrading their collection after going from VHS to DVD to Blu ray)
3. Cost of hardware upgrade (4K TV, 4K player, 4K discs)
4. Consumer confusion (what is 4K, what's Dolby Vision, Atmos, HDR)
Indeed. It's consumerism in hyper mode.
4 Is definitely true, especially with HDR. People could barely understand limited versus full RGB range and still spout misconceptions about it to this day. HDR is at least 10 times more complicated than that.
@@geoffnaylor3734 i dont know why anyone would expect the average person to know about that stuff.
#4 I agree
Additional reasons:
- Emerging popularity of 4K streaming platform, Netflix, Disney+, etc is the detrimental reason to impact the sale of 4K.
- not many contents in 4K, as compared with bluray, e.g. 4K concert, 4K documentary, 4K TV series, even it is remastered in 4K, most of them are not remastered well, making consumers less confidence in buying 4K again.
- people, particularly the youngsters or mid-aged people who are fully satisfied with a 720p and 1080p quality, even watching on iPAD is fine to them. And they are usually not tech-savvy enough to understand 4K
I would say it's the price for me. I have only purchased a few 4k UHD movies, and those were my favourite films.
With DVD, and Blu-ray, the prices dropped each year consistently. 4K UHD has been around for a little while now, and no significant price drop on the discs, at least not where I live in the UK. The prices have been stuck at £20 per disc for a couple of years now.
They haven't dropped in the US either. Still about $20-30 a peice.
consistently*
@@CR055FIRE Oh yeah... thanks. Didn't realise the stupid autocorrect changed it to that, haha.
Because after throwing away my VHS and DVD collections, I've FINALLY learned my lesson not to waste any money 'collecting' 4K blu-rays. Especially since I haven't even taken the wrappers off 80% of my Blu-rays yet. They still have Circuit City and Fry's Electronics tags on them.
Me too
Watch your media then.
You just threw them away?
I am very selective about what I buy/upgrade. Why? I have a good eye, a great TV and have spent hours calibrating for best picture. To be honest I am blown away how disappointed I am at the 4K format. My expectation was high but even my finely tuned eyes cannot see a huge difference between BluRay and UHD BluRay.
As a movie collector since the VHS days, having owned many of the same films on tape, Laserdisc, DVD and Blu-ray, I do feel a bit of "upgrade fatigue" when older films are released on 4K. As good as the format is, I have reserved most of my 4K purchases for newer films or those that I have not owned on any of the earlier formats.
But many times it's the older films that benefit the most from 4k/hdr remasters, where the upgrade is more obvious. I can't see much difference between the bluray and 4k editions of more recent movies like TP Maverick.
@@dougdougwyes but do you really need films from the 90s and older in 4K?
@@bradavon yes
@@bradavon. Not sure what your argument is? Do films expire in your mind?
Same here. I'm tapped out. Plus, I've spent a fortune on music formats over the decades. 4K is not even something seriously on my radar for the foreseeable future, if ever. And I've been watching films seriously since the 1970s, including seeing many of the classics on the big screen back in the 70s-90s.
Standard 4K blurays were only £10 - £15 new in 2018 & mostly came in slips. Now they're £22 when first released & dont have slips. It's an insane price increase.
They go on sale regularly, you just have to have patience, or grab them when it's a 3 for X price type deal
I think its because of all the streaming services that started to pop out of nowhere like mushrooms 🍄-> people buying less physical media
What do you mean "slips"?
@@chisangamumba2961Cardboard covers/sleeves (slips) that come with the plastic box which contains the disc.
They were always £20 to £25 on release since 2016. They were never £10 - £15 new unless on offer. But there are some insane prices now of special "tat" editions and "boutique" labels. Though I can afford it, I've basically stopped buying 4k as none of them interest me now.
I’m just getting back into physical media - have about 1100 Blu-Ray/DVDs. Started buying 4Ks for my desert island films and now I’m all in. As more and more studios restrict streaming licensees, films will become harder to view without either adding multiple subscriptions or owning them. Some things will just go away. I want to take that control back. That’s why I’m buying them.
You ain't lying some stuff in the early days completely disappeared and in some rarer cases when licenses finally expired the main company would buy every single hard copy vhs or DVD on the used market thru ebay and trash them so they wouldnt be associated with it. I know Hbo did this with one of their shows. Also in the beginning of the digital age people didn't think of copying/ ripping this stuff for historical preservation and when big companies take it off their platform poof it just completely disappears. I know this cuz there's been a handful of times I look for them online and between all of the internet we still don't have all of the episodes of something. Sesame street is a great example and same with svengoolie are just a few that come to mind.
In short: 1. more than twice as expensive as Blu-Rays 2. image quality is hardly noticeably better for many (HDR is obviously only intended for enthusiasts) 3. fewer film collectors are on the go thanks to the streaming option
I agree with the restoration part. I also believe that films shot on film benefit the most from 4K. All these newer films shot digitally, look fine on 1080p Blu Ray.
Side note: Disney isnt helping the market when they decide to only put IMAX ratio on Disney+ Their physical copies are inferior
Their physical copies are not inferior. They’re only inferior if your tv and audio system are bad
@@billyobfas6962 they’re inferior by keeping formats off of their physical releases
Buy 4k, then pirate the IMAX + lossless audio hybrid torrent of it. Best of both worlds.
@@khalled2419 That's the truth. Disney is inferrior. Anti-consumer practices across the board. New movies are trash, their home releases are trash. Not worth it.
Disagree, the IMAX enhancements look pretty fine to me..
In *INDIA* 4K disc price range between 30-80$. That's insanely high for an average middle class family.
Also not every movie is available in 4K format. So people tend to go for dvd/bluray.
Also streaming services nowadays are booming.
Anyone can purchase subscription of 4-5 different platforms under 25-30$/month & can watch most of the 4K movies at will (eliminating the cost of 4K player)
True
Well said
I don't know how your dollar is versus here in the US, but it's worth noting that ALL 4K Blurays are region free, so if you can find the movie for cheaper outside of India, you are good to go...but if you need the movie in Hindi or one of the other many Indian languages, then it might not be an option... :/
@@SpaghettaboutitThat’s what I’ve been doing. I want to support local businesses in Singapore, but the Bluray prices are ridiculous. It’s cheaper importing them even with shipping and VAT costs included. And it’s not even like you’re paying a premium for convenience because it’s so easy to order it online.
