Disappointing that optical drive development has seemingly stalled, and not just at Samsung and for Blu-ray players. Optical is still used for some backup needs, and there are advantages for having certain data stored in media that cannot be modified after they're written.
No unexpected. I am a little surprised that DVD has the most market share. Visually the leap from DVD to Bluray is enormous. Bluray to Ultra Bluray less so.
Unless I'm watching something action/effects heavy, I'll go with DVD over Blu-ray. I don't need the extra pixels or enhanced sound on a comedy or drama (my wife will only watch those once anyway, the extra 4-5$ is unnecessary).
Huh? Below DVD quality streaming? Just about everything on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Sling, etc... which is I think where most people are streaming is HD quality. The bitrate may not be as high as DVD but the quality due to the better compression vs DVD's MPEG2 and higher resolution more than make up for it.
its close enough. the dark areas are a bit noisey and even the bright areas are to a lesser extent. not sure what the audio situation is like. if it supports surround or high sample rate
I'm not surprised. People who resist new technology are still buying DVDs. People who embrace new tech are streaming 4K video. Where's the market for a 4K plastic disc? Hoarders?
Yeah streaming 4K has a ton more compression artifacts vs UHD disc. Not to mention compressed audio vs. Lossless Dolby Atmos or DTS:X.
Granted on your average viewer TV viewer listening to the built in speakers isn't likely to care. But if you have the setup to appreciate it, disc blows streaming out of the water.
That's a surprise for me as well. I switched my mom from DVD to Bluray once she bought herself a new 37" 1080p LCD TV. The price difference is mostly a joke: 2 to 5€ for most of her shows and movies often feel like a steal with the frequent Amazon "x for y money" things where a Blu Ray ends up costing maybe 5 or 6€. Only things expensive are new releases and 4k. Once she watched her first Blu Ray she was hooked. And there aren't a lot of action scenes for her (mostly crime shows from Britain and Skandinavian countries).
Many people have too small TVs for the distant they watch at. When I tell them about the ideal way to watch it, they look at me like I'm crazy and repeat the bullshit all parents tell their children (don't be so close to the TV, your eyes will get damaged).
I think the only surprise in this announcement is the fact that it has taken this long for optical discs to lose relevance. Then again, I am one of those people that is still purchasing video on DVDs because I've been staging to jump from DVD to streaming only, skipping Blu-ray in the process.
They're not completely irrelevant, just mostly. In terms of objective quality, 1080p Blu-ray has a higher bit-rate than Netflix's UHD service. Bit rate isn't everything, it depends on the codec, etc, but what I can find says Netflix UHD is about 15 Mbps, and my smallest movie-length Blu-ray sits at 14 Mbps on average (and it's half the size of my next smallest). Sampling a couple of movies, a Blu-ray's bit rate sits at about 30-35 Mbps (5 Mbps of that is audio), and a UHD disc sits at about twice that (65-70 Mbps, with the same 5 Mbps for audio).
Compression algorithms might be able to do a lot, but a UHD Blu-ray still streams nearly 5 times as much data as Netflix.
True enough. However, I'm not sure if the quality advantage will be perpetually tilted in favor of optical media and I don't think a majority subset of video consumers currently find the quality difference significant enough to justify keeping optical discs as a format alive. Add the security mechanisms and the problems those mechanisms introduce into the mix and Blu-ray looks just a bit less appealing than streaming. I read a lot of "common people" news and I see nowhere that is advocating keeping optical discs. Blu-ray and DVD collections are frequently featured on "if you want to save money never buy X, Y, or Z" articles. The general public is being nudged toward streaming as a valid alternative.
The fact that you know where some of these problems are happening by citing specific pain points that I didn't mention means you're aware of the issues even if you haven't personally experienced them.
Huh?? i wasnt referring to your post... and um.. where else would one play bluerays ?? the only ones i know of, are standalone players, on a computer, or a console.. is there another way to play bluerays or dvds that i dont know of ???
