The End of Blu-ray Players.... is it time to panic?

[@ElliotCoen]

Thanks for watching - do you think this is a big deal or a non-issue?

[@3dwag]

I agree with your comments, and furthermore (as others have stated below) the worst issue I see going forward is that the consumer market for 4K &c players will become more niche, which means fewer manufacturers and models plus more expensive. Professional optical drives will still continue to be a thing for much longer moving forward, so this type of technology I don't see just completely dying out, just with a few bumps and additional expenses down the road.

[@hectoraguilar397]

Yes. When you lose at chess, it's not always a one hit KO. You lose piece by piece. Some think no big deal right now. But where are the wins? And I mean wins for the buyers. Boutique and mainstream prices are almost the same, and going up! Forget second hand market for new releases online, you might as pay for a new one. At least you get a digital copy. Point is, if you are complacent with taking L's you'll get 'em.

[@DVDfeverGames]

When KZbin recommended this video to me, it had "4K views" 😲

[@AndrewBuckleBookReviews]

Yes, a non issue. If it had been Panasonic or Sony, would be a different story

[@fellowcitizen]

Just thought I'd point out that Samsung also got out of Digital Cameras early, and that Panasonic stuck through and innovated/expanded, even as they fell from first-place in mirrourless to far down the chain.

[@SpaceCattttt]

LG is probably the last brand I would've chosen, anyway. Now, if Sony and Panasonic pull out, THEN I'll be scared.

[@gloomyvale3671]

But a lot of Sony and Panasonic products have many LG and Samsung parts in them as do 🍏.

[@bananasayswhat]

LG = Lousy Goods

[@StevieZala]

Have to agree with you 😊

[@Videomaster89]

@@bananasayswhat LG means life's good, their washing machines are very good, they were also known for good TV's a few years ago, not sure about now, had no issues with a LG Blu-Ray player I bought a few years ago. Many don't see Blu-Ray- DVD difference DVD sales have bottomed out it's been said with sales now stable.

[@stevedowns1001]

I think the boutique labels will get together and produce a player if all major companies decide to stop production.

[@ElliotCoen]

I'd put my name on it like a George Foreman grill.

[@nicholasthill7151]

If so, you'll have to take out a second mortgage to buy it.

[@gloomyvale3671]

@@nicholasthill7151 no your forgetting the first rule of business sell a player cheap and the disks will sell, it’s not the equipment that makes the money it’s the product for the said equipment that’s the money maker. As Bill Gates said to himself as he outplayed IBM.

[@Seripmac]

Like the Avengers lmao

[@scooterboi8761]

Perhaps FiiO or KLIM?

[@Tomhyde098]

4:04 I started collecting physical media in 2020 and I think of it as the golden age. Everyone was donating movies, but more importantly, their Blu-ray players. At my local thrift store they had dozens of players and they were practically giving them away. I wanted to experiment with different players to see which one I liked the best and at $2 a player I couldn’t resist. So for about two years I’d get a different player every paycheck and see what the quality and features were like. I’d put them in a box under my bed whenever I switched them out. I finally have a great setup of an LG and Sony for TV show Blu-rays and I saved up money and got a UB820. Underneath my bed, I just counted the other day, I have 21 Blu-ray players from almost every brand that made a player. I was just about to donate them when all of this news and paranoia set in and…I’m going to hold onto them all. Maybe one day 20 years from now I might be sitting on a goldmine and I’ll have plenty of backups in case one breaks.

[@archieroylance7673]

LG and Samsung, both Korean companies, have no customer reach for physical home media in their home country. Sony and Panasonic, both Japanese companies absolutely do.

[@GR8FLMD3AD]

It’s not inflation if there are record profits; it’s corporate price-gouging.

[@994pt4]

💯... this guy gets it

[@mikeg2491]

If my costs go up 10% and I price my items up 10% & sale the same amount of goods technically it will be a record year. This is why every U.S. tax year is also a “new record” in tax receipts because they keep printing more money!

[@994pt4]

@@mikeg2491 yeah, it's like the 'record debt levels' every year. There are more people and more dollars printed every year so that makes sense. This is why I always like to see absolute numbers 'normalized' somehow when reported.