If physical media becomes extinct, we, the consumer, lose control (the little that we have) over the content. Meaning, studios can pull down a movie (indefinitely) from the streaming platform and we have no control over that (Example: Disney pulled Avatar just before re-releasing it in theaters). Studios can change, edit, and modify content from the original material and we have no choice but to accept that. Audio is another area lacking in streaming platforms vs physical media. Consumers suffer when we are limited in our capacity to consume content in various ways and forms. JMT
It's very satisfying to see a video that has some real informational value and not a video talking about Netflix for 15 minutes.
For me I'm highly selective when it comes to buying 4k only my most favorite films get that upgrade because I already own most of what I want on blu ray which honestly still looks incredible even to this day.
same here. For yet another upgrade it needs to be top tier favorite movies, most are perfectly fine enough on blu. For instance, I enjoy the Chucky franchise and Shout Factory is putting all those out in 4k, I bought the blu-ray box set for about $35 a couple years ago and am perfectly fine with those, getting them on 4k would be about 200 all together, even if I feel tempted to get 1 and 2, then I'd wind up needing to buy the rest just to replace the blu set, and I'm okay with hanging onto what I have
Exactly companies like Scream Factory oversaturate the market with re releases. On films that don't really need it.
must be watching on a screen less than 60 inches, for those of us above that the difference is greater. Especially if we're talking a dated HD blu transfer released in say, the early 2010s, vs a 2023 4k new scan of an original negative.
@@nah....6151 Child's Play is a complex upgrade. I have the SF 4k remaster blu and from the reviews I read of the 4k of the first film, it's not a massive upgrade, but because of the better quality photography of the 2nd film, the 4k of that is a significant upgrade over the old blu. Also if you read the reviews of the Bride Of Chucky blu they're actually quite terrible, so again, the 4k of that would be a massive upgrade, when you get into Cult and Curse though which weren't even shot on film and I believe one was even mastered in 2k, your getting more limited returns. For me, because of all this, I may eventually upgrade the 2nd film which I believe is the strongest of the series, and Bride because of the blu of that which I own but have never watched is supposed to be really bad. I don't think I like 3 and the later sequels enough to pay SF upgrade prices.
I recently got the Deep Impact 4K-BD and was blown away by how much of an improvement it was over my old BD. I put in the old BD after watching the 4K-BD and it was night and day. As you said, the older movies are probably where the new format is benefitting the most.
I suspect a part of that would be just that they did a new transfer of the movie and if you watched the new transfer on regular Blu-ray, it would still seem like a step up. The original Blu-ray was released in 2009 - mastering and encoding have improved a lot since then. Set your player to output 1080P and SDR and I bet the 4K disk still looks better.
Love that movie. Thanks to your comment I ordered it now. 👍
Provided they actually digitize them AGAIN specifically for 4k...
DVD's are undoubtedly the most successful format out of all of them. It managed to surpass VHS in popularity in under 10 years of being on the market. A format which on its own was the most successful at the time considering it beat beta. And lets not even talk about our good old friend, the laserdisc.
Dvd sucks
Many years DVD didn't have to compete with steaming or digital format
DVDs were pretty shitty at the beginning as most people has 4:3 CRT TV's so you saw black bars or the sides were cut off. It was sharper, but not a lot better. So for years we still had our trusty VCR next to a DVD player. DVDs drove TV to wider formats and then they could shine.
A
@@chrisidema true. In fact laserdiscs at the time looked much better as many early DVD titles were mastered very poorly. Though what you said plus the computer industry is what lead to DVDs success and also the drop in price on both discs and players/drives.
There comes a point where it's obsession.Vhs looked good enough on a 20",dvd looks good enough on 40". I remember in the early 2000s,dvd looked fantastic on CRTs and the plasma/LCD just coming out looked terrible.
One reason is that 4K players and 4K movies are not being promoted alongside the latest 4K TVs.
Many shops (that sell TVs) don't even bother to put a 4K movie on their display TVs. Instead, it's either a tech demo or just regular TV.
If they do display a movie, it's just a digital version, and nowhere advertised as being available on 4K disc.
They should be informing the consumer that the best home theatre experience is on a 4K disc.
Promotion for 3D TV was worse. The no.1 3D movie was Avatar, but that never got a general release. Instead, it was only available for people who bought certain 3D players. Which, of course, nobody was aware of.
I’m really glad you mentioned the PS5 because I think the PS2 helped sell DVDs and a similar trend happened with the PS3 and Blu Ray
Only reason I got the PS3 back in the day was to play Bluray disks! Occasionally played some games too but it was a great device for everything even streaming too
Ps5 is trash
@@John_R_Jackson_III you are bud
@@fujitsubo3323 cry about it babyboy 😘
Ps5 4k blu ray player is a joke
I started collecting VHS back in the day, sold those off and rebought most of those on DVD, and then did the same thing when blu ray came out. For me,I just don’t feel like starting over and rebuying some movies 4 times over haha. 4K streaming and cost of equipment definitely play a role too.
Same here, started with renting video tapes, followed by purchasing expensive Laser Discs, then "gave" them away on EBAY, then purchased Dvd's and ended up also giving them away on ebay, now it's Blu-Ray's, which are getting ripped to my Zidoo Z10 Pro and sold for nearly nothing on EBAY. It's a fun hobby and we're not dependent on streaming services.
Eventually, you should be able to use AI to play your 1080p or even 720p in a higher resolution. The important part is that it should be available for owned media rather than streaming services which keep getting more and more expensive.
Yes, I have most of my titles on dvd. Rebought them from vhs. Now, I rebuy a few on blu ray but I am not going any higher than that. Blu ray looks ridiculously good (as do many dvd's) and many rarities are just now coming out on blu ray. Just like music. I had lp's, then replaced them with cd's but that is as far as I go. I have most of them on both formats and that is enough for me.
4K is nowhere near as significant compared to going from VHS to DVD, or DVD to Blu-ray. Plus, Dolby Vision and HDR are a total double edged' sword 'when' they're actually done properly. You can't get high motion clarity or low motion blur when using either, since you can't use OLED Black frame insertion. BFI, reduces half the motion blur from your TV and doubles motion resolution from 300p to 600p(which is closer to 720 HD). It gets you 'average' plasma motion and makes movies look more like movies.
Without BFI, movies tend to look artificial and distracting on current OLED TV's imo.
