Why physical media is making a comeback for movies

[betty boop]

well why isnt it a surprise ! first as per article below it was vinyl... now apparently for movies physical media in DVD, blur-ay and particularly 4k uhd blu-ray is making a come back

 

First the vinyl revival, now DVDs? Why physical media is making a comeback

https://archive.md/20240517003247/https://www.theage.com.au/culture/movies/first-the-vinyl-revival-now-dvd-why-physical-media-is-making-a-comeback-20240514-p5jdk9.html#selection-3309.0-3309.74

 

as the person featured says

 

“A lot of them are not on streaming services,” he says. “In Australia, we get the raw end of the deal as far as a lot of licensing agreements go.”

 

while there is a deeper connection of owning something that just watching something on streaming ... one of main reason 

 

"there is another attraction to owning a physical copy of a favourite film.

 

Permanence."

 

 

and it odes happen

 

"This month, it was Telstra TV Box Office customers being told they would lose access to films and TV shows they have bought when it shuts down next month unless they switch to another service, Fetch."

 

thats the problem of not owning something physically even if it doesnt disappear off the cloud due to "licensing agreements"  

 

even nolan called this out with oppenheimer ! 

 

After the success of Oppenheimer in cinemas, director Christopher Nolan had a playful dig at this sense of impermanence when he urged fans to buy a physical copy rather than waiting for it to stream, saying: “We put a lot of care and attention into the Blu-ray version [which you can] put on a shelf so no evil streaming service can come steal it from you”.

 

I am also part of this resurgence of physical media.. buying and enjoying what i do with movies..

[oldrose]

I never really stopped buying physical media simple because I’ve had bad experiences with service providers suddenly not allowing me to play things I’ve purchased. That dates back to the early days of iTunes where I learned you cannot rely on Apple keeping files for you.

 

I digitize most of the discs for convenience and I’m now looking at alternatives for disc  storage that consumes less space.

 

I’ve been reluctant to give up on the packaging of discs but that might have to change as there is a lot of dead air even in CD containers.

[BLAH BLAH]

[hometheatrebugbitten]

Far better quality too - particularly audio.  I buy any decent movie I want to watch on disc and stream the rest.

Watching Shogun streamed least night must have glitched about 20 times in the episode

[betty boop]

3 hours ago, hometheatrebugbitten said:

Far better quality too - particularly audio.  I buy any decent movie I want to watch on disc and stream the rest.

Watching Shogun streamed least night must have glitched about 20 times in the episode

Doing the same thing here, casual one off watching we will stream, movies we want to watch with best picture and audio and want to enjoy in the future we will buy on disc … similar to music as well I guess

[wooferocau]

I will always purchase and use  physical media if its available!! 

[hometheatrebugbitten]

sometimes you make a mistake - for some reason I cannot fathom I have ended up with a copy of Nick Cage - Prisoners of Ghostland

- waiting for the winter bonfire....

[Cevolution]

Physical media for movies isn’t really making a comeback in Australia in the sense that studios and distributors are increasing their unit quantities on store shelves, the amount of copies they sell is lower than ever. What’s really happening where there is increased interest is that some people who didn’t realise years ago that streaming isn’t owning and also has certain other disadvantages, they have now rethought their position, and they are taking advantage of the second hand market, i.e. CEX, Cash Converters, EBay, Vinnies, the Salvos etc, where they are now building a large collection for themselves because most discs sell used for peanuts.

 

However, this isn’t a solution to the problem, because not one cent of second hand disc sales goes to the studio/distributor, or Australian retailers that sell brand new stock on their shelves. Not only this, buying used/second hand means you are often supporting piracy, because often people that still buy discs these days rip them after they buy them, then sell the disc while still keeping the file.

 

Everyone is out to save a dollar for themselves, however that makes everyone greedy, the seller and the consumer, it makes no difference whether you’re a little Aussie battler earning $50000 a year, your ideology and selfishness being all about yourself is no different to corporations that makes millions or billions.

 

I own somewhere between 4500-5000 Blu-ray/4K Blu-ray titles, and other than 2 or 3 trades made on Blu-ray.com, not 1 of the titles in my collection was bought used/second hand.

Edited May 19, 2024 by Cevolution

[gbb]

On 17/05/2024 at 5:58 PM, oldrose said:

dead air even in CD containers.

What do you mean by that?

[oldrose]

7 minutes ago, gbb said:

What do you mean by that?

 A CD jewel case takes up a lot more space than the disc it contains.

[muon*]

I value the Jewel case.

 

I know some that toss them and put them in slips, to me that destroys the product, it is no longer complete.

[April Snow]

14 hours ago, muon* said:

I value the Jewel case.

 

I know some that toss them and put them in slips, to me that destroys the product, it is no longer complete.

