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[EviLore]

The convenience of streaming services has been supplanted by fragmentation and ever-increasing premiums. For the price of the typical streaming subscriptions, e.g. Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Prime Video, you can buy multiple physical releases per month and actually own something--in substantially higher quality, at least in the case of films.

Physical media also requires one to be more intentional. Listening to an album, watching a movie, for decades this was not a matter of doomscrolling or letting an algorithm choose for you. It was a ritual, curating a library to suit your tastes and drawing from it, a reflection of your character and identity.

Now, even as big box retailers stop carrying physical movies, boutique distributors like Criterion and Arrow are still restoring films in handsome editions. Physical music sales are also up, vinyl and CDs (even cassettes) making a major comeback.

Rituals are important. Ownership is important. Living intentionally is important.

Let's talk physical media here.

 

[poppabk]

Yeah I already did this twice. First on VHS, at least 200 movies all went in the trash, I probably watched 10 more than once. I didn't buy as many DVD's but I ripped them all and have them on a plex server. But I will scour streaming services for them before resorting to the DVD version.
I know now we may have finally reached the point where you have as good as a copy as it's possible to make - but I'm just burnt out on it.

 

[EviLore]

Yeah I already did this twice. First on VHS, at least 200 movies all went in the trash, I probably watched 10 more than once. I didn't buy as many DVD's but I ripped them all and have them on a plex server. But I will scour streaming services for them before resorting to the DVD version.
I know now we may have finally reached the point where you have as good as a copy as it's possible to make - but I'm just burnt out on it.

Yes, the DVD to Bluray to 4K format transitions have been brutal and demoralizing at times when you have a substantial movie collection. It's not like books or music where the content itself is more or less in ideal form from the start. With movies you can spend thousands collecting for years, then see most of it become worthless and obsolete. I didn't want to go through that again either, so I went digital for a number of years with streaming services and iTunes (with its auto 4K upgrades).

But we are at the end of that road now, more or less.

 

[ZehDon]

Yeah I already did this twice. First on VHS, at least 200 movies all went in the trash, I probably watched 10 more than once. I didn't buy as many DVD's but I ripped them all and have them on a plex server. But I will scour streaming services for them before resorting to the DVD version.
I know now we may have finally reached the point where you have as good as a copy as it's possible to make - but I'm just burnt out on it.

Yep, I went full plex as well. Buy it physically, rip it to plex. For some films where the visuals are important to me - Dune, The Revanant - I stick with the 4K disc exclusivey.
My general rule of thumb is if I bought it on DVD, I don't buy it again unless it's a new master, or some kind of Director's Cut. I'm not going to double or triple dip.

 

[nush]

My physical movie journey went like this,

VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, Blu Ray, Blu Ray 3D, 4K UHD. DVD was the big jump though and the menus and extras were at their peak it's been diminishing returns since then. The higher the formats went in quality the more selective I am in rebuying as it's mostly films I've already owned so it's the best of the best and things I know I'll rewatch.

I've tried streaming at friends houses and it's doomscrolling to find something to watch and other time a movie you want to watch isn't on the service.

 

[Digital-Aftertaste]

My physical movie journey went like this,

VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, Blu Ray, Blu Ray 3D, 4K UHD. DVD was the big jump though and the menus and extras were at their peak it's been diminishing returns since then. The higher the formats went in quality the more selective I am in rebuying as it's mostly films I've already owned so it's the best of the best and things I know I'll rewatch.

I've tried streaming at friends houses and it's doomscrolling to find something to watch and other time a movie you want to watch isn't on the service.

Its still worth collecting the DVD's in my opinion, the special features and commentary tracks were a gold mine for me.

 

[Soodanim]

I've always been a fan of owning films I want, it's just that streaming cuts out the "I wouldn't mind seeing that again" ones where it's probably not worth the space on my shelf just to watch once.

I can't remember the last time I bought a new film on disc. I tend to buy older ones and I'm not the biggest film fan in the world.

 

[Trunx81]

My dad used to have our basement full with VHS, all perfectly organized in a hand written folder. Not bought, mind you, but grabbed from TV, with the commercials cut out. Sometimes five movies with Longplay on one cassette. He later transfered all of his hand written data onto a SHARP computer and later a Palm Pilot. Want to watch a movie with Harrison Ford? Here you are. A movie directed by Spielberg? Say no more! Oh and you can read what movie critics say about it in the cut out review he pasted into the physical folder.

When DVD arrived, he tried the same with a HDD recorder and DVD burner, but the first 100 discs are garbage now as he even printed individual labels for each one that deformed under the heat of the player ...