I agree. Consumer formats are largely a game of compromise between quality and convenience. John Doe won't spend $30 for the latest Marvel movie on UHD when he can stream it off Netflix (or I guess Disney's streaming service) with the same fee he already pays to watch his favorite TV show. He won't notice a difference, since he's probably listening through TV speakers (or worse, his phone's speaker) and watching on the biggest TV he could afford instead of the nicest TV he could afford.
I think we're still a few years (at least) from streaming catching up with Blu-ray, but I don't doubt it'll happen. I expect (hope) movies to end up taking the route music has, where the general public buys or streams lower-quality files, but enthusiasts have the option of buying high-quality files at a premium (preferably without DRM).
Their current players still spin the disc and output HDMI right? Good for them not playing the same product new SKU game.
I guess the point of clarification is are they still producing the 2017 SKU? Or is there a warehouse with 100K units collecting dust? Or is it whats left in the retail channel and goodbye.
Assuming nothing has changed since I got my last bluray player Samsung is still making them. I got a player early 2016 model release in mid 2017 that had been manufactured a month or two before purchase.
Oppo went out of production too quickly. They left quite a bit of money on the table, with a long waiting list they could not get through. Fortunately, I saw the writing on the wall and grabbed a lightly-used one off ebay for not too much markup.
The biggest problem I have with it is that most "Blu Rays" come with a DVD and Digital combo and cost way too much money, are riddled with unskippable ads, and at the end of the day still not as convenient. How about a tiny USB device I can just plug into my TV that has the video file? No ads, no trailers, no previews, just plug it in USB and just play. Save time, money, headache, packaging while delivering a better video and audio experience than what you can get with digital (currently).
The cost on that is orders of magnitude above the cost of pressing DVD's or BR's, which literally cost pennies to produce. It would take a miracle of production to bring 100GB of storage in a flash/USB format down to the $0.03-0.10 per disc cost of optical media (cheapest with DVD's, most expensive with multi-layer UHD).
" come with a DVD and Digital combo and cost way too much money, are riddled with unskippable ads " huh??? blue ray costs maybe 5 bucks more then the dvd, and includes the dvd as well.. unskippable ads ?? after a few button presses, i can get to the main menu and start the movie no problem...
Not a surprise. The industry only just figured out the UHD HDCP 2.2 thing about 2 years ago. 4k TVs and media have been available for much longer, but the HDCP confusion hurt the format significantly. Most people, myself included, have devices that say they support 4K over HDMI but lack HDCP 2.2.
Personally, I prefer physical media over streaming. FiOS, the slowest fiber money can buy, has buffering and throttling issues when streaming 4K content.
Every time I read about streaming in high quality, I see a ton of people having issues. 4k streaming needs just as much handshaking and protocol updates that a lot of currently selling streaming devices (phones, tablets, TV boxes) can't stream 4k from every service. I'm not sure if that is also true for 1080p, I know it was in the past.
I have an Xbox One at home I use as my blu-ray player. Some have Xbox One S and X systems that can read and play UHD Blu-Rays. If they're not gamers who have a console which can read disks, they'll most likely prefer using a streaming service.
I bought my parents a UHD Samsung player last year, but mostly for the Blu-Ray drive. They don't own UHD content, even though they do have a UHD HDR capable TV. My mother recently used this powerful box to play her Stargate SG1 collection, which is DVD.
In short, I believe if people want a disk player, they probably own a console, and if they don't, they're most likely streaming using Netflix anyways. And for the price of a UHD player, you can buy a console. Game and watch UHD content, 2 functions for the same price as a box with 1.
The problem I found with consoles are they are pain to control and quality is not even close to dedicated player most of time - an exception is non 4K UHD movies on Samsung 4k players which I found some disks have issues. Sounds to me like bad quality control by Samsung.
If the console is outputting a digital signal, there should be no difference in quality compared to a dedicated player. The information is the very same. It's up to your sound system and TV to the The digital to analog convertion with high fidelity.
