DVDs have been around for decades, and I think they’ll find a way to keep hanging around for decades more. When they first came out, it was a marvel to go from VHS tapes to DVD. Everything looked clearer, and everything sounded better. What’s important to note is that this was the case on our small CRT TVs. Even the small 32-inch HDTVs of the time didn’t have visual clarity problems with DVDs.
It wasn’t until TVs started to get larger that the problems started to rear their ugly heads for me. Even my 24-inch 1080p TV from college looked just fine, but I can’t say the same thing now that 4K TVs are the norm. I have a 75-inch TV in my living room, and watching a DVD on that is not a fun experience. I save that TV for my Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray discs. I get far superior visual quality, and the sound is a big step up as well. I hate to say it, but DVDs have reached their expiration date for me, and that date could be coming soon for you too.
DVDs can only take you so far
They took me to the end of the road
I like watching movies, probably more than the next person, and I prefer to do it in the highest quality that I can. I have a modest Dolby Atmos sound system paired with my 4K TV, so I don’t think DVDs cut it anymore. TVs can still upscale decently enough, but I don’t think the juice is worth the squeeze if you can look elsewhere. Blu-ray is a format that’s been around for a long time, and you can often find movies for very cheap at a used disc shop. 4K UHD Blu-ray is definitely the most expensive of the three physical media formats, but that’s because it’s the newest and highest quality.
DVDs still look good on small screens, and if you’re watching on a laptop or old CRT TV, you’ll probably still be happy with how everything looks. I’m just not, and that’s why I had to leave my DVD collection in the dust and start upgrading my favorite discs to 4K. That’s not something you have to do right away, or ever really, but as somebody who loves watching movies, I felt like it was necessary.
While I’ve been talking about theoretical expiration dates, your DVDs might actually hit a legitimate expiration date too. While it hasn’t happened to me with any disc yet, disc rot is something people worry about, and if the rumors are true, it’s about that time for the rotting to happen. This can be mitigated by storing your movies out of direct sunlight and avoiding damp areas, and like I said, nothing’s happened to anything I own yet. Obviously, I might be an outlier, because there are people who say some of their discs have stopped the rotting process. There’s really nothing you can do once it starts other than buy a new copy, so just keep your fingers crossed and hope it doesn’t happen to your collection. I still think it’s largely an overblown issue, but my tune might change 10 years from now when my whole collection is dust.
The expiration date differs for everybody
Be happy with what you have
With streaming taking over as much as it has, a lot of people’s DVD collections expired for the wrong reason. In some ways, it became more cost-effective to just carry a Netflix subscription and watch the constantly rotating array of content that arrives each month. The problem is that many streaming services are on the scene now, and it’s more expensive than ever to keep up with everything.
What this has led to is a slight resurgence in physical media, and people’s DVD collections are growