As streaming and downloadable media increase their dominance, Blu-ray players are being discontinued across the industry, which means that sooner or later you won’t find any players on the shelf should your current one give up the ghost. So what now?

In December 2024, LG announced that it would be ceasing production of Blu-ray players, joining Samsung and Oppo who both left the market about half a decade earlier.

LG was one of the last great holdouts making players, but now only Sony and Panasonic are left, and while having fewer players to share the market makes it more viable for them to stay in for a while, I suspect it’s only a matter of time before the remaining big brands pull the plug.

So there’s no reason to rush out and do something financially inadvisable. Instead, take this as a medium-term warning that those of us who like collecting media are on notice. If you want your disc library to remain playable for as long as possible, you’ll have to do something about it soon.

      • __nobodynowhere@startrek.website
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        2 days ago

        The firmware allows you to completely bypass the DRM scheme. You can definitely rip HD Blu-rays without it, but 4K UHD Blu-rays have an updated DRM scheme and you can’t (or couldn’t at the time I bought the drive) rip those without modified firmware.

        Additionally, the ripping process is quicker with the modified firmware.

  • Fermion@feddit.nl
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    This article fails to provide numbers that would distinguish between declining demand vs. these players failing to compete with consoles. When I was shopping for uhd capable bluray players, the cheapest ones were around $400 and the ps5 was $500. With how much more capability a gaming console has, you would have to be completely indifferent to gaming to buy a player over a console.

    • GreatAlbatrossA
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      2 days ago

      I’m currently mulling this. The “gold standard” sensibly priced UHD disc player is £250+ (Panasonic UB-820).

      While it’s getting close to just getting a console, where it does cinch it is adjustability and handling of WCG and HDR content.

      I strongly agree that for DVD/HD/, it’s a solved problem: They can all output the correct ranges, at the right framerate, at the right resolution.

      But WCG and HDR are a bit of a minefield even years on.
      And it’s stupid that’s it’s necessary, but being able to specify “my TV goes up to 300 nits, compress anything above that” is useful.
      Which none of the consoles (to my knowledge) have managed to implement yet.

  • MajorHavoc@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    Last time I had to pick out a media player, my options included recognizable brand names and much cheaper devices from brands I didn’t recognize.

    For modern shoppers, allow me to provide a cost/benefit breakdown:

    The brand name players:

    • Are about triple the price.
    • Are engineered with the cheapest possible parts to ensure I need to upgrade before too many years.
    • Prevent skipping ads on purchased media
    • Prevent skipping the FBI reminder that I could have saved money through piracy.
    • Faithfully refuse to play media purchased from any “wrong location”, as defined by everyone’s “friends” at the MPAA.

    The no-name players:

    • Faithfully responds to the remote control at all times.
    • Plays any and all expected compatible media from anywhere in the world.
    • Are probably still engineered with the cheapest possible parts to ensure I need to upgrade before too many years.
    • Claims to also play various file formats I have never even heard of.
    • Even allows skipping the nice FBI reminder that piracy saves time, money and effort.

    I’m shocked that Panasonic isn’t seeing DVD player sales! Shocked, I say! (This last bit is sarcasm. I’m surprised anyone still buys a name brand media player.)

      • MajorHavoc@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        2 days ago

        Oh, sure…let me check…

        And… I just went to look at mine, and it actually literally lacks any branding.

        Not a super legit product, apparently.

        But it works fine, and it even let’s me skip the FBI reminder about how I should give up and just pirate MP4s instead.

        • ɔiƚoxɘup@infosec.pub
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          9 hours ago

          Hahah. Literally no branding. I guess we shop on Timu or AliExpress. This truly cracked me up. Thank you!

    • Australis13@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      2 days ago

      In Australia, I’d actually expect DVD players to be supported by the major manufacturers longer than Bluray players. DVD is the dominant video format and you can find shows and movies still being repressed on DVD a decade after the limited Bluray run sold out. Some stuff doesn’t even get a Bluray release locally. However, I am becoming more optimistic about this as Via Vision is starting to tackle stuff that has long been neglected on Bluray here.

  • Drusas@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 day ago

    I have heard and read that Blu-ray discs don’t have very longevity, in comparison to other disc-based formats such as DVD.

    Does anyone have any information on this? It seems like we should be investing in DVDs and not Blu-rays, but I haven’t found any definitive information.

  • Australis13@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    2 days ago

    I honestly can’t see players completely disappearing. Despite Disney ceasing physical media releases here in Australia, the other smaller operators seem to be doing well and putting out a fair bit of stuff (some for collectors, some for the general public). Even if the major manufacturers cease production of players, I would expect one or two boutique operations to launch their own product (particularly if they’re working with one of the boutique bluray distributors). It probably won’t be cheap (and for Australian consumers I’d expect to have to import a European player should Sony and Panasonic withdraw), but I doubt physical media and players will disappear completely. Streaming cannot compete for the quality and reliabilty of physical media and there’s something to be said for not having to worry that your favourite show or movie will disappear from a streaming service (or your digital library) when the rights expire!

  • ComradeMiao@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    2 days ago

    I’m sure computer one’s still exist though right? Worst case one could run via a blu ray disk driver computer. Scary that it will become like vhs!

    • fishos@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      2 days ago

      This. CD/DVD players/burner drives are cheap and readily available for PCs still. Hell, you can find external floppy drives still.

      Though, admittedly, the lack of software on BluRays might hurt that since the need won’t be as strong. But I wouldn’t expect drives to completely disappear for awhile.