Best Buy to stop selling DVDs and Blue-rays tech news?

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Due to a decline in demand for physical media, Best Buy has strategically decided to exit the DVD business. The company will no longer offer DVDs for sale in its stores.
The popular consumer-electronics retailer plans to discontinue the sale of DVDs and Blu-ray discs both online and in house starting early 2024. It has been reported that Best Buy decided to end DVD sales nine months ago, the Associated Press confirmed.
"To state the obvious, the way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today than it was decades ago," the company said in a statement. "Making this change gives us more space and opportunity to bring customers new and innovative tech for them to explore, discover and enjoy."
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Best Buy will sell movies and TV shows on physical discs until the end of the 2023 holiday season, then discontinue sales in its 1,129 locations with 969 in the U.S. The company will still sell video games. With Best Buy's departure, Walmart, Amazon, and Target are now the top retailers for DVDs and Blu-ray discs. However, Redbox, which is owned by Chicken Soup for Soul Entertainment and has a nationwide network of approximately 29,000 DVD rental kiosks, remains a strong competitor in the physical disc business.
According to Variety, over the summer, Media Play News reported that Walmart has been in discussions with Studio Distribution Services, a joint venture of Universal Pictures and Warner Bros., to manage a portion of its physical media operations.
The rise of streaming video has caused a decline in DVD and Blu-Ray discs sales over the years. Digital Entertainment Group released its mid-year report showing that revenue from physical media in the U.S. dropped by 28% in the first half of 2023, to $754 million, compared to $1.05 billion in the same period of the previous year.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...scontinue-sales/ar-AA1ibw6n?OCID=ansmsnnews11


Brick and Motar stores still depend on physical copies. DVDs and Bluerays went to way of the dinosaur since maybe 2009
or as soon as Netflix and Roku took off or social media became a staple in many people's lives. You still have Videogames which is more practical in various ways.
 
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It's not surprising but still sad for me to see it happen. I still buy them now, but ever since the streaming crap took hold, lots of movies/shows just aren't available to buy due to the streaming services hoarding them to be on their platform only. It's really funny in some ways when we fought off rental online checking Divx disc format it was a real victory for privacy advocates. It feels like such a wasted effort now since the media companies have complete control over how you can watch and the data of what you watch.
 
The last movie I picked up like 5 years ago was Star Wars Solo. I almost picked up Cocaine Bear untill I googled what it was about.
 
They'll probably end up cutting 75% of their staff while they're at it. Every time I go into a Best Buy there are like 30 employees loitering around the movies and games asking "can I help you find something." Like the stuff isn't categorized immaculately in alphabetical order and untouched because nobody is buying physical media. Want to buy a TV, speakers, appliance, etc. ? Good fucking luck finding someone in those departments. They don't pay commissions, so apparently nobody wants to work in the areas where you actually have to do stuff.
 
Credit to where credit is due: Best Buy is actually trying to compete at cost for things. I found that I could buy an LG C3 42" or Sony A90k 42" for basically the same prices as found on Amazon, without even asking for a price match.
So while they are struggling as a brick and mortar, they are at least doing things to sell stuff.

My local Best Buy is a former shell of what it once was. Admittedly the last time I was really in there was way back when I bought a Wii one week after launch (basically the first restock, if all of you can remember how hot the Wii was at launch). Anyway, the point is, it's completely sparse in there now (I just went there to buy a particular item I didn't want to wait on Amazon for and it was the same price, again highlighting what I was saying above). The aisles in there used to be tight and packed with everything. Now the aisles are 10-12' across and spread out to fill it out.

I realize that most people don't buy physical media anymore, but Best Buy has to figure out what it needs to be to sell to people who want to buy things "today" as an advantage that Amazon and other e-tailers can't match. Like the op/article notes, Redbox is still crushing it, and it's basically distributing physical media and selling physical media.

Microcenter has figured out its business model, which was more or less inherited from Fry's, which only went out of business from mismanagement and internal theft. So, brick and mortar can still be successful. But Best Buy isn't broad enough anymore.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
Credit to where credit is due: Best Buy is actually trying to compete at cost for things. I found that I could buy an LG C3 42" or Sony A90k 42" for basically the same prices as found on Amazon, without even asking for a price match.
So while they are struggling as a brick and mortar, they are at least doing things to sell stuff.

