4k UHD has made DVDs and Blu-Ray basically worthless (2 Viewers)

[Alan Tully]

I think the current streaming situation is a real mess (& the same with TV programs, I really don’t want to subscribe to Christ knows how many TV channels in order to see a program). When I can just subscribe to one holding company for all films/TV then discs won't be so important. But there's no sign of that yet.

 

[John Dirk]

I think the current streaming situation is a real mess (& the same with TV programs, I really don’t want to subscribe to Christ knows how many TV channels in order to see a program). When I can just subscribe to one holding company for all films/TV then discs won't be so important. But there's no sign of that yet.

Whoa! Be careful what you wish for. In business "one" of anything is known as a monopoly and that never favors the consumer.

 

[TheMovieDude]

Whoa! Be careful what you wish for. In business "one" of anything is known as a monopoly and that never favors the consumer.

Everyone better start building your physical media collection now or pretty soon you will be watching what Elon allows you to watch. Fortunately I'm at 800 discs total so I think I can relax now.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Everyone better start building your physical media collection now or pretty soon you will be watching what Elon allows you to watch. Fortunately I'm at 800 discs total so I think I can relax now.

Stop it with the political references! We don’t talk politics on this forum.

 

[YANG]

...The result? We end up buying the DVD, the Blu-Ray and then the 4k UHD over time without being able to get rid of the previous version wasting both space and money.

to prevent "buyer's remorse", i would compile a list of titles i'm interested to own, and judging on the presentation specs(Aspect Ratios, Audio Formats), as well as "Genre+Directors' Vision", i would categorize which titles to be in UHDBD, FHDBD, and then DVD.

DVD would be the first choice for "sheer eye thirst quencher" when the title i want had sold out in the retailer i frequently patronize... the last title was ALIEN ROMULUS, while i had placed my order and waiting for the arrival of the UHDBD+FHDBD transitional pack.

what i can give is my best wish to you in the success of flipping what you may want to upgrade, don't have any regrets if you flipped off wrong titles that may not see any upgrade release in coming months.

 

[Ed Lachmann]

Word of caution to those who pack up replaced DVDs or "unhappy purchase" BDs and try to sell them to Amoeba in Hollywood. I did so some months ago, four full banker boxes of what was about $5K or more of titles they used to give a couple bucks a piece for. Got $125 in "store credit" NO cash. All were in pristine condition. All in all a pretty "grounding" experience to say the least.

 

[mskaye]

Word of caution to those who pack up replaced DVDs or "unhappy purchase" BDs and try to sell them to Amoeba in Hollywood. I did so some months ago, four full banker boxes of what was about $5K or more of titles they used to give a couple bucks a piece for. Got $125 in "store credit" NO cash. All were in pristine condition. All in all a pretty "grounding" experience to say the least.

I just donate mine here and there at those little kiosks around the city where people put books. It’s really not worth it to sell them and I don’t have room to keep many duplicates. I jettison them as soon as I buy an upgrade. When I was working I left them on a table w other promo items for people to take. I don’t do that w Criterion DVDs that didn’t get the blu ray treatment though. When I moved out of LA, I brought at least 20 big boxes of various LPs and CDs to Record Surplus on Pico. I think I got $80.00. I may have gotten $40 in store credit for all my Laserdiscs at Amoeba.

 

[Ethan Riley]

When I upgrade, I almost unilaterally dump them into the Goodwill box. Occasionally (if I'm aware of it) I'll put something on ebay. I sold some 4K Jurassic Park steelbooks on ebay with no problem, that's because I bought the 6-movie collection.

Sometimes I make stupid mistakes and put things in the bin that I didn't realize were out of print and worth a little somethin' on ebay. I stuck all the Everwood tv show seasons in there--probably could have gotten $60-$100+ on ebay because they're out of print.

 

[TheMovieDude]

When I upgrade, I almost unilaterally dump them into the Goodwill box. Occasionally (if I'm aware of it) I'll put something on ebay. I sold some 4K Jurassic Park steelbooks on ebay with no problem, that's because I bought the 6-movie collection.

Sometimes I make stupid mistakes and put things in the bin that I didn't realize were out of print and worth a little somethin' on ebay. I stuck all the Everwood tv show seasons in there--probably could have gotten $60-$100+ on ebay because they're out of print.

There are Youtube videos of the most expensive rare and OOP discs out there selling for several hundred dollars on ebay. It's incredible what people will pay for nostalgia, to relive their childhood memories. As soon as a Criterion goes OOP, the price immediately skyrockets on ebay too. The price of these things really changes hour to hour and those who are dialed in reap the rewards.

 

[Albert71292]

I've given up on 4K. Bought a player about three years ago, only bought 5 discs in the format, three of which have had freezing/stuttering issues. Luckily, the discs included a standard Blu-ray copy also, which plays fine. Haven't really noticed THAT huge a difference in picture quality between standard Blu-ray and 4K anyhow.

 

[Douglas R]

I've given up on 4K. Bought a player about three years ago, only bought 5 discs in the format, three of which have had freezing/stuttering issues. Luckily, the discs included a standard Blu-ray copy also, which plays fine. Haven't really noticed THAT huge a difference in picture quality between standard Blu-ray and 4K anyhow.