Output is not primary issue I have with console, it the ease of use, dedicated players are better at it and also if you go actual Audio Video sites they mention that they dedicated players have better quality, but I am not totally convivence. Especially with my experience with Samsung Players.
I don't *want* my player doing anything other than decoding the stream. That said, it needs to have good fast forward and rewind, but one feature I love about Oppo's players is their "Source Direct" mode, which disables all onboard processing. My TV's deinterlacer and motion smoother work best in that mode.
I have recently upgraded to 4kTV and am mulling options for video. Prefer PC to console, though enjoy both streaming and DVD/Blu-Ray. I have not taken the plunge for a 4k movie player, but streaming isn't going to get me Blu-Ray quality most of the time, so 4k streaming just isn't viable with my current provider. Agree with other posters, in my experience streaming quality is at times inconsistent.
" I believe if people want a disk player, they probably own a console, and if they don't, they're most likely streaming using Netflix anyways " i doubt that.. a console is at least 300 bucks.. a blue Ray player, less then $100. netflix.. maybe.. but im not one of them.. i prefer optical media over streaming...
At the time I bought it, the Xbox One S was the cheapest *UHD* Blu-ray player (and why get anything less?). You can get them for $250 right now, probably less on sale; about what a Samsung or Sony equivalent would cost. I appreciate that's not cheap, but you get to play games too, and it's a streaming box as well - potentially a better one than the dedicated machines, since it's a bigger market and so is likely to have support for longer.
standalone blueray player ( or UHD player ) is still cheaper then a console ( where i am at least ), but as you mentioned, IF there are also games that one would like to play on a console, then it could be a better buy.. for me at least, xbox or playstation, dont have have enough games that interest me to warrant the purchase over a standalone player..
I think this more a statement about Samsung quality than 4k BluRay and I am not sure the numbers are valid. 4k is definitely here to stay and I have found that Dobly Atmos tracks make a bigger difference that HDR video. But I have two 4k Samsung Bluray players and I serious question there quality especially when you put Bluray movie in the player and it fails but work fine on Sony player or even and Xbox One S.
As for streaming, I serious doubt it gets it quality especially sound quality that 4K UHD has.
Did you ever update the firmware on your Samsung players?
Disc compatibility issues do happen, with blu-rays. Manufacturers are often pretty good about fixing these as the come up, but you need to update your firmware.
Was doing dinner and movies at a friend's place. They chuckled when I said I still bought blu-ray disc's. They were like ummm have you heard of streaming? The whole time we watched movies by streaming that night they were a stuttering disaster. And occasionally had to drop bitrate to a pixelated mess. This is why I buy movies and series I really love on uhd/HD blu-ray, it'll always be perfect, crisp, no stuttering. Plus I usually redeem a digital copy on Vudu with the code that comes with the disc anyway so I can still stream if I want.
Also it's worth noting very few streaming services offer dolby atmos audio. Having spent way too much money on my atmos setup I fully intend to take advantage whenever possible and blu-ray allows that (assuming the audio was recorded for atmos)
I found out that netflix's atmos is streamed through a modified ac3 codec so it's still dvd quality audio, but with atmos modifiers. Atmos is nice, but I'll take a real bitrate DTS over ac3 atmos.
I can't say I'm surprised. With the AV1 codec on the horizon, the quality of streaming will continue to improve. The Wi-Fi 6 standard will also reduce congestion for people living in dense cities or apartment complexes, which should reduce buffering issues.
The Ultra HD Blu-ray tech was developed around the same time that 4K streaming emerged, so it is hardly surprising that these devices don't sell. Due to the prevalence of streaming at up to 1080p along with the emergence of 4K TV sets these Ultra HD Blu-ray players and disks should actually be more relevant than vanilla Blu-rays.
However Netflix and co just *had* to scale up to 4K as well, didn't they? While Netflix's 4K is much poorer than 4K Blu-rays, and 1080p streaming is also poorer than vanilla Blu-rays, nothing beats the convenience of streaming and saying "good riddance" to physical disks. 68 million Blu-ray players in 2023? These guys are clearly over-optimistic.
