The DVD day’s are numbered. (1 Viewer)

[Robin9]

I never thought that Blu-ray would take over from DVD. Most friends and relatives of mine had taken a long time to move from VHS to DVD, after they could no longer get films on VHS, and there was no way they were going to buy into another format just a few years after getting used to DVD. Additionally most people are not all that bothered about having the best possible picture quality.

Correct. Until a few days ago not one of my friends had a Blu-ray player. One now has . . . because I gave him one of mine!

 

[TJPC]

Your interest in movies must be minimal if you stick with DVD. Any time I get a DVD from the library of a movie I only want to see once, it is absolutely bare bones with no extras what so ever.

 

[CraigF]

^ Umm, most of the extras they put on the first BDs, and still to this day in some cases, came from the previous DVDs. Your library needs a better "quality" of donor! Or maybe the library takes the extras disc out, it may be unrated stuff they don't want to deal with.

Actually, I don't know how it is in the U.S., but libraries around here are not so keen to accept discs from "random" donors. They wanted none of my stuff, all primo unopened SEs or equivalents, U.S. editions even (i.e. usually better than the Canadian ones). I'm guessing they're extremely PC about what they allow to be lent out, probably want to pre-view any discs before lending, and perhaps just not enough people/time to do that.

 

[Traveling Matt]

I never thought that Blu-ray would take over from DVD. Most friends and relatives of mine had taken a long time to move from VHS to DVD, after they could no longer get films on VHS, and there was no way they were going to buy into another format just a few years after getting used to DVD. Additionally most people are not all that bothered about having the best possible picture quality.

Not only this, but by the time the format war ended and material was coming regularly on Blu-ray, an overwhelming majority of the most popular film and TV content was already on DVD. So it wasn't a matter of it being a format decision but rather a decision to buy the same movie twice. And many people obviously weren't going to do that.

 

[TJPC]

^ Umm, most of the extras they put on the first BDs, and still to this day in some cases, came from the previous DVDs. Your library needs a better "quality" of donor! Or maybe the library takes the extras disc out, it may be unrated stuff they don't want to deal with.

Actually, I don't know how it is in the U.S., but libraries around here are not so keen to accept discs from "random" donors. They wanted none of my stuff, all primo unopened SEs or equivalents, U.S. editions even (i.e. usually better than the Canadian ones). I'm guessing they're extremely PC about what they allow to be lent out, probably want to pre-view any discs before lending, and perhaps just not enough people/time to do that.

Libraries here do not accept donations, but have a large budget and buy most of the latest DVDs and Blu rays. Our system has far more discs than any Blockbuster had. They also accept requests for purchase.

As far as I know from experience, except for an extra language on the packaging, Canadian and US discs are identical. Mind you, when ordering from Amazon.ca, you still get the 2D disc with the 3D disc and a slip cover.

 

[The Drifter]

I never thought that Blu-ray would take over from DVD. Most friends and relatives of mine had taken a long time to move from VHS to DVD, after they could no longer get films on VHS, and there was no way they were going to buy into another format just a few years after getting used to DVD. Additionally most people are not all that bothered about having the best possible picture quality.

Good points. As I've mentioned before, Blu-ray players being backwards compatible has a lot to do with why DVD's are still going strong. Every single home video format prior to Blu was not compatible with a previous format. The most obvious example here are VHS tapes eventually being phased out by DVD - DVD was not only a superior format in every way, but wasn't at all compatible with VHS.

It's hard to compare LD's, HD DVD's, and Beta tapes when discussing this, given that: LD's never caught on with the general public; Beta lost the format war to VHS; and, HD DVD lost the format war to Blu.

Not sure how I'd include 4K in this discussion either. I don't know much about the format since I haven't upgraded to 4K - and may not. My understanding is that you need a 4K TV set & a 4K player to able to appreciate the format. But, there are a plethora of TV shows & movies that aren't even in 4K yet - Hell, there are a plethora of TV shows & movies that haven't even hit Blu yet...and may never even hit Blu.

 

[paul pisano]

what are your thoughts on 4k

 

[CraigF]

Libraries here do not accept donations, but have a large budget and buy most of the latest DVDs and Blu rays. Our system has far more discs than any Blockbuster had. They also accept requests for purchase.