[@msd5808]

That's it, I'm starting my own Blu-ray player factory

[@ApolloT-vp5dn]

I don't think we have to worry, LG were such a minor player in the market. Sony and Panasonic have dominated this section of the market. Honestly, I'm sick of the people dooming and glooming.

[@ElliotCoen]

Yep LG were never as big - I think they probably caught a lot of people buying an LG TV that wanted a matching LG brand disc player.

[@AchtungEnglander]

Click bait is the game, just ignore it.

[@ApolloT-vp5dn]

@@AchtungEnglander It's whether it affects people who would otherwise support physical formats. That's my main concern.

[@ssi-ruuk9396]

Considering stores like HMV have had increased Blu-Ray and DVD sales In the last few years I wouldn't be surprised if Blu-ray players just became something Smaller Manufacturers made. Truth be told it would probably be better in the long run if Blu-ray Players became a more niche thing made by smaller companies because hopefully things like modding them and customer support would be easier and better.

[@ElliotCoen]

I'd definitely welcome that! Let's get rid of region locking players while we're at it!

[@CraigSteelyard]

So many amazing blu rays and dvds locked to regions A and 1. We need region free players now

[@soshiderek]

Definitely need more HMV and Barnes & Noble stores!

[@doublejumpvideogames....]

HMV is trash

[@AndrewBuckleBookReviews]

@@ElliotCoen that would be a big thing for me as well

[@jrobertdeans]

LG has been pulling themselves out of small electronics manufacture over the past 6 years, so this was no surprise. As long as people either collect or convert physical media into their own home streaming, some company will be savvy enough to make players.

[@Windstorm7x7-wl8ko]

Well if you table the argument that content after 2020 is by far crap, you bump up into the whole digital rights issue and copy protection. We know how that game goes, we've seen it before.

[@ChuckLovelace]

LG still makes their popular computer optical drives this announcement does not include them.

[@ericgeneric135]

I teach a film course and the "updated" classroom technology now doesn't allow me to play a disc. Therefore, I had to stop showing a couple of films because they have no streaming availability (at least here in the US). I used to always show Bigger Than Life, for example, but I had to replace it.

[@AceSimGaming]

Could you not just rip your disc copy to a USB?

[@ericgeneric135]

​@@AceSimGaming I'll look into that! I've never done that before but that might be an option. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@jublywubly]

How can it be a "film" course, if there's no film, tapes or discs?

[@kenwidman7697]

The LG player was crap compared to the Panasonic or the Sony they just couldn't compete. A lot of huge companies investing big money in physical media people are also starting to realize streaming services aren't dependable and it costs too damn much to keep all these services. Nope the old fashioned Blu-ray he's still the best alternative

[@kenwidman7697]

Yep the PS5 disk drive totally sold out because these big companies are glued the mindset that keep saying physical media is dying and then finding out it's not over and over again

[@TheHuntleyHaverstock]

Everytime I go to Goodwill and see a blu ray player with the remote, I always pick it up. I've never paid more than $12 for a player...

[@AndrewBuckleBookReviews]

I have a few, I think I will be doing much the same with any bluray player. Yet to see a 4K player in a secondhand store though but 99% of my physical media is bluray

[@dravenlee4473]

LG’s player was 5th place in sales…behind Samsung who is just selling leftover players. That’s pretty bad and why they pulled out. They were never a real player in the market. If Panasonic pulls out when they are #1, that’s when you panic.

[@dav1dpri0r]

It is the end, but it’s a really slow death.

[@markchristopher8515]

LG and Samsungs Blu-Ray Disc Players were Rubbish anyway!

[@theMaster...]

LG bluray players were trash anyways. No loss there.

[@daveinchina]

I agree, Sony are king.

[@natecraig8917]

Yes thank you they were trash.

[@bananasayswhat]

Players and othe goods. Their products are garbage.

[@mikelreborn3254]

I use my Blu-ray player to play my DVD collection. Right now I have about seven hundred DVDs. They're so cheap I'm trying to make more room.

[@mikelreborn3254]

I've been a PC gamer for thirty-five years, and PC went discless about ten years ago... and consoles are just now catching up.

