I am one of the luddites who still rents DVDs and Bluerays. One thing few people talk about is depth of catalog. Netflix DVD rental offers something like 100,000 titles, including many indie and foreign films, as well as music performance videos. The Netflix streaming catalog is probably less than half the size of the disc rental catalog. Sure DVD res and audio stink compared to BD and even streaming, but that doesn't matter if DVD is the only format a given film is offered in. I had about 1000 films on two Netflix rental ques when they announced they were pulling the plug. Dozens of great films and musical performances that aren't available on streaming will be lost to me forever, unless I want to purchase them, assuming they are even available in disc form. It's really a shame. If Netflix would duplicate their disc catalog for streaming, I would pay up for it. Perhaps a multi-tiered subscription plan, like some other streaming services offer, could offer more indie and foreign releases. Are you listening, Netflix?
Bad news for home theater enthusiasts
Disney is ending all DVD and Blu Ray releases down under for Australia and New Zealand which may be a harbinger of what can eventually happen to the rest of the world. Their last release will be Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3. From now on it's streaming only for them.
It's a good read for those with a big investment in physical media as streaming still can't match the quality and the big players just don't care as there'll be one less product to make.
Are we going to see a run on blu ray players with prices going through the roof again like we did when OPPO decided to call it quits? My OPPO BDP-103 is old and the mid level Panasonic DP-UB820-K is starting to look a bit desirable right now.
All the best,
Nonoise