Link: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/storage/another-major-japanese-electronics-firm-exits-the-blu-ray-market-elecom-publishes-notice-of-termination-of-nine-external-drives

End of sale date is June 30, 2026, depending on stock levels.

I must say that in the future, we may look back on these days and say that this was about the time when "you-buy-it-you-own-it-forever" kind of ended for media.

Here's the graph for CDs:

There's still some stuff out there, and SACDs still sell in small volume to people who want the highest fidelity, but I think that outside of some vinyl sales to the retro crowd, the audio world has mostly moved on. The video world might do the same.

Can't they just make it open source? That way at least the enthusiasts can keep it working for as long as the hardware is still functional.

They don't even publish a lot to blu ray or dvd. I was thinking of making the switch, assuming there was all the physical media in the world available.

I've been surprised at how little is out there.

And so much of what is available on BluRay makes no sense. 80s comedies? Sure. Tron Legacy? (You know, dumb but pretty) nope. Go fuck yourself.

Nope, because it's not about the format. You can't read a bluray if you don't have the encrypted key.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Access_Content_System

That's why you can read a movie on a dvd and not a blu ray. Even if you have blu ray player connected to your pc.

Well, good news for you at least:

https://www.amazon.com/Tron-Legacy-Two-Disc-Blu-ray-Combo/dp/B004K4IZ3G

There's Tron Legacy in Blu-Ray, DVD, Blu-Ray 3D, Blu-Ray UHD (4k), and DVD+Blu-Ray.

I haven't done it myself --- I just have DVDs --- but it sounds like mpv can play AACS if you connect a Blu-Ray drive to a PC.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Blu-ray

Blu rays have other uses than just media. You can write them yourself.

Personal interest in burning discs have got to be very niche. Playback is becoming boutique. They're becoming more expensive. Less releases but higher prices with smaller print runs. More steelbooks. More retailer exclusives.

It was already the case ten years ago that most good movies wouldn't get a physical release especially if it's not a movie from your region/in your language. Moreso the case now than before and more expensive than before.

UHD blu-ray players that don't suck aren't cheap. Like problems with triple layer disc playback or what HDR standard does this player support or it supports multiple but it's a flipping through the players menus to switch HDR standard for what your disc carries

Lower quality but for most movies, the only option if you can't catch it in a theater is streaming. And in some cases, it'll only show up on streaming for short periods of time like on Mubi. Most movies you won't see a Blu-ray/UHD disc rip. It'll be a streaming service rip. For me as long as it has 5.1 audio, I'm good

The physical market for movies/TV is getting worse and more expensive. For UHD disc players, it's sparse for hardware releases that fix the ongoing issues/annoyances and they're expensive