So much money
I don't care about 4k, i am still on 1080p in general, as for movies i only watch DVD and VHS, while not directly related to movies, a recent fresh steam survey show that roughly 60 percent of all users are still on 1080 as of today and 4k remains in the bottom, i demonstrates that we've reached a point of diminishing returns, most people don't need or care for 4k including my self.
I think we need to look at the transition from DVD to Blu Ray. I remember when Blu Rays first came out and people thought it was just a gimmick.
If you remember the DVD took a long time for the average household to get DVD players and DVD’s.
The DVD was released in 1996, but most people didn’t fully upgrade to DVD until around 2003.
So when the Blu Ray gets launched in 2008, most people thought it was a gimmick and most people didn’t see a difference from DVD to Blu Ray.
My Dad got a Blu Ray player back in 2009 and we got a couple of Blu Rays but my Dad didn’t see much difference from DVD to Blu Ray and didn’t bother with Blu Ray.
So most people thought Blu Rays was just a gimmick and didn’t bother, apart from collectors.
For me personally I didn’t become a collector until 2020, so I didn’t bother with Blu Rays either, until I became a collector, because the Blu Ray releases have much much nicer packaging than DVD’s.
But by the time I think most people would’ve upgraded to Blu Ray was when Streaming became big.
As for the 4K’s, for most people you would only want to watch a 4K movie if it’s a movie you absolutely love, or it would enhance your movie experience like a huge budget blockbuster.
4k prices in Canada are now 39.99 for a new movie I’d imagine that’s one of the issues
I live in Canada and can often find 4k titles cheaper than that… often 34.99 or even less sometimes.
$5 cheaper isn’t anything to cheer about when they shouldn’t be more than 30 but brand new titles are often 39.99 in retail stores now
Same price in Australia but there are 20% off sales often
Why not buy from American online retailers like Best Buy and Amazon? UHD discs are not region locked so you can titles cheaper starting at $6 USD here.
These new prices on 4k has slowed me down-way down!
Yep. Nailed it. Blu ray looks really good and for most people that’s enough.
Even as an enthusiast, I don’t bother buying most titles on 4K. Only my comic-book movie stuff (mainly b/c I collect steelbooks) and the sci-fi and action movies I loved as kid. Personally, I don’t care if a comedy or drama is in Ultra HD at all.
That's ironic because at least the Marvel movies are all mastered in 2K, the 4K releases are all fake upscales
@@thecianinator Fake or not, some of the Marvel 4Ks do look a little better than their blu ray counterparts (to me at least). Plus I fell down the rabbit hole of collecting MCU steelbooks which all come with the 4K disc nowdays.
@@raphaeldelaghetto85 AI upscaling can indeed work wonders.
Nothing is stopping me. 550+ 4K UHD titles - still collecting and enjoying every bit of it! 😁Panasonic DP-UB820, Sony 75ZD9 (Z9D US) Backlight Master Drive TV with Bowers & Wilkins speakers based home theater.
I upgraded to 4K in November 2020. Despite only a slight increase in quality I began to rebuy my favourite films on 4K discs. The slap in my face was the Donnie Darko 4K release. A beautifully designed box, but my 1080p Blu-ray looked better. Now I've become selective.
*2160p 🤦♂
@@MarCuseus They're claiming the HD looked better than the UHD. I find it hard to believe. Bold claim, but that's what they meant.... 1080 wasn't a typo.
I see through the Scanner Darkly
Are you kidding me? I just bought that one. It's the same company, thought they would take care 😢
Jeff gives the 4K release a good rating, but I find it too dark. After buying it I checked other reviews, and there's a 50-50 split. Some prefer the 4K release, some prefer the old Blu-ray.
I think one thing that may be hurting physical media is that digital media is usually available weeks or months before the physical media. e.g. I'd love to watch "Evil Dead Rise", but I don't want to pay $25 for it digitally, now, then $30 for it physically. I'd appreciate it if distributors & studio released both physical and digital at the same time. OR... give us the reverse opportunity that comes with physical. Let us buy a package that comes with digital "now" and includes a physical disc when it's released.
Vudu used to do just that…pay for digital now and weeks later the disk was shipped to you. Was great while it lasted.
100% accurate! The studios are willingly killing the format with their digital first / physical months later release policies.
100 percent agree. With the price of digital movies, why would someone buy digital for 25 and then purchase the disc for 30-40?
This is done as purpose as the studios are trying to phase out physical media.
I try to buy the physical disc that comes with a digital code. But some studios are not playing nice. And usually digital only if it's on sale.
I am a long time physical media buyer. I have walls of movie-packed shelves just like you, but i have almost completely stopped buying any physical media, and I don't really know why. Yes, I watch streaming services almost daily, so that must be a factor, but I also feel like it is just the idea of getting older. I am almost 50 now, and I look at my shelves of films, many of which I have never opened, or if I have, haven't re-watched in many years. Then I ask myself, how much more time does one have in their life to rewatch all these films. There will always be the core favourites to revisit, but do i really need to own a copy of every Arrow horror title, considering many of them are still in their shrink wrap years later? Even the perks of physical media - nice packaging and extra features seem lost on me now. I used to listen to a lot of commentary tracks. I haven't listened to a single on in over 10 years.
Your bumming me out man 😔
Get rid of them. Just keep the few that you really love and cant live without. The original Star Wars trilogy, Alien, Aliens, The Terminator, the original Predator movie, Blade Runner, The Thing. You know, all the good ones.
I'm in my early-mid 40s and have considerable amounts of books; synths; vinyl; and digital discs (I have a few VHS still but gave most away to a friend when I upgraded to DVD). Lately, I've been starting to put some books into local street libraries: I suppose I had a similar thought "I've not read this book in 20 years or I've not read this book despite having ample opportunity" This pushes me to give it away or prioritize reading it. Most books I plan to keep but many peripheral titles have been accumulated over the years and so it's time for them to find a new reader. With the synths and the music and movies, there's a social aspect there that compels me to hang onto them a bit longer.
However, something I've noticed is that the activity of disseminating the titles in different street libraries has shifted my perspective on other titles that might be of peripheral interest. Rather than seeing an interesting book as a bargain for $20, I now see that sale item as an invitation to give away some money so that I can then give away the book. As such, it's not an appealing bargain. I used to mistake the point of purchase as the end of the transaction. I now don't think the transaction is complete until I've got something of value from it.
@@ivorydungeon909 I have waaay too many synths too. GAS is real. I still have it. Just not for films and albums, it seems.
Right? Most of us that grew up with VHS are 50 plus now. We don't have that same excitement we had for new things. Do I REALLY need that is something I think about often.