[@moomin7461]

Sony still make a DVD player.

[@RPKGameVids]

I use my DVD player to play DVD's so it'll save wear and tear on my Blu Ray player.

[@NoirFan84]

You can still get VHS players easily & cheaply if you want one, that should tell you everything that BluRay/4k players will always be a thing if you want to personally kept it a thing.

[@ElliotCoen]

That's true, but no company is producing new VHS players unless I'm just unaware?

[@Windstorm7x7-wl8ko]

You're not unaware Funai was the last manufacturer and stopped in 2016. Are their player any good? It seems logical that if you wanted to keep one going that parts will still be available the longest from the last manufacturer but that may not hold either.

[@baronhausenpheffer]

Have you actually tried? It seems bonkers for an item that was once in every household, but VHS players are actually not that easy to get ahold of now in working condition.

[@EliteSpectre]

@@ElliotCoen some smaller companies might still make VHS but i can't fully confirm. VHS' are not as much in the same Niche Renissance that DVDs and BLU-RAY Discs are experiencing.

[@stephenlee4820]

It's really simple. Companies are cutting down on manufacturing them. They realise a huge amount of people are using their game consoles to play physical media instead.

[@WarBrer247]

I just bought a Panasonic UB-820 earlier today to pair with a new C4. Until the LG announcement and reaction, I didn't realize LG was still manufacturing Blu-ray players. Sony and Panasonic are the kings of the market until you delve into the higher-end offerings. Given Panasonic's strong performance in Blu-ray players, it makes sense that they've decided to re-enter the U.S. TV market.

[@ChuckLovelace]

LG also still makes computer optical drives.

[@Yeastextract]

Sony just produced a whacking great Frank Capra box set of 20 movies, i don’t see them ceasing BD player production anytime soon.

[@ginarae5739]

IMHO Panasonic will always produce disc players, AFAIK they were last major brand to retail 3D TVs 🎉 Not surprised LG followed Samsung, neither of their disc players were up to the same standard as the Panasonic UB820 ie. Supported both Dolby Vision and HDR10+, HDR Optimiser..?? ❤

[@ElliotCoen]

Yeah I don't want to be unfair to the others but I agree that Panasonic players have been better. I do miss that Oppo aren't making players any more. My main player is still an Oppo.

[@daveinchina]

I have 6 spare Bluray players from Sony.

[@ElliotCoen]

Now that is preparation!

[@FORBIDCharlie1986]

Don't put them all in one place tho. Flooding, fires, etc. happens.

[@daveinchina]

@@ElliotCoen You are right in what you say...someone will see a gap in the market and make new players in the future, just like record players....no worries at all. The technology will improve too, so that non major companies can produce quality players.

[@MrCREWCRUSHIN95]

You should've used the money and just bought a Reavon or a Magnetar!

[@dominus519]

Panasonic ub9004 is better and cheaper...

[@TroyUlysses]

There will never be "no more players in our lifetime". We can still buy Cassette players, there is even new 8-Track players. I'm not worried.

[@Windstorm7x7-wl8ko]

Unfortunately that stuff is dying. The major labels are working out of the modern issues with technology. No one makes VHS players anymore, and unless you find some nos machine you'll be resorting to repairing a used unit. Even though you can find limited availability of cassette technology it hasn't kept pace with the other mediums in delivering clean audio, even vinyl is better supported. Try to find new content on metal tape? I doubt its existence.

[@barrusbarrusman9319]

This was somehow what I needed to hear. I am one of them who have got very scared by the fearmongering videos and articles. I have constantly asked me "Will I be able to keep watch my bluray and DVD discs in the future?" Personally I watch my movies on my computer with an internal bluray player. I don't know how the market and future is there. But another guy told me one thing though: As long as we will continue buy movies, they will continue making bluray players. So keep collecting and buy movies, dear collector friends

[@classiccinemac9480]

Elliot!! It’s Mac!! Long time no chat man! I really miss commenting on the movie review posts and am so glad you are continuing to make physical media updates! As for the news of some Blu-Ray players being discontinued by a few companies, I would say to not panic. Movie companies and manufacturers have always “promised” that they will end physical media when they never get around with their ultimate plans. There are still some titles that are planned for a 4K Blu-Ray release for 2025 such as Gladiator II and Sonic 3 and do not forget that Criterion Collection is still promoting their titles for Spring! Physical Media for movies is still in a very interesting spot with today’s world of streaming and many audiences have definitely stated their concerns for the importance of having discs despite the conveniences of the digital era. Always important to take Physical Media updates with a grain of salt and hoping the best for the holidays man! 🎄📀🎬

[@ElliotCoen]

Hey Mac, I appreciate your great comment, well said! I hope you have a lovely Christmas/New Year!

