What They Say
Despite the ‘cocooning’ that has meant more interest in home entertainment technology, UltraHD Blu-ray players continue to decline in volume sales in North America. along with other optical video formats.
The only good news is that UltraHD Blu-ray players are built into the 2.2 million PS5 consoles sold in the US at the end of the year. Xbox Series X and S consoles (the series S lacks an Ultra HD Blu-ray drive) shipped nearly 1.73 million units in North America. Forecasts from Ampere Analysis predict 67.3 million PS5 units and 44.3 million Xbox Series X/S consoles will be sold globally by 2024.
What We Think
The high available bitrate (up to 80Mbps) make BD players still one of the best sources of high quality video content. However, as I wrote last week, one of the most impressive UltraHD HDR videos I have seen recently was on the BBC’s iPlayer streaming platform. (A Perfect Planet Looks Fantastic) (BR)
