Another One Bites the Dust.....

[cwmcobra]

Looks like Samsung is following in the footsteps of Oppo and will no longer produce BluRay and 4K disc players for the US market. Looks like options are going to be few for these players in the future.

hothardware.com/news/samsung-ends-blu-ray-production-for-us

Chuck

[cawgijoe]

I never liked Samsung players. I think Oppo dropped out because the parent company saw it as a niche segment catering to audio/videophiles and the profit wasn’t there.
I guess for me it’s Sony or Panasonic now.

They say streaming is killing the format, but Blu-ray still outshines streaming in both picture and sound quality.

[mgbpuff]

When the major studios are purchasing streaming businesses, what does that say about the future of hard formats?

[Jean Genie]

Feb 18, 2019 11:22:47 GMT -5 mgbpuff said:

When the major studios are purchasing streaming businesses, what does that say about the future of hard formats?

It says prices for streaming devices will tumble as more manufacturers enter the fray... or will they?😕

[klinemj]

Interesting news, for sure.

Mark

[leonski]

Feb 18, 2019 8:22:22 GMT -5 cawgijoe said:

I never liked Samsung players. I think Oppo dropped out because the parent company saw it as a niche segment catering to audio/videophiles and the profit wasn’t there.
I guess for me it’s Sony or Panasonic now.

They say streaming is killing the format, but Blu-ray still outshines streaming in both picture and sound quality.

Quality of sound and picture?    What's THAT?   

I show guests my OLED.    OK?   Now What?     are you BLIND?    Just look at that picture!

I was at the neighbors yesterday.     I saw he had a SUB sitting in the garage.    Wife apparently evicted it from the TV room.

The daughter was out doing something in the garage and I asked her 'Does movie sound quality count?'      You might have assumed 

I was speaking Middle English or High German for all the response.    Answer?    I say, apparently NOT.      

True that BR has terrific sound.   But Fewer and Fewer have the facility or setup to actually appreciate it.    Have you heard the SQ out of a modern TV?

I've heard better Clock Radios.    And don't get me started on most sound bars.    When I (very briefly) sold this stuff, it only got even a little interesting at 

about the 500$ price point.    

How many REAL PRIME manufacturers remain in the BR player or 4K player market?   3 or 4, including the Chinese who probably source 3/4 of the 'brands' from 

a couple factories?   

Look at reviews.   Once you get above maybe 80 or 100 product reviews, you can start seeing meaningful patterns.    And once you are at THAT threshold, you might

even see 12% one-star reviews and see a pattern there, too.    Not good.  

IMO, OPPO dumped out because ALL the lines were heading DOWN.   Number of units.   Quality from suppliers.   Reliability no matter what they did.   Profit margin.

ALL downward trend.    

When we were down to 3 Plasma TV manufacturers, Panasonic STILL came out with what was the Best Set EVER.   But no help.   1080 was dead and they couldn't

make a 4k plasma for a price they could sell it for, regardless of profit.    LG dropped LAST after Panasonic and Sanyo(?) or Samsung(?).          

And the plasma sets at the end were STILL better than any of the LCD / LED stuff available in any number of measureables.     So What/

[davidl81]

Feb 25, 2019 14:39:49 GMT -5 leonski said:

Feb 18, 2019 8:22:22 GMT -5 cawgijoe said:

I never liked Samsung players. I think Oppo dropped out because the parent company saw it as a niche segment catering to audio/videophiles and the profit wasn’t there.
I guess for me it’s Sony or Panasonic now.

They say streaming is killing the format, but Blu-ray still outshines streaming in both picture and sound quality.

Quality of sound and picture?    What's THAT?   

I show guests my OLED.    OK?   Now What?     are you BLIND?    Just look at that picture!

I was at the neighbors yesterday.     I saw he had a SUB sitting in the garage.    Wife apparently evicted it from the TV room.

The daughter was out doing something in the garage and I asked her 'Does movie sound quality count?'      You might have assumed 

I was speaking Middle English or High German for all the response.    Answer?    I say, apparently NOT.      

True that BR has terrific sound.   But Fewer and Fewer have the facility or setup to actually appreciate it.    Have you heard the SQ out of a modern TV?

I've heard better Clock Radios.    And don't get me started on most sound bars.    When I (very briefly) sold this stuff, it only got even a little interesting at 

about the 500$ price point.    

How many REAL PRIME manufacturers remain in the BR player or 4K player market?   3 or 4, including the Chinese who probably source 3/4 of the 'brands' from 

a couple factories?   