[@legiontheatregroup]

That is infortunate news. My blu ray player is an LG and I love it. It is a bit special as it is 3D enabled; I have it connected to s 3D enabled projector, and together they often provide a more eye-popping vintage home movie experience than I get seeing a modern 3D film in a movie theatre. I know my hobby is now a niche within a niche, but new blu ray releases in Real 3D still come out every year.

[@Terry.W]

Sony actually don't make a stand alone CD player even though they invented the CD ...and I have just found our the PS4 and 5 don't actually play CDs ..although the Xbox does play CDs...so something is happening ...any way I have 2 multi region 4K Blu Ray players and I am happy..

[@ElliotCoen]

I had no idea the PS4 and PS5 can't play a CD! Not that I've tried. I still have a big CD collection but they're just for ripping on my computer to put on my iPod classic

[@MrCREWCRUSHIN95]

These are just the titles releasing in January 2025. This is JUST January. This is the amount of NEW 4K/Blu-ray released EVERY MONTH. I've never had so hard a time keeping up as I do now. We are getting MORE releases than we did in the past years. I defy you to tell me physical media is dying when this is what we get EVERY MONTH in new releases: Fade In Incubus Inglourious Basterds Invasion of the Bee Girls Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling Mikey and Nicky The Mother and the Whore My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 5 The Spiral Road That Funny Feeling Whore The Cell 
Edge of Eternity The Grifters 
 The Haunted House of Horror 
 Impact 
 The Last Voyage of the Demeter 
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer 
 Love And Crime 
 Love Unto Waste 
 The Mother and the Whore 
 Rouge 
 Rumours 
 Sahara 
 The Shepherd of the Hills 
 Stray Dog 
 Vampires Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens 
 Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter 
 Cure 
 High and Low 
Il Posto + I Fidanzati 
 Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling 
 Opera 
 Running on Karma Shout at the Devil Story of a Cloistered Nun 
 Supervixens 
 Underworld Beauty 
 Vixen! 
 Weak Spot 
 Winchester '73

[@peterlambert1728]

3 Russ Meyer movies are in your list. Awesome! Thanks, I’m pre-ordering now.

[@bigrobotnewstoday1436]

LG also pulled out of the cellphone market. And Samsung pulled out of the camera market. Just something to think about.

[@fourlights]

There's also devices like the zidoo z9x pro and similar media players that will play your ripped 4ks and blurays with the menus.

[@bananasayswhat]

Yes, same here as I've got discs that no longer play💯

[@heartofcinema3454]

No, because there will always be some company making them. Like there was for high end turntables for vinyls, like from Rega and pro-ject.

[@ElliotCoen]

Exactly! I mentioned the turntables in the video but I do wonder if the same could be done for a blu-ray player. I don't know much about it but could there be some patent held stopping the tech being replicated?

[@Lanosrep]

We don't see reproduction VHS players, Laserdisk players, CRT TVs etc...

[@jackflash8567]

@@ElliotCoen Doesn't the tech get licensed out to other companies so they can make their own players?

[@heartofcinema3454]

@@Lanosrep dated technology, no demand

[@heartofcinema3454]

@@ElliotCoen I am sure they can license out the patent to make extra cash

[@JohnAranita]

Two Blu-ray disc players that I bought, they don't play 4:3 discs properly; the video would be stretch horizontally. Luckily, I already have a player that works always.

[@brunomachado7279]

I bought a spare player this year. I'm not very optimistic.

[@stevec5465]

I bought a spare Panasonic 4k player. Just in case.

[@ShadowTurnip-p1z]

Don’t panic.. it wasn’t that long ago the last vhs player was made..

