4K UHD Blu-Ray discs are the most faithful reproduction of any movie we currently watch, whether at home, or in a movie theatre. Disney want to turn their back on this format. Disney may currently be denying this decision, but we all know how corporations work, and it’s not hard to believe that this is 100% true. Read thedigitalbits news story here. 

Disney want you paying them a monthly sum long term for their Disney+ streaming service, where the only expense to them is hosting the movies online. Easy money. By slowly removing physical media from their plans, film studios force you into signing up for their streaming services. This online only approach also allows them to edit and make changes to movies (censorship), meaning if they make a change to a movie they host online, you have no say in the matter, and the only way you can then see that original version is to buy it on disc (which cannot be changed).

By not releasing 4K UHD Blu-ray versions of its own films (as well as films now in its back catalogue from the acquisition of likes of Fox Studios), it is denying the movie loving public the chance to see their favourite movies in the very best quality available. It is denying collectors the chance to own special limited releases of their favourite movies. It is denying anyone with a 4K television the chance of seeing their favourite movies in the quality their TV is a capable of. It is denying those who have spent not only thousands, but tens of thousands of pounds on high-end home theatre systems that include 4K projector systems (that cost around £5,000 upwards) the chance of enjoying the full quality these systems offer. Long term, this could affect the future of the high quality home theatre industry.

’But we have 4K streaming now, so why bother with discs?’. Video streaming services may be convenient, and they may offer “4K resolution” streaming, but the audio and video of these are still heavily compressed, with 4K streaming barely matching a 1080p Blu-ray Disc for quality. Current Broadband services only have the bandwidth to allow the streaming of 4K movies at a fraction of the quality of a UHD Blu-ray disc.

So please, don’t let Disney ignore UHD - if they get their way, there’ll be classic movies you’ll never get to see in genuine 4K quality - and other studios may follow. There is no coming back from this, as manufacturing plants will slowly start to shut down, and once they’re gone, starting back up again is cost prohibitive.