I don't have a large number of 4K discs (19 in all) but several have had freezing issues, Something I rarely ever get with Blu-ray. I don't notice more than a modest increase in picture quality either (others will disagree of course).

 

[Osato]

I don't have a large number of 4K discs (19 in all) but several have had freezing issues, Something I rarely ever get with Blu-ray. I don't notice more than a modest increase in picture quality either (others will disagree of course).

I had freezing issues in back to back nights. Back to the future 2 and 3. I almost just switched to my 4k digital copies…

 

[TheMovieDude]

I've given up on 4K. Bought a player about three years ago, only bought 5 discs in the format, three of which have had freezing/stuttering issues. Luckily, the discs included a standard Blu-ray copy also, which plays fine. Haven't really noticed THAT huge a difference in picture quality between standard Blu-ray and 4K anyhow.

4K discs are more prone to errors compared to standard Blu-ray discs because they store significantly more data on the same disc surface, making even small scratches or fingerprints have a larger impact on playback, causing skips, freezes, and read errors; essentially, a tiny imperfection on a 4K disc can disrupt a much larger amount of data compared to a similar imperfection on a standard Blu-ray disc.

The last 3 4k discs I played they all froze. I took the discs out and wiped it off with a microfiber cloth and then it was fine. You really have to wipe it down well under good light. It's annoying but not the end of the world to me. I also have the Sony X700 which is apparently "worse" than the Panasonic UB820.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I've given up on 4K. Bought a player about three years ago, only bought 5 discs in the format, three of which have had freezing/stuttering issues. Luckily, the discs included a standard Blu-ray copy also, which plays fine. Haven't really noticed THAT huge a difference in picture quality between standard Blu-ray and 4K anyhow.

According to my DVD Profiler database, I own 253 titles in the 4K/UHD disc format. Of those, I have only encountered two instances where cleaning the disc did not resolve a freezing/stuttering situation, and one of those was a Criterion title that the company replaced at no charge.

 

[Indy Guy]

While many of my 4K discs are modest improvements over existing BRs, they are usually a massive improvements over DVD (Paint Your Wagon). On the other hand there are far too many 4K's that come up short (Blue Hawaii, Saturday Night Fever).
I have done extensive comparisons on panels and screens. The blue backed rating code at the start of a film is usually a dead give-away for problems. It should be pure like the "Post reply" square below. If it looks washed out, there is no way the flashy red sports car at the beginning of Blue Hawaii will match the pure candy red of the BR version.
Do the people doing the work ever compare both format transfers before releasing a merely "OK" 4K disc in the same box with a near perfect BR?

 

[Ernest]

I'm looking to sell my existing Blu-Rays on ebay so that I can upgrade to the new 4k UHD editions and it seems the value of many films has dropped significantly. For one example, Cool Hand Luke BR is selling Brand New for $5-10 on ebay which makes it basically impossible to make any money off a used BR.

DVDs are still the most popular format on the market but popular titles are selling for next to nothing due to the overabundance on the market: there are simply too damn many of them out there. So, like BR they are worth next to nothing.

Meanwhile 4k UHD are selling for $30 and up and the studios are forcing us to double dip with their sneaky tactics.

The result? We end up buying the DVD, the Blu-Ray and then the 4k UHD over time without being able to get rid of the previous version wasting both space and money.

For video/audio quality 4K is the best no arguments. The general public's # 1 consideration is price, not video/audio quality, making DVD the top seller. From a business point of view DVD's and Blu-ray are not worthless sellers on Ebay are making money selling them.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is starting to go off-topic. The thread isn't about how much 4K/UHD is better than Blu-ray.

 

[JoshZ]

According to my DVD Profiler database, I own 253 titles in the 4K/UHD disc format. Of those, I have only encountered two instances where cleaning the disc did not resolve a freezing/stuttering situation, and one of those was a Criterion title that the company replaced at no charge.

My experience is different. When I've had playback problems with a 4K disc, no amount of cleaning it will resolve the problem. The disc is toast and needs to be replaced.

My most recent issue was with The Maltese Falcon.

 

[Robin9]

While many of my 4K discs are modest improvements over existing BRs, they are usually a massive improvements over DVD (Paint Your Wagon). On the other hand there are far too many 4K's that come up short (Blue Hawaii, Saturday Night Fever).
I have done extensive comparisons on panels and screens. The blue backed rating code at the start of a film is usually a dead give-away for problems. It should be pure like the "Post reply" square below. If it looks washed out, there is no way the flashy red sports car at the beginning of Blue Hawaii will match the pure candy red of the BR version.
Do the people doing the work ever compare both format transfers before releasing a merely "OK" 4K disc in the same box with a near perfect BR?

You're not the only person who thinks the Blu-ray of Blue Hawaii is better than the 4K. I'll have to give the Blu-ray a viewing in the next few days.

 

[mskaye]

DVDs are not totally worthless if they are out of print. I just paid $20 eacñ for two out of print Luis Buñuel films on Criterion DVD (and unavailable on blu ray domestically.) And love the supplements and really want real copies of the booklets.