Myself I had a smaller collection which I sold 4 years ago. Thank god this trait didn´t catch on with me.

 

[Windle Poons]

It never went away in my life.

 

[CGNoire]

Have over 1000 films in HD now I own. Fuck the all digital future.

 

[winjer]

A lot of people are now realizing that the streaming future is not as bright as it once looked.

 

[Baemono]

I went back buying DVDs again, totally forgot you had like interviews, deleted scenes, and this kind of stuff you don't find on streaming services.

And never bought more CDs than now (even importing from Japan).

Same for the games, I regret buying a PS5 DE, I should've stick with a regular one.

 

[Toots]

I was looking at my book collection the other day and thought to myself "this is so much better than having one reader with everything on it".
I can choose which book i really want in the edition i like with some good design on the cover and book spine. I can hold it in my hands, lend it to someone, even resell it if i want to.
Only problem is it takes space and space is finite.
Need to build more shelves

As an aside, i find the title of thread pretty telling of how the mainstream entertainment guys are out of touch. Somehow physical media/heroic male figures/whatever doesn't go the doxa way has returned is mindboggling for them, but very normal for anyone else. Of course people rather own real things, not a licence to do whatever. We are adults, not kids asking the hall monitors to go to the bathroom.

Edit : also when you have someone over you want to impress, you must have physical media on your shelves. It would be so lame to have your reader turned on on whatever book you are reading at the moment, but it is very normal to have a half read book on your table

 

[calistan]

I noticed recently on a compilation album I bought in the early days of iTunes, one of the tracks now says 'not available in your region'.

It's a download I paid for before they had a streaming service, but now that it's all folded into Apple Music it seems that they can delete stuff you've legitimately bought, without warning.

Wish I had a physical copy.

 

[T-0800]

Rituals are important. Ownership is important. Living intentionally is important.

 

[Signalis]

Rituals are important. Ownership is important. Living intentionally is important.

 

[near]

I'll always continue to support physical media. I set up a NAS at home a few months back and eventually I plan on setting up Jellyfin and curating my own streaming set-up with my existing library. The issue I've always had with streaming services is that I'm quite selective with what I want to watch and already know what that is before I start scrolling and in most cases I simply don't find what I'm looking for. Plus we have all these services and the content is too scattered forcing you up sub to everything at least once in a while. It's just annoying.

 

[Poppinfresh]

The convenience of streaming services has been supplanted by fragmentation and ever-increasing premiums. For the price of the typical streaming subscriptions, e.g. Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Prime Video, you can buy multiple physical releases per month and actually own something--in substantially higher quality, at least in the case of films.

I've been mostly all digital for well over a decade (almost 2 at this point) and mostly don't regret it.

Despite living in a large house, I can't imagine storing, much less moving with, the number of TV shows, books, and movies I have stored on my media server. The legacy physical media I do have is pain in the ass enough; I can't even imagine dealing with almost twenty years of additional media.

That said, streaming services are essentially becoming another version of cable TV at this point. Aside from there being too many of them, they all seem to have gone to a weekly release schedule for their programming, instead of dropping all of the episodes of a new series at once. Being able to binge-watch an entire season of a show was one of the big selling points of streaming, and it's increasingly becoming rarer.

 

[nush]

A lot of people are now realizing that the streaming future is not as bright as it once looked.

People dumped thier psysical collections pretty quickly and charity/thrift stores can barely give them away. My current Blu Ray collection of a couple of hundred discs was picked up at 3 or 5 for a £1. These shops don't make a distinction between DVD or Blu Ray so they price them the same.

You are going to pay 5 - 10 in places that cater to collectors for the Blu Rays you want if you don't want to wait to find them in the wild for super cheap, but I still think it's a fair price for the movies you really want.

 

[kruis]

Its still worth collecting the DVD's in my opinion, the special features and commentary tracks were a gold mine for me.

I can't stand DVDs anymore. They looked great on CRT tvs, back in the 90/00ies, but as screens got bigger and bigger and we went from SD to FullHD to 4K, the resolution is laughably low. The image quality gap between DVD and Blu-Ray is huge, between Blu-Ray and 4K not so much.

I still have all my DVDs but I've thrown away all the cases and stored the DVDs themselves in boxes so they take up as little room as possible. But really, the chance of me ever watching even one of those is incredibly slim. My favorite movies all got a Blu-Ray upgrade and in the case of other movies that I'd ever want to rewatch I'll try streaming or I'll wear a pirate hat because the market for movies on physical media has completely collapsed where I live. It wasn't that great in the first place, but it has gotten soooo much worse now.