My local Best Buy is a former shell of what it once was. Admittedly the last time I was really in there was way back when I bought a Wii one week after launch (basically the first restock, if all of you can remember how hot the Wii was at launch). Anyway, the point is, it's completely sparse in there now (I just went there to buy a particular item I didn't want to wait on Amazon for and it was the same price, again highlighting what I was saying above). The aisles in there used to be tight and packed with everything. Now the aisles are 10-12' across and spread out to fill it out.

I realize that most people don't buy physical media anymore, but Best Buy has to figure out what it needs to be to sell to people who want to buy things "today" as an advantage that Amazon and other e-tailers can't match. Like the op/article notes, Redbox is still crushing it, and it's basically distributing physical media and selling physical media.

Microcenter has figured out its business model, which was more or less inherited from Fry's, which only went out of business from mismanagement and internal theft. So, brick and mortar can still be successful. But Best Buy isn't broad enough anymore.
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I love me some MC. The one near me always seems busy. While the BB is a ghost town. Hardly and employees ethier.
 
Hopefully 4k discs remain an option anyway, but I'm not too optimistic. Being able to buy retail 'that day' is useful and Best Buy is currently the best option for (new) physical media. Lose that and I'm not sure how big the market is, does the average disc sell to someone who wants to watch it that day, or to someone who wants better quality than streaming and something to display on a shelf?

Price doesn't help either. At ~$10, a 4k disc is a reasonable alternative to streaming or renting, at $30, it's going to sit on the shelf until the price drops. Maybe selling 4k discs at a more reasonable price wouldn't cover the cost of selling them at all and it's a doomed format.
 
vegeta535 said:
I love me some MC. The one near me always seems busy. While the BB is a ghost town. Hardly and employees ethier.
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I guess computer hardware is more relevant than ever. For sure Best Buy made a good move when it decided to become an official Apple retailer. There are definitely Apple customers going there to buy products than go to an Apple store if the Apple store is too far away/not convenient. I'm sure they sell more than a few cheap TV's. But they gotta sell/compete in some other markets that people care about.

Spaghetti said:
Hopefully 4k discs remain an option anyway, but I'm not too optimistic. Being able to buy retail 'that day' is useful and Best Buy is currently the best option for (new) physical media. Lose that and I'm not sure how big the market is, does the average disc sell to someone who wants to watch it that day, or to someone who wants better quality than streaming and something to display on a shelf?

Price doesn't help either. At ~$10, a 4k disc is a reasonable alternative to streaming or renting, at $30, it's going to sit on the shelf until the price drops. Maybe selling 4k discs at a more reasonable price wouldn't cover the cost of selling them at all and it's a doomed format.
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I have a lot of similar thinking on this. Physical media definitely targets a specific type of buyer. But it makes zero sense for most people at insanely high prices. If Best Buy could negotiate that down to even "$20" at launch, it would probably go a long way to boosting sales. And when it does hit $10, that much faster. $30 just starts making it feel absurd, when people can pay for 3 months of Netflix for basically all movies. Or they're already paying for Prime which has stuff, etc.
 
It's a shame, but it is unfortunately where demand is going.

For the masses, convenience (streaming) always beats quality (Blu-ray).

Those of us who care about quality are always a minority and will always lose out to the filthy unwashed masses.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
It's a shame, but it is unfortunately where demand is going.

For the masses, convenience (streaming) always beats quality (Blu-ray).

Those of us who care about quality are always a minority and will always lose out to the filthy unwashed masses.
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We do sometimes stream something, and then get the blu-ray if it is a title we're likely to watch a lot.

I honestly struggle to see or hear a difference. But I'm at 1080p, so perhaps I should zip it.
 
The last time I went to a Worst Buy my son and I were the only people in there besides the employees. Selection was basically crap unless you wanted to buy a TV. It's no surprise that place closed down a couple of years ago.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
It's a shame, but it is unfortunately where demand is going.

For the masses, convenience (streaming) always beats quality (Blu-ray).

Those of us who care about quality are always a minority and will always lose out to the filthy unwashed masses.
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Yes, but part of this also just comes down to economics. We kind of mentioned that above. If the costs of Blu-Ray weren't so stupid expensive, I'm sure people that say, own a PS3/PS4/PS5 would buy a couple now and again. But at $30+ dollars to start on a single disc, and I have to figure out how to get it, I could just stream for 3 months instead.

