Why aren't there any multi-disc Blu-Ray players on the market?

I did read your post completely.
Since the 400 disc player is the only one, I showed it to you. It's just over $600. Since my single disc Oppo was $500, I figured $600 for a 400 disc player wasn't bad. Just because it holds 400 discs, doesn't mean you have to put 400 discs in it! Just put 5 or 6 discs in it, then you'll have a 5 or 6 disc player.

Or put a bunch of your DVDs and CDs in it.  I currently have two 400-Disc Sony DVD changers, one of which is nearly filled with DVDs (thank you TV-on-DVD ) and another that is about 1/4 full, mostly with audio CDs plus a few "overflow" DVD titles.  (Didn't have enough open slots in the first changer for The Prisoner*, A History of Britain and The Avengers: Emma Peel Collection, so they all live in the second one.)  If the prices continue to come down, I may make the Sony Blu-Ray changer one of my Christmas presents to myself, replacing one of the DVD changers. 

Regards,

Joe

* Of course, I have that one on Blu Ray now, which will free up a few slots. 

blu ray is still new hardware tech. there won't be any multi disk players for a few more years yet.

????  The discs and the lasers are somewhat different, but the basic technology is just one more extension of compact disc.  In terms of transport mechanisms and spinning discs, there is nothing at all "new" about Blu Ray and certainly no reason why we should have to wait "years" for changers.  (As indicated by the fact that Sony already makes not one, but two, 400-disc behemoths.)  It is more about price points and consumer demand.  (More multi-disc sets, which have been comparatively rare amond Blu Ray titles, will help drive create an interest in 5 to 6 disc Blu Ray changers just as TV sets on DVD did for that format.)

Regards,

Joe

The first question I would ask is: were multi-disc DVDs players popular? While I owned several CD changers over the years, I never felt the need to get a DVD changer. For the occasional time when I would know which discs I want in (say all the Planet earth series or Lord of the Rings), I just never felt it was worth the extra expense or real estate (they take up more room).

If these players weren't all that popular (I never remember anyone showing me their DVD changer), maybe none of the manufacturers are in a hurry to be the first.

I also wonder if they just can't make the circuitry required small enough to fit a 5 disc mechanism into a reasonable sized package. While BD players may be similar to CD and DVD players, they require a lot more horsepower.

There is plenty of room.  Panasonic has portable players out now.  I just don't think there is a market for it.  There are a few 100 disc models available for those who want changers.  most 5/6 disc changers were made by the same company and re-badged by others.  In my experience I have also found them to be a lot less reliable than single disc players.

I, personally, have no desire for a multi-disc changer. I would guess that the majority of people are like me. I bought a 6+1(single disc drawer + 6 disc magazine) CD changer, a few years ago. I used it for multiple discs for about two weeks. After that, all I ever used was the drawer. Since I don't use it any more at all (I use my BD player now), I tried to give it away, to several friends. They didn't want it. They said all they needed was a single disc player. I think you're in the minority, wanting a multi-disc changer, and companies aren't in too big of a hurry to build stuff for the minority of customers.

As was said, you can load the 400 disc player with ever how many blu rays you want, plus a bunch of regular dvds, and a bunch of cds. That way you cover all the bases........

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Let's not confuse personal preference with either consumer demand or manufacturer profit.  As Brian points out, this theory of a viable market doesn't seem to be borne out by anything.  With the difference in mid-range 1-disc players and 400-disc players at just $100, there's little need for a middle option.  And seeing as how (a) most Blu-rays already consolidate 2-disc SEs onto a single disc, (b) there are no multi-disc movies a la LOTR or Kingdom of Heaven, and (c) TV on Blu-ray is somewhat limited relative to DVD, it's pretty obvious that the demand for 5-6 disc changers is infinitesimal.  Thus, no manufacturer sees the need to cater to such a small market while simultaneously increasing the risk of blowback due to price and/or (as failure rates.

 I think maybe one factor is that the market is still new. Blu-Ray won the format wars (though Joe Consumer might still be confused about that). But compared to DVD, Blu-Ray has a long adoption curve ahead of it. It's well underway, but it might take a while before there are enough consumers who are willing to shell out for extras like multi-disc capacity.

