Last updated on March 4th, 2026
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Blu-ray format; Blu-ray formally launched worldwide on June 20, 2006. At the time, high definition was increasing in popularity, with the debut of flat-screen HDTV sets. The United States also was switching from standard definition analog broadcasting to high definition digital broadcasting, a migration officially completed in 2009. DVDs also were a big success in the mid-aughts; DVDs eclipsed VHS in sales in 2003, and peaked in sales in 2005. 2006 is also the final year for a VHS release from a major Hollywood studio, David Cronenberg’s “A History of Violence.”
Still, Blu-rays never fully replaced DVDs as a format; Blu-ray sales peaked in 2013. Even in 2026, DVDs are still available for sale, alongside Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray discs. Modern TV shows often see DVD as the only physical format they’ll receive, despite HD being the norm for the past 15 years, and said TV shows only having aired in HD. Never mind physical media sales have dwindled, with its dedicated buyers these days more likely to pay attention to picture quality. As such, they aren’t exactly the market for standard definition (480p) quality DVDs. Finally, 4K TV sets are largely the only models sold these days, aside from a few cheap 1080p TV sets.
But why didn’t Blu-ray take off to the same degree as DVDs? Below I offer some reasons why the format seemed hampered for much of its existence.
The Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD format war
Similar to VHS, Blu-ray saw its early days mired in an old-fashioned format war, against competing HD disc format HD-DVD. Ultimately, Blu-ray prevailed, thanks to support being included with the PlayStation 3, meaning people didn’t need to buy a separate player just for Blu-rays. (Sony, the PlayStation’s owner, is one of the entities responsible for developing the Blu-ray.) HD-DVD also has slightly less robust digital rights management (DRM) than Blu-ray, as its specification lacks support for region codes, something Hollywood must’ve noticed.
Still, the format war meant some customers waited to see who the “winner” was before making a hefty investment into anything.
The Great Recession
The “Great Recession” of the late aughts and early 2010s led to a downturn in investing in things such as physical media. Someone at the time already strapped for cash (or already upgrading from a CRT TV to a flat-screen HDTV set) wasn’t likely to also want to spend extra on high-definition physical media. Especially since they likely just finished switching from VHS to DVDs several years earlier; why pay for yet another physical media format?
Indifference from the general public
Most of the general public aren’t techies or home theater enthusiasts. As such, DVDs might be “good enough” or “look OK” (upscaling on modern devices for DVDs helps). Also, “DVD” is still synonymous with and shorthand for “physical home video” as a term (and easier to type than the hyphenated and longer “Blu-ray”). Given this, why not buy the DVD version of “Frozen” for their kids and save a few dollars?
The rise of streaming video
One of the biggest things that kneecapped Blu-ray’s rise was the debut of streaming video, which made any type of physical media obsolete for many people.
Netflix launched its streaming service in 2007; by the mid-2010s, the streaming service eclipsed the popularity of Netflix’s DVD-by-mail business. The physical media side shut down in 2023.
These days, DVD and Blu-ray players are afterthoughts for most people’s living rooms, if they have them at all. The only optical drive in many homes nowadays are on video game consoles (if they aren’t digital-only models). Speaking of which…
The demise of PC optical drives
Modern PCs no longer include optical drives by default. Between the switch to streaming and digital files, as well as the desire to make laptops thinner, DVD drives are long gone from modern computers.
At least DVD drivers were an actual thing. Pre-included Blu-ray drives never particularly caught on. One factor is Blu-ray’s more complicated requirements (for playback, DRM, etc.) versus DVDs. As such, Blu-ray never received built-in support in Windows and MacOS the way DVDs did. Third party support is available, but that’s still needing to take more steps.
Blu-rays cost more (sometimes significantly) than DVDs
Hollywood still thinks HD should be priced at a premium, despite high definition being the standard for many years now. The same goes for streaming services; Netflix charges more for 4K quality than 1080p quality. Before I dropped cable, Comcast charged me a $10 a month “high definition TV fee.”
As such, Blu-rays almost always cost more than DVDs. While Blu-rays might cost more to manufacture, it doesn’t seem by enough to justify some of the steep price differences I’ve seen. TV show box sets seem particularly hit by price differences; that said, it might be justified for some shows that need extensive remastering for high definition, such as “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” That show’s special and visual effects required complete reworking, since they were edited and recorded in standard definition.
Conclusion
Overall, Blu-ray never fully replaced DVDs, despite that high definition is now the norm, and even 4K material is increasingly available. Blu-rays cost more than DVDs; got caught up early on in both a format war and a recession; and saw itself soon displaced by further tech changes (streaming, digital video, the demise of internal optical drives).
I still try to buy Blu-rays if available; the few extra dollars are worth it for the sake of picture quality and future-proofing. That said, I don’t have any 4K equipment or TVs, so haven’t bought any 4K Blu-rays.
Image: “Blu-ray Player” by Diego Correa is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Flickr / cropped from original)