I still buy physical media, but it's mostly silent movies, vintage animated cartoons and Criterion Blu-Rays from the States, and they've become horribly expensive compared to 20 years ago when prices, import duties and shipping to Europe were much, much cheaper.

I've only got a handful of 4K discs (7 I think), but a pretty substantial Blu-Ray collection. Around 600 titles think. (I was busy updating my collection on Blu-Ray.com but that site just went offline, probably because of the AWS server troubles)

 

[bitbydeath]

I started watching for sales on iTunes end of last year.
Have purchased 81 movies as of today.
Still digital but still nice to own again.

 

[nush]

I noticed recently on a compilation album I bought in the early days of iTunes, one of the tracks now says 'not available in your region'.

It's a download I paid for before they had a streaming service, but now that it's all folded into Apple Music it seems that they can delete stuff you've legitimately bought, without warning.

Wish I had a physical copy.

Sorry bro, it does that to me on physical discs I've actually ripped into ITunes. Not available in my region where I've ripped the disc brought in my region, fucking insanity.

I also remember buying a movie on ITunes, wanting to watch it on my TV via HDMI adapter and having it refuse to play becuse "not authorised to play on this device". Last time I ever brought a movie on iTunes after that, the pirate version had no restrictions at all.

 

[calistan]

I started watching for sales on iTunes end of last year.
Have purchased 81 movies as of today.
Still digital but still nice to own again.

You don't own those, they can take them away at any time.

 

[bitbydeath]

You don't own those, they can take them away at any time.

Being Apple, it'll still last longer than the life of a blu-ray. We need a better physical medium.

 

[Hypereides]

Physical resurgence is the more humorous given how there was a "peculiar" ubiquitous campaign around the web, in various communities, that was bent on convincing users into thinking collecting/buying physical media was useless and using extreme cases to peddle that point. Odd. That target has shifted now, since there's probably no use in that.

I've noticed some outspoken influencers/e-celebs who've been vocal about the deceptive convenience of streaming services, and how its not what its cut out to be, with issues such as false sense of security, media availability and ownership.

Not to mention, the mindboggling retroactive censorship imposed on old works in some instances and modern day "content" (distasteful redefinition of creativity and art slapped on by suits in entertainment industries) dropping below standards, and highs, of actual great works made prior.

 

[Toots]

I started watching for sales on iTunes end of last year.
Have purchased 81 movies as of today.
Still digital but still nice to own again.

I noticed recently on a compilation album I bought in the early days of iTunes, one of the tracks now says 'not available in your region'.

It's a download I paid for before they had a streaming service, but now that it's all folded into Apple Music it seems that they can delete stuff you've legitimately bought, without warning.

Wish I had a physical copy.

If youth knew, if old age could... (it sounds better in french i guess)

 

[calistan]

Being Apple, it'll still last longer than the life of a blu-ray. We need a better physical medium.

I don't know about that - as well as Apple taking away one track from an album I bought directly from them, they also deleted all the even-numbered tracks from a CD I ripped. My computer with a CD drive is long since retired.

They're more trustworthy than some, but far too big to care about things that matter to only a few individual customers.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

I've been buying more in the last few months. I've bought most of my childhood favorites on 4k. I've still got more to go, and some aren't available. The newest films I've bought on 4k are the Dune movies. That soundtrack alone warrants physical media.

 

[xrnzaaas]

I've never abandoned it when it comes to videogames, buying both new games and some older ones (primarily X360 titles).

Can't say the same about films and music, but they were never important hobbies for me to own a physical collection, other maybe some absolute classics like Die Hard or Blade Runner.

 

[BlackTron]

The biggest question for me now isn't whether it's physical, it's whether it requires a phone home check to keep working. So walls lined with giant PC game boxes would be better than Steam, but GOG beats both, since I've already hit critical mass of physical stuff, and I'm not clearing out N64 games or 90s movies on DVD to make room for games I could get a license for almost nothing (or literally nothing).

There's a small shelf in my living room with all-time favorite or iconic stuff like TMNT 1, Matrix 1, the first DVD I ever purchased which is 007 Tomorrow Never Dies (lol), one anime box set, one Adam Sandler movie, one Liam Neeson movie, one Jim Carrey movie...you get it. Most everything else is buried in boxes and I just rely on HDDs now.

I could see myself grabbing a copy of John Wick 1 for the top shelf while all the sequels stay stuck in HDD land. Honestly I like being able to toss HD in a bag and have it all there. Physical is for vibes and posterity.

Switch games are both tiny and complete on-cart so I collected a lot of them, I expected that to ramp up on Switch 2 but actually they completely killed it. Games I was waiting to buy physical on Switch 2, I just bought on Steam instead having waited for no reason but to aggravate myself.