I kinda miss the 80s/90s cyberpunk aesthetic/view where discs were still very prevalent. I think the discs are still useful for backup systems. It seems better value but less convenient than tape for homelabbers and prosumer. I wish multi-disc swappers in 5.25" size existed like they did for CD.
Don't back anything up to discs, unless you repeat the process every few years or have specifically tuned discs for long live. A lot of CDs and DVDs are becoming unreadable even when kept in perfect condition. Disc rot and other things.
It's the dyes. Disc makers use faster reacting dyes because people want to burn discs faster, but faster dyes also degrade faster. If you're using discs for backup, stick with M-Discs. They are designed to have an extremely long life.
I have a 75 inch Sony 940E TV. Streaming is pretty bad compared to disc and I have a really good internet connection. Also, the sound is much better on disc. Might a well have a soundbar instead of a 7.2.4 Atmos system.
It is kind of like the Super Audio and DVD Audio phase in music. Then MP3 players came out and everyone wanted to put 1000 songs on a 4 gig IPOD. Crappy bit rate. I will take my SA and DVD A discs any day but then again I do not listen to much new music. It sounds crappy at any bit rate!
The elderly play a big roll in the survival of DVD. All the elderly people I've met, either socially or during IT calls, all have DVD players. Often the DVD players are attached to older CRT televisions. Their thinking is "It works and I know how to use it, so why spend money on something new?". Besides, their eyes might not be able to see the difference between DVD and Blu-ray.
It's not rocket science, uhd Blu rays cost 5 or more time the DVD. They're pricing them out of sale on purpose to eliminate the format way better to stream instead. It's worked, only a matter of time and there's no more players, first OPPO, now Samsung
From everything I've read, the Samsung BD players were buggy or missing features. LG, Sony, Panasonic and maybe Philips will soldier on. And if you have a game console, you already have a Bluray player https://bestpornever.me/_udata/gsnn/tenor-1964.gif .
I have recently upgraded to 4kTV and am mulling options for video. Prefer PC to console, though enjoy both streaming and DVD/Blu-Ray. I have not taken the plunge for a 4k movie player, but streaming isn't going to get me Blu-Ray quality most of the time, so <a href="https://freeonlineporn.me/category/porn-tube-sites... xxxstreaming</a> just isn't viable with my current provider. Agree with other posters, in my experience streaming quality is at times inconsistent.
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eastcoast_pete - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
Disappointing that optical drive development has seemingly stalled, and not just at Samsung and for Blu-ray players. Optical is still used for some backup needs, and there are advantages for having certain data stored in media that cannot be modified after they're written.Hulk - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
No unexpected. I am a little surprised that DVD has the most market share. Visually the leap from DVD to Bluray is enormous. Bluray to Ultra Bluray less so.CannedTurkey - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
Unless I'm watching something action/effects heavy, I'll go with DVD over Blu-ray. I don't need the extra pixels or enhanced sound on a comedy or drama (my wife will only watch those once anyway, the extra 4-5$ is unnecessary).Death666Angel - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
Being blind must be nice. ;-)edzieba - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
The majority of consumers seem to be happy with the quality of streaming, which is often well below DVD quality.Hulk - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
Huh? Below DVD quality streaming? Just about everything on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Sling, etc... which is I think where most people are streaming is HD quality. The bitrate may not be as high as DVD but the quality due to the better compression vs DVD's MPEG2 and higher resolution more than make up for it.Opencg - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
its close enough. the dark areas are a bit noisey and even the bright areas are to a lesser extent. not sure what the audio situation is like. if it supports surround or high sample rateJeffFlanagan - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
I'm not surprised. People who resist new technology are still buying DVDs. People who embrace new tech are streaming 4K video. Where's the market for a 4K plastic disc? Hoarders?Inteli - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
Enthusiasts? People who want to own the movie rather than pay a fee to access it? A UHD disc is still far and away higher quality than 4k streaming.Manch - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
Exactly. Streaming is OK for some things. Blurays and UHD discs provide far better quality. Plus, the time it takes to download is ridiculous for me..DrKlahn - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
Yeah streaming 4K has a ton more compression artifacts vs UHD disc. Not to mention compressed audio vs. Lossless Dolby Atmos or DTS:X.Granted on your average viewer TV viewer listening to the built in speakers isn't likely to care. But if you have the setup to appreciate it, disc blows streaming out of the water.
