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When I go to Best Buy, I can't help but feel like the Blu-ray format is dying. Very few Blu-ray titles on display and very few players on display as well. The player and movie selections just keep getting slimmer and slimmer, so I'm starting to think that physical media is dying and that more people are streaming only. But when I ask this question on the Blu-ray.com forum, people tell me I'm wrong. They say stores aren't carrying much Blu-ray players and movies because most people prefer to buy them online now. So they insist that Blu-ray is still alive and well. But that just doesn't make sense. I mean, if there is a high demand, wouldn't stores have a better selection? The logic that most people prefer to buy physical movies & players online makes zero sense to me.
So is the Blu-ray format alive and well or is it on its way out? What do you think?
It's a niche market, only a matter of time before it goes. Same as DVDs and CDs before that.
Optical media is on it's way out, digital is taking over. However, if you still want archival, lossless video, optical media is currently the only way. Now that 4k is mainstream, I guess the only way to get that, would be UHD Blu Ray.
I guess you could download a digital copy. The file sizes would be very large, up to 100gb for a triple layer 4k BD, lossless of course. I don't see that happening though. It makes piracy so much easier.
It's a niche market, only a matter of time before it goes. Same as DVDs and CDs before that.
Optical media is on it's way out, digital is taking over. However, if you still want archival, lossless video, optical media is currently the only way. Now that 4k is mainstream, I guess the only way to get that, would be UHD Blu Ray.
I guess you could download a digital copy. The file sizes would be very large, up to 100gb for a triple layer 4k BD, lossless of course. I don't see that happening though. It makes piracy so much easier.
That's what I thought. Strange why those people on the Blu-ray.com forum are being very stubborn to admit it. Yes, I know they are blu-ray fanatics and so am I, but that doesn't mean I will deny reality.
It's absolutely dying. The 'enthusiasts' should know better.
"I can still get any movie I want on blue-ray".... yea, if you're an enthusiast. I used to be able to walk into any Best Buy or Target and find every new release on Blu Ray. I can't anymore.
It's absolutely dying. The 'enthusiasts' should know better.
"I can still get any movie I want on blue-ray".... yea, if you're an enthusiast. I used to be able to walk into any Best Buy or Target and find every new release on Blu Ray. I can't anymore.
The 'enthusiasts' gave me this excuse for why you can't find them in stores... "It is not due to the lack of need or desire on the consumer part, but because people feel comfortable enough to buy them online."
With that said, I still prefer Blu-Ray for quality movies. I have 100-200 BluRays and probably 30-50 4K BluRays. I often add one or two to the collection a week - more if there is a sale, like Black Friday.
I bought Wonder Woman 1984, Godzilla vs. Kong, Elysium, and the original Blade in 4K for $9.99 each on BF sales.
If I'm watching a B-level popcorn horror movie, Netflix and its occasional artifacting and hiccuping are OK.
If I'm watching Avatar, I want a better quality experience.
The 'enthusiasts' gave me this excuse for why you can't find them in stores... "It is not due to the lack of need or desire on the consumer part, but because people feel comfortable enough to buy them online."
If I'm watching a B-level popcorn horror movie, Netflix and its occasional artifacting and hiccuping are OK.
Surprisingly, I find a lot less hiccuping when streaming, but I guess that's because I have a very good fast, stable internet connection and stream via Ethernet as opposed to Wi-Fi. Blu-ray, to me, has always been a bit of a finicky format as some players can have compatibility issues with certain disks and can be ultra sensitive of scratches, which can make it annoying when you rent discs. When renting from iTunes, you don't have to worry about renting damaged discs. And then don't forget that physical media players have moving parts, which lessens their durability and will likely need replacement after a few years or so, depending on how often you use it. Streaming devices have zero moving parts, so they can last forever as long as there are updates that continue to become available for that device.
So other than picture/sound quality, streaming is just better. And even then, the picture/sound quality downgrade is extremely minimal.
Surprisingly, I find a lot less hiccuping when streaming, but I guess that's because I have a very good fast, stable internet connection and stream via Ethernet as opposed to Wi-Fi.
You experience less hiccuping because the bitrate over streaming is much lower than from Blu Ray.
Even if both are 4k (or HD), streaming will always compress the video. This is done for several reasons, less load on the server end, the ability to keep up with demand and to assure a smooth experience for the customer. Again, the same resolution but less detail on the compressed version. The bitrate determines the level of detail.
Let's take a 4k video on Netflix. Similar numbers would apply to other streaming services.
Netflix bitrate varies, this article mentions 16 Mb/s but in practice it is probably much lower. That's still pretty decent. This is assuming no bottlenecks at either end.
So even at it's slowest (72 Mbit/s), the BD is 4.5 times higher bitrate than streaming. These are max numbers, the actual bitrate varies on the scene and the amount of data needed to transmit the picture.
Generally speaking, there is no comparison in picture quality between disc and streaming. Both technically 4k resolution, different levels of quality.
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