Sony to End Production of Blu-ray Disc Media, MiniDisc for Recording, and More in February: “There Will Be No Successor Models”

[Tsing]

We will end production of all models of Blu-ray Disc media, MiniDiscs for recording, MD data for recording, and MiniDV cassettes as of February 2025. There will be no successor models.

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[DrezKill]

Do they just mean blank blu-rays? Or will all BDs stop being manufactured, including the ones that movies and games come on from the factories?

I had NO IDEA that MiniDisc was still being made! Way back in the late 90s I used a MiniDisc walkman/recorder. I still have a lot of unopened discs (and the player). MP3 players and being able to download music from the Internet killed any real use I had for it.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

including the ones that movies and games come on from the factories?

I'm wondering that too. I do expect disc media to end at some point because it doesn't really make sense anymore, regardless of how many layers they keep adding. Price keeps going up to for 4K as well. I totally roll my eye's for a 30%-40% off claim but the price is $29.99. I don't see a discount there.

If physical is to survive it needs to become chip-based, and somehow in such a way that costs can be reigned in. If not that then perhaps offer customers the option to download DRM protected content in identical encoding to what it would be on disc. Streaming is a quick fix and mostly works but still doesn't really compare to disc and if you have a good sound system the audio does seem a bit more shallow with the lower bit rates despite Atmos options. Even as I age, and have a hearing impairment for my right side, I can still hear the differences.

I spent a chunk of December catching up on ripping more of my 4K stuff to HDD and also got an Ugoos SK1 media player for the bedroom LG OLED since it can decode via hardware, DV/DA 4K streams and output natively-something that the Shield cannot do). I'd almost forgot how much better things are from disc compared to streaming, especially for things coming from a film source that have significant amount of grain. Still got a few more to go but almost done, probably over a 100 4K discs done now and I started this project several years ago. Also around the same amount for BD rips, and half as much for other things.

 

[Denpepe]

I'm wondering that too. I do expect disc media to end at some point because it doesn't really make sense anymore,

I'd rather not download 100+GB worth of game data if I can help it, downloads speeds are not great for me so having console games on disc is welcomed especially sice they have pretty limited storage capacity.

And yes I also still buy movies/series on physical media, like 3BD's for 25€ bundle deals etc..

 

[DrezKill]

I'd almost forgot how much better things are from disc compared to streaming

Not me. Can't stand streaming. When it comes to movies I always do BD rips. I would actually buy BDs if they had more affordable prices (I do own a few, usually bought at deep discount).

I have a BD burner but have never burned a disc. There's no need for it. Not in this age of super-large super-fast flash drives and massive HDDs. I used to burn a ton of data CDs and DVDs, but that was a very long time ago. Plus the cost of blank BDs is insane. Not like in the good old days of blank CDs and DVDs, when you could buy giant spools of blank discs for very cheap. I recall one time a friend of mine got a spool of 100 discs from Best Buy for $12, and he had a $10 coupon.

EDIT:

I'd rather not download 100+GB worth of game data if I can help it, downloads speeds are not great for me so having console games on disc is welcomed especially sice they have pretty limited storage capacity.

Even with decent Internet speeds I completely agree. There is no Internet connection available to home users that can match the speed of installing a game to an HDD or SSD via optical drive and disc. And even if there was, I don't like things being tied to a service that can experience interruptions or go down. I'm all about local media.

 

[Brian_B]

Whelp, I guess I have to say - I agree that physical media looks/sounds better than streamed. And I will miss it when it's gone. But, if I look back, having purchased all of four 4K BD titles in my life - yeah, I can see why it's dead.

 

[MadMummy76]

I purchased all of one BD product, the entire series box set of the BSG remake. But if I actually wanted to watch it I'd probably just grab a torrent instead.

As for recordable media, I never even seen one in person. 25GB was so insignificant by the time it became widely accessible that I never saw the point.

 

[DrezKill]

But if I actually wanted to watch it I'd probably just grab a torrent instead.

I've done the same with some shows/series I own on DVD. I like having the discs, but for actually watching, I just load up the DVD rips. Convenient to have all the episodes together on a hard drive. I don't have to swap discs after a few episodes. Not to mention the loading is much faster.

As for recordable media, I never even seen one in person. 25GB was so insignificant by the time it became widely accessible that I never saw the point.

When I used to go to brick-and-mortar stores, I saw the shrinkwrapped spools of recordable BD media on the shelves. But that's the closest I've ever come to seeing such in the wild, in person. I saw the 25GB ones, 50GB ones, and 100GB ones. The prices for the 25GB ones were already insane. And the spools didn't come with many discs. Sometimes there were just smaller packs of 5 discs or some sh1t like that, for ridiculous prices.

But, if I look back, having purchased all of four 4K BD titles in my life - yeah, I can see why it's dead.

I've never seen an Ultra HD 4K/HDR blu-ray. The few BDs I and friends own are all 1080p BDs. I do have one friend who has a giant movie collection of BDs, shelves upon shelves upon shelves, and the ones that don't fit are in the shelves are in a bunch of boxes. All 1080p BDs. He does not have a player than can run the 4K BDs, and he doesn't wanna grab his entire collection again.

Anyways, maybe you would have purchased more BDs if they weren't so d4mn expensive. The fault doesn't lie with us consumers. BDs, especially 4K ones, have been priced out of our reach. Hence why we go look for torrents and NZBs instead, and all the regular people just settle for sh1tty-@ss streaming.

 

[MadMummy76]

I've done the same with some shows/series I own on DVD. I like having the discs, but for actually watching, I just load up the DVD rips. Convenient to have all the episodes together on a hard drive. I don't have to swap discs after a few episodes. Not to mention the loading is much faster.

I own a bunch of DVDs too but I don't think they are ever getting out of their cases again. I haven't even had a DVD player in over a decade. Swapping discs after a few episodes is one thing, it is the endless logos and copyright warnings that do my head in. And they dare to say piracy is not a service issue.

When I used to go to brick-and-mortar stores, I saw the shrinkwrapped spools of recordable BD media on the shelves. But that's the closest I've ever come to seeing such in the wild, in person. I saw the 25GB ones, 50GB ones, and 100GB ones. The prices for the 25GB ones were already insane. And the spools didn't come with many discs. Sometimes there were just smaller packs of 5 discs or some sh1t like that, for ridiculous prices.

There was maybe a short 2-3 year period in the early to mid 2010s when big chains stocked writeable BDs. They disappeared along with writeable DVDs and CDs. And yeah the prices were insane, a BD movie was probably cheaper than an 50GB writeable media.

Anyways, maybe you would have purchased more BDs if they weren't so d4mn expensive. The fault doesn't lie with us consumers. BDs, especially 4K ones, have been priced out of our reach. Hence why we go look for torrents and NZBs instead, and all the regular people just settle for sh1tty-@ss streaming.

I like the idea of physically owning things, but I Sure as hell not going to buy movies again that I already bought on DVD for up to $50 a pop in the 90s and 2000s. Publishers should put their money where their mouth is (that you are not paying for the media but the home viewing license) and offer some upgrade service, where you can get a discount on new BDs if you bring in an old DVD or VHS copy.

 

[Grimlakin]

The thing i love about the physical media are the add-ons. Behind the scenes footage. Actors commentary. Easter eggs. Things like that. Now it's just gone and that's sad.