 

[hollams]

I've got around 1,100 movies on my NAS, with around 190 3D movies. Audio is the main reason I still buy phisical copies. I think streaming quality for audio will ever come close since most people use soundbars so the extra bandwidth wouldn't be noticed.

 

[E-Cat]

I remember reading somewhere that optical discs start deteriorating after a couple decades. This sounds really off-putting to me.

 

[spookyfish]

Yes, the DVD to Bluray to 4K format transitions have been brutal and demoralizing at times when you have a substantial movie collection. It's not like books or music where the content itself is more or less in ideal form from the start. With movies you can spend thousands collecting for years, then see most of it become worthless and obsolete. I didn't want to go through that again either, so I went digital for a number of years with streaming services and iTunes (with its auto 4K upgrades).

But we are at the end of that road now, more or less.

WHAT? You're not upgrading to EIGHT KAY???

I've definitely been more judicious with my 4K catalog replacing, but I'm also a 3D enthusiast, so it sucks even more. It's nice that some of the boutiques are putting out "classic" (gold- and silver-age 3D) and Turbine Entertainment in Germany is producing several contemporary films in BD-3D. (Gotta say: Mission Impossible: Fallout is pretty damned good in 3D.)

But, yeah -- this is it for me. 8K? Get bent. 4K presentation is, in many ways, even better than you saw these films years ago, and really can only be outpaced by Super35 or 70mm (and IMAX, of course).

I still can't see myself going digital -- although AppleTV digital is pretty damned amazing.

 

[kruis]

Yes, the DVD to Bluray to 4K format transitions have been brutal and demoralizing at times when you have a substantial movie collection. It's not like (...) music where the content itself is more or less in ideal form from the start.

Ehmm ... I've got albums that I originally owned on vinyl, then got on CD, then upgraded again when the remastered editions came out and then bought again when they were rereleased as deluxe editions, as part of a box set, 24 bit 192 Khz SACD version, improved remasters, Dolby Atmos surround mixes, etc.

 

[Mistake]

I remember reading somewhere that optical discs start deteriorating after a couple decades. This sounds really off-putting to me.

It depends on the quality of the disks. If they use cheap dyes they will. I snagged the last high quality CDs for my Dreamcast from Taiyo Yuden in Japan before they quit, but it seems their manufacturing process still exists. Here's some info

Taiyo Yuden is credited with inventing CD-R technology alongside Philips and Sony on June 13th, 1988, and was the world's only manufacturer of CD-R media at the time. The company, known for its high-quality electronic components, became the standard for CD-R media, with its discs being used by media equipment manufacturers to develop recorder drives. Taiyo Yuden's discs are renowned for their superior recording quality, playback compatibility, and print quality, often considered the benchmark for reliability and consistency in the industry.

In 2015, JVC/Taiyo Yuden ceased manufacturing blank CDs and DVDs, marking the end of the original production line. However, CMC Magnetics acquired the proven manufacturing technology and processes from Taiyo Yuden to launch the CMC Pro line of premium blank CDs, branded as "Powered by TY". These CMC Pro discs are manufactured using authentic Taiyo Yuden dye material and processes, aiming to maintain the same strict specifications and high quality standards that made Taiyo Yuden discs famous. As a result, CMC Pro CDs are widely regarded as professional-grade media with low failure rates, high playback compatibility, and excellent print surfaces.

The original Taiyo Yuden brand is still associated with high performance, particularly in older CD-ROM drives and audio players, where compatibility issues are common with lower-quality discs. Users have reported that Taiyo Yuden and its successor CMC Pro "Powered by TY" discs work flawlessly in vintage systems, including early Sega CD and Jaguar consoles, and older IDE/SCSI drives, often outperforming other brands.Despite the change in manufacturing, the legacy of Taiyo Yuden's quality continues through CMC Pro products, which are considered the best in the recordable media industry for both data and audio applications.

 

[AJUMP23]

Streaming has become so dissatisfying it has become worthwhile to have physical copies and a player. Or rip them to a Plex drive even though a lossless copy is many GB of data.

 

[GateofD]

Yea, I have a decent dvd collection, and then bluray came out and stopped here. I have a few blu-rays of my super favorites, but no desire to build anything.

also, just don't have to the damn space for it.

i feel that even popping in my old dvd, it looks better than streaming services by a mile though

 

[p_xavier]

The only thing I dislike about physical 4K releases is the layer changes. Some discs I have to manually switch tracks which sucks especially if you have people over. But physical all the way if there's a release. I still buy LPs too. It's satisfying to handle your own media. I never liked the buffet aspect of streaming services, especially gaming ones.

