General: Decline of the 4K Blu-ray format

Here's a heads up for my readers in Germany. Saturn, Stuttgart's largest store for physical media (CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays), has downsized. The biggest casualty is that 4K discs are no longer sold. The only place to buy them in Stuttgart is now Drogerie Müller, which has a reasonable size selection of 4K discs.

I admit that I don't buy a lot of 4K discs. I own less than 20, compared with about a thousand Blu-ray discs. The main reason is the high price. I can buy a Blu-ray disc which isn't a new release for eight Euros or less. The same film on a 4K disc costs about 30 Euros. It's the same price difference as when I bought my first Blu-ray player 12 years ago. I remember going to Asda to buy "Hollow Man". The DVD cost three pounds, and the Blu-ray cost 15 pounds. Needless to say, I bought the DVD. The price difference between Blu-rays and 4K discs won't fall until more 4K discs are sold. Blu-ray sales have overtaken DVD sales, but it looks unlikely that 4K sales will ever overtake DVD or Blu-ray sales.

The problem is that it's only a subtle improvement from Blu-ray to 4K. Customers won't notice the difference unless they've invested a lot in their home theatre. I admit that my television is the minimum quality for viewing 4K content. It's good enough, but nothing spectacular. My sound equipment is at the level of Blu-ray technology, so 4K discs give me no advantage as far as the audio is concerned.

Not all 4K releases are perfect. There are review web sites where experts give their opinions on the quality of new releases. I regularly watch videos on the "Films At Home" YouTube channel, which I consider to be the most reliable review site. Jeff often says that some 4K releases aren't worth it, such as "Terminator 2". He also strongly recommends other 4K releases. I usually agree with him when I take his advice and buy a disc. An exception was the "Donnie Darko" 4K release. I bought the special edition release on his recommendation, but I was underwhelmed and intend to watch the Blu-ray editions in future.

Two films that everyone should own on 4K are "Gemini Man" (pictured above) and "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk". These are the current benchmarks of 4K video quality. They're the only two films that have been released with a 60 fps frame rate. I expect that the second Avatar film will also be released with a 60 fps frame rate. One day everyone will catch up, but at the moment Ang Lee's films are leading the pack.

I recommend that everyone should buy a 4K television and a 4K player, even if you don't buy 4K discs. The upscaling of Blu-rays is so good that you'll immediately notice the improvement. And maybe the prices of 4K discs will drop to the level of Blu-rays one day, but don't hold your breath while you're waiting.