I completely agree with you!! Many people are getting used to the poor quality of streaming, so they don't see a reason to watch it on physical media.
Yup
Don't you mean the great quality of streaming?
OK, I see what you did there...
4k UHD is just a niche thing.
But DVDs and Blu-rays are the market leaders there is no replacing them.
And to all the 4k UHD lovers, this is not a format war DVDs are gonna rule forever.
It's only a format war in the comment sections of videos about physical media, in general. Add steaming to the subject and the tik tokers come out to play.
I agree upgrading to 4K is expensive and there have been times where 4K scans are really bad but when it's done right it looks incredible!
Not sure what you mean by scans, but upscaling has limitations depending on source. Those who've used Handbrake type of tools for example will be aware of these things. aka transcoding
@@Mauser1965 A 4K scan is scanning the camera negative at 4K!
@@Mauser1965 AI tools for remastering will make all the leaps in quality look tame.
It cost 80-90 bucks to get 4k copies of LOTR extended. I love those movies, but no thanks. Literally the only 4k movies I have are stuff I happened to find at Half-Price Books, and ai honestly couldn't tell you what exactly 4k does better than Blu-Ray.
I guess because BluRay is so much cheaper & still excellent quality. The uptick is not significant enough to warrant the expense. Only a handful of 4ks have truly wowed me.
antman 3 bluray price is $27.99...4k bluray price is 34.99...a 20% difference, to me thats not much of a difference. however when you compare the 4k bluray price to the digital version which is $19.99 were looking at about a 57% mark up.
@@jonmake9124 a 4k tv doesnt mean its good thats where your confused so do more research on your tvs you need the new tech like oled etc
So glad I went ahead and bought my OPPO UDP-203. I don’t think there’s anyone making a 4K player that even approaches the quality of the OPPOs. Sad to see them leave the market.
I have quality equipment but I'm completely satisfied with 4k digital. The Atmos sounds great. I can get the movies a month before they come out on disc. Most of my 4K movies I paid $5 to $10 for not $30 a piece. Vudu run sales all the time. It's so convenient to go from one movie to another or to a TV series with a click of a button.👍
I felt the same way you did, until I lost my internet connection. IMO purchase price for 4k UHD is justified if a Blu-Ray disc and Digital Code is also included.
I have upgraded very few titles from bluray to 4K. As Jeff said, the improvement is often negligible. When faced with the choice of buying new things or slightly better versions of things I already own, I go with new things. And I think for a lot of us, our favorite movies came out before the 4K format launched, meaning we already bought them on bluray. Only 17% of my collection is films released post-2010. And most of the films I really liked from the last 15 years didn't even get 4K releases (Black Swan, The Favourite, The Master, Duke of Burgundy, Dragged Across Concrete, Cold War), so I couldn't buy them on 4K if I wanted to (and I did want to).
I think it depends on what film and what equipment you are using. I can say a lot of science fiction movies with lots of back and colors in them 4k is a very big improvement over bluray. One example is FireFox if you look at the start of the film it is very granny and light, the 4k version cleaned all that up and its a lot shaper all around. There are a lot of movies where 4k is a must, others not so much.
@@scotttild The two films I did upgrade from bluray to 4K were both scifi films. '2001 A Space Odessey' and 'Blade Runner'.
A lot of my 4K purchases of films released before the 4K format existed have been movies I never got around to upgrading from DVD to bluray, such as The Godfather, Indiana Jones, Pulp Fiction etc. Basically anything I still have on DVD, I am now just waiting for the 4K.
About three years ago, I started purchasing movies I care about because the issues with a future reliant on streaming were quite evident. Hence, I only buy 4K because that’s the format I’m starting off with. Bought a mid range Panasonic 4K player and it has treated me well.
However, emphasis on the fact that I don’t blind buy movies, I only purchase what I love and plan on rewatching in the future. Also, most of my purchases are in Black Friday season when prices are all sub $20 (unless it’s a steelbook; I get those before they sell out permanently).
I think you nailed it with the price point of the 4k equipment - the average movie lover won’t invest that type of money when the blue ray or dvd experience suffices.
Just upgraded our aged 11+ year old tv and it's 4k. Was excited to upgrade our old blu-ray player as well until I saw the price! Right now I'm happy to just be rediscovering my love of physical media and usually pick up one or two dvds/blurays when I'm at the thrift store. Some wonderful gems!
The price difference is bigger in the UK market. New releases are generally £10 on DVD £15 for blu-ray and £25 for 4K. There is a lot of movies I buy on regular blu-ray to save £10, especially in the case for films where there are few reasons to upgrade.
Same here. Also older 4k discs rearly ever get cheap, Mad Max Fury Road and The Martian are still £15 on 4k years after release.
@@varsas10 I know the struggle, the only way to buy 4Ks slightly cheaper are the HMV and Zavvi bundle offers.
They are more like 20 for 4k. 25 only certain titles I've seen.
@@varsas10 2 for 20 in hmv including the martian right now
Personally I don't think 4k is overly expensive Amazon right now Toy story 4k under a tenner each.. As for mad max fury road the whole collection of mad max on 4k is £43 on Amazon just over a tenner a disc..
I took the time and purchased the Panasonic UHD820 @ $425 on sale with my Best Buy card. This player is excellent w/ my LG C1 OLED. I wanted the best picture I could afford. Thank you for the review.
Got that player too well worth it.
Got that setup. Awesome combo. It's all about HDR/ Dolby Vision
I only bother with 4K if it’s a film I love - sometimes upgrading from a BluRay. What I didn’t anticipate was the improvement in the sound quality anytime a new release comes out yet I think is worth getting, I always look for a 4K version first.
But I agree, not all films benefit from such an upgrade in quality. I am a big fan of special features, and I’m always disappointed that very rarely does a 4K release of a movie fails to add any additional commentaries or other support material for the film. I also find it somewhat mysterious, that, for all of its increased storage capacity, are you still need to put in the original Blu-ray release to get any special features at all! And not all 4K releases come with a regular Blu-ray disc as well. It’s unfortunate that people buy less physical media than they used to. I am old enough to remember I was feeling it was to actually on a copy of the movie you loved whether it was on tape or disc. Any true flavour of film or even a great TV series knows that just because a streaming service or digital distributor “sells“ you a copy of a movie, unless you can physically download it, you don’t have anything except a license to access the media. They can make it disappear at any time and there would be nothing you could do about it. I think sales and physical media have dropped because people have become so cavalier about thinking they can find everything on the Internet and keep their phone but that’s just not true and it never has been.
