WTF, TAS getting Blu-Ray and DS9 not?

[USS KG5]

Did people expect Blu-ray to replicate DVD's success?

I wouldn't call the format a failure at all. There still seems to be a very large market for such a "niche" product.

I don't think the format was a failure, just that it failed to replace DVD, which was the original intention. The HD revolution for physical media.

Nobody in the entertainment industry will ever forget that they made mega, mega bucks out of the rise of the CD and also the DVD while spending very little. The CD meant everyone buying re-releases of old albums they had on vinyl and tape, and DVD was unbelievably huge in the early-2000s.

No similar pile of cash will ever be piled again from physical media, and Blu didn't even come close to DVD. Did those selling the product want and "expect" it to replace DVD? Probably yes, and it didn't so in that respect it failed.

Blu ray is way more mainstream than Laserdisc ever was. That was definitely a niche format for "aficionados only."

Kor

Indeed.

That's because studios never had the faith to move away from DVD, the way they did from VHS.

Well the cost savings aren't there I would guess. VHS was expensive to produce and took up a lot of shelf space, both producers and retailers wanted it away and gone as soon as possible.

DVD also still outsells Blu by a fair extent, it never crossed over.

 

[Noname Given]

http://collider.com/star-trek-animated-series-blu-ray/

Total BS

What, 13 hours of content which is basically just a clean up and re-transfer of masters ON FILM;

As opposed to 176 episodes whose masters are all on Professional Betacam SP video tape (meaning if they still have the actual film stock, they'd need to re-do all the masters using the video tape masters as a guide) - plus the cost of having to digitally redo a lot of the visual effects shots...

Yep, makes no sense financially...oh, wait.

 

[BillJ]

DVD also still outsells Blu by a fair extent, it never crossed over.

That's because studios never pressed the issue. If Star Wars: The Force Awakens had only come out on Blu-ray (or any number of other high profile films), the Blu-ray player shelves would be empty.

 

[weissmr]

DVD also still outsells Blu by a fair extent, it never crossed over.

This really isn't apples to apples. Bluray has to complete with "the cloud". And "the cloud", in its various incarnations, Netflix, Hulu, Itunes, etc. is the definitive future. Bluray is great for those in rural areas with limited high-speed internet and collectors (SUCH AS OURSELVES).

CBS is foolish for thinking that physical sales need to justify the costs of an upgrade. It does not represent true demand. Frankly, just MAKE Netflix and Hulu pay for it. Apple is a bunch of blowhards with excessive leverage, so I doubt they could get a dime out of them (don't get me started on that). But...there ARE options. Even outside of what I have listed above.

I HAVEN'T GIVEN UP! I refuse to believe that DS9 and VOY will be left behind.

 

[USS KG5]

That's because studios never pressed the issue. If Star Wars: The Force Awakens had only come out on Blu-ray (or any number of other high profile films), the Blu-ray player shelves would be empty.

I don't necessarily disagree but really that is only good for the hardware makers, even Sony movies would baulk at the hardware division laying down an order like that.

Force Awakens is a but late in the day as well, blue is what it is now and is dying out to be replaced by streams. I'm struggling to think of one from 10 years ago, I'm getting old!

This really isn't apples to apples. Bluray has to complete with "the cloud". And "the cloud", in its various incarnations, Netflix, Hulu, Itunes, etc. is the definitive future.

I wholeheartedly agree with the last sentence there.

However blu failed to replace DVD before streaming was a thing, it just never reached the public acceptance of DVD.

 

[Lance]

As has been mentioned here regularly - for most people even the difference in quality between DVD and Blu on a brand new film, where to me it looks very clear, is unimportant.

In fact, there is a very strong argument that Blu Ray as a format has sorta failed. Sure, it didn't fill a tiny niche like laserdisc, but it also utterly failed to replace DVD.

Whisper it - but as a mainstream format sold in your local supermarket, DVD might well outlive Blu. Certainly (and unscientifically) my local supermarkets are devoting less space than they have for a long time to Blu Ray compared to DVD!

Given the supermarkets in my home town only stock DVDs, and even our two Targets have barely any Blu Rays, I suspect that you may be right.

We do have specialist stores that stock heaps of them but the mainstream stores over here basically gave up on Blu a long time ago.... but continue to support DVD.

I guess there's a lesson in there somewhere.

 

[Mage]

Given the supermarkets in my home town only stock DVDs, and even our two Targets have barely any Blu Rays, I suspect that you may be right.

We do have specialist stores that stock heaps of them but the mainstream stores over here basically gave up on Blu a long time ago.... but continue to support DVD.

I guess there's a lesson in there somewhere.

Very true. I work in a store that, untill a few years ago, had a huge collection of dvd's. Now, we only sell new titels when they are released, and not even all. Getting them on bluray is a rarity. Believe it or not, we didn't even sell Civil War on dvd. Our chain simply did not sell it.

 

[Relayer1]

As has been mentioned here regularly - for most people even the difference in quality between DVD and Blu on a brand new film, where to me it looks very clear, is unimportant.

In fact, there is a very strong argument that Blu Ray as a format has sorta failed. Sure, it didn't fill a tiny niche like laserdisc, but it also utterly failed to replace DVD.