mode_13h - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link
People who value fidelity are still on blu-ray and UHD. Especially in large parts of the US and elsewhere that lack the highest speed internet access.Death666Angel - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
That's a surprise for me as well. I switched my mom from DVD to Bluray once she bought herself a new 37" 1080p LCD TV. The price difference is mostly a joke: 2 to 5€ for most of her shows and movies often feel like a steal with the frequent Amazon "x for y money" things where a Blu Ray ends up costing maybe 5 or 6€. Only things expensive are new releases and 4k. Once she watched her first Blu Ray she was hooked. And there aren't a lot of action scenes for her (mostly crime shows from Britain and Skandinavian countries).Many people have too small TVs for the distant they watch at. When I tell them about the ideal way to watch it, they look at me like I'm crazy and repeat the bullshit all parents tell their children (don't be so close to the TV, your eyes will get damaged).
PeachNCream - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
I think the only surprise in this announcement is the fact that it has taken this long for optical discs to lose relevance. Then again, I am one of those people that is still purchasing video on DVDs because I've been staging to jump from DVD to streaming only, skipping Blu-ray in the process.Inteli - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
They're not completely irrelevant, just mostly. In terms of objective quality, 1080p Blu-ray has a higher bit-rate than Netflix's UHD service. Bit rate isn't everything, it depends on the codec, etc, but what I can find says Netflix UHD is about 15 Mbps, and my smallest movie-length Blu-ray sits at 14 Mbps on average (and it's half the size of my next smallest). Sampling a couple of movies, a Blu-ray's bit rate sits at about 30-35 Mbps (5 Mbps of that is audio), and a UHD disc sits at about twice that (65-70 Mbps, with the same 5 Mbps for audio).Compression algorithms might be able to do a lot, but a UHD Blu-ray still streams nearly 5 times as much data as Netflix.
PeachNCream - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
True enough. However, I'm not sure if the quality advantage will be perpetually tilted in favor of optical media and I don't think a majority subset of video consumers currently find the quality difference significant enough to justify keeping optical discs as a format alive. Add the security mechanisms and the problems those mechanisms introduce into the mix and Blu-ray looks just a bit less appealing than streaming. I read a lot of "common people" news and I see nowhere that is advocating keeping optical discs. Blu-ray and DVD collections are frequently featured on "if you want to save money never buy X, Y, or Z" articles. The general public is being nudged toward streaming as a valid alternative.Korguz - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
ive never had any issues playing any of the bluerays i have, in standalone players, or via power dvdPeachNCream - Friday, February 22, 2019 - link
The fact that you know where some of these problems are happening by citing specific pain points that I didn't mention means you're aware of the issues even if you haven't personally experienced them.Korguz - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link
Huh?? i wasnt referring to your post... and um.. where else would one play bluerays ?? the only ones i know of, are standalone players, on a computer, or a console.. is there another way to play bluerays or dvds that i dont know of ???Inteli - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
I agree. Consumer formats are largely a game of compromise between quality and convenience. John Doe won't spend $30 for the latest Marvel movie on UHD when he can stream it off Netflix (or I guess Disney's streaming service) with the same fee he already pays to watch his favorite TV show. He won't notice a difference, since he's probably listening through TV speakers (or worse, his phone's speaker) and watching on the biggest TV he could afford instead of the nicest TV he could afford.I think we're still a few years (at least) from streaming catching up with Blu-ray, but I don't doubt it'll happen. I expect (hope) movies to end up taking the route music has, where the general public buys or streams lower-quality files, but enthusiasts have the option of buying high-quality files at a premium (preferably without DRM).
