Samsung exit 4K player market

Upgrade fatigue and price gouging are big factors here. We could say that streaming services are to blame, but the DVD market is still doing very well.

Losing the backing of a big player like Samsung in the blu ray market is a huge blow to lossless audio formats. How many video streaming services will be willing to support Hi Res audio?

It's rubbish. Apart from the xbox it's the only UHD player the will convert Atmos and DTS to DD5.1 on the fly. Unless either the Sony or the Panasonic players will do it in the future it looks like I'm going to have at a new surround sound option unless Sonos starts to support Atmos and DTS.

Not surprised. The majority of people have no interest in 4K players. People are ditching physical formats.

We could say that streaming services are to blame, but the DVD market is still doing very well.


Is it still doing well? I haven't done a ton a research, but what I've seen shows that disc sales are declining. Below is just one article.

https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/home-entertainment-spending-2017-1202658638/

Are you seeing something that says DVD specifically is increasing or staying consistent?

Are you seeing something that says DVD specifically is increasing or staying consistent?[/quote]

No, but it's not hard to find them on the high street or in the mall. There are still stores that are lining the shelves with them The blu ray shelf on the other hand is always a little dismal nowadays.

I have a reasonable collection of 4K discs and enjoy watching them. I prefer physical over digital and in a house with sometimes flaky internet the discs provide you with an uninterrupted experience. If you’ve spent money on a decent tv why not get the best quality picture out of it , and I don’t think you can beat UHD discs. Maybe another (small) reason for sonos to bring out playbar 2.0 and provide newer codecs? You’d think that the new amp/installation move by sonos is going after the higher end of the market, so why not bring the playbar along too?

I have a reasonable collection of 4K discs and enjoy watching them. I prefer physical over digital and in a house with sometimes flaky internet the discs provide you with an uninterrupted experience. If you’ve spent money on a decent tv why not get the best quality picture out of it , and I don’t think you can beat UHD discs.


But many of the homes that want 4k discs are also going to have gaming consoles in them that will play those 4k disks for you. I think that's part of the reason Samsung isn't looking to compete on this.


Maybe another (small) reason for sonos to bring out playbar 2.0 and provide newer codecs?


It looks like the market need for DTS is shrinking, so reasons are only getting smaller by the day. Atmos, on the other, has the potential to get bigger.


You’d think that the new amp/installation move by sonos is going after the higher end of the market, so why not bring the playbar along too?

Well, the new amp doesn't support DTS either. so the playbar is essentially already 'brought along' in that regard. It needs HDMI-ARC, that's all.

I find the picture quality of 4K streaming to be perfect. You could also say the same if you have spent money on a decent tv why not sort out your flaky internet to get the best quality streaming instead. My speed is over 150mb and I never get any issues. Everything plays in 5.1 nicely. It is far quicker for me to click on a 4K movie on Apple TV or Netflix than it is to load a disc and go though various different menus and settings on each disc.

Believe me , if I could sort out my internet I would , but it’s not possible at the moment.

The only console that plays 4K discs is the Xbox and we are a Nintendo and PS4 house.

Yep Atmos is the next big thing and might be on the horizon for sonos at some point if the recent survey is anything to go on. That was my point about the amp, it’s aimed at a different customer that might be more demanding of newer or higher end features.

There will always be a market for discs in some form until decent and stable internet speeds are available to everyone. Could Blu-ray / UHD discs go the way of vinyl and come back into favour in a few years? You can’t lend a movie to a friend if you only own the digital copy.