[@stephen-wahl]

LG also left the mobile phone market, did they stop making phones? Panasonic, Toshiba, Sharp and numerous others got out of the TV business in North America, have we stopped buying TVs? It’s a simple rationalization of the market, which happens in almost every sector as long as people are willing to buy them and there’s a demand there will always be players available. (Panasonic actually just re-induced new televisions to the US this year). Polaroid was apparently dead, but the last factory was bought and resuscitated, and it’s now enjoying a resurgence. If all the major brands left, then one of the former brands would probably come back.

[@kennethray-u9v]

Yes,LG decided to stop making phones,because they couldn't keep up with changes

[@richardbutton1179]

I had a Sharp once. 1 of the best TV's I ever owned. Im old enough to remember that if you didnt have a Sharp or an RCA color tv in your home, you were a nobody. Now some of those once famous name brand TV's are either considered lower tear Tv's or dont make them at all.

[@huckleberry-23]

You can still find some at thrift stores and media stores. Keep the tradition alive yall

[@simonatterbury]

Physical media is more important than ever. Recently watched The Spy Who Loved Me on Amazon Prime and the Lawrence Of Arabia theme that plays at one point was replaced by a stock track ruining the gag. So want to keep Blu-Rays / DVD's that still have the original versions of movies and obviously need something to play them on.

[@nigelstone3729]

It just LG and Samsung, but I think it's because people are sending lots of them back with faults, as I did a while back with there Blu-ray home cinema players. I then went to Panasonic Blu-ray 5.1 home cinema, then a few years ago I went for Panasonic 4k HDR10+ player, and Panasonics 3.1 Technics tuned soundbar dtsx/atmos, and those have been great.

[@DVDfeverGames]

When KZbin recommended this video to me, it had "4K views" 😲

[@ElliotCoen]

Spooky 😅

[@letstalkcriterion]

LG have the lowest share of the market, I’m okay I have three spare players. Funnily enough none of them are LG. Tascam have just recently announced a new 4k player which can be rack mounted and I’ve just recently bought a new Reavon UBRx200

[@ChuckLovelace]

This wasnt mentioned but while LG isnt making set tops they are still making their popular optical drives for computers. So they are not completely exiting the market.

[@DrakonR]

The only good LG product, literally, are the OLEDs.

[@robertwood2490]

Yes, buy a number of 'cold spares', for insurance!

[@ElliotCoen]

You could even build a fort out of them!

[@phantomtec]

LG, nooooooooooooooo! Says not too panic, Next minute he at the local shops buying everything Blu-Ray related. Peace peeps & Merry Christmas 2024

[@q8ymhd]

I still purchase hard copies of Blu-rays, music CDs, and vinyl records.

[@snappertrx]

I'm getting ready to buy an Onn brand player from Walmart, along with a few more films. I'm pretty surprised by the Onn brand quality for the price. I've purchased a few of their electronics and they have all been of consistently good quality. I'll keep buying physical media so long as its available. If not from the store than from the thrift shops.

[@Mr_Quimper]

I'm going to get a spare UB9000 and just leave it in the cupboard. 😬Digital preppers 😄

[@NickPiers]

I have a PS5 and that's served well for my movie player. My Playstation has been my movie player ever since the PS2, honestly. I won't bother getting a PS5 Pro since it doesn't have a built-in disc player. I don't know what I'll do if the PS6 doesn't come with a built-in disc player. I don't like the idea of having an extra peripheral just for that.

[@danny9405]

The polarity amongst physical media and players is insane. On one end, no one wants physical media, it’s dying, let’s stop selling it and on the other end people are still paying $30, $40, $50+ for a single film and a worthwhile player runs you $400-$500. If you didn’t know any better you’d guess movies are a few bucks a piece and the average player is around $30-$50. Physical media is fading, there’s no denying it, but if there’s still money to be made, they’ll still sell it. Just keep supporting what you like and our hobby will be just fine.