I've owned several DVD changers over the years and never considered getting rid of the cases just because the discs are stored in the changer. Anyway, I have since disowned the mega-changers because I discovered they scuff and scratch the discs to smithereens every time the mechanism inside "grabs" a disc from the carousel. I've tried to sell some of the DVDs I no longer wanted and I couldn't because they were scratched. I'm very happy with my single-disc Oppo

I happen to agree with ahilal on this one. While the format is still relatively new, I also think the attrition that the blu ray format suffered with the HD-DVD format and now that they're competing with the DVD format, I think that it's going to be a long while before blu ray is sufficiently saturated.

The blu ray format is also suffering another setback, I believe, and that regards the "TV on DVD" titles. I have noticed that the Blu Ray Association has been slow at convincing studios to release more of their television shows to blu ray and then there's the prices for a single season set that's keeping fans of television shows from buying the selected titles.

But i have to ask...how often would you want 5 or 6 Blu-rays in a player? Do you really need to have a 24 hour marathon without bathroom, or disc change breaks?

Is it that hard to get up and put another movie in if you want to watch more than one at a time?

I really want to know why DVD or Blu-ray changers would be wanted? Music i can understand, it can play all day, and you do not really have to sit in front of it. But movies or TV shows?

I have used a Yamaha 6770 5-disc universal player for a few years and love it. All the arguments against a DVD/BluRay changer make perfect sense but if OPPO made one I would have bought it anyway. But I don't think a BluRay changer will be available anytime soon.

I'm a big fan of concert dvd's and hi-res music and I watch and listen to them in some sort of rotation. A changer allows me to put my 3-4 favorite discs at the time in and leave them there for a couple of weeks or longer and enjoy them whenever I fancy. When I tire of them I replaced them with 3-4 others and so on. In fact, Boz Skaggs Greatest Hits Live dvd has been in slot #1 the entire time I've had the changer in use.

Now of course no one needs a changer. I certainly could get up off my you know what and put a different disc in but that's why we have remote controls and power windows and door locks and stuff. Makes life a little easier.

The 6770 (and it's cousins) is a solid player and I still use it often. Not as good as the OPPO but it still does what I bought it for. And does it very well.

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Saturation isn't an issue here, unless there's proof that multi-disc DVD players made up a significant portion of the market at any time.
I don't think that's really the reason, and it's not something the BDA would get involved in anyway.  After all, apart from HBO, seasons are often comparable to the DVDs (IIRC, Lionsgate and Starz/Anchor Bay actually go one step further and price both formats the same for TV sets). 

A far more likely reason is that a lot of shows were shot on video as opposed to film and/or had post-production done in SD, which would yield no resolution benefits for the former category and would be prohibitively expensive or time-consuming for the latter.  For instance, every episode and special of "Doctor Who" up until the 2nd special of 2009 was shot on video (the first special was upconverted for Blu-ray), and it's been stated multiple times that all of the special effects in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" were done in SD and would require a far more significant financial and technical investment for 7 seasons than the 3 seasons of "ST: TOS".

I used a 6 disc JVC and a 5 disc Sony DVD changer for a while and really liked it--I could load 'em up with movies on a Friday night and watch all weekend without having to change discs.

At one time just about all the mfgs. offered 5 disc players but they all dissappeared.  Sony still marketed a 5 disc carousel dvd changer up until last year, then they disappeared too, though their DVD HTIB units are still 5 disc but are drawer type changers.

I actually sell electronics at a large Sears store and that last 5 disc changer did not sell well at all.  The price (129) was more than all but a very few were willing to pay.  The only customers I had for them were actually in the market for 5 disc CD changers.

The 5 disc dvd changers pretty much went away due to lack of consumer demand, and my guess is that the mfgs. don't see any reason why there would be sufficient demand for a 5 disc BD player to justify the expense of building and marketing them.

I disagree w/many of you.I've had a $ony LD 5 Disc DVD player since 203, & it runs beautifully,& I will keep it 'till it dies! I've never ever had it 'scratch' any discs! & I used to have a single disc one which had to be replaced, due to some serious issues w/the drive itself; none of which have occurred w/the 5 disc one! So, I think those of you who've experienced probs, had a bad model, or manufacturer..?