Gunbuster - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
Their current players still spin the disc and output HDMI right? Good for them not playing the same product new SKU game.I guess the point of clarification is are they still producing the 2017 SKU? Or is there a warehouse with 100K units collecting dust? Or is it whats left in the retail channel and goodbye.
thestryker - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
Assuming nothing has changed since I got my last bluray player Samsung is still making them. I got a player early 2016 model release in mid 2017 that had been manufactured a month or two before purchase.mode_13h - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link
Oppo went out of production too quickly. They left quite a bit of money on the table, with a long waiting list they could not get through. Fortunately, I saw the writing on the wall and grabbed a lightly-used one off ebay for not too much markup.quiksilvr - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
The biggest problem I have with it is that most "Blu Rays" come with a DVD and Digital combo and cost way too much money, are riddled with unskippable ads, and at the end of the day still not as convenient. How about a tiny USB device I can just plug into my TV that has the video file? No ads, no trailers, no previews, just plug it in USB and just play. Save time, money, headache, packaging while delivering a better video and audio experience than what you can get with digital (currently).Reflex - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
The cost on that is orders of magnitude above the cost of pressing DVD's or BR's, which literally cost pennies to produce. It would take a miracle of production to bring 100GB of storage in a flash/USB format down to the $0.03-0.10 per disc cost of optical media (cheapest with DVD's, most expensive with multi-layer UHD).Korguz - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
" come with a DVD and Digital combo and cost way too much money, are riddled with unskippable ads "huh??? blue ray costs maybe 5 bucks more then the dvd, and includes the dvd as well.. unskippable ads ?? after a few button presses, i can get to the main menu and start the movie no problem...
Death666Angel - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
USB will never be as cheap as optical like DVD or Bluray.mode_13h - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link
Better still, the USB drive can delete the file, after you've played it!Even if it doesn't deliberately do any such thing, the bits on a modern flash drive will probably rot after just a couple years.
BigDragon - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
Not a surprise. The industry only just figured out the UHD HDCP 2.2 thing about 2 years ago. 4k TVs and media have been available for much longer, but the HDCP confusion hurt the format significantly. Most people, myself included, have devices that say they support 4K over HDMI but lack HDCP 2.2.Personally, I prefer physical media over streaming. FiOS, the slowest fiber money can buy, has buffering and throttling issues when streaming 4K content.
Death666Angel - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
Every time I read about streaming in high quality, I see a ton of people having issues. 4k streaming needs just as much handshaking and protocol updates that a lot of currently selling streaming devices (phones, tablets, TV boxes) can't stream 4k from every service. I'm not sure if that is also true for 1080p, I know it was in the past.Xyler94 - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
I have an Xbox One at home I use as my blu-ray player. Some have Xbox One S and X systems that can read and play UHD Blu-Rays. If they're not gamers who have a console which can read disks, they'll most likely prefer using a streaming service.I bought my parents a UHD Samsung player last year, but mostly for the Blu-Ray drive. They don't own UHD content, even though they do have a UHD HDR capable TV. My mother recently used this powerful box to play her Stargate SG1 collection, which is DVD.
In short, I believe if people want a disk player, they probably own a console, and if they don't, they're most likely streaming using Netflix anyways. And for the price of a UHD player, you can buy a console. Game and watch UHD content, 2 functions for the same price as a box with 1.