[@byron19800]

Yeah, right, as if LG was a major player in this niche anyway. It's kind of funny how nobody gave a damn about LG players before and now, all of the sudden, the disc players are dying just because they'll stop making'em. Did the industry die when Oppo stopped making'em? What the hell, people? Sony and Panasonic are the real giants in this business, they always were. And, quite recently, the void left by Oppo in the high-end market was already filled by Magnetar and Reavon. So, no LG anymore but TWO other major players, already making beautiful machines.

[@graugaarddk]

LG mentioned that they could start up production of players again if the demand would come back. so my guess is that their warehouse stock is filled now, and they just dont want to overproduce, as us with physical media doesnt buy so many players, and streamers dont at all.

[@Weyco23]

Still rocking my Oppo BDP-203.

[@ElliotCoen]

Me too!

[@omarguerrero6417]

Company stop making bluray players because of sony lack of updating the format

[@superg50zero32]

No big loss, just read the reviews online most LG bluray players had many issues and cheaply made. There will always be another electronic company out there manufacturing bluray players even if Sony and Samsung quit making them. I will give LG one thing they make great Oled TVs.

[@vintagevhstreasures4058]

Samsung stopped making them back around 2018/2019

[@washere3955]

I have two cheap LG UBK-80 players, since 2020, and I haven't had an issue yet.

[@scooterboi8761]

I've been thru every physical media you can think of. I have a basement full of dead video hardware and software. I just don't care anymore.

[@stark_harshly]

If I could afford one, I'd love a Panasonic player! Another KZbinr said it, it's not the end of physical media; it's the end of _cheap_ physical media.

[@jublywubly]

LG region-lock their players and burners, anyway, so it's better to buy a different brand. Here in Australia, I found that out after I bought an LG DVD burner/BluRay player for my computer, a few years ago. I tried to play a disc from another region, but the player's software told me I couldn't play it. There was nothing about the region locking written on the packaging or on their website or in the shop where I bought it. Obviously the shop staff rely on LG telling them about their devices, too. I wrote to LG, only for them to tell me they region lock all their disc players and recorders. I wrote back to inform them we have the legal right to buy and play media from anywhere in the world and they have no reason to region lock. I added that we have the right to obtain a refund, because their players/recorders are "not fit for purpose" (using our trade practices term). No-one from LG bothered to reply.

[@rickdrais9737]

My opinion? People are dumb. And, the people posting the panic videos? Looking for attention and of course, likes and shares. If anyone is actually in panic mode over this, go out and buy a few new players and store them away for the future OR find a decent local tech repair shop. Geez, people are such idiots

[@Alex27uh]

I bought 2 blu ray players earlier this year as spares because I see the writing on the wall. They're still cheap to purchase.

[@spikewilliam]

While the 'mainstream' market of major record distributors is declining, the heritage film market, on the other hand, has been on the rise for several years. One only needs to look at the quite staggering number of film releases every month from distributors like Arrow or Shout to realize this... 2024/2025 will have been the years for the release of the biggest 'white whales' in the market, namely True Lies, The Abyss, and Panic Room... In contrast, the market is thriving.

[@baronhausenpheffer]

I don't think this is a panic-worthy issue, but it does underline something that has been true of physical media over the last 10 years: if you love something, you have to support it. (And on top of that, it helps to sing its praises to your friends.) I do think we're eventually heading for a future where movies on disc won't be commonly sold in big box stores. On the other hand, there are a lot of boutique labels out there making great sales on exactly that because there is so much money to be made from collectors. The question is how to convince manufacturers of the physical player to keep making their wares when an ever-shrinking percentage of the viewing public is buying and using them. Even if some crazy collector buys 1,000 blu rays a year, they are still watching them on a single player. The shrink in the big-picture install base of who is buying and using *players*, no matter how well the discs are selling, becomes a numbers problem at some point. One thing that would help enormously is that I suspect some parts of the BR technology is still owned and licensed out by Sony. DVD players can be bought for less than $30 brand-new from little no-name hardware manufacturers because the tech is older and they are apparently so cheap to make that $30 still counts as profit. Besides people supporting the blu ray format itself, lowering the entry cost for hardware manufacturers somehow would be an enormous plus in keeping the technology around and easily-purchasable.

