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[adamsapple]

Put down another nail in physical media's coffin.

Sony has announced that it will cease production of Blu-ray discs next month. In a statement shared by the company, it announced that "Blu-ray disc media, recording mini discs, recording MD data, mini DV cassettes" will all get the axe in February, confirming towards the end of the announcement that "there will be no successor models".

Sony announces that it will officially end production of recordable Blu-ray discs in February

Could this be the final nail in the coffin?

www.whathifi.com

 

[ManaByte]

And people still think the PS6 will come with a disc drive.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Quite short notice. I wonder if they've been hovering over the off switch for a while and have been waiting for a certain threshold to be met.

If I were a Blu-ray enthusiast, I'd be thinking about grabbing a spare player for the future, just in case my machine died and there were no more on shelves by then.

 

[nush]

There's little point in those formats when you can save data digitally.

 

[Magic Carpet]

There's little point in those formats when you can save data digitally.

Let me just insert this unknown USB stick into my... ZAPP!

 

[nush]

Let me just insert this unknown USB stick into my... ZAPP!

Most Blu Ray players have a USB port that can play media. If you know how to use that, a dodgy USB stick will never be in your possession.

 

[EviLore]

Memberberries

 

[AJUMP23]

But I like the disk.

 

[Hudo]

Who knew that Vinyl would outlive everyone.

 

[BlackTron]

Didn't we just have this thread? With the exact same arc of the first post connecting it to PS6? Only to get locked as this was debunked because PS6 has nothing to do with recordable media?

 

[March Climber]

Who knew that Vinyl would outlive everyone.

The movie industry almost had it's own vinyl timeline.

 

[Ownage]

Laaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyserdisc.

:O

 

[Mikado]

Laaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyserdisc.

:O

The true vinyl of video was RCA's Videodisc format.

Stylus-read, analogue video.

From a tech POV, It was as bad as it sounds.

The one saving grace was local libraries had massive videodisc collections - something that didn't really exist during the later 80's - 90's Blockbuster VHS era.

 

[thefool]

Bring hd dvd back

 

[GloveSlap]

Memberberries

I have so many.... I've turned a joke into reality and i use them as coasters that i can easily throw away when they get too dirty.

 

[Banjo64]

And people still think the PS6 will come with a disc drive.

No chance.

 

[March Climber]

By the way adamsapple you should post this same thread in gaming. I want to see some meltdowns.

 

[adamsapple]

By the way adamsapple you should post this same thread in gaming. I want to see some meltdowns.

I deliberately chose to post it here to avoid that lol

 

[Hudo]

The movie industry almost had it's own vinyl timeline.

Is that a laser disc?

 

[March Climber]

Is that a laser disc?

Yes.

 

[ReBurn]

Verbatim probably still got my back, though.

 

[Rawbutt Jellybean]

It's really gonna suck when physical media goes away. I don't consider myself much of a collector but it's nice to see movies or games on a shelf that have memories attached. Whether they were presents or midnight releases or whatever.

 

[willothedog]

Is that a laser disc?

no, it's a DVD and just a very tiny man.

 

[Hudo]

no, it's a DVD just a very tiny man.

Look, I wasn't alive when these things were a thing. So I was just asking to make sure.

 

[xrnzaaas]

A buddy of mine still likes to burn discs to store music or tv shows, but I think he uses dvd's, not blurays. Crazy guy, I don't see any appeal in that considering how cheap pendrives and portable ssd drives have gotten - they're quicker and you can copy data many many times.

Anyway this doesn't automatically have to mean that Sony is killing off disc games for their future PlayStation models. Offering the drive as a separate purchase is still a very viable option. Music CD's are still available, you can still purchase movies on dvd on bluray, heck even vinyls are making a comeback. Sure it's a niche market, but it's still supported because there are people interested in having physical stuff.

 

[Drew1440]

That's a shame, Bluray is one of the more reliable backup options, though being capped at 50GB (100 with BDXl, but those discs are rare and expensive) gets very limiting.

 

[Badlucktroll]

a went through a faze where i did laser disc anime

 

[TheInfamousKira]

I eagerly await the resurgence of VHS, just to fuck with Cowboy Bebop's timeline.

 

[The Pleasure]

Memberberries

If you have blank discs around just remember

 

[Lord Panda]

a went through a faze where i did laser disc anime

I still have my laserdisc player in a crate somewhere ... saving it for a show and tell when my kids are all grown up.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

And yet they just had one of their top video game studios show a trailer for a game where the main character browses her extensive collection of music on physical media. The irony.