"I also find it somewhat mysterious, that, for all of its increased storage capacity, are you still need to put in the original Blu-ray release to get any special features at all" I found this irritating as well, however, to add to the mystery I purchased Puss and Boots The Last Wish on 4K Blu-ray and it's extras including interviews and bonus animated short film was actually on the 4K disk (though the short film didn't have HDR for some reason?) So I don't know why most 4K disk don't have them when they clearly can.
DVDs & BDs are still highly valued in parts of the world where internet is scarce, slow, or non-existent. I seem to recall some Alaskan homesteaders on Discovery Channel talking about how important movies are during winter when they only have 4 hours of sunlight. I think UHD is overkill for anyone but home theatre enthusiasts which is why it's not selling - why spend 2-3x the price on the same movie?
4k all day. I'm a fan of audio though. It's not just about picture quality. I have an 11.4.4 Atmos system. The Atmos audio (when done right) on 4k discs completely changes the movie experience. You can't get the same immersion with blu-ray or dvd.
Respectfully I dont agree with that. There is no difference between the audio fidelity of a 4k bluray and a standard bluray. A 24 bit encode is a 24 bit encode. If you are noticing a difference between the same encode format on the same movie that's very interesting
@@damienlahoz that's if the Blu-ray has Atmos. But if not you are missing out on the height channels with the over head sound.
@@damienlahoz THeres a difference from normal audio and atmos 100%. Even I can see the difference. THats what the op is speaking on.. I own a 5.1.4 although this dude's audio system is completley OVERKILL.... lIKE TO THE MAX.. cuz you can achieve 5.1.4 to sounding like a 11.4.4. as the sound moves around you aslonga s you got over heads installed.
Again the atmos on a standard bluray is identical to the atmos on a 4k bluray. Full stop. Same for X, truehd, dts hdm and so forth. If you hear a difference between the identical audio encode, on the same hardware, idk what to tell you. They're your ears though, enjoy
@@damienlahoz that's not what this op is speaking of. He's talking about regular audio and atmos. They are 2 different formats. Re read his comment dude. LOL
4K is awesome and I have replaced most of my favourite bluray’s with 4K versions now but they need to make them the same price of they want to move people to it. Absolutely no reason to charge more. Also, some collections are only available overseas, the need to have borders on these things should go also, seems to me they are cutting off their own nose by having region fixed discs.
Quite a lot of movies from my collection will never get a 4K release. Some never even got a blu ray release.
@@Tony-1971 This is where I am at.
We will all miss physical media when it's gone....see malls, music stores, comic stores, even PC stores. Support it people!
no thanks, physical exists to be stolen by black people
I started buying 4k Blu-ray after I got my PS5 and I started buying more games on disc just to support physical media. I've been having a ton of Internet issues even with a wired connection and having my favorite shows and movies in a physical format helps a lot.
One thing that is really amazing to me about 4k blu rays (considering proper equipment being used) is that we’re probably enjoying a higher quality experience than even people that were able to watch some movies at the theater enjoyed back then (thinking especially about older movies here).
If we consider Apocalypse Now, for instance. I think it’s hard to believe that most screens back then were able to match a good quality 4k OLED screen. The blu ray also allows us to watch the Director’s Cut from most movies (Apocalypse Now’s director’s cut was very rare on theaters, afaik). That’s without taking into account the new audio that was developed for the blu ray.
So, all in all, it seems hard to say it’s not an expensive hobby to buy physical 4k disks and proper equipment. But the experience is unparalleled, in my humble opinion.
It's true. Movies look sharper and have better color rendition on backlit screens then they do projected film.
Also the audio quality is better.
Your point around diminishing returns is absolutely spot-on.
As someone who still uses a 32” LED-backlit TV, even the visual difference between DVDs and Blu-Rays is not huge (my girlfriend doesn’t see any difference at all). So for now 1080p Blu-Rays are absolutely perfect for me - maybe things will change if we upgrade our TV!
The one thing that will always make physical media a winner for me is the consistency in quality when compared to streaming. I’ve had situations where the quality really tanks in pivotal moments of a series/movie; that sort of thing can really throw you out of the moment.
Had a random thought about 4K UHD and saw your video. Really entertaining content and great delivery. Appreciate it!
I honestly only purchase 4K UHD’s if the film is a favorite of mine. It’s like a definitive collection of my favorite films for me. I also ensure to check out channels like you to see if the disc for that movie is a good transfer tho!
So true.
Finally picked up a 4K TV this year - I was much more impressed with the OLED black levels and dynamic range than the increase in resolution, which I barely noticed at all.
What I noticed the most was how crappy cable TV looks on it compared to my 1080p set.
Blu-rays look fine uprezzed with the TV, but broadcast TV just looks horrible. It's a shame really. Sony OLED, mid range.
Enjoy it while it lasts because you'll be disappointed when you see how quickly burn-in happens to that brand new 4K OLED.
Most TV isn't broadcast in 4k.
To experience the true nature of 4k you have to watch the disk. Streaming services don't play with the same quality of picture or sound.
@@ddognine If by "brand new" you mean 8 years old.
First 4k bluray I ever watched on my 80' OLED was Fury Road, and I watched it in a pitch black room. Twice in the movie, the screen cuts to black and the room just went BLACK. Couldn't even see my hand in front of my face, and that alone blew my mind lol
Right on the money. The difference between a lot of 4K and hd Blu-ray, doesn’t justify the high entry price point
You also have to think about how even broadcast television has struggled to become real 1080p after being the "new standard" for years.
When I want a movie or TV show, I basically buy them in this format order, depending on availability: 3D blu ray > 4k > blu ray > dvd as a last resort. Price doesn’t factor in it for me, I care about picture and sound, but I’m an enthusiast.
I can see a future of home theater streaming, buying files and storing them on a server that can stream to your devices on your local network as a next step from discs, but until that becomes cost effective and widely available, it’s discs for me.
Honestly I really love and miss the interactive and creative DVD menus. You don't really see that anymore. Now it's just lazy and cheap.
Yes! My DVD copy of The Grifters has the neatest horse track tote board menus with sound effects and animations. Keeping it just for that.
I couldn't agree more. When DVD's first came out nearly every copy had an interactive menu. They even used to hide easter eggs.