We all know the jackets they mass produce cost a nickel. And the disc's themselves have gotten to the point of also being cheap to mass produce. Even if they cost a dollar (which I doubt), it's still at most a $2.00 product being sold for $30 (licensing fee for BD is somewhere in there, but I'm a normie and don't want to figure it out). Granted, yes, what you're paying for is the content - however every penny they make past the manufacturing and shipping cost is 100% pure profit. If they were slightly less greedy they could milk the cow from both ends, getting streaming royalties and selling way more discs. That clearly is not a part of anyone's strategy though.


OutOfPhase said:
We do sometimes stream something, and then get the blu-ray if it is a title we're likely to watch a lot.

I honestly struggle to see or hear a difference. But I'm at 1080p, so perhaps I should zip it.
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If you have a setup that supports Dolby HDR (or HDR10) and Atomos, with a film that supports both, then the differences can be staggering. Watching something like Dune or Blade Runner 2049 that are designed to be visual/audio feasts takes it to another level.
 
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UnknownSouljer said:
If you have a setup that supports Dolby HDR (or HDR10) and Atomos, with a film that supports both, then the differences can be staggering. Watching something like Dune or Blade Runner 2049 that are designed to be visual/audio feasts takes it to another level.
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I had a feeling that was the sort of thing. 1080p, standard def, 5.1 (no atmos) - streaming is really nice.

I appreciate the education.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
I guess computer hardware is more relevant than ever.
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My experience with the Dallas MC in particular is that as soon as Fry's started having problems, customers flocked to MC, and it's always packed now when I go there, which normally is, admittedly, only on weekends.
 
I literally just walked into the Best Buy (Augusta, GA) with the wife and kids to have my wife check some mice to find one she likes. (Kinda have to test drive those)

Place looked like Circuit City before they went under. Trash all over the floor, shelves were a disaster, etc. place was a mess all around. Carpet was filthy.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
For the masses, convenience (streaming) always beats quality (Blu-ray).

Those of us who care about quality are always a minority and will always lose out to the filthy unwashed masses.
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But wwwhhhyyy maaaaaan?! It makes no fucking sense!!! I feel like those people haven't actually seen BDs. Cuz if they had, there can't be any way they would choose shitty-ass streaming quality over that.

There's a way to have the best of both worlds. It's called "BD rips".
 
DrezKill said:
But wwwhhhyyy maaaaaan?! It makes no fucking sense!!! I feel like those people haven't actually seen BDs. Cuz if they had, there can't be any way they would choose shitty-ass streaming quality over that.

There's a way to have the best of both worlds. It's called "BD rips".
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Most people watch movies on their little 30" budget brand HDTV they bought at Target on sale, using the in TV speakers, if they even use a TV at all, and don't just watch it on their phone, ipad or laptop.

They probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference like those of us with proper setups can.
 
next-Jin said:
I literally just walked into the Best Buy (Augusta, GA) with the wife and kids to have my wife check some mice to find one she likes. (Kinda have to test drive those)

Place looked like Circuit City before they went under. Trash all over the floor, shelves were a disaster, etc. place was a mess all around. Carpet was filthy.
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Same experience in Saugus, MA where I picked up my 42" LG C3 the other day.

It's really kind of sad.

Understandable, considering no one I know in their right mind buys their tech at Best Buy in the internet era. Only reason I was there was because my screen died and I needed something before work the next day. Still sad though.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Same experience in Saugus, MA where I picked up my 42" LG C3 the other day.

It's really kind of sad.

Understandable, considering no one I know in their right mind buys their tech at Best Buy in the internet era. Only reason I was there was because my screen died and I needed something before work the next day. Still sad though.
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Strangely enough, they complete revamped the one near me and it is actually quite clean. However, other than some batteries, I have not bought a single thing from there, since I do not buy computer parts anymore.
 
ManofGod said:
Strangely enough, they complete revamped the one near me and it is actually quite clean. However, other than some batteries, I have not bought a single thing from there, since I do not buy computer parts anymore.
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Brick and mortars just can't compete in the internet era, for anyhting other than "need it now" type of purchases.

When I was in Best Buy the other day, I also needed a USB hub. My requirements were simple. I wanted a female USB uplink port so I could use my own USB-C cable, a mix of USB-C and USB-A ports and nothing else. No video outs, no network, no card readers, etc.