 

[Audiophile]

Horribly misleading by What Hi-Fi, the way they've linked to the article on social media sites is by saying:

"Sony announces it will end production of Blu-ray discs in February"

And paired it with this image of Blu-ray movie discs:

No image of recordable media and no distinction in the title specifying it's recordable media only (alongside mini-DV & MiniDisc).


In regards to movies on Blu-ray and 4K UHD Blu-ray, then for the majors Sony are still among the best. Regularly putting out great discs, large sets and recently just released Seinfeld on 4K Blu-ray.

Even Disney who seemed to dream biggest in terms of having a walled garden of control are starting to dip back in to physical media after shunning it for catalogue titles and TV shows for years (they're digging into Touchstone & Hollywood Pictures now).

Physical is still a sustainable premium niche when addressed properly and there's plenty of money to be made. Not releasing physically is a largely abritrary move driven by the mindset of controlling media ownership, but streaming has been nowhere near as lucrative as these companies expected and staying above break even unless you're Netflix is hard work. No point leaving anywhere from a few 100k to many millions on the table for a physical release; especially when the cost sooner or later is already sunk on mastering work just as a matter of course in maintaining/preserving and streaming a library. Even the boutique labels are putting out top tier, fully-specced discs of obscure films for a small premium and doing quite well, if the majors can't do that then they're just incompetent. There's room for streaming and physical, the need for one thing to replace another is silly, especially when the replacement is still a downgrade.

As for games, I fully expect next gen PlayStation will have discs, but it'll be an add-on drive only and disc pressings will just be a little less common.


Still, a shame to see recordable media options shrink.

I'm more bummed about minidisc, one of the coolest media types about. While it's a miracle they lasted over 30yrs, it's a shame they stopped developing optical media when they did. Another couple generations and expansion of data capacity, data rate & data types and MD with it's outer casing and form factor could've been the ultimate consumer archival format for audio.

 

[clem84]

The movie industry almost had it's own vinyl timeline.

You know, if they made a new optical media, but with the technology they have today, a vinyl-sized optical disc could hold an insane amount of data. The movie on said disk could have the highest fidelity picture and sound you've ever seen. It would also be very collector friendly because of the format. Who knows... It might be a hit. It would certainly be cool to collect.

 

[DGrayson]

I assume the videophile market will be enough to keep physical movies being made. Hopefully.

 

[ManaByte]

Even Disney who seemed to dream biggest in terms of having a walled garden of control are starting to dip back in to physical media after shunning it for catalogue titles and TV shows for years (they're digging into Touchstone & Hollywood Pictures now).

Disney doesn't produce physical media anymore. Sony produces all of Disney's releases.

Disney Strikes Deal for Sony to Take Over Its DVD, Blu-ray Disc Business

Disney is outsourcing part of its home entertainment division to Sony, which will manufacture, distribute and market the Mouse House's physical media.

variety.com

 

[Chiggs]

PC World says this is bullshit.

No, Sony’s Blu-ray exit doesn't spell the end for physical media

Sony may have quit the recordable Blu-ray business, but reports of the format's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

www.pcworld.com

As Mackenzie explains, the types of Blu-ray discs that Sony won’t make any more are “home-recordable” discs, like the blank DVD-Rs and CD-Rs that many of us used for burning photos, MP3s, and other media to disc. That’s very different from the BD-ROM discs pressed in factories for the big movie studios and the smaller, boutique Blu-ray labels.

Thus, the Sony news isn’t about how streaming is muscling out Blu-ray, Mackenize argues. Instead, it’s about how cloud and flash storage has decimated the market for blank Blu-ray media.

Edit: this is in regards to people misinterpreting the news.

 

[Tams]

A buddy of mine still likes to burn discs to store music or tv shows, but I think he uses dvd's, not blurays. Crazy guy, I don't see any appeal in that considering how cheap pendrives and portable ssd drives have gotten - they're quicker and you can copy data many many times.

Anyway this doesn't automatically have to mean that Sony is killing off disc games for their future PlayStation models. Offering the drive as a separate purchase is still a very viable option. Music CD's are still available, you can still purchase movies on dvd on bluray, heck even vinyls are making a comeback. Sure it's a niche market, but it's still supported because there are people interested in having physical stuff.