[@thesuitison]

Thankyou for take your time and effort as always as they say where there demand there supply so its just the sign of times. Hope your doing a review on ( No country for old men 4k ) can't wait for it hope you enjoy your Christmas everyone who tunes in to watch Elliott give us his effort and knowledge and love that he does all take care and enjoy what you have and whatever you are doing. ❤ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@imheretochewbubblegum]

You can get a brand new VCR now if you want it, so no worries.

[@MatthewBrannickWilliam]

The sky remains high above, but fewer companies making players is obviously not a good thing. Not good for competition at the very least.

[@Ryglado]

My 15 year old Panasonic blu ray player stopped working making me upgrade to a 4k player so my concern is what happens when that one dies.

[@markmarkofkane8167]

I never had LG Blu-ray players. It was Funai and Sony. Not all of us can stream video. That requires high speed, reliable, affordable Internet. We don't get those three things where I live. And I prefer physical media. I can watch it anytime I want, without needing an internet connection.

[@brennenhiatt7479]

The one thing that bothers me is that they never put Dolby Vision in place on the PlayStation 5 which I use as my 4k and blu ray player

[@Downhuman74]

My current region-free 4K player is an LG but I've been looking for a replacement for a little bit now. It's obvious that LG hasn't been innovating in this area for a long, long time now. Decent player, but the interface is from 2006 or so. So... not shocked that they're getting out. But, let's not panic just yet about player availability. We still have Sony and Panasonic in the mainstream manufacturing arena and several boutique companies are still going. And they'll keep going as long as discs are being manufactured. That's what dictates the market, not the other way around. LG definitely occupied the mid-level market for players, though, so affordability may become an issue. But I would give it another 10 years or so before we start showing concern. After all, new VHS players were still being produced almost 10 years after the last pre-recorded tapes were produced.

[@BrianRidgway-u5g]

Thanks for the rationale perspective. People just want to have something to complain about. I have bought two basic LG players. With weekly use, they lasted about three years before getting buggy. But they were modestly priced, so l got my money's worth. To quote Alfred E. Newman, "What, me worry?"

[@Michael64425]

As an older person it won’t affect me personally as will just buy a couple of players to see me to my End😂 of Days.For younger film fans it’s looking inevitable that at some point the choices will be very limited.Its crazy from my point of view that at present the best way to view a movie at home is with a Blu-Ray player and a very good TV and that might not have a future.

[@kenwidman7697]

And .. don't kid yourself Sony just wants to make more money on peripherals so let's sell the drive separately because the price of the pro is outlandish even on its own

[@ShadowTurnip-p1z]

Need to make that concord money back…

[@we8463]

LG Blu Ray players suck anyway! Panasonic rules for their 4K Blu-Ray players

[@yunoyuluvit]

Didn't LG's last 4K player come out years ago, anyway?

[@MrCREWCRUSHIN95]

This isn't any kind of bellweather at all. People buy Sony and Panasonic. (Or Reavon or Magnetar). There are 60-80 new 4k/Blu-ray releases PER MONTH. Players aren;t going anywhere. Panasonic JUST DROPPED A NEW 4K PLAYER A MONTH AGO- UB450. Getting tired of ignorant 'sky is falling' Chicken Littles. (Should we panic that VIDEO GAMES are going away since only Sony and Microsoft are left in that space?!)

[@acidunicorn1225]

I'll continue to use my ps5 as my main blue ray player all good

[@spaceodds1985]

Panasonic haven’t really added new model to their catalogue since 2017/18. Won’t be surprised if I end up buying another 820 soon

[@wumingkkk]

LG blu ray is not even the major seller of the player in market lol. It is not going to impact the market. If Panasonic is the one, there will be a major panic.

[@EstebanGunn]

One easy solution to sell physical media is to stop making physical media cover art so ugly with focused grouped layouts with giant faces and critic quotes and make them actual pieces of art that you would want to display. I've seen fan art posters made for free look better than what studios spend millions on. We need to get past the idea that people will impulse buy a BD based on an actors face and what a critic says and that now we need to market to fandom.

[@TheHipisterDeer]

Unless 4k players stop becoming backwards compatible with blu rays and DVDs there isn't much to worry about.