Best Buy had a pretty admirable assortment for a brick and mortar. There were like 6 or 7 different USB hub options, but none of them met my criteria. Instead I ordered one from Amazon for delivery the next day when I got home.

Why would anyone settle for a small assortment and getting sortof what they want locally if they can wait a day and get exactly what they want from a huge selection online?

The only circumstance the brick and mortars work out for these days is if you need something immediately. I've made great use of my local MicroCenter over the years for mid-build "I didn't realize I needed that" type of parts. Mostly cable adapters and water cooling fittings, and sometimes the odd Ethernet cable or little switch. It's tough for a store to survive on those little bits and pieces though, when most of the big planned purchases go online where there is pretty much infinite selection.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Brick and mortars just can't compete in the internet era, for anyhting other than "need it now" type of purchases.

When I was in Best Buy the other day, I also needed a USB hub. My requirements were simple. I wanted a female USB uplink port so I could use my own USB-C cable, a mix of USB-C and USB-A ports and nothing else. No video outs, no network, no card readers, etc.

Best Buy had a pretty admirable assortment for a brick and mortar. There were like 6 or 7 different USB hub options, but none of them met my criteria. Instead I ordered one from Amazon for delivery the next day when I got home.

Why would anyone settle for a small assortment and getting sortof what they want locally if they can wait a day and get exactly what they want from a huge selection online?

The only circumstance the brick and mortars work out for these days is if you need something immediately. I've made great use of my local MicroCenter over the years for mid-build "I didn't realize I needed that" type of parts. Mostly cable adapters and water cooling fittings, and sometimes the odd Ethernet cable or little switch. It's tough for a store to survive on those little bits and pieces though, when most of the big planned purchases go online where there is pretty much infinite selection.
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Why would you not make all your big purchases at Microcenter, since their prices are really good and their selection of parts is quite vast?
 
ManofGod said:
Why would you not make all your big purchases at Microcenter, since their prices are really good and their selection of parts is quite vast?
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Microcenter is probably the best brick and mortar for tech products, but they are still a brick and mortar. They are never going to be able to keep the wide variety of stuff in stock that the likes of Amazon or Newegg can.

But then again, I never understood why people bought cars from dealer inventory same day. Why buy a car off a lot and get sortof what you want, rather than order from the factory and get exactly the configuration you want. As far as I'm concerned, I'd always wait to get exactly what I want rather than have the instant satisfaction of getting something sort of like what I want.

I kind of find it annoying that dealerships exist at all. Car buying would be much better if the manufacturer just had a test drive facility where you can sample the available options, and place an order for delivery in 4-6 weeks.
 
ManofGod said:
Why would you not make all your big purchases at Microcenter, since their prices are really good and their selection of parts is quite vast?
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In my case, there are something like 3 BBs between me and the nearest Microcenter. And the BB has stuff the MC might not; I got an OLED Switch on release day at BB and I don't recall for sure but I don't think MC had them. Oh--unlocked cell phones. Fry's used to carry them, but MC's got a crappy selection...unless you like low-end BLU models.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
My local Best Buy is a former shell of what it once was.
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Plus they closed the local BB. Now I have to drive like 10 miles, or more, depending on which store has what I want in stock. So i just order online from BB.

UnknownSouljer said:
Admittedly the last time I was really in there was way back when I bought a Wii one week after launch (basically the first restock, if all of you can remember how hot the Wii was at launch). Anyway, the point is, it's completely sparse in there now (I just went there to buy a particular item I didn't want to wait on Amazon for and it was the same price, again highlighting what I was saying above). The aisles in there used to be tight and packed with everything. Now the aisles are 10-12' across and spread out to fill it out.

Microcenter has figured out its business model, which was more or less inherited from Fry's, which only went out of business from mismanagement and internal theft.
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Friends did not let friends buy at Frys. Started out Ok in 1985, but then went to s---.
UnknownSouljer said:
So, brick and mortar can still be successful. But Best Buy isn't broad enough anymore.
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Yeah, like I would have to drive hours on fast highways to get to the nearest MC.
 
ManofGod said:
Strangely enough, they complete revamped the one near me and it is actually quite clean. However, other than some batteries, I have not bought a single thing from there, since I do not buy computer parts anymore.
Click to expand...