 

[Chittagong]

I have been fully digital for films and TV since 2008, and for games since 2013.

But recently I discovered that if you get into auteurs and art house cinema, physical releases - often Criterion - are your only way to watch the production of some legendary directors.

While I managed to watch all Aki Kaurismaki digitally thanks to the Finnish Briadcasting Company, I could do that only in Finland.

Watching all Pedro Almodovar required patching together the filmography from half a dozen services, with accounts in different countries.

Now we are watching all of Krzysztof Kieślowski, and that's simply not possible on digital. So I have been scooping up the Criterions and BFIs. Had to buy a disc drive to my cinema PS5 Pro.

So for me supporting physical is not really a choice I prefer, but it's the only choice.

 

[jason10mm]

I had a MASSIVE dvd and CD collection, shucked most of it, as well as tons and tons of paperback books.

Still have lots of books, more hardback collector or coffee table type stuff, and a fair number of blu-ray. Though the ones I watch the most are disney ones with their atrocious amount of "coming soon" trailers and hard to skip nonsense with no auto-play. DVDs are still king for portable media and on the road, damn near impossible to get stuff downloaded before hand and kids seem to be happier picking a disc. I'm starting to get 4ks of "the best of the best" because I just don't trust streaming for older stuff anymore.

For music there are some genres I really like for vinyl, though having to interact with the player every 20 min or so is a bit annoying. I need to get a good digital jukebox with album covers and the like for playing more casually at home, but amazon music does a decent enough job for now.

 

[Garibaldi]

It never left our house. Got about 2K discs across 1080p BR and 4K BR

The only thing I dislike about physical 4K releases is the layer changes. Some discs I have to manually switch tracks which sucks especially if you have people over.

What layer changes? None of my discs require a manual change once I've started the movie.

Last I recall having to do it on was the LotR extended 1080p blu-rays which were spread across two discs. Layering is handled automatically and seamlessly by the player. If not, your player is goosed.

 

[EviLore]

I have been fully digital for films and TV since 2008, and for games since 2013.

But recently I discovered that if you get into auteurs and art house cinema, physical releases - often Criterion - are your only way to watch the production of some legendary directors.

While I managed to watch all Aki Kaurismaki digitally thanks to the Finnish Briadcasting Company, I could do that only in Finland.

Watching all Pedro Almodovar required patching together the filmography from half a dozen services, with accounts in different countries.

Now we are watching all of Krzysztof Kieślowski, and that's simply not possible on digital. So I have been scooping up the Criterions and BFIs. Had to buy a disc drive to my cinema PS5 Pro.

So for me supporting physical is not really a choice I prefer, but it's the only choice.

Yup, not in a rush to buy typical widely available catalog titles. Even in the DVD and blu-ray days those were an annoyance to deal with as they piled up, and felt like clutter. Streaming is fine for casual viewing of disposable entertainment.

But for niche titles, often carefully restored by the boutique distributors with hours of extra materials, titles that in many cases aren't on the main services, it makes much more sense. And your favorites that you will rewatch.

 

[Fake]

 

[jason10mm]

I'm taking my Bond blu-rays to the grave with me because I have ZERO TRUST in amazon not fucking around with them in horrible ways, from excessive DNR and general AI fuckery to outright scene editing to remove "offensive elements". Hell, wouldn't put it past them to over dub "Pussy Galore" to "Vagina aplenty" in some retarded attempt to be less vulgar

 

[Nostalgic Nightmare]

Having a realistic and curated physical collection of music, movies and games is not that difficult if you truly focus on what you will consume realistically. I have an extremely tiny home yet in one room I'm able to house for example all of my records and video games and consoles from present going back to Atari, all within two small closets with shelving I built into them. You'd never know they are there but they will always be there.

 

[bender]

I was just thinking to the album listening experience the other day. I don't buy a lot of physical media these days as the pros of ownership (or should I say the cons of digital) don't outweigh my personal needs to minimize my profile in life, but I can appreciate those who don't want physical copies.

 

[Artoris]

Its nice to have if you have the room for it

 

[The Pleasure]

Blu ray is a sweet spot for me. Superior to dvd by far with near uncompressed audio but it alsp up scales to 4k without an issue. I still buy 4ks but having over a thousand blu rays with the biggest jump being Dolby atmos and hdr make me less willing.

 

[FullMetalx117]

Collecting steelbooks, physical media is my favorite hobby I've carried over from childhood. And it's very well worth it - nothing beats watching a 4K physical disc on a panny UB820 with OLED/quality speaker system. One battle after another is next for me!