Audiophile
Gold Member
Sony have just signed a deal with Disney to take over Physical Media.
Not sure of the details yet but finger's crossed it includes catalogue titles amongst Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Buena Vista & Fox; all of which are in dire need of some love.
My personal favourite movie, Signs (2002) -- is Touchstone's highest domestic performer yet is still relegated to an inoffensive but long in the tooth ~2007 2K IP master.
Sony remain strong on the physical front, perhaps realising that physical can be a sustainable, premium niche which can co-exist with digital/streaming and that this doesn't have to be an either-or situation.
I still retain that physical is a viable, profitable business (for movies), perhaps even moreso than most streaming endeavours (the confusion of big markets with profitable ones). There's been a dream of walled, digital gardens of control for the majors which has led to them leaving money on the table in the physical space while predominantly losing it elsewhere.
The cost of high quality, preferably 4K, masters...should be a matter of course for any studios maintaining their catalogue. So I'd argue that the cost sunk shouldn't be attributed solely to a 4K physical release, ultimately once the master already exists the difference in cost when releasing a 4K vs a 1080 Blu-ray is pressing a BD-66/100 vs a BD-50. The rest is a negligible difference in authoring, while packaging and distro are the same. Economies of scale differ depending on the release but then 4K Blu-ray sells at a considerable premium.
There's no reason to replace one thing with another entirely. Charge a premium to the discerning customer and charge a discount to the less-so. Everything else amounts to fucking over the core customers who have shown up time and again to support the best releases while catering to the fickle masses who will disappear in a heartbeat should the tides change..
If boutique labels can remain viable while releasing the most obscure titles at only a small premium while offering Dolby Vision FEL on BD-100GB discs with nice packaging and a mountain of extras. There's no excuse for Disney or the like; they're just trying to gaslight everyone into thinking streaming is the only way because they want complete control.
Not sure of the details yet but finger's crossed it includes catalogue titles amongst Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Buena Vista & Fox; all of which are in dire need of some love.
My personal favourite movie, Signs (2002) -- is Touchstone's highest domestic performer yet is still relegated to an inoffensive but long in the tooth ~2007 2K IP master.
Sony remain strong on the physical front, perhaps realising that physical can be a sustainable, premium niche which can co-exist with digital/streaming and that this doesn't have to be an either-or situation.
I still retain that physical is a viable, profitable business (for movies), perhaps even moreso than most streaming endeavours (the confusion of big markets with profitable ones). There's been a dream of walled, digital gardens of control for the majors which has led to them leaving money on the table in the physical space while predominantly losing it elsewhere.
The cost of high quality, preferably 4K, masters...should be a matter of course for any studios maintaining their catalogue. So I'd argue that the cost sunk shouldn't be attributed solely to a 4K physical release, ultimately once the master already exists the difference in cost when releasing a 4K vs a 1080 Blu-ray is pressing a BD-66/100 vs a BD-50. The rest is a negligible difference in authoring, while packaging and distro are the same. Economies of scale differ depending on the release but then 4K Blu-ray sells at a considerable premium.
There's no reason to replace one thing with another entirely. Charge a premium to the discerning customer and charge a discount to the less-so. Everything else amounts to fucking over the core customers who have shown up time and again to support the best releases while catering to the fickle masses who will disappear in a heartbeat should the tides change..
If boutique labels can remain viable while releasing the most obscure titles at only a small premium while offering Dolby Vision FEL on BD-100GB discs with nice packaging and a mountain of extras. There's no excuse for Disney or the like; they're just trying to gaslight everyone into thinking streaming is the only way because they want complete control.
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