In favour of 4K Blu-ray: I’ve streamed hundreds of movies and shows, but you still can’t beat physical media

It was just the other day that I was writing about the original Utopia series coming to Amazon Prime Video. But only in the US, not to its home in the UK. Good job I've got the Blu-ray version, then, which was only produced in Germany of all places – because physical media is dying somewhat.

It shouldn't be at end of life, though, because Blu-ray or, preferably, the higher-resolution 4K Blu-ray, clearly remains the better format. The best streaming services have their convenience factor and their giant content libraries, of course, but they just don't have guaranteed quality – or permanence.

As someone who writes about streaming and content regularly for T3, the site is often highlighting how so-and-so's biggest-ever movie is about to leave Amazon, or get added to Netflix (when you probably already assumed it was on there – or should have been). Because people care. But, you know what? When some of these movies and shows go away there's a risk they won't return – like, ever.

Streaming lacks quality and permanence

The proliferation of streaming services is also costing you and I more and more – to the point that something's got to give (see my article on UK pricing at present). Sure, buying a 4K Blu-ray isn't cheap, but then you possess it to watch forever (or, well, until the disc disintegrates in some distant future – it's certainly not foolproof, I know).

I've watched hundreds of movies and shows on streaming services, as I'm sure many or even most of us have without realising it. But I've started to notice with increasing regularity that the quality isn't quite up to scratch. Or that services have removed features and then will only put them back if you pay more – such as Amazon removing Dolby Atmos and Dolby Atmos for its ad-serving version of Prime Video.

And for clairty: I don't mean I'm peeping at the literal data rate; moreover that I'm watching a show and seeing all kinds of banding in gradients, or compression artefact blocking that dances around to point of distraction (especially in dark scenes), or just a lack of the same bite that you can be fairly sure is available in the original master.

I thought that Apple TV+'s Silo series was great fun to watch – except for the issues in quality. I'd happily pay for an upgrade to that service or, preferably, just buy the show. I'd be all for the downloading of pay-for content, but, again, there's no clarity on what you're getting – it's not of the same quality as the disc. That gap ought to be closed for starters.

Death of discs will be a loss for everyone

But the other thing, as outlined above, is that movies and shows can be removed from services. Or bought by another new-fangled service, then reappear in a less preferable version.

With some shows causing latent outrage years after their first airing, there's also increasing censorship – some justified, of course – that, in a sense, alters the course of film history. That doesn't happen on an owned, physical copy of something.

It was back in 2023 I wrote about how the death of 4K Blu-ray would be a major loss for us all – citing that Disney's final movie to disc would be Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (at least in the UK, anyway).

I can see why: Disney+ wants your drip-feed of cash instead, as it doesn't feel as though you're spending quite so much. It all adds up over time, of course. Which isn't a dig at Disney – I love the streamer, as it's the home of Welcome To Wrexham, but some of its cinematic movies I'd actually prefer to buy outright.

I'm not entirely alone either. Some brands are investing in hardware. R_volution revealed a high-end 4K Blu-ray player in 2023, too, although it's rather hard to track down and inevitably pricey too.

Other brands have done the opposite, though, with Oppo – largely considered the best in the business – calling time. The best current brand is Panasonic if you want a high-end AV system, otherwise your PlayStation 5 will do the job (just a little noisily).

So where does that leave us? Well, some 4K Blu-ray discs are still being made. And studios put so, so much time and effort into capture and SFX and grading that to see their works in anything less than best is just... well, disappointing.

I suppose the perfect future is limited cinematic release in the absolute best-of-best master quality, giving you a clue as to whether you want to buy said movie to own forever. Thereafter, a more robust digital purchase format would be wonderful – because, much as I love streaming services, the quality can sometimes be a challenge.