There's something about putting physical media into a machine to play that is quite nice.

Burning discs is can also be rather relaxing.

Also, those discs will last much longer if they are handled with just a little care. Long enough for a human life time at least. Solid state media runs a risk of being dead within a decade or two.

 

[bender]

The movie industry almost had it's own vinyl timeline.

One of the better ways to watch Star Wars if you must suffer that fate.

 

[HJuggernaut]

I would say sony lost the format war. bluray never really took off even though it beat HD-DVD, digital media won.

 

[No BBC=Anger]

I would say sony lost the format war. bluray never really took off even though it beat HD-DVD, digital media won.

4k blu-ray must be quite niche at this point. I have a few but I'm not paying 25-30 Euro a pop often.

 

[IntentionalPun]

I used CD-R and DVD-R pretty extensively but never had interest in whatever you call recordable BluRay.

 

[Futaleufu]

A buddy of mine still likes to burn discs to store music or tv shows, but I think he uses dvd's, not blurays. Crazy guy, I don't see any appeal in that considering how cheap pendrives and portable ssd drives have gotten - they're quicker and you can copy data many many times.

Anyway this doesn't automatically have to mean that Sony is killing off disc games for their future PlayStation models. Offering the drive as a separate purchase is still a very viable option. Music CD's are still available, you can still purchase movies on dvd on bluray, heck even vinyls are making a comeback. Sure it's a niche market, but it's still supported because there are people interested in having physical stuff.

Optical media can last for decades. There is no guarantee that a usb stick stored for years will be readable when you need it.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

Are format wars and whores over? It's been historically a fun ride going through vinyl, casette, compact disc and etcetera just to see how the world adapts.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Who knew that Vinyl would outlive everyone.

It’s cheap and mechanically simple, doesn’t need complex electronic parts requiring a supply chain to exist.

 

[Putonahappyface]

No chance.

And people still think the PS6 will come with a disc drive.

It'll be one SKU with an optional disc drive.

 

[Putonahappyface]

I assume the videophile market will be enough to keep physical movies being made. Hopefully.

At the price of limited edition 4k uhd steelbooks, it's safe to assume physical media will be around for some time to come.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Oh also.. I think PS6 will have a Blu-Ray drive. Physical games are shrinking ins ales but still quite a significant piece of the pie, and many of the people still buying them are quite die-hard about it.

They've also created quite the quagmire if they drop physical with modern consoles pretty much expected to support BC. That's a pretty massive "Fuck you" to the disk owners. Although that COULD feasibly be handled much like when HD-DVD went away you could trade in your movies for BR's, by having some sort of "physical trade-in unlocks a digital copy" type deal.

They'll need to give a lot more warning IMO than just dropping a new gen w/o a drive. Maybe they'll start experimenting with big digital only releases or something. Thea above mention trade-in deal could be something worked out with publishers ahead of the PS6 gen, so that all PS6 physical releases get that treatment when some all-digital PS7 releases. That would leak though lol

 

[Three]

Quite short notice. I wonder if they've been hovering over the off switch for a while and have been waiting for a certain threshold to be met.

If I were a Blu-ray enthusiast, I'd be thinking about grabbing a spare player for the future, just in case my machine died and there were no more on shelves by then.

What's short notice about it? A thread from June last year saying they're cutting back on recordable media but not replication:

Sony Group to cut 250 jobs from recordable media business' key hub - The Mainichi

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Sony Group Corp. will cut around 250 jobs from its recordable media business' key manufacturing hub in northeastern Japan and offer e

mainichi.jp

Update:

Ofcourse you have the xbox guys trying to push this being related to games on disc when it's simply consumers no longer using said media to burn backups of data or record home movies on recordable discs/cassettes.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

They will use flash cards of some sort in the future

 

[Mr Reasonable]

What's short notice about it? A thread from June last year saying they're cutting back on recordable media but not replication:


Ofcourse you have the xbox guys trying to push this being related to games on disc when it's simply consumers no longer using said media to burn backups of data or record home movies on recordable discs/cassettes.

I'm sorry for taking the article at face value, that Sony were ceasing production of discs in a month's time.

I know now I should have done a comprehensive search and researched the topic before contributing a comment to the discussion of the article.

Unfortunately, I don't think it's a big deal to anyone but you. Not everything is war.

I hope you feel better soon.