Look at reviews.   Once you get above maybe 80 or 100 product reviews, you can start seeing meaningful patterns.    And once you are at THAT threshold, you might

even see 12% one-star reviews and see a pattern there, too.    Not good.  

IMO, OPPO dumped out because ALL the lines were heading DOWN.   Number of units.   Quality from suppliers.   Reliability no matter what they did.   Profit margin.

ALL downward trend.    

When we were down to 3 Plasma TV manufacturers, Panasonic STILL came out with what was the Best Set EVER.   But no help.   1080 was dead and they couldn't

make a 4k plasma for a price they could sell it for, regardless of profit.    LG dropped LAST after Panasonic and Sanyo(?) or Samsung(?).          

And the plasma sets at the end were STILL better than any of the LCD / LED stuff available in any number of measureables.     So What/

I think you pretty much mailed it in that 95% of people can't tell the difference between 4K from an AppleTV, or 4K from a UHD disc.  The 5% that can tell the difference don't make up a big enough of a market to sustain a business.  I do hope that physical media stays around because as screen sizes get bigger and bigger the PQ differences are more noticeable. 

That being said on my 75" Sony LCD down stairs I really can't notice a difference in a streaming 4K video and a UHD 4K video (assuming there is no buffering issue on the stream), and I would think that 95% or so of all viewing is done on a 75" or less TV.  On my projector upstairs the difference in streaming and physical disc is much more pronounced.

[Loop 7]

emotivalounge.proboards.com/thread/54510/samsung-quits-new-blu-players

[repeetavx]

Feb 18, 2019 11:22:47 GMT -5 mgbpuff said:

When the major studios are purchasing streaming businesses, what does that say about the future of hard formats?

It means that the studios will have unpresidented contol over "their property". If you "buy" a movie at Amazon, and they go under. Will the studios still allow you to view " your movie" over YouTube, or Yahoo?

[leonski]

It'll be WORSE than having a beer and realizing that you 'rented' the water.

[cawgijoe]

I’m going to take a different approach here in that I believe people can tell the difference between 1080p, Streaming 4k, and 4k bluray.
They can tell when you show them. These are not enthusiasts like us here.
I have done this experiment with neighbors and friends who are actually amazed when they see a good YouTube 4k demo or a 4k bluray on my 65” Samsung. Now it’s a little more difficult between 4k bluray and Netflix bluray, but it’s there.
Most just didn’t pay attention because it wasn’t something they consider important.
One neighbor did say he was going to buy a new 4k tv and player.
Having said that, unless you are a audio/videophile, streaming is good enough. The convenience factor trumps real or perceived quality.
Ease of use and instant gratification.
My wife even tells me that I’m no longer “in” because I still buy 4k discs.

[leonski]

You have a point, cawgijoe: However? 'Telling the Difference' and 'Caring' are way different things.

The right question might be.....'How much more would you spend for the better picture you see here?' or maybe? At what point does better make you WANT better?

Pricing on TVs continues to the bottom and they are now commodity cheap in some cases.    And repair is $$$ so those sets are considered disposible.     Ask me what I went thru with 

my SONY SXRD, a LOCOS Projection set with a picture that would hold up today.....as one of the good ones.  

The problem is that virtually ALL providers of cable and small dish compress / step on the signal. It's to the point where what THEY call HD looks no better than an upsampled DVD. I ran THAT test using one of the planet of the apes movies which came as a Blue Ray and DVD in one box.    Cartoons look pretty good, though, like Futurama and Archer.    

BR is better, but not by much. The 4k feed from NetFlix looks much better. Either disc looked better than what was broadcast on one of the 'small dish' services.

The process that looks best? The new HDR feeds are really nice. I'll repeat the Planet of the Apes test on my OLED. Last time I did a back-to-back viewing was on a Panasonic S30 Plasma. Good, but not great set.  50"

Orignal DVD was enough better to wipe out VHS in about 20 minutes. And my first experience with a Power Conditioner on my OLD Panasonic CRT (remember them?) was so dramatic it was jaw-dropping.

My still camera will take 1080 video. Picture is incredible and all you could ask for. (sound? Nope!)

I think the Netflix feed is pretty good. I have no complaints except that I've looked for a selection of 'old and new' favorites with ZERO satisfaction. Where, for example is 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'?? or 'Forbidden Planet'??

One problem with small dish? They sell you maybe 150 channels. Statistically? People MIGHT watch in the 15 to 20 channel range. ALl that bandwidth is WASTED. But they won't rid themselves of what doesn't sell becuase the people that

control the programming make THEM buy those huge packages. Ala Carte might be good for the consumer but it would be awful business....at least as programming is now configured