Blu-ray is dying…

[Soria Moria]

You will own nothing and you'll be happy.

Streaming is terrible. Where I live the library you get is very very small, prices are high and there is visible compression. I refuse to pay for computer files, especially when you are just renting them and they are so low quality and in such few numbers.

 

[raif71]

Do you use CLI Linux as a desktop OS?

Do you mean as a bluray-player? If that is what you're asking then no. I do have a media player that reads iso movie files and bdmv folders. Also I have an OPPO 103d player to play the physical discs


Blu-Ray, I saw you standing alone,
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
Blu-Ray, you knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
A media I really could care for

 

[amirm]

I looked at those two years ago. If I remember right you also have to buy their hardware to buy their movies don't you? Seemed to recall movies were usually $30 and the gear started around $4k. A good idea just wish it could reach a size the price could go down.

Yes, you need their hardware. Their latest player can hold about 10 movies at a time so if you don't need to have a collection all the time, you can get into it for $4K (i.e. no server). You can delete movies after you watch them and if you need them again, download again. I bought the server so can hold hundreds of UHD movies. And stream to two different players.

Movies come a bit earlier than Blu-ray and are routinely on sale after a few weeks. I buy most of my UHD movies on sale at $15 (they go as low as $10 and as high as $20). Blu-rays are routinely $10. If you have the disc version of a movie, you can convert about half of them for $4. The other half are likely from Disney which stupidly wants $20+ for them!

 

[ThatM1key]

You will own nothing and you'll be happy.

Streaming is terrible. Where I live the library you get is very very small, prices are high and there is visible compression. I refuse to pay for computer files, especially when you are just renting them and they are so low quality and in such few numbers.

I think its ironic how music is the opposite of this. You can buy Zero DRM Lossless Music that is competitive with physical CD prices. I personally wouldn't mind buying "Digital Files" since there DRM free and can be transferred to any medium you want.

The only problem with buying "Digital Music Files" is that you don't know what your getting. If its "CD Quality", could be a rip from a early CD or a remastered CD or even something that hasn't been physically released. If its hi-res, it could be worse then the CD version or better. These music stores don't tell you the DR ratings of these albums. The only thing you can really go off is when the remaster was done. Yeah, these stores usually offer a "Listen before you buy" but its probably lossy due to streaming costs.

 

[Mr. Widget]

Yes, you need their hardware. Their latest player can hold about 10 movies at a time so if you don't need to have a collection all the time, you can get into it for $4K (i.e. no server). You can delete movies after you watch them and if you need them again, download again. I bought the server so can hold hundreds of UHD movies. And stream to two different players.

Movies come a bit earlier than Blu-ray and are routinely on sale after a few weeks. I buy most of my UHD movies on sale at $15 (they go as low as $10 and as high as $20). Blu-rays are routinely $10. If you have the disc version of a movie, you can convert about half of them for $4. The other half are likely from Disney which stupidly wants $20+ for them!

I am a huge fan of K-Scape too... the best quality you can get at home if you are not connected to Hollywood and can afford a DCI room.

Streaming 4K movies and series have definitely improved, but visible artifacts are not uncommon. Blu-rays can look really good, but not all Blu-ray discs are created equally. Some are hardly better than the DVDs that were originally released.

 

[MattHooper]

I have hundreds of discs. But finally got tired of sorting through them, putting them in the player, waiting, then selecting a menu, just to watch a movie. So dumped it all and got a Kaleidescape server.

I’m totally where you are at this point. I’ve been eyeing kaleidescape for a long time, was thinking of buying one of their older versions used, but the new Strato finally caught my eye. It would be pretty much perfect for me.

I’ve had a 4K capable JVC projector for years, but haven’t jumped into 4K because it would involve some extensive and expensive re-cabling.

I bought a lumen Pro so I’m ready in terms of 4K processing and UHD/HDR processing.

And dammit, I am one of those who actually misses 3-D! 3-D movies were a total in my Home Theatre. Gravity was like being there.

 

[raif71]

I’m totally where you are at this point. I’ve been eyeing kaleidescape for a long time, was thinking of buying one of their older versions used, but the new Strato finally caught my eye. It would be pretty much perfect for me.

I’ve had a 4K capable JVC projector for years, but haven’t jumped into 4K because it would involve some extensive and expensive re-cabling.

I bought a lumen Pro so I’m ready in terms of 4K processing and UHD/HDR processing.

And dammit, I am one of those who actually misses 3-D! 3-D movies were a total in my Home Theatre. Gravity was like being there.

My old LG tv is still 3d and my optoma projector is 3d too but I have misplaced the projector 3d specs. Sometimes I do watch 3d on my 55" LG.

 

[frogmeat69]

I hate streaming, think it looks like crap most of the time compared to physical media, especially in the evening when everyone is also streaming. My Blu-Rays don't look crappier during busy streaming times.
Hoping my 2 region free Oppo players keep going for years to come, movies still look great on my LG plasma 3D TV, lol.
Kinda regret selling my OPPO UDP-205 player, made a killing on it, but still wish I kept it.

 

[Chrispy]

Streaming quality is so uneven and generally poor. I recently got an OLED TV and it's really made this fact more obvious than ever. I would happily buy or rent 4k blurays. Time to revive Blockbuster.

I miss the Netflix service, was my go to for bluray rentals but before they simply stopped offering discs, was an obvious decline in availability for releases in bluray format. DVD is much more established and for most bluray offers little improvement unfortunately.