It's funny because people used to complain that the menu animations took too long and they just wanted to watch the movie.
The thing that I tend to forget is that there's a difference between movie collectors and videophile enthusiasts. For the latter group, things like black levels, dynamic tone mapping, contrast are things that are super important in movie presentation. While old movies don't always transfer well to a higher resolution format, new movies are being mastered in HDR, Dolby Vision, making the presentation of newer films or even TV shows much superior than anything else before it. Honestly, HDR and Dolby Vision are the differentiators in image quality when it comes to new 4k UHD Blu-rays. While 4k and 1080p may not be a big difference, standard dynamic range just doesn't look as amazing as HDR or DV. That is what the movie presentation purist will chase down.
While some videophiles may be avid movie collectors, I would say that a good chunk of movie collectors are not necessarily videophiles, and upgrading a movie dear to one's heart to a higher resolution may not matter much to those persons. Which is perfectly fine.
I just ran across your platform you found a new subscriber.👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👍🏽✌🏽
If I were younger, I'd consider getting into 4K collecting. But I'm not, so there's just no way I'm going to start in a new format-having been through Beta, VHS, DVD, and Bluray. Four times is enough. Besides, I'm very happy with Bluray. And DVD, when properly done, can be quite satisfying visually. Of course, it isn't always properly done. But I'm not going to spend more money chasing after perfection.
I had many formats over the years but I never had serious collections as I knew it was a fools errand. The only format that felt like it was worth collecting at the time was laserdisc for obvious reasons with art work. Every physical format pales in comparison to laserdisc for the artwork and experience of using it since laserdisc was the closet we had to a vinyl experience. But for image quality you will always lose long term with any format. I mean heck Kaleidescape downloads already slightly surpassed 4K bluray discs with less compressed video downloads.
I hear you. I'm 61 and have been through all those formats except Beta. I shudder to think what I once spent on some VHS tapes and DVDs. Nonetheless, I made the jump to 4K last year. 😁
You missed the laserdisc phase? Hahaha…. I was too young and it was too expensive for me back then. I think I would have liked laserdisc.
@@vlcthefish I still have a few laserdiscs, including the original unaltered THX Star Wars. Just no player!
@@Joe-hh8gd Thats how good Laserdisc is. People have them with no player lmao.
The studios need to sell at a price that gets volume sales. £20-30+ is not going to cut it. Sell them at £10(std release), don't drop the price over time. They'll sell far more than 2-3x of these expensive 4K discs. I'll buy 4K if it's a great film and once the prices drop. I aim for £10-15.
Collecting media is an older age group. Those people for the most part collect DVD and/or Blu-ray and aren’t into upgrading a movie that they already upgraded from Laserdisc or VHS to DVD or DVD to Blu-ray. Then a younger age group just doesn’t collect physical media so it just falls through the cracks. That combined with all the other factors - price, titles, player needing the right TV. It’s a fraction of a fraction of a group.
Good summary ,no future for 4K discs,sadly.The future is digital, no stopping that train.
I was blown away when I saw my first dvd - couldn't believe how good it was. When Blu-ray came out, I was still very impressed. 4k BluRays don't look like the same kind of leap to my eyes - completely agree about 4k and a very good blu ray release.
100%
I really hate it when they don't put audio commentary tracks and trailers/commercials on the 4K disc. Like WTF?
Even if it were a lowly compressed Dolby Digital 2.0 track, that would barely take up any space on the disc.
That said, when I buy new movies I buy Ultra HD.
What's strange to me is that personally the jump from full hd to 4k in videogames is very noticable yet for movies I rarely notice the difference.
@Twister probably because of processing for games and how much it takes to render them
@@Twister-V1The reason for not seeing a significant improvement on 4K Blu-ray new releases is how movies are produced now. First they are filmed digitally in 4k for live scene. When come the special effect, they are rendered in 2k as no computer are strong enough to make them in 4K in a short amount of time meaning many months or years to finish a movie with a lot of special effects. However, when a movie was filmed on physical film it is possible to scan them in real 4K so a movie like Ben-Hur with Charlton Heston or the original Star Wars Movies should benefit of a 4K transfer but for new releases, not so much.
I started upgrading to 4k but changed my mind. Blu ray has gotten so much cheaper in the used market, so I couldn’t justify the cost anymore. Especially when I’m watching a lot via streaming apps now too. I still buy plenty of used discs, but having the best quality matter less to me than having the best films.
I agree with what you’re saying 💯for me when it comes to horror movies I rather buy and watch them on VHS for that vintage and nostalgia vibe plus I love the grain and lines you get that authenticity feel as well.
Totally agree with the points you mentioned. I usually stick to select titles that I know I will rewatch or some cool steel book offerings. I will say though, when I watched the UHD 2019 Dark Phoenix w/ HDR 10+, I was blown away by the color. If only we could get more UHD w/ Dolby vision or HDR 10+, that would be awesome.
I come from being in development and distribution since the mid-80s. The answer here is that the studios went all-in for the "shiny new toy" of streaming... which has turned out to be a debacle of epic proportions. The beauty of physical media and multiple windows was that the same title would get at least tertiary advertising as a movie (or TV series) made its way through the various distribution windows, and for some through a second run of the bottom half of the windows (including sell through prices that increasingly dropped). The big problem is that in their rush to embrace streaming and its vaunted endless riches was that they actively pubicized that DVD-4K was "the past" and was "inefficient" and caused "storage issues." This is what is called a self-destructive self-fulfilling prophecy. Worse, with so many people watching the bulk of their content on phones (very few watch on anything as basic as a decently set up desk top -- among my students, a tablet is about as high end as it gets), the entire market for high end/ high quality disappeared! There's still the crazy high end, but that is becoming increasingly twee and elitist. Add to this monetary issues more than half the population is experiencing post-Covid lockdowns and we see a problem. The GOOD news is that physical media is increasingly becoming a solid niche much like vinyl. While it may seem counter intuitive, the more companies like Kino Lorber take over from the studios, the better. You need a firmly installed base of fans of projects that will NEVER find a spot on the mainstream streaming services to suddenly reverse the trend. Fortunately, "buying" titles has proven to be only for the term a provider has rights to it. Now that censorship is becoming a real threat for legacy titles, there is no greater incentive for people to buy physical media before titles get changes in reality, not just warning labels.
It's kinda crazy how influential game consoles can be in markets such as 4k, since game consoles selling well, means a bigger share of people actually owning a 4k player, but some not even realizing that their console has one. I can't imagine the day when those game consoles are digital only, no option for a media player in it, that's when the format should be worried.