 

Now, I watch many DVD's which are 2 discs, like the LOTR., & also many times listen to more than one CD in a row, & I do not own a separate CD player, but use my DVD player for both. & since it can play any type of DVD format: +/-R/RW, & CD-R/RW, & even MP3 discs, I-(*until recently)-need no other players for video/audio! *That was until I bought my 1st HD TV in Feb., & would love to upgrade some of my DVD's to BR,-(some are not on BR YET!: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.). & buy all future titles in the BR format tool But, the main thing that has kept me from doing so besides $ & not having an HDTV until recently, is the lack of any Multi-Disc BR players!!! Seriously! Call me lazy, but I do not wanna have to get up to change discs for any reason, unless I wanted more than one 2 disc movie in a row; which never happens; or listened to more than 3-4 CD's in a row. & I'm NOT gonna buy a 50-1,000 discs player & just insert 5-6 discs. WTF?!?! Especially paying $3-400 for one of those f***ers when I paid only $160 for my $ony 5 disc DVD player. Well, actually, I only paid like $10-15, as it was a replacement for my single disc player which Circuit City couldn't fix, so I got an upgrade. Bonus of buyiog an extra warranty! :) But, the untit only costed $160 was my point though! & I'm also soooooooooo not interested in getting a computer & having it 'host' all of my DVD's just to stream them to my TV, so that whenever the thing freezes up as computers do sometimes; it freezes up the movie, or skips over part of it, like streaming video online does....F*** that! I don't think so! & I STILL see LD multi-disc DVD players in the sores too, BTW. So, no clue why these companies can't make them in BR. I think as it becomes more popular & the prices come way down even more, then perhaps we'll see them....I certainly hope so! If not, I will have even less room, as I'll then NEED to buy a 5 disc CD player at the very least! Unbelieveable!

We had a 5 disc changer DVD player once.  It was a Panasonic model.  My wife wanted it and I didn't. 

 

I, of course, relented. 

 

It didn't take long before she came to the same conclusion that I already knew - it was more of a pain to deal with than it was worth.

 

We watched a lot of movies or TV series DVDs, but we'd switch out so often and arbitrarily that it was hard to think about loading it up ahead of time - it was always what we felt like watching at that moment.  So, often we only had one disc in it at a time.  The real pain came with changing out the one disc.  You have to stop the stupid thing just right - hit the stop button enough times, and at the right time, or the disc that was playing would never unload and instead the tray would open with the disc still loaded inside (this was by design, so that you could load up any of the other 4 spots while a disc was still playing - but it would not show you the one slot that was used to load the disc already playing).  When that happened, you had to close the tray back, wait for the thing to reload the DVD still sitting on the spindle, before you could try to stop it again, and try the process all over again.  This was more of a problem when I'd first turn the player on and not realize that a disc is already sitting in it.

 

I think after my wife fought the thing a few times within the first month, she was ready to toss it out the window.  But I didn't hear about it 'til almost a year later.  So much for trying to swap it out.

 

We kept it a few more years before the player died on it's own with that spindle error (dead motor) that the Pannys were known for.

I think a lot of people are missing the point of why multi-disc changers can be useful. Owning one has nothing to do with being lazy or about having "marathons".  For those of us with large collections the benefits of having a changer are plenty: storage and convenience being the main attraction.

For me personally, I keep all the stuff with high "rewatchability values"  in the changer, movies like Indiana Jones, Bond, Star Wars, etc, along with their bonus discs, long-running TV shows, cartoons, anything that you can watch (or listen to) more than once. Pull up a list, make your choice, hit enter, enjoy!

Like we've told you before.......... not enough demand for them.

Of course if there was demand for them, they'd be building them. They aren't going to miss out on the money if the market is there.

 

Actually, I find it very believable.This is one of the premier home theater websites in the world. How many people have chimed in saying they want a multi-disc blu-ray player? The manufacturers aren't missing a "golden opportunity", they're passing on a niche market that probably won't net them any profits.

They aren't missing a golden opportunity...yet.  The market for Blu-Ray is still nowhere near dvd standards of sales.  If it gets there you will see a slew of Carousel Blu-Ray 5, and 6 disc units.  Carousel players sell great.  Onkyo, Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic are just a few of the high quality players on the market.  As for the people that hate carousel players, that is their business.  But here is a quick analogy:

 

Person 1-I hate toasters with 2 slots.  A  dedicated one slot toaster is all I will ever need.

 

Person 2-But what if you want 2 pieces of toast?

 

Person 1-I can wait to put another piece of toast in it,  what are you lazy or something?

 

 

Convenience my friends.  Convenience.

Are you going to eat two pieces of toast or watch two movies at the same time? I suppose it is more convenient to have the second disc ready to play but how many people have hours to watch Blu-rays without stopping but can't spare the extra minute to switch the disc?

 

Wrong.

 

I'm going to eat one piece of toast, and then another.  I will watch one movie push a button, and watch something else.  Convenience.