 

[Chrispy]

I have hundreds of discs. But finally got tired of sorting through them, putting them in the player, waiting, then selecting a menu, just to watch a movie. So dumped it all and got a Kaleidescape server. It is very expensive (although much cheaper than it used to be) but is so convenient. Over our Gigabit Internet link, I can download a UHD movie in about 10 minutes when I buy it and instantly be able to play it when I want. I shop for bargains in the K store and buy movies in bulk. Then when we get ready to watch something, we have a nice selection of good movies to watch. So if one can afford it, it is the ideal solution of fidelity and convenience.

NOTE: our company is a dealer for Kaleidescape although I don't think we sell many.

Best alternative these days but not worth the price to many (including me). Convenience, meh, that's not too hard....I played vinyl for most of my life.

 

[vintologi]

Not a good development for me since i like to watch bluray remuxes of anime.

Crunchyroll has awful audio quality.

 

[jayapple]

I built my own NAS to store HD movies and photos.
But I still use a Blu-ray player, and mine is jailbroken so I can play movies and music from the NAS.

There are actually a lot of Android HD players out there right now - the 4K box supports streaming and NAS, which is perfectly adequate for the average person, and smart enough to support retrieval and classification.

The Blu-ray player is good for nothing except better picture quality, and although it will be easier to use after jailbreaking, it is still a hassle!

Finally speaking of Blu-ray discs, it is unlikely to disappear as a very important storage medium.
I will burn some important video memories and movies into a disc collection. Hard drive security is still poor.

 

[Chrispy]

I built my own NAS to store HD movies and photos.
But I still use a Blu-ray player, and mine is jailbroken so I can play movies and music from the NAS.

There are actually a lot of Android HD players out there right now - the 4K box supports streaming and NAS, which is perfectly adequate for the average person, and smart enough to support retrieval and classification.

The Blu-ray player is good for nothing except better picture quality, and although it will be easier to use after jailbreaking, it is still a hassle!

Finally speaking of Blu-ray discs, it is unlikely to disappear as a very important storage medium.
I will burn some important video memories and movies into a disc collection. Hard drive security is still poor.

What's with the bolding thing?

 

[Soria Moria]

I think its ironic how music is the opposite of this. You can buy Zero DRM Lossless Music that is competitive with physical CD prices. I personally wouldn't mind buying "Digital Files" since there DRM free and can be transferred to any medium you want.

The only problem with buying "Digital Music Files" is that you don't know what your getting. If its "CD Quality", could be a rip from a early CD or a remastered CD or even something that hasn't been physically released. If its hi-res, it could be worse then the CD version or better. These music stores don't tell you the DR ratings of these albums. The only thing you can really go off is when the remaster was done. Yeah, these stores usually offer a "Listen before you buy" but its probably lossy due to streaming costs.

Buying digital is problematic too because your download can be revoked. I have bought music from 7digital before and many of the albums can't be downloaded anymore because they were pulled from the store!

 

[Chrispy]

Buying digital is problematic too because your download can be revoked. I have bought music from 7digital before and many of the albums can't be downloaded anymore because they were pulled from the store!

I've not had an encumbered digital download that I've purchased as a download that I know of....aside from the renting of a streaming service.

 

[Sal1950]

The improvement in picture quality didn't matter to most people but the prospect of re-buying titles you already had on DVD and the possibility (often realised) that the Blu-Ray would refuse to play because of the "protections" built into the format made it a lame duck from the outset.

But it was and IS better and became easily seen as very large sceen TV's became affordable and obtainable.
With room for 4k video and multich audio of all sorts it is todays SOTA in optical disc.
Sad that Joe Sixpack doesn't care and is happy with the highly compressed video he gets from streaming.
OTOH all we hear about here is the bitching and moaning of DR wars in music, which Joe doesn't hear or care either.

 

[ThatM1key]

Buying digital is problematic too because your download can be revoked. I have bought music from 7digital before and many of the albums can't be downloaded anymore because they were pulled from the store!

Although I do agree that purchased content should be able to be redownloaded at any time, you can't expect the servers to be there and/or the licensing to work out. In many agreements, companies reserve the right to "Rug Pull". I don't like rug pulls when the content is DRM Locked (Ex: Online Stores for Consoles) but if your given the choice to get it DRM free, then I would say its on you. You should've made a backup.

How I feel when you didn't make backups of your DRM-free files:

 

[SoundsGood64]

For multichannel audio recordings, SACDs and Blu-ray audio discs are great.

I tried to do multichannel audio with Tidal streaming but could never get it to work, even after buying a new device that was reported on the Tidal website to do multichannel (but it actually didn't). I gave up. There are other problems with streaming: ads (sometimes even when you're paying), reduced dynamic range of tracks, internet delay and dependence, media going away, others.

For video quality, I really appreciate both 4k and regular Blu-ray discs, and it will be unfortunate when they are no longer made.

 

[EJ3]

This is depressing.

I collect Blu-rays.

Mostly 4K!

 

[Oso Polar]

Discs are still superior when it comes to the quality of audio/video

This is exactly the problem: not the fact that Blu-ray is dying but that there is no adequate replacement. Usually obsolete technologies are replaced with newer technically superior alternatives but in this case the modern alternative, streaming, from the user perspective is superior in just a single aspect (far better usability) but technically is much, much worse.

Image quality is significantly worse, sound quality is also worse, typically very few sound tracks in different languages are available (in most cases just one), extra materials are either not available and/or not easily discoverable (yeah, not everything improved even in usability) and, unlike audio, no one sells downloadable video (which will be quite difficult to do properly anyway precisely because there is no yet superior replacement for Blu-ray format).