HStewart - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
The problem I found with consoles are they are pain to control and quality is not even close to dedicated player most of time - an exception is non 4K UHD movies on Samsung 4k players which I found some disks have issues. Sounds to me like bad quality control by Samsung.Vitor - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
If the console is outputting a digital signal, there should be no difference in quality compared to a dedicated player. The information is the very same. It's up to your sound system and TV to the The digital to analog convertion with high fidelity.Vitor - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
To do*HStewart - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
Output is not primary issue I have with console, it the ease of use, dedicated players are better at it and also if you go actual Audio Video sites they mention that they dedicated players have better quality, but I am not totally convivence. Especially with my experience with Samsung Players.Vitor - Thursday, February 21, 2019 - link
Clearly BS. Any PS4 has way more processing power than any so called "dedicated player".mode_13h - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link
I don't *want* my player doing anything other than decoding the stream. That said, it needs to have good fast forward and rewind, but one feature I love about Oppo's players is their "Source Direct" mode, which disables all onboard processing. My TV's deinterlacer and motion smoother work best in that mode.mode_13h - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link
For a long time, PS3 was one of the fastest, most responsive blu-ray players.mode_13h - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link
They made a special remote control for it, too.catavalon21 - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
I have recently upgraded to 4kTV and am mulling options for video. Prefer PC to console, though enjoy both streaming and DVD/Blu-Ray. I have not taken the plunge for a 4k movie player, but streaming isn't going to get me Blu-Ray quality most of the time, so 4k streaming just isn't viable with my current provider. Agree with other posters, in my experience streaming quality is at times inconsistent.Korguz - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
" I believe if people want a disk player, they probably own a console, and if they don't, they're most likely streaming using Netflix anyways "i doubt that.. a console is at least 300 bucks.. a blue Ray player, less then $100. netflix.. maybe.. but im not one of them.. i prefer optical media over streaming...
GreenReaper - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
At the time I bought it, the Xbox One S was the cheapest *UHD* Blu-ray player (and why get anything less?). You can get them for $250 right now, probably less on sale; about what a Samsung or Sony equivalent would cost. I appreciate that's not cheap, but you get to play games too, and it's a streaming box as well - potentially a better one than the dedicated machines, since it's a bigger market and so is likely to have support for longer.Korguz - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
GreenReaperstandalone blueray player ( or UHD player ) is still cheaper then a console ( where i am at least ), but as you mentioned, IF there are also games that one would like to play on a console, then it could be a better buy.. for me at least, xbox or playstation, dont have have enough games that interest me to warrant the purchase over a standalone player..
HStewart - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
I think this more a statement about Samsung quality than 4k BluRay and I am not sure the numbers are valid. 4k is definitely here to stay and I have found that Dobly Atmos tracks make a bigger difference that HDR video. But I have two 4k Samsung Bluray players and I serious question there quality especially when you put Bluray movie in the player and it fails but work fine on Sony player or even and Xbox One S.As for streaming, I serious doubt it gets it quality especially sound quality that 4K UHD has.
mode_13h - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link
Did you ever update the firmware on your Samsung players?Disc compatibility issues do happen, with blu-rays. Manufacturers are often pretty good about fixing these as the come up, but you need to update your firmware.
Lolimaster - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
Optical media has been lagging a lot, even worse as backup media. 25GBLolimaster - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
25GB is just to low for backup (50 and 100GB BD's are simply horrible in $/GB)By this time anyone would expect a 150-250GB PER LAYER new optical media.
Lolimaster - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
That could open the path for movies with more bit depth in color, higher bitrate and less compression artifacts.Ej24 - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
Was doing dinner and movies at a friend's place. They chuckled when I said I still bought blu-ray disc's. They were like ummm have you heard of streaming? The whole time we watched movies by streaming that night they were a stuttering disaster. And occasionally had to drop bitrate to a pixelated mess. This is why I buy movies and series I really love on uhd/HD blu-ray, it'll always be perfect, crisp, no stuttering. Plus I usually redeem a digital copy on Vudu with the code that comes with the disc anyway so I can still stream if I want.Ej24 - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
Also it's worth noting very few streaming services offer dolby atmos audio. Having spent way too much money on my atmos setup I fully intend to take advantage whenever possible and blu-ray allows that (assuming the audio was recorded for atmos)thestryker - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
I found out that netflix's atmos is streamed through a modified ac3 codec so it's still dvd quality audio, but with atmos modifiers. Atmos is nice, but I'll take a real bitrate DTS over ac3 atmos.Stochastic - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
I can't say I'm surprised. With the AV1 codec on the horizon, the quality of streaming will continue to improve. The Wi-Fi 6 standard will also reduce congestion for people living in dense cities or apartment complexes, which should reduce buffering issues.Santoval - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
The Ultra HD Blu-ray tech was developed around the same time that 4K streaming emerged, so it is hardly surprising that these devices don't sell. Due to the prevalence of streaming at up to 1080p along with the emergence of 4K TV sets these Ultra HD Blu-ray players and disks should actually be more relevant than vanilla Blu-rays.However Netflix and co just *had* to scale up to 4K as well, didn't they? While Netflix's 4K is much poorer than 4K Blu-rays, and 1080p streaming is also poorer than vanilla Blu-rays, nothing beats the convenience of streaming and saying "good riddance" to physical disks. 68 million Blu-ray players in 2023? These guys are clearly over-optimistic.
