Content providers basically care about only one thing - their bottom line and how to increase it. The quality of the video and audio of that content is a distant second, or maybe even third. Usually, a disc's maximum retail value is its price when first released, so the providers have no real motivation for supporting the format. The streaming format allows them to charge more for the same content, no matter how old it is. It's a mixed bag on streaming content quality - I watched the excellent Coen brothers movie, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, on Netflix and was generally very satisfied with the audio and video over my mid-level AV system. I scarfed up a few Oppo and Panasonic plasma TVs when each of those brands announced those products would no longer be manufactured, and I'm glad I did. To Nonoise, who is considering the Panasonic 820 player, that is a good choice (I got one when I dipped my toes into the 4k pool), but it made me sad to see the big difference in construction quality compared to the Oppo units.
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