Me too, I keep all my CDs/DVDS in their original Jewel cases (or Digipaks) 

[RCADees]

37 minutes ago, April Snow said:

Me too, I keep all my CDs/DVDS in their original Jewel cases (or Digipaks) 

Same, but it is a shame that there are so many new CD releases on those DigiPaks.

Would be a real shame if Blu Ray movies start selling like that the way the market is going. There is a reason why they are called "jewel cases", they are special and have value to many of us.

[oldrose]

Space issues make this a problem for me now and as I mostly listen via streaming something has to be done.

40 minutes ago, April Snow said:

Me too, I keep all my CDs/DVDS in their original Jewel cases (or Digipaks) 

 

[stevoz]

I have never streamed and probably never will. Love physical media, love that I have a collection of blurays and 4K's that I can watch forever, although I am going to cull some lesser films that I know I'll never watch again because with over 500 bluray's, I am running out of shelf space to store them.

 

Also, you can't beat the visual and audio quality of physical media.

 

I'm with Nolan.....streaming services are evil.

 

[Cloth Ears]

On 20/05/2024 at 2:39 PM, stevoz said:

I have never streamed and probably never will. Love physical media, love that I have a collection of blurays and 4K's that I can watch forever, although I am going to cull some lesser films that I know I'll never watch again because with over 500 bluray's, I am running out of shelf space to store them.

 

Also, you can't beat the visual and audio quality of physical media.

 

I'm with Nolan.....streaming services are evil.

 

+1

 

I'm currently replacing most of my DVDs with Bluray or 4K, as the surface treatment of the disks is so much better (not that I scratch them, but others may sometimes put on a disk). Some of the DVDs cannot be found on Bluray or 4K (Roman Polanski's Pirates and Diva by Beineix) and some I may not upgrade. So it's currently about 300 are upgraded and 200 still on DVD.

 

I stream only on FTA TV (). I may decide to go with a sport channel once I retire, but I just wouldn't get the value out of it now.

[betty boop]

Got an email JB hifi has a buy one get one free on physical media blu-ray and 4k uhd 

 

great time to grab some even brand new releases !

 

 

[groovem]

Too early for Dune 2, that's not released until 12 June, this sale ends 29 May.

[betty boop]

27 minutes ago, groovem said:

Too early for Dune 2, that's not released until 12 June, this sale ends 29 May.

Can’t wait for dune 2  also have American sniper on way both from JB

pretty affordable priced

https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/american-sniper-2014-4k-ultra-hd

Edited May 23, 2024 by betty boop

[Steff]

16 minutes ago, betty boop said:

Can’t wait for dune 2

That should rock the living room couch nicely!

[gillmaverick]

Streaming sound quality is not even close to 4k disc atmos in a proper set up. I always purchase 4k discs of movies I want to watch again. Anyway was browsing on Amazon and found Avatar 2 3d bluray for $ 22 and grabbed it straight away from UK. Anyway JBHIFI have 2 for 1 at the moment. 

[betty boop]

Might have to pay JB a visit this weekend  avatar ! 

[IMDave]

Spent an hour in the local JB this afternoon. 2 for 1 is the best sale of the year.

Went through their entire catalogue of 4kUHD. Said," That's great,oh yeah,got it. That's good..got it." Etc, etc, etc.

Cried walking out with only 2 for my troubles.

Yes, I could have bought a number of " double dips" that I already have on Blu Ray, but couldn't justify it.

Was going to comment the other day about the dearth of quality releases over the past 6 months but pulled the post.

On the Pre-orders at the moment, the only thing I'm looking for is Dune 2.

A bit sad really.

 

 

 

[betty boop]

7 minutes ago, IMDave said:

Said," That's great,oh yeah,got it. That's good..got it." Etc, etc, etc.

Cried walking out with only 2 for my troubles.

Ha it could be a similar story for me … hope don’t cry walking out  

[Tweaky]

I agree, its been a dismal couple of years when it comes to movies on discs [compared to pre COVID], I've bought way way less discs than I used to simply because for me there has been very little worth getting, especially now I basically only buy 4K Discs

 

I do wonder about the longevity of DVD's, I remember when there used to be a DVD related magazine in Australia called REGION 4 when DVD's were a new media, and about 12 months in they were talking about DVD rot .

I think the first couple of print runs of Independence Day was used as a notorious example of DVD rot, where the metal layer started looking tarnished and pitted, and no long played without problems.

 

Has anybody run across perished DVD's in their collection yet?

I haven't been through my earliest DVD purchases yet to see how they have stood up over the years.

 

One thing I would like to do, and that is to  replace the outer plastic dust jackets on a lot of my DVD cases, years ago I  noticed the ends of my DVD cases were really dusty, so I cleaned them  with some sort of household cleaning product, that has since turned them in disintegrated plastic shards, plastic falls all over the carpet every time I touch the racks of DVD's.

I've looked for replacements on EBAY and Amazon but haven't been able to find any, only replacements for the whole plastic case .

Anybody know where I can source them from ?