Starting in 2024, Best Buy will be ditching the sale of physical DVDs both in-store and online, as streaming services have rendered physical media more and more obsolete.

Are they getting rid of DVDs?

Popular on Variety

The consumer-electronics retailer will phase out sales of DVDs and Blu-ray discs both in-store and online in early 2024, according to industry sources familiar with the company's plans.

Are they phasing out DVDs?

Due to a decline in demand for physical media, Best Buy has strategically decided to exit the DVD business. The company will no longer offer DVDs for sale in its stores. The popular consumer-electronics retailer plans to discontinue the sale of DVDs and Blu-ray discs both online and in house starting early 2024.

Do they still make DVDs in 2023?

Goodbye, DVDs, you helped us make memories. It wasn't exactly shocking news. It's 2023, after all, not 2003. But it still hit me hard when Best Buy announced it will wind down sales of DVDs and Blu-ray discs, ending sales completely early in 2024.

Will DVDs ever be obsolete?

How long will DVDs be around? DVDs have been around since 1999, when they were launched, and we believe they will never actually go away. Even with the popularity of streaming services, DVDs still play a very important role in modern society, and we can't see that changing anytime soon.

The Wild World of DVD Releases

What is going to replace DVD?

Will anything replace DVDs? DVDs and Blu-ray discs will be replaced by streaming services. Consumers head to streaming services to watch movies, and the addition of Disney+ to the mix will only make DVDs and Blu-Ray discs even less of a necessity.

What replaced the DVD player?

The world's Big Nine electronics companies have swallowed corporate pride and agreed on a single standard and name – Blu-Ray – for the next generation video and computer optical disc.

Is Walmart going to stop selling DVDs?

Best Buy's decision will make Walmart, Amazon and Target the top U.S. retailers still selling DVDs and Blu-ray discs, per Variety.

Will Blu-ray be discontinued?

Best Buy will stop selling Blu-rays, DVDs in 2024: 'The way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today' It's going to get a little bit harder to get your hands on a physical copy of your favorite movie.

Is Best Buy getting rid of DVD?

In September, Netflix NFLX +1.8% ended its DVD service, and Best Buy BBY -0.3% announced it will stop selling DVDs and Blu-ray discs at the end of the 2023 holiday season. "To state the obvious, the way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today than it was decades ago," Best Buy said in a statement.

Why still buy DVDs?

Yes, streaming platforms offer a wide selection of movies, but they almost always use heavy compression to save bandwidth. The result? A much lower-quality viewing experience. On the other hand, DVDs deliver an uncompressed, high-quality image and sound, providing the viewer with an authentic cinematic experience.

Why are DVDs being phased out?

Best Buy says that streaming has made DVDs obsolete and it can use physical space in its stores and warehouses for tech products in higher demand. “To state the obvious, the way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today than it was decades ago,” Best Buy said in a statement.

Is it worth keeping Blu-rays?

Blu-rays deliver the best picture and sound experience.

For example, Netflix maxes out at 17Mbps, while Apple TV+ maxes out at around 41 Mbps. The very best Blu-rays, the 4K Ultra HD versions, can deliver a 4K picture with maximum video bitrate of 128 Mbps.

Will physical media end?

But, to repeat, this isn't the end of physical media. Now, Disney will likely cut back its 4K releases in the future because the medium isn't taking off like it hoping it would. But we'll still see general Blu-Ray releases, as well as re-releases of stuff from Star Wars and Marvel that still caters to fans.

Why buy Blu-ray over DVD?

A DVD will only be able to store about 4.7 GB of data, which equals about two hours of a movie. A Blu-ray can hold about 25 GB of data, which allows for more high-definition information. It can hold about 13 hours of standard definition information or about two hours of high-definition information.

Is Best Buy discontinuing Blu-rays?

Best Buy customers looking to purchase DVDs or Blu-ray discs will have to find another retailer after the 2023 holiday season. Starting in 2024, sales of hard copies of movies and TV shows by the consumer electronics seller will cease, according to Variety and The Digital Bits.

Is it worth keeping a DVD player?

A lot of people may think that DVD players are obsolete, but the number of new releases, and increase in quality and special features says otherwise. You may be surprised to learn that DVD players haven't completely gone extinct just yet. Today, there are plenty of choices when it comes to streaming services.

Is a CD player better than a DVD player?

So, why are CD players better than DVD players for playing CDs? Briefly: DVD and Blu-ray players are generally not built with audio in mind. They are made almost entirely of plastic, built to last a few years only and use the cheapest, lowest-grade parts.

What new DVDs are coming out in 2023?

Should I keep old DVDs and CDs?

Reasons to Ditch Discs

Many computers today don't even have disc drives anymore. And playing your old DVDs requires finding outdated equipment that may or may not be in working order. At best, it's probably dusty. Physically, old DVDs take up space, no matter how you store them.

Is it cheaper to buy a Blu-ray or DVD?

If, however, you do not have a Blu-ray player, you won't be able to play Blu-rays. The DVD laser is too big to read a Blu-ray disc. Secondly, DVDs are currently cheaper than Blu-rays, so if you're not looking to spend the extra money and don't care that much about picture quality, you can still buy DVDs.

Is 4K really better than Blu-ray?

In short, they're the next generation of high-definition Blu-ray discs. 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs have a maximum video bitrate of 128 Mbps, compared to 'just' 40 Mbps on standard Blu-ray. That's more than three times the data rate, and it makes a difference with high dynamic range (HDR) 4K Ultra HD content.

Are VHS tapes obsolete?

After the introduction of the DVD format in 1996, however, the market share for VHS began to decline. In 2003, DVD rentals surpassed those of VHS in the United States, and by 2008, DVD had replaced VHS as the preferred low-end method of distribution.

How many people still use DVD?

Only 30% of Americans still watched movies on a disc over the last year, according to a survey by Statista Consumer Insights. Digital video discs emerged in the mid-'90s as a new way to store and watch movies, with the the first DVD players appearing in Japan.