All the ones out here are like that. Even the ones that felt on the verge of closure a few years ago. They revamped them to have way more space with wider aisles. They actually look pretty nice. I think most of it came when they started scaling back on the music/movies/games. They still have those things, just way less.
I still pop in every few months when I need to replace my Xbox controller. I break those damned things left and right and the Best Buy protection plan means I only pay $20 each time I need to replace one. Typically 75% of the stores = no customers, but the areas selling off-the-shelf PC's, tablets, and phones = super busy.

We have a Microcenter 10 miles down the road and it's permanently busy as hell. It isn't any particular section, either. The whole damn store is just always packed. Beyond the prices, I think it's just nice to be able to buy certain things right now. In some cases, it's nice to be able to see stuff before you buy, too. Their return/service policy is nice, too. Either way, if Microcenter goes under it isn't due to lack of retail business.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
It's a shame, but it is unfortunately where demand is going.

For the masses, convenience (streaming) always beats quality (Blu-ray).

Those of us who care about quality are always a minority and will always lose out to the filthy unwashed masses.
Click to expand...
It's not only higher quality, it's also permanence. If I buy physical media, I will have it forever barring a disaster like my house burning down. Given how the streaming platforms pull old titles, lose rights to stream, stream shitty format crops, etc., you can't assume they'll have what you want to watch next year.
 
Gigantopithecus said:
It's not only higher quality, it's also permanence. If I buy physical media, I will have it forever barring a disaster like my house burning down. Given how the streaming platforms pull old titles, lose rights to stream, stream shitty format crops, etc., you can't assume they'll have what you want to watch next year.
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Plus besides higher bitrates there's Dolby Vision (version) 7 FEL (the only real Dolby Vision that recreates 12bit color that all the other Dolby Vision versions are trying to reproduce for low cost hardware and streaming but never quite match). Only found on disc :(
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Microcenter is probably the best brick and mortar for tech products, but they are still a brick and mortar. They are never going to be able to keep the wide variety of stuff in stock that the likes of Amazon or Newegg can.

But then again, I never understood why people bought cars from dealer inventory same day. Why buy a car off a lot and get sortof what you want, rather than order from the factory and get exactly the configuration you want. As far as I'm concerned, I'd always wait to get exactly what I want rather than have the instant satisfaction of getting something sort of like what I want.

I kind of find it annoying that dealerships exist at all. Car buying would be much better if the manufacturer just had a test drive facility where you can sample the available options, and place an order for delivery in 4-6 weeks.
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Microcenter has had better prices than i can get on Amazon. Newegg is only a buy if everywhere else is noticeably more expensive. Both can sell open box as new. At least at Microcenter it is noticeable if open boxed, and it is marked down accordingly. While they may not have the variety of online, they can make up for it from people like me that go in to get a mouse, and end up leaving with an open box Motherboard, a CPU and RAM, along with a bunch of cables I could need at some point. There is something to having the tactile access to the product. I can see something online and skip past it, but getting to actually see it and mess around with it and I start to think about buying it. This is probably the same with dealerships selling cars, reading about a car is much different than actually getting in one and experiencing it.
Also, a move to your showroom only model does not include used cars, and who actually buys brand new cars?
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Microcenter is probably the best brick and mortar for tech products, but they are still a brick and mortar. They are never going to be able to keep the wide variety of stuff in stock that the likes of Amazon or Newegg can.

But then again, I never understood why people bought cars from dealer inventory same day. Why buy a car off a lot and get sortof what you want, rather than order from the factory and get exactly the configuration you want. As far as I'm concerned, I'd always wait to get exactly what I want rather than have the instant satisfaction of getting something sort of like what I want.

I kind of find it annoying that dealerships exist at all. Car buying would be much better if the manufacturer just had a test drive facility where you can sample the available options, and place an order for delivery in 4-6 weeks.
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It depends on what you're looking for. I got a far better price buying a vacuum at a local store versus online. Newegg can be browsed after sorting out the garbage. Amazon is useless unless you're searching a specific product. I've found they're usually the same or more than other stores lately and that's not going to cut it for me when their packing is atrocious.

The last part I don't comprehend, the dealer is a middle man like Amazon is for the majority of products on the site.
 
next-Jin said:
I literally just walked into the Best Buy (Augusta, GA) with the wife and kids to have my wife check some mice to find one she likes. (Kinda have to test drive those)

Place looked like Circuit City before they went under. Trash all over the floor, shelves were a disaster, etc. place was a mess all around. Carpet was filthy.
Click to expand...
BB is sliding down the slippery slope


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXvf__mDg4g
 
UnknownSouljer said:
$30 just starts making it feel absurd, when people can pay for 3 months of Netflix for basically all movies.
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Basically all movies? Netflix has garbage movies on it, as do most streaming services. The movies I actually want to watch are probably on Prime for $3.99 for some compressed HD 30 day rental.