[@BarbaraPape-y4g]

History repeats it'self and Bluy-Ray is just another victim of what some call progress. But sometimes it is a step backwards. If you want to watch a film when you want to and in the best possible quality then only 4K Blu-Ray will give you that, but sadly most consumers don't appreciate the best so they buy on price and end up been conned by the streaming companies. Blu-ray discs and players are still available as are DVD's, you can still buy new sealed Laserdiscs of which i have a large collection. Don't allow the press to comvince you that physical media is been phased out.

[@jaysterling26]

I can't see my concern already. Good idea to buy & keep players for the future but what happens when screens ( & amps for musuc) don't have a viable connection ( unless blue ray or via an app or AI thought reader ?) for the players?

[@TigerTT]

The real sad thing is that there aren't even alot of options for 4k Bluray players in general. Overall it's easier for people to just buy a PS5 and call it a day.

[@mrk1075]

I need Blu-ray drives. I formatt my Blu-ray disc to mp4 and play them from my external hard drive!

[@HUYI1]

Pretty much all ps4 and ps5s have in built blu rays in them, sony have been doing this since the ps2 days so indeed I'm not worried completely, even though i don't own 4k movies i do have a substantial collection of blu rays that i use on occasion so it's nice to know that i can still watch them, i do remember having a stand alone blu ray player years back and they were quite solid too!

[@stevec5465]

PS3 was first with the Blu-ray player. Part of the reason for it's high cost. PS2 had DVD player.

[@TheFergyme]

Non-issue since 4K bluray are still out there. Besides, I have 2 bluray players, a Sony and an OPPO.

[@gattalbe]

The real problem would be collectors stop collecting… until then no panic, there will always be blu-ray players. We won’t live forever anyway, existing players are enough for our lifetime… I wonder our sons and nephews what they’ll do with our collections.

[@Windstorm7x7-wl8ko]

The companies that are pushing streaming have an additional advantage in that there's very little as far as titles worth buying these days, unless it was made before 2020. Games, movies they've all been producing schlock, except for some rare instances. None of it is even worth streaming. Personally, I think most of it will all soon be a wash. People are going to have to get off the couch, and their easy chair, and actually go out, and do things to be entertained. Bowl, basketball, softball, tennis, you name it. Unless major reversals happen it's looking closer to being over. I suppose books will still be around. Libraries aren't going away anytime soon.

[@jakesmith5278]

It's time for a new form. Whatever happened to those 2T discs??

[@SDAnime]

I'll say this stock up on BluRay players. So that way when they do stop making them you have backups.

[@pablorages1241]

So we have to throw out all the disks? :(

[@unachimba9]

I dont think the costs of physical media, if you mean, dvds and even bluray habe gone up at all. 4k we can discuss, but not for all physical media.

[@gwheregwhizz]

The likes of Roxel and Lonpoo now produce them. And unlike cheapo Chinese cassettes and record players, they are actually quite acceptable.

[@alexkyria]

Oppo use to make an amazing 4K player and they stopped producing it. So yes it's sad news that one manufacturer is giving up on the format and we still have Sony and Panasonic, but for how long? They are dozens of brands out there, such as Pioneer (who use to make great players), Phillips, Bang & Olufsen, Sharp, Toshiba, Samsung, Thompson and more and who don't make 4K and Blu-Ray players, they are only 2 left, and if they go down then not only we are screwed but the entire physical media market will die also. My advice is to buy 1 or 2 extra players and good ones just in case, until the day new TV's won't be sold with HDMI's anymore because there will be no use for them.

[@DrakonR]

There's always going to be someone producing them.

[@matthewhardwick8208]

Clearly they want to push digital. Look at 28 Days Later for example. That film desperately needs a physical release. But no Sony just put it up for rental or digital purchase only. Because they have complete control of the distribution.

[@sirducksworthythe3rd842]

Their still gonna be blu ray players just like you can still find new vhs players online, physical medisma is future not the already dead streaming

[@LurkingFear87]

I didn't know lg made players till this story came out

[@kabhis2002]

Time to add 4k player to collection of ps5 and region free bluray players.

[@kurb1980]

Thank goodness for my oppo’s I held on to my blu ray and my 4k uhd-203 been going strong for 8 years no problems! If it died tomorrow I’d be getting the magnatar 😢