Let me speak from a gamer's perspective on that... those of us who want 4K quality level of graphical detail want that for games to justify our investment in the gaming consoles of our choice, not for watching movies.
That's already started. Half of the current gen Xbox have no disc drive
@@fredcasdensworld I use the Hell out of my XSX 4k drive for movies. And I own 500 digital games on it. Maybe I’m a minority but I’d hate to not have a 4k player. I’d have to buy a separate box. But that’s me.
Sony will always implement bluray into their playstations, they are the ones that developed it. But the ps5 digital edition is a bold move..
@@Justin-nd5soSame here but on ps5, one of the reasons I bought the ps5 was for the 4k disc drive.
The prices are insane in the netherlands for 4ks around €30. Compared to blurays which you can find for around €10 if you wait a while. Also they arent sold in physical stores a lot ..to give you an idea, I live in a pretty big city in the netherlands and there is one big electronics store that still sells physical media.
I appreciate your acceptance of the plasma TV/1080 Blu-Ray crowd. I'm one of those happy 65" plasma TV owners. Love the pic and my receiver/surround sound is all legacy media and cords, but I'm getting itchy for a larger screen. If I pull the trigger, I'll most likely purchase a 4k blu-ray player then, but, for the foreseeable future, I'm good to go with what I've got. Enjoyed your video.
I think 4k bluray enthusiasts should highlight the color grading, HDR and scence improvement to the consumers. Thats what converted me in upgrading to 4ks as they are the most visible improvements. Comparison videos will help. Its hard to tell the difference between regular bluray and 4k unless both are side by side
You've made a very important point! Because even though it's a 1979 film, Apocalypse Now is one of my most valued 4k Blu-rays, due to its color looking significantly better than it has on any previous home video format. And I honestly think its lush color, as presented by the 4k disc must at least equal the amazing color of the new film print of Apocalypse Now that I saw as the movie opened in August of 1979! And for example, an aspect of the movie's startling color quality that will greet the film's fans
when they first see it on 4k disc, is the vividness and color range of the fires that appear in a village,
early in the film, when the boat's crew first encounters some other soldiers who are finishing a battle. And due to the movie receiving HDR processing for its transfer to 4k files, a tank seen using a flame thrower, spews fire that's more vivid, with greater color depth, than on earlier home video formats.
@@mrb0775 Apocalypse Now is my favorite 4K, it looks so amazing and really shows why 4K is so worthwhile for cinephiles.
Problem is, the average consumer is not a videophile, and they have moved to a different more convenient distribution channel. It doesn’t matter how good the quality is when they can stream media with more than enough quality.
Just saying, but if people have trouble telling the difference unless they're side by side, then I think that just further proves to the average consumer that it isn't worth the upgrade. The second you have to make customers play "spot the difference", rather than the difference being obvious to everyone that sees it, you've lost the argument for the customer to upgrade, in most cases.
Hey Jeff: Thanks for producing this video. I'm an older fellow (72) that has seen a lot of formats come and go. So I have a few comments that will support your video and add some new perspectives. I've had them all 8mm movies (sections only) Beta, VHS, Laser Disc, DVD and Blu Ray. I have one HD but I knew it would not play on my blu-ray machine. I bought it for the film as it is one of my favourites. I have owned 2001: A Space Oddysey in every format offered. Ok, a few points.
1) All your comments are true but here are a couple you left out. For TRUST. I don't TRUST some of the new hype on these products especially when even Blu-Ray is not perfect. I am disgusted when I purchase a blu-ray dvd and see on the BOX disclaimers like 'note this may not work on your blu-ray dvd player' - just upgrade or download new software. Well, how do you do that? No instruction no help - nada. Yeah, I'm an old guy but this is ridiculous. Also, I have had many a blu-ray that freezes and you have to fast forward past the bad tracks.
2)I also find it quite irritating that after I have BOUGHT the dvd the disclaimers about the FBI, Interpol etc...I BOUGHT the dvd, I hate the threats. Then, more recently the 'information' about piracy. Yeah, go to this website and read all about how you shouldn't duplicate any dvd. Nothing about getting help if your BOUGHT dvd doesn't work on your blu-ray machine.
3) I don't have a lot of sympathy for 'the suits' in upper management. The same existed in the stereo audio market for speakers etc....People paid a lot of money to reproduce sound from a plastic record that produced sound ranges about the level that the human ear could HEAR. So how sensible is that? I'm sure the human eye has a limitation too.
4) Education by the companies was nil. Will your brand new HD machine play Blu-ray? Will it play standard DVD? Probably, but at those prices I WANT TO KNOW.
Good video though and people should be made aware. From my perspective however, I could care less if HD super video DIED. I will not support it. Enough is enough. How about getting Blu-ray to work trouble free on Blu-Ray machines first!
People severely underestimate just how many people are still happily using 1080p tvs and setups at home. Hell, blu-rays are still considered too fancy for many.
Awesome info thank you, question please, I have a Samsung Blu Ray player and whenever i stop watching a movie and come back to it the next day, it can't remember where I left off, is there a Make that you can recommend that remembers where you left it, so you can watch the rest of the movie at a later date ?
The economic reasons are very valid. I also think that the majority of people who buy physical media are happy to have a copy of the movie in question but only a small percentage of those want a pristine copy of said movie. It's no coincidence either that it tends to be back catalogue titles that are the most popular titles in the 4k format . Most of my purchases tend to be of that ilk, mainly because the viewing experience tends to be a massive improvement on what has come before whereas newer titles that's not the case generally . It's a format that ultimately I hope sticks around. But I would add that its important that the studios support and invest in it more. The recent Superman 4k box set from Warner Bros for example is a huge letdown . Great video Jeff
We're talking about an industry that doesn't set a standard for quality.
Warner Bros always puts in bare minimum effort with box sets.
It’s more because no new films are worth collecting
@@reginaldforthright805 Exactly, most new movies are forgettable or s@@@ that you will never watch again.
I used to buy a film each week but now can just watch online
Story is king. I’m still satisfied with my 1080p Samsung from 10 years ago. The quality is still good enough. I don’t need to see every pore or things to be super sharp. The quality can be 480p as long as the movie has a good story.
With the coming of streaming I realized that only a fraction of those former Blockbuster video patrons were actually film enthusiasts. They will stream anything that passes time. They made those made for TV stuff (Amazon, Netflix originals) the king of the screen.
