Physical media are almost forgotten today; No more endless piles of CDs/DVDs/Blu-Rays, no more scratched CDs that ended up in coasters… and no more second-hand markets, collections, and many other advantages that this type of media gives us. provided.
Benefits of Having a Blu-Ray Player
Although streaming makes it much more comfortable and easy to watch multimedia content on the TV in the living room (or on the PC, or on the mobile while traveling, etc.), and although many services currently offer content in 4K resolution and even with HDR, really the physical means are those that best quality they provide as they do not compress the content, providing the highest audio and visual fidelity in multimedia content.
Moreover, the quality of streaming services is highly dependent on internet speed and network traffic fluctuations. This means that even if you have a 4K TV, you may not be able to stream at that resolution if your internet speed isn’t good enough or the network is currently down. Physical media is not subject to any of this, 4K UHD Blu-Rays will always be 4K.
Potential quality issues aside, another benefit of owning a physical Blu-Ray player is that you will always have your collection at your disposal to use it whenever you want. On the contrary, streaming services arbitrarily and constantly change their catalog, which means that if a title is available today, it may not be there next week and you will not be able to watch it.
Another advantage is that most Blu-Rays contain additional content which is not available through streaming services, such as deleted scenes, alternate endings, director’s commentary, etc. Plus, Blu-Rays can include the “director’s cut” of the movie, so owning a Blu-Ray player is a no-brainer if you’re a movie buff.
Finally, another advantage concerns collectors, who like to have the titles they like the most in physical format. This also includes the ability to access the second-hand market for both buying and selling, which is impossible with streaming services because what you watch is never yours.
There are also some disadvantages
Obviously there are also many disadvantages to owning a Blu-Ray player, starting with the fact that you will need some space on the TV table for the “hulk”, which must be physically attached to the television as if it were a game console. This includes another of the disadvantages, and that is that you will be limited to where you have the device, that is, it is not like streaming services that you can watch on any device and anywhere, like on your smartphone while traveling by train (There are also portable Blu-Ray players, but they’re pretty clunky too.)
Another disadvantage is also directly related to the above: you have to buy and spend money on a physical device, although it is true that streaming services are also paid. In general, the investment is much higher, although it is also true that what you buy is yours forever.
So is it worth it or not?
We’ve already listed the pros and cons of having a physical Blu-Ray player, so from there it’s up to you whether it’s worth it or not, as it will depend on your user profile. Really, if you’re a movie/series fan and always like to have the best possible quality, extra content and don’t mind spending more money and setting aside space in your living room for it, then of course it’s really worth it. If not, streaming services will be best for you.
Now, if you want us to recommend a Blu-Ray player, this is something we can do:
This SONY player supports 4K UHD Blu-Ray resolution with high resolution audio, and it is also one of the most compatible as it is able to play virtually any file format and any type of disk. In addition, it is one of those with the best quality/price ratio on the market, so if you really want to opt for a physical player, you will not regret this purchase.
