Physical media is far from dead even though Best Buy has decided to stop selling DVDs, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs both in stores and online. The only people cheering Best Buy's decision are the stockholders of Amazon, Walmart, Target, and other smaller online marketplaces who will now increase their market share of physical media.
Regardless, physical media isn't going away anytime soon. Just look at the release of the Oscar-nominated Oppenheimer-it sold out within days upon its release in December 2023 and the studio had to issue a press release saying that more physical copies were being produced and would be in stores as quickly as possible. Was this a case of the bean counters underestimating demand or of consumers wanting the best presentation possible for the Best Picture of 2023.
Regardless, NBC/Universal was thrilled with the response to the movie, and their new collaboration with Christopher Nolan is off to a resounding start.
As much as I personally love physical media-and my collection of over 2,000 titles will attest to that-I can't say that I don't stream a good quantity of my entertainment these days. While the picture quality has come a long way due to advanced compression technologies, the audio still leaves a lot to be desired with the low-bitrate Dolby Digital Plus. Until the streaming companies can figure out a way to give us uncompressed Dolby Digital Atmos and DTS:X, those who want the absolute best quality are going to stick with physical discs to consume the best that Hollywood has to offer, so the need for a top-quality Ultra HD Blu-ray player isn't going away anytime soon.
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Brothers in Atmos
How producer/keyboardist Guy Fletcher convinced Mark Knopfler to mix classic Dire Straits material and his new solo album One Deep River in Atmos.
Making a Big Purchase
I can remember sitting in the hospital room writing that month's edition of this column (called \"The Custom Installer\" at the time) after my daughter, Lauryn, was born in November 2006. Fast-forward 17 years, and now Lauryn is 17 years old, taking college classes, and driving.
Sony Pulse Elite Headphones
As much as I love playing video games on my main audio system, I recognize that, unlike music, a video game soundtrack filled with effects and voice chat is not one that a non-gamer will enjoy. So when I dive into a Grand Theft Auto Online session, unless I'm alone, I rely on headphones when using my PlayStation 5. And with its acquisition of Audeze, Sony's PlayStation-branded Pulse Elite headphones promise to do more than just look the part of a gaming headset; they offer planar-magnetic driver technology that for a high-fidelity listening experience.
RUNNIN' INTO THE
What Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers achieved over their rightfully acclaimed multi-decade career stands as a benchmark for how to match universally appealing songwriting with uncompromising sound quality.
Pixel Perfection
SAMSUNG'S 77-INCH QN77S95D TV is the third version of its OLED TVs, which combine quantum dots and blue OLED light. This technology is called \"Quantum-OLED\" by Samsung Electronics and \"QD-OLED\" by Samsung Display, the company that makes the screens. It uses quantum dots to change blue OLED light to red and green light for its RGB pixels.
Multichannel Mastery
REMEMBER WHEN cars ran on gasoline, cell phones flipped, and you needed a forklift to get a flagshipmodel AV receiver onto your equipment rack?
I Dream of XGIMI
A SELF-DESCRIBED purveyor of “smart projectors and laser TVs,” mentioned in answer to a man-on-thestreet projector query. Though Internet have done much to espouse Xgimi’s evolutionary stable of products, I am willing to wager that the name still escapes a majority of S&V readers.
Dedicated to Discs
THOUGH THE famous Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) quote, \"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,\" has been twisted over time from the original quote, \"The report of my death was an exaggeration,\" both very much apply to the state of physical media today.
Sharper Image
THE QN75QN900D Neo QLED TV is the 75-inch model in Samsung's 2024 flagship 8K mini-LED LCD TV series, and it delivers a brilliantly bright, colorful, and detailed picture from most content.
Value-Priced Multi-Room Audio
MANY OF us use inexpensive smart speakers throughout our homes to play music and control everything from lights to microwaves and washing machines. Devices like the Amazon Echo are great at controlling smart devices along with other more capable smart speakers and amps, but they don't typically deliver a great listening experience on their own.