As far as I know from experience, except for an extra language on the packaging, Canadian and US discs are identical. Mind you, when ordering from Amazon.ca, you still get the 2D disc with the 3D disc and a slip cover.

Well, that explains it, thanks. They didn't explain why to me. I did know they buy a lot though. [The discs in question were accidental "gifts" from amazon.com. They told me to donate them to a library. Still have two large boxes of them, all brand new, BDs too.]

Actually, Canadian and American release DVDs were very often quite different, in the things we care about, and especially re audio format and extras. Back in The Golden Age of DVDs that is. Combine that with the very low Canadian $ of the day, making it fairly advantageous for Americans to purchase DVDs in Canada (amazon.ca usually), and the DVD thread here about the differences between upcoming Canadian and U.S. DVD releases was a very active thread here, possibly one of the most active at times. Everybody wanted "the best" DVD version (usually from the U.S., but not always), and of course everybody likes to save money, DVDs were still pricey.

And you should still be wary of any Canadian version of a BD from the smaller studios, they are very often quite different than the U.S. release (different audio, fewer or no extras, more compressed video, 25GB vs U.S.'s 50GB disc). Especially be wary of VVS, though they're improving. I have never seen, ever, a Canadian label having either customer service, or specs for their titles. Never ever. That's the other reason that big thread here was so active: sharing Canadian release info, so little info available anywhere. To this day. Luckily Canadian UHDs have been unmolested so far, that I've detected.

Edit: here's that thread I kept referencing, a bit hard to find if you don't recall the title (I didn't...though the title is pretty specific/on-the-mark), still plenty of the posters around!
https://www.hometheaterforum.com/co...-vs-canadian-release-dvd.165117/#post-1801061

 

[Brian Kidd]

Former librarian here.

Policies regarding donations being added to a collection differ from library system to library system in the U.S. Collection Development librarians tend to follow a strict set of guidelines when it comes to what they will add. Because shelf space is limited, they have to take into account things like patron requests, circulation statistics of similar materials, local population, etc. In the case of public libraries, that often means having multiple copies of items of dubious literary, artistic, or educational merit and, sometimes, no copies of something that has unquestionable value, simply because there isn't enough demand for it from the patron base.

They rarely have time to go through donations because a) most of them are garbage b) are in rough shape and c) there are TONS of them. Also, there is the potential for people to throw hissy fits when something they donated didn't get added to the collection, but something donated by someone else, that they personally find worthless, did. All it takes is for someone to throw enough of a fit to cause trouble. In most cases, it isn't worth it.

For example, a certain "religious" organization known for its litigiousness and celebrity promotion always donated boxes and boxes of books and "courses" published by their organization, expecting all of them to be added to the collection. They do it as a tax write-off. They can say that a particular "course" has a value of $500, for example. Now, our library didn't particularly want the materials in our collection because the organization is widely considered a cult and part of our job as librarians was to be at least somewhat of a gatekeeper when it came to nonfiction materials. They harassed the library administration so much that a few of the books were added to the collection, just to shut them up.

There were occasions where a library staff member would find something really worthwhile in a donation and make a case for adding it to the collection, but it didn't happen regularly. Pretty much everything that was in passable condition was added to the annual Book Sale and the rest were tossed in the garbage. It's frustrating to hear, I know, since I was more than willing and able to donate a ton of films to the library that I felt would be great additions to their collection. Unfortunately, public libraries have to play a political game, just like any other publically-funded organization, and it was rarely worth the effort to cut through the red tape in order to get something added that had been donated.

 

[The Drifter]

Interesting insight on library donations. As it turns out, I will typically donate unwanted DVD's/CD's to my local library, since I know I won't get anything for them if I try to sell them; and, I feel they may be able to use the items. I won't donate anything that's in terrible shape/scratched (there are places ruined CD's/DVD's can be recycled, but that's another thread).

That being said, I honestly don't care what the library does with these items; they can put them into circulation; sell them; or the staff can take them home for themselves - it doesn't matter to me. My #1 goal for donating anything is to downsize, and after that I'm relatively indifferent to what happens to them afterwards. I feel the same way about items I donate to Goodwill.