If people give up buying 4K movies on physical media, expect to lose the ability to watch certain movies that companies deem offensive - ever again.

$10 for movies you like and own forever is worth it.

UnknownSouljer said:
We all know the jackets they mass produce cost a nickel. And the disc's themselves have gotten to the point of also being cheap to mass produce. Even if they cost a dollar (which I doubt), it's still at most a $2.00 product being sold for $30 (licensing fee for BD is somewhere in there, but I'm a normie and don't want to figure it out). Granted, yes, what you're paying for is the content - however every penny they make past the manufacturing and shipping cost is 100% pure profit. If they were slightly less greedy they could milk the cow from both ends, getting streaming royalties and selling way more discs. That clearly is not a part of anyone's strategy though.
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I agree with this. They are pricing themselves out of business. Unfortunately, there are costs beyond just burning the media. Distribution costs may factor into this. There are also production costs that add to this (menu, extras, restoration costs, etc).
 
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I’ve never went to Best Buy for a DVD/ blue ray. I only go there for some last minute computer part I can’t wait for. The one i go to is dying. Has been for a while.
 
sleepeeg3 said:
Basically all movies? Netflix has garbage movies on it, as do most streaming services. The movies I actually want to watch are probably on Prime for $3.99 for some compressed HD 30 day rental.
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This is highly subjective.

And your comment about renting on Prime is still digital distribution. Which is also what people are likely doing instead of buying physical media.
sleepeeg3 said:
If people give up buying 4K movies on physical media, expect to lose the ability to watch certain movies that companies deem offensive - ever again.
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That's absurd. If they feel that way, they just stop selling them now, regardless of if physical media exists or not. There are huge swaths of the Disney library you already can't buy because of folksy racism.

Tons of stuff also goes out of print all the time. If I want to buy a bunch of titles from 1900-1959, I have zero chance of doing so in any store, regardless of if online or in person. If I want something from 1960-1989, if any of it is still in print, it will be incredibly limited. That is the nature of all print runs. In fact, I'm far more likely to find those titles on streaming services as it doesn't "cost" really anything to host.

The reality is, whether talking about streaming or about physical media, what you can buy/stream today is always limited. Given that, again, most people are picking the limitations of streaming.
sleepeeg3 said:
$10 for movies you like and own forever is worth it.
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As has been discussed, if Blu-Ray's actually costed $10 at launch, people would probably actually buy them. But they don't. So people don't. They cost $30+ dollars or something stupid for any new release.
sleepeeg3 said:
I agree with this. They are pricing themselves out of business. Unfortunately, there are costs beyond just burning the media. Distribution costs may factor into this. There are also production costs that add to this (menu, extras, restoration costs, etc).
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I think even with all the costs added, saying each disc costs $2 when you consider the quantity of a print run, is probably more than fair. If the print run is large enough, I would venture that it can easily get to <$1.

Most of the "programming" that goes into a disc has been completed a long time ago. They just use the same stuff over and over again with different images on top. It's not as if Blu-Ray menus allow for complex programming. It's rare for any disc to have anything beyond some "special features" like trailers, bts, etc. Art department is likely reusing assets that already had to be made from the film itself.
 
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matt167 said:
I’ve never went to Best Buy for a DVD/ blue ray.
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Yeah, that is true. I think the last time I bough physical media at a Blockbuster was in 2000 in college when I really wanted the Gladiator DVD :p

(I still have my college DVD collection in a box somewhere collecting dust. I should throw it out at some point. 480p video has no value in 2023)
 
+1 on seeing the true difference when you have a set up for viewing films...

I have an 7.4.2 atmos setup with an epson 5050, which isnt even true 4k but does do hdr. Full dark room on like a 110in screen.

I think I'd take a physical bluray over streaming 4k. With streaming, I can see patches of the picture where the compression kicks on. I'll stream if it 1080p stream vs physical 480p. I only buy 4k because I can tell the difference especially with atmos.

But in the regular ol family room is a hisense 65in tv. I can stream from disney+ or a full bitrate rip on my emby box and the difference is tough to see.
 
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