Excellent discussion video. I own a UHD Blu-ray player. I typically wait until Black Friday sales to purchase discs as they are quite expensive.
I really appreciate those that have created a TH-cam channel that's all about physical media.Yours is exceptional. Keep up the great work. I've been a home theater enthusiast for a long time; way before the social media explosion. Back in the day, I had several magazine subscriptions that catered to those in the A/V market. Home Theater Magazine and Sound & Vision were two of them. I have invested a sizable sum of money into my current system. A large chunk of that went into purchasing a high-end 75" 8K monitor and 4K UHD Blu-ray player. My sound system does support every available Hi-res Audio Surround Sound format. I keep my first generation Toshiba DVD Player and my 31 year old Sony Laserdisc Player visible in my cabinet. They still look cool as hell.
2K upscales are still common for 4K releases and those I don't see major differences. The recent Mario movie was animated in 2K and while the HDR would look nice for the Rainbow Road sequence, the actual detail is virtually the same.
I've seen tons of 2k upscales that look way better than the blu ray. Zero Dark Thirty immediately comes to mind.
@@chrisrowe2308 Yeah but that difference might be regarding the TV used for playback..
For instance Sony A90 makes FHD BluRays indistinguishable from its 4K upscaled counterpart.
Thank you for making this. I've got a fancy new TV and was looking at getting into the 4k market, but as you said, I can't justify the cost of the players and discs, especially the boutique discs that i'd really be after. I'd even consider getting a player if my library carried 4k discs to borrow, but they only have regular blu rays.
To add to the whole DVD and Bluray had more advertising bit... both really needed to be advertised heavily due to competition. DVD was trying to break into a home video market that was dominated by VHS tapes and to a lesser extent laser disc. Bluray had direct competition from the HD-DVD. I think they realized that 4K was niche and wanted to save advertising dollars knowing that hard-core collectors would be in no matter what, while eventually others would come along after 4k tvs were more heavily adopted.
When 4K’s drop all the way down to $9.99 each on Black Friday/during the Holiday Season, it’s difficult to stomach paying $25.00 per disc. I just wait and buy 50 to 60 during those sales. This strategy is like buy one get two free- as long as I stay patient there’s a nice payoff.
4Ks sell. But companies have been charging more and more. Some 4Ks are coming out 50 bucks? Like what!?!
The restorations are incredibly expensive. Those are typically for smaller labels. You don’t have to pay it, but that’s what it costs for them to stay in business some times.
@FilmsAtHome its understandable to a point. But I personally barely buy new anyways. Unless it's a release I really want. 30 for a standard copy may make sense. But if it's over 30 that better be a steelbook or limited edition or something like that. Haha
@@Nick-4K in the US, $30 or higher would be a limited edition.
I was considering upgrading to 4K simply for The Shining, ALIEN, and 2001: Space Odyssey. Otherwise still rocking my 1080p Pioneer Kuro which has been awesome since 2009.
One thing to remember about why people are not feeling the need to upgrade from even DVD to BR is that HDTVs (and now 4K TVs) have hardware enabled upscaling that is really good. I recall when I got my first 70" HDTV over a decade ago, playing the handful of movies that I just happened to have in DVD and BR, I honestly couldn't tell the difference at a reasonable viewing distance. And your comment about gritty horror films is spot on. Chasing resolution for resolution's sake is a fool's game. As for 4k players being so expensive, that is the studios' doing. They have tried real hard not to repeat the mistakes of the past and they have succeeded much to my chagrin. They want UHD to be a premium format that costs more. Ironically, it was too little, too late in the format wars and piracy with the rise of streaming.
Hi Jeff, it took me a year to finally fet ahold of a PS5, tho i work for Argos. For me its the quality. With such awful transfers like Platoon, Pirates, Planes etc ( thanks for all your help on that by the way ). Collectors have to be wary of what 4Ks they're adding to their collection. Also a lot of films here are still at £20. I want the bournes but the 1st is shocking even tho its been reissued 3 or 4 times since its initial release. Same poor transfer to todays standards. R.Hood prince has to be 1 of my fav transfer recently. The clarity is outstanding. Great work as always Jeff 🎉
While the majority of my small collection is 4K discs, I think the biggest contributing factor as you mentioned, is that to truly enjoy the full potential of a 4K Disc requires a lot of additional equipment which extends into also being invested in the player, tv, home theater hobby. I think many movie fans who care just about the film might not also care about everything else. Lastly, I think the 4K debate affects audio lovers more than visual lovers. I need the 4k disc for the audio track not the video quality
I just got a 4K TV and bluray player on Black Friday specials… So far I’m impressed with the format, and excited to start building my collection.
Is there an advantage to play standard blue rays in a uhd blue ray player or is all the upscaling done in the tv ? The Tv has Ai upscaling
This was a great video Jeff, but I would like to add another two big reasons why people don’t buy 4k discs, one is because I believe the sound quality of 4k discs, specifically Dolby Atmos and DTS-X, require a specially equipped soundbar or even better, an Atmos-equipped AVR along with the speakers of course. The 2nd biggest reason, and honestly the main reason, is because the average person streams their movies and tv shows nowadays and don’t realize or even care that they are not the quality if a 4k disc. Netflix says its 4k and says Dolby Atmos too, so why buy a disc when they can just stream.
I don’t think normal people buy video discs for audio quality.
really good video. I have been collecting since the 90s and I really went all-in on the dvd / blu-ray formats. I still really enjoy the blu-ray format and I am very happy with the quality. All of your reasons are spot-on. The cost of the players is a huge reason. I have been putting more money towards the disc collection than the setup, and being able to justify the cost of a good 4k player is tough.
I have close to 900 blu rays and 4K movies combined and until recently included probably 65+ steelbooks most Best Buy Exclusives and I sold about half of them for various reasons but I'm noticing BB has them priced between $32 and $36 now....a bit pricey and if you miss out on some they're soon on Ebay for double that.....and in store selections including video games are less than half of what they were.....everyone tells me to sell 95% of my physical collections but....I like them.....
I'm a big physical media collector, and love Blu-rays, but the only reason I ever pick up 4k is because I have an Xbox One S I got for Christmas years ago, and it's probably one of the cheaper players with quality 4k playback. If it could only do Blu-ray and I had to go out and buy a dedicated 4k player, I don't think I could do it, it's just so costly for a dedicated one, especially since Bd 1080p more than adequately gets the job done.