Years ago, I donated an entire box of sci-fi magazines to the local library. I didn't think they would put them in circulation, but wasn't sure. A couple of months later, I was putting some items in the large recycling bin in the library's parking lot - and I noticed all of the magazines I had donated in the bin - LOL. However, I didn't care. If I hadn't donated them to the library, I would have recycled them myself. At least they weren't being thrown in the trash - LOL.

 

[steve jaros]

Back when I got my first Blu player in late 2012, I started collecting some Blu's. And, I actually thought that Blu's would "take over" the home video format - and that DVD's would be on their way out at that point.

However, even 13 years after the debut of the Blu-ray format (in 2006) I still see a lot of regular DVD's still being produced. In fact, if anything I see more DVD's for sale than Blu's. A lot of this is because the Blu players thankfully are backwards-compatible & still play DVD's, so even if someone has a Blu player they can still buy the less expensive DVD's - i.e., they don't have to go all Blu if they don't want to.

The answer to the question posed in 2006, "when will BD surpass DVD in sales and become the home media format of choice?" appears to be "never".

 

[John Dirk]

The answer to the question posed in 2006, "when will BD surpass DVD in sales and become the home media format of choice?" appears to be "never".

I'm a physical media guy but even I doubt that. When the cost of producing a Blu Ray vs a standard DVD equalizes [think of physical drives vs SSD's] it's game over for DVD's and that's all good news for enthusiasts.

 

[Sega]

I'm a physical media guy but even I doubt that. When the cost of producing a Blu Ray vs a standard DVD equalizes [think of physical drives vs SSD's] it's game over for DVD's and that's all good news for enthusiasts.

I'm a DVD guy & Blu-Ray & 4K also. I even have Laser Disc. And pick them up now & then still. But like the LaserDisc. DVD's & Blue-Ray will go the way LaserDisc did. It will be a time yet.
Something new will come up. And take over.
And then they will want you to re-buy everything. I'm not going to do it.
Just keep what I have.

 

[John Dirk]

I'm a DVD guy & Blu-Ray & 4K also. I even have Laser Disc. And pick them up now & then still. But like the LaserDisc. DVD's & Blue-Ray will go the way LaserDisc did. It will be a time yet.
Something new will come up. And take over.
And then they will want you to re-buy everything. I'm not going to do it.
Just keep what I have.

Yep. As generations evolve, more and more folks are adopting the same philosophy, "we'll just keep what we have," just as you pointed out in your chronology. It will eventually get to the point where even the "seasoned" generation of the day has never even heard of physical media, but not likely in my time.

There may not be too many advantages to getting older but this is one of them for me. I'll likely be long gone well before the demise of physical media.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

Yep. As generations evolve, more and more folks are adopting the same philosophy, "we'll just keep what we have," just as you pointed out in your chronology. It will eventually get to the point where even the "seasoned" generation of the day has never even heard of physical media, but not likely in my time.

There may not be too many advantages to getting older but this is one of them for me. I'll likely be long gone well before the demise of physical media.

I hope God will take me back to heaven before He does so for the DVD!

~Ben

 

[TJPC]

I hope God will take me back to heaven before He does so for the DVD!

~Ben

I wonder what type of media they have there?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It’s in the cloud!

 

[Mike Frezon]

 

[TJPC]

It’s in the cloud!

HA!

 

[steve jaros]

I'm a physical media guy but even I doubt that. When the cost of producing a Blu Ray vs a standard DVD equalizes [think of physical drives vs SSD's] it's game over for DVD's and that's all good news for enthusiasts.

Maybe, but won't it be a Pyrrhic victory? E.g., in the music realm, I saw reports late this past fall that sales of vinyl LPs were about to overtake sales of compact discs for the first time since 1986. But when CDs overtook vinyl in 1987, the CD format became the "king of the hill", the dominant way that people owned music. That was a real victory. But vinyl surpassing CD in 2019 is just one small niche format overtaking another, not very meaningful in the broader scheme, which for better or worse is dominated by streaming.

Similarly, when DVD overtook VHS circa 2002, that made DVD the "king of the hill" as well, the dominant home movie format. If BD ever does surpass DVD in sales, that will be like vinyl passing CD in music sales. BD will never have had a reign as the dominant home media format, as DVD once did.