StrangerGuy - Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - link
Convenience beats quality almost every time? Who knew.Also, to me and many others discs are just yet more clutter in our homes to deal with.
CheapSushi - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
I kinda miss the 80s/90s cyberpunk aesthetic/view where discs were still very prevalent. I think the discs are still useful for backup systems. It seems better value but less convenient than tape for homelabbers and prosumer. I wish multi-disc swappers in 5.25" size existed like they did for CD.Death666Angel - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
Don't back anything up to discs, unless you repeat the process every few years or have specifically tuned discs for long live. A lot of CDs and DVDs are becoming unreadable even when kept in perfect condition. Disc rot and other things.LordConrad - Thursday, February 21, 2019 - link
It's the dyes. Disc makers use faster reacting dyes because people want to burn discs faster, but faster dyes also degrade faster. If you're using discs for backup, stick with M-Discs. They are designed to have an extremely long life.mode_13h - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link
Yeah, I still remember that opening scene of The Matrix.stangflyer - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
I have a 75 inch Sony 940E TV. Streaming is pretty bad compared to disc and I have a really good internet connection. Also, the sound is much better on disc. Might a well have a soundbar instead of a 7.2.4 Atmos system.stangflyer - Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - link
It is kind of like the Super Audio and DVD Audio phase in music. Then MP3 players came out and everyone wanted to put 1000 songs on a 4 gig IPOD. Crappy bit rate. I will take my SA and DVD A discs any day but then again I do not listen to much new music. It sounds crappy at any bit rate!LordConrad - Thursday, February 21, 2019 - link
The elderly play a big roll in the survival of DVD. All the elderly people I've met, either socially or during IT calls, all have DVD players. Often the DVD players are attached to older CRT televisions. Their thinking is "It works and I know how to use it, so why spend money on something new?". Besides, their eyes might not be able to see the difference between DVD and Blu-ray.Vitor - Thursday, February 21, 2019 - link
The main problem with streaming is the highly compressed shitty audio. Netflix stereo is a ridiculous 96kbps, when it should be 256 or 320.5.1 should be at least 640kbps.
noeldillabough - Sunday, February 24, 2019 - link
It's not rocket science, uhd Blu rays cost 5 or more time the DVD. They're pricing them out of sale on purpose to eliminate the format way better to stream instead. It's worked, only a matter of time and there's no more players, first OPPO, now Samsungaratorejke - Monday, August 19, 2019 - link
From everything I've read, the Samsung BD players were buggy or missing features. LG, Sony, Panasonic and maybe Philips will soldier on. And if you have a game console, you already have a Bluray player https://bestpornever.me/_udata/gsnn/tenor-1964.gif.
colombiqq - Saturday, August 31, 2019 - link
I have recently upgraded to 4kTV and am mulling options for video. Prefer PC to console, though enjoy both streaming and DVD/Blu-Ray. I have not taken the plunge for a 4k movie player, but streaming isn't going to get me Blu-Ray quality most of the time, so <a href="https://freeonlineporn.me/category/porn-tube-sites... xxxstreaming</a> just isn't viable with my current provider. Agree with other posters, in my experience streaming quality is at times inconsistent.