jjcool

Finally, you post something that is accurate. Bravo.

Adam Tyner

If this is the level of discourse that can be expected from this thread, it should probably just be closed.

Coral

So Sony announced their PS4 Pro 4K console earlier.

It doesn't come with a UHD-BD player... only a standard 1080p BD player.
It will however come with a Youtube and Netflix app that will play 4K HDR content.

Quite telling when the major player of the physical format won't support it on their consoles.

Alan Smithee

Just like the great job they did supporting their own SACD format. Even before Blu-Ray came out I had serious doubts as to how good a job Sony was going to do with it, given how far downhill their DVD department had fallen (remember all those titles they reissued with just the 4x3 versions on them? Great way to sell widescreen TVs, guys!)

jjcool

Couldn't agree more. Users calling others "ignorant" is quite uncalled for.

Coral

I think the writing's been on the wall for Sony. They wanted to attract the masses and you can't do that by adding something that will increase the price by $100-$150 for something that most don't care about. People are moving away from physical media and Sony knows UHD-BD has very little chance of reverting that trend. They made sure to mention that the PS4 Pro will have a Netflix and Youtube app to stream 4k HDR content though. Why? Because that's where the masses are or are heading.

It's not much different from when they released SACD. They released a high resolution physical format when people were moving away to a lower resolution portable/digital format (MP3). History is repeating itself. People will take convenience over quality 9 times out of 10... especially when the quality difference isn't very noticeable to them.

Many of us in this thread have been saying this for a while. UHD-BD will be a tiny niche.

BuckNaked2k

BTW, there is a separate thread for discussing UHD. Maybe this debate can best be addressed there so as not to risk the sales thread getting locked.

arbogast777

I keep reading this "it would have increased the price by $100" thing on different forums, but the comparable XBox One S plays 4K discs for $50 LESS. Add to that Bill Hunt theorizing that it could be made to play them with a future firmware update. Price is not the issue here.

The "physical vs. digital" thing is a contentious topic that has invaded all the home theater forums I visit like a cancer. Every site has it's own thread like this, and it also ends up seeping through every other conversation. It's impossible to stop, and for at least me has made the hobby a tad less fun than it used to be. I think the best you can do is give the topic it's one thread like this and let things fall where they may...

Coral

I'll respond in the UHD-BD thread, since this thread is about disc sales.

arbogast777

The PS4, which in it's first iteration sits in 43 million homes, not being able to play UHD discs is absolutely relevant to a discussion on disc sales. That's a lot of consumers who will now choose to stream a movie in UHD rather than buy a 1080p disc...

mattysemo247

Except the PS4 Pro isn't going to appeal to many of those 43 million people that already bought PS4's. This isn't a PS5, it's just an upgraded PS4.

arbogast777

I never said it was.

But when we're talking about a disc format that sells in the 100,000's, the Pro will absolutely sell enough units that it will effect the sales of UHD discs going forward.

Apart from that, just the news that a major hardware manufacturer has set up its new unit to cater to 4k streaming but not 4K discs is totally relevant to the discussion in this thread.

Adam Tyner

With my moderator hat on:

If you want to talk about the specific implications of the lack of Ultra HD Blu-ray playback on PS4 platforms on UHD BD media sales, it's appropriate for this thread.

If you want to talk about it in any other sense or context, this isn't the thread for it.

orangerunner

After the 10th anniversary of Blu-ray, I opened up the latest Best Buy flyer and noticed "The Conjuring 2" has a colourful illustration and a bold $19.99 price tag for the DVD and then in small, fine print "Blu-ray Combo $24.99"

Alan Smithee

And I'll say again that it's odd anyone still makes DVD-only players at this stage, given that you can't buy standard-def TVs anymore.

bruceames

I would have thought that they stop making them by now, but then I never thought that DVD would have such a high market share at this time either. Obviously there is demand and many people who have no interest in any physical format beyond DVD. I am amazed at its resilience.

Coral

There are a lot of people with standard definition TVs still.
Plus just because someone has a HDTV, doesn't mean they feel the need to buy a BD player and spend more money replacing their DVD collections and spending the extra $5+ to buy the BD over DVD.

It's similar to people paying $200+ on headphones and still listening to MP3s instead of Hi-Res... or even just FLAC/CD.

BuckNaked2k

This example, more than many others, speaks volumes to the current state of Blu-ray.

Adam Tyner

I'd take issue with that for a couple of reasons.

For one, Best Buy has been doing this for ages. Here's an example from 2011, for instance. If I could quickly find a circular from years before that, you'd see it there too:



They do often feature Blu-ray front and center. One very recent example:



I think in the case of The Conjuring 2 that Best Buy is highlighting the version with the lowest price. $19.99 is more eyecatching than $24.99, after all. Plus for a new release, one of the important things is really just to say "it's out!" Someone who's interested in The Conjuring 2 doesn't have to see a blue banner at the top of the cover art to know that they can get it on Blu-ray at Best Buy, and the same is true for the weeks where Best Buy will show off a Blu-ray version instead and someone's interested in the DVD. ...or if someone wants an Xbox One game and sees a PS4 version in the ad or vice versa.

Although no one will argue when I agree that DVD as a format is outselling Blu-ray by a considerable margin, the ratio is much tighter for new releases and frequently favors Blu-ray (obviously depending on the specific title in question), at least in the early weeks.

To use some relatively recent examples (sorry, these are the latest I could quickly find), Blu-ray had a 59% share for 10 Cloverfield Lane in its first week, 55% for London Has Fallen, 60% for Zootopia, 61% for Hail, Caesar!, 54% for Allegiant, 54% for Green Room, 70% for Batman v Superman, 75% for The Fifth Wave, and 52% for The Revenant. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see The Conjuring 2 perform along those lines on Blu-ray in week one.

Strapped4Cash

It seems strange that you would be amazed considering that you yourself said "it's obvious that most everyone buys for many different reasons". Further, at least some of those "many" people might have that interest, I would bet that at least some portion do. But there's a difference between having an interest and actually taking the time to investigate, and then taking the steps. Or some of those people may have philosophical objections, where they are interested in the theoretical, but not willing to go against what they believe is the right thing for them. Or other priorities. With more time and/or money then more people might well look past DVD.

I am constantly surprised by observers who don't understand that the actual world, and real people, are (at least sometimes) complex, not one-dimensional. If you can keep that in mind then I venture that you might be less "amazed".

arbogast777

bruceames

Nice to see Blu-ray up again, but $30 million does seem a little low for having a $363 million Blockbuster released (and with a 63% BD unit share).

mattysemo247

That's because everyone is waiting for the 3D version

Civil War should see a huge bump this week

Sub-Zero

September 10:

WeeBey

For people looking at the music industry for clues about the future of movies, there is new data out today for the first half of 2016.

The good news is that the industry grew 8.1% versus 1H 2015. This is credited to paid streaming, a combination of Spotify's continued growth and Apple Music bringing in 17 million new customers. Paid streaming grew 57.4%. Ad-supported streaming grew 23.6%.

As expected, physical media continued its long demise, generating 19.6% of sales which is down 24.7%. CD sales dropped 14%. A little more surprisingly, vinyl's renaissance may be over as sales declined 9.1%.

It's not just physical media that's dying, the whole concept of music ownership is going away. Digital download sales are down a sharp 17.1%.