Disney, which had decided months ago to invest massively in Disney+ and reduce its involvement in the physical market, now announces its plan to strengthen its 4K Blu-ray editions. Fans who prefer to keep their movies on the shelf are celebrating what appears to be a full-fledged cable pickup.
It is true that the market for movies and series in physical format is not at its best. It went from the DVD boom, which took over from the prohibitive VHS generation, to a niche situation in which the presence of movies and series has been increasingly reduced in stores. Streaming dealt a significant blow to this market and companies decided to embrace the new trend. Disney, of course, was one of them. But the wheels could be turning again.
This is how your Blu-ray will improve
Disney’s thing in the Blu-ray market, since 2023, has been quite tough. They decided to hand over their physical market exploitation business to Sony, a company that has been able to keep it well protected. In some countries, like Australia, Disney Blu-rays simply evaporated. In Spain, we began to see Disney films edited by Divisa Films, something that would have been unthinkable at the time when Disney was relentlessly generating income with its DVD releases. I mean, a lot of things changed. Blu-ray, including the 4K generation (with its little black boxes), seemed increasingly destined to become a niche like vinyl.
But Disney seems to be starting to back down. Instead of limiting itself to the minimum to maintain its good name in the market, it has finally decided to provide users with what they have been asking for so much. And it is nothing other than the incorporation of Dolby Vision HDR image in its physical editions. This type of image quality is available in some titles within Disney+, but until now it had not been seen in its physical releases.
There are specialists who wonder what exactly is happening at Disney. And it is difficult to say in view of the decisions of recent years. But the fact that they introduce Dolby Vision masters in their physical editions is the best news that could have been announced. The company intends to kick off this new commitment with two imminent releases: Deadpool and Wolverine and Alien: Romulus. Afterwards, they will continue to put more titles on sale. It is unknown what the schedule will be and to what extent we will see films re-edited with Dolby Vision that were already available in 4K. It will possibly involve a series of decisions that will not be easy.
The reason why Dolby Vision is so important is because it brings to your Smart TV the most faithful visualization of the way directors have shot their films. It is the perfect way to achieve the greatest perfection in the visualization of each scene and angle of the content you are watching. In reality, it is an image quality that is constantly adapted and optimized while you watch the movie in question. Of course, keep in mind that not all Smart TVs have Dolby Vision support, so it will be something to consider when these editions arrive in stores.
More Disney+ series on Blu-ray
In parallel to the great news about Dolby Vision, Disney also announces that they are planning to launch more series in 4K Blu-ray format so that we can have the best Disney+ productions physically available to us. Here you can also see that change of current that is being experienced internally at the Disney factory and that, without a doubt, will delight those who like to have these editions in their collection.
They announce collector’s editions in steelbook format of Marvel and Star Wars series. At the moment, Hawkeye: Complete First Season and Loki: Complete Second Season have been announced from the Marvel universe. Regarding Star Wars, there will be a physical version of Star Wars: Ahsoka Complete First Season and Star Wars: The Mandalorian – Complete Third Season.
These series will take advantage of their arrival in physical format to do justice to one of the main attractions of the Blu-ray versions: the extras. If you remember them from your DVD days, you’ll be happy to know that Disney is beefing up these Blu-rays with a ton of content. Each of the editions will be loaded with documentaries, deleted scenes and other elements of interest, such as image galleries, interviews and more.
From now on, we will see what Disney’s next moves are in the field of physical format, but for now it seems that they are going to concentrate their efforts again. Yes ok subscribe to Disney+ It remains essential to enjoy its content, it does not hurt that the physical format remains active, allowing us to have the content we like most accessible without depending on anyone.
