Sony Is Killing the Blu-ray, but Physical Media Isn't Dead Yet

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Return to physical media & streaming fatigue

  • Several commenters report buying DVDs/Blu-rays again due to streaming “shell games” and removals; they want copies they fully control.
  • Others find DVD quality so poor on modern displays that they prefer high-quality downloads or “the high seas” to discs.
  • Some enjoy maintaining their own music/movie servers, citing tools for tagging and ripping and cheap storage.

Video quality, remasters, and devices

  • DVDs are criticized for low resolution, interlacing, region codes, and unskippable content; some argue proper deinterlacing and transcoding can make them acceptable, especially for rare titles.
  • Blu-ray/4K discs are seen as vastly superior to streaming, but there are complaints about:
    • Early “fake HD/4K” releases that just upscale DVD masters.
    • Botched remasters (too dark, wrong colors, denoising, aspect-ratio changes).
  • Projectors vs 4K TVs: some prefer large, lower-res projection for a smoother, more “forgiving” experience with old content.

Ripping, legality, and OS support

  • Legal status of ripping varies by country, with conflicting claims about whether personal-use ripping is allowed; considered unclear overall.
  • Bypassing Blu-ray DRM is reported as messy, especially on Linux; data use is easy, movie playback less so.

Audio quality arguments

  • Debate over 16-bit vs 24-bit audio:
    • Some insist 24-bit is “obviously” better.
    • Others argue 16-bit already exceeds human hearing needs and that audible differences are usually due to mastering, not bit depth.

Games, DRM, and ownership

  • Many console games on disc still require massive downloads/patches; discs function mainly as license keys.
  • DRM-free digital stores (GOG, itch.io) are praised as closer to true ownership.
  • Concern that all-digital consoles will destroy second-hand and retro markets and limit future access to current games.

Archival storage: Blu-ray, M-Disc, HDDs, tape

  • Some call recordable Blu-ray (especially BD-R/BDXL and M-Disc variants) the only realistic long-term personal archive, fearing cloud and HDDs won’t last decades.
  • Others prefer large HDDs with multiple copies and periodic migration, arguing optical is too slow, low-capacity per disc, and expensive per TB.
  • Tape (LTO) is seen as technically viable but too costly/complex for most home users.

Media longevity and reliability

  • Strong disagreement on lifetimes:
    • Some sources cited say BD-R lasts only 5–10 years; others reference claims of decades to 100+ years, especially for M-Disc and certain BDXL media.
    • Mixed real-world experiences: many personal CD-R/DVD-Rs read fine after 15–30 years, but institutional archives report high failure rates for certain cheap dyes.
    • HDD reliability experiences also diverge: some see drives lasting 10+ years; others report numerous failures, especially large-capacity models and cold-stored backup drives.
  • Consensus that redundancy, periodic checks, and migration matter more than any single medium.

Sony, manufacturing, and “death” of Blu-ray

  • Clarification that Sony is ending some recordable media production (not all Blu-ray discs), and other vendors still exist.
  • Concern that BDXL-R capacity (esp. 128GB) may be hit if a key factory closes, though some 100GB media come from other manufacturers.
  • Some fear loss of “immutable” consumer media makes society vulnerable to silent revision/deletion; others counter that no medium is truly immutable and that processes, not formats, are key.