Whisper it - but as a mainstream format sold in your local supermarket, DVD might well outlive Blu. Certainly (and unscientifically) my local supermarkets are devoting less space than they have for a long time to Blu Ray compared to DVD!

We've seen this with superior audio formats to CD too.

No matter how much of an improvement the new format is, people are reluctant to keep repurchasing the same content. Also, the world is full of people watching standard definition DVD's on their new HDTV's who really aren't aware of the difference.

Add to this the almost total market penetration of DVD (almost everyone has a player, desktop, laptop etc.) and that the older generation cling to their older, familiar tech and DVD looks set to be the longest survivor.

If Bluray hadn't gone down such a niche/enthusiast route, it might have been a little different. Marketing all new players as 'disc players - all formats' would possibly have got Bluray players into more homes and pricing Blurays the same as DVD's would have helped.

 

[SPCTRE]

history will look at Blu-ray as a smashing success compared to UHD/4K Blu-ray

(history sometimes likes to compare relative failures)

 

[kkt]

Given the supermarkets in my home town only stock DVDs, and even our two Targets have barely any Blu Rays, I suspect that you may be right.

We do have specialist stores that stock heaps of them but the mainstream stores over here basically gave up on Blu a long time ago.... but continue to support DVD.

I guess there's a lesson in there somewhere.

It might mean people who want Blu Rays are getting them from Amazon.

 

[BillJ]

history will look at Blu-ray as a smashing success compared to UHD/4K Blu-ray

(history sometimes likes to compare relative failures)

I'm not so sure it will be seen as a failure. More limited appeal than Blu-ray? Likely. But, I think it is something that is already being aimed at a niche audience. I think prices will continue to reflect that.

I bought the Xbox One S to have a UHD player and still haven't bought a disc yet. That won't happen until Star Trek Beyond releases in a few weeks.

 

[soornge]

having lived in japan for many uears i refard to what hits and what doesnt you have to understand there is a huge cultural barrier both with content and with literally actors part of the reason tos wasnt popular is takei sexuality many japanese actually felt it was insulting that the future of japan was a homosexual man. culturally there is a connection between the actors and amd characters . this isnt the only reason of course for it not connecting. probably a minor reason over all there is a huge cultural difference and of course timing is everyrhing. i enjoy tas but only because tos ended : dont know if it really needed ro be digitally remastered amd released its more of one of those things you sont torrent because thats illegal and dont keep in the back of the media share you do not illegally host

 

[Kor]

The grocery stores and Targets in my area sell plenty of blu rays.

Kor

 

[Lance]

The grocery stores and Targets in my area sell plenty of blu rays.

Kor

Different countries and different cultures.

I was in the US a couple months ago and was astonished by how many stores stocked considerable supplies of new Blus, the culture obviously being that if the product is available then it should be in stores. This stood as a contrast to my country, where market saturation for Blu is so poor that grocery stores certainly won't even touch them, and Target have almost none. They are the purview of a very small minority of the consumer base over here.

 

[erastus25]

history will look at Blu-ray as a smashing success compared to UHD/4K Blu-ray

(history sometimes likes to compare relative failures)

But where will HD-DVD fit on that continuum?!

 

[SPCTRE]

But where will HD-DVD fit on that continuum?!

(roughly) somewhere in the vicinity of Betamax

 

[erastus25]

(roughly) somewhere in the vicinity of Betamax

I think even Beta is offended by that. It at least put up a struggle against VHS.

 

[TheSeeker]

This stood as a contrast to my country, where market saturation for Blu is so poor that grocery stores certainly won't even touch them, and Target have almost none. They are the purview of a very small minority of the consumer base over here.

Just out of curiosity, what country are you in?

 

[Lance]

Just out of curiosity, what country are you in?

Australia.

There are afficinados here who swear by Blu as a preference (I'm one of them) and the products *are* being released, but your 'mainstream' stores -- the grocery shops, Target, K-Mart -- don't have many in stock ... or any at all in the case of the grocery stores. There are two chain stores, Sanity and JB HiFi, that sell them. But Blu Ray discs are undeniably outside the casual market over here. They're very much a niche. As I say, I was genuinely surprised when I walked into a Target in the USA and found a sizable Blu Ray section, certainly bigger than the equivalent here. There's a true cultural difference there. Americans are so lucky to have true choices as consumers.

I gather that the format never gained significant market traction in the UK either, although at least the big grocery chains over there do stock them, which is more than can be said over here.

 

[USS KG5]

I gather that the format never gained significant market traction in the UK either, although at least the big grocery chains over there do stock them, which is more than can be said over here.

Yeah it can best be said that Blu did "OK" here in the UK. A lot of catalogue has been released but a lot of catalogue released in the US has not. The format was always a moderately popular upgrade from DVD, people still buy a lot of DVDs.

In the larger supermarkets you usually get a rack of chart and a rack of offer Blu Rays, and a section of DVDs typically about 4-5 times the size.

Both formats are also losing out to streaming, in the UK we have Netflix and Amazon Prime hoovering up a lot of good new shows, and Sky (who have a no-contract streaming service called NowTV) hoover up the rest. Movies wise, Sky and Now TV get all the newest releases, typically between 6-12 months post-cinema, which is plenty for most people.

I have to admit, even as someone who loved Blu and has a big collection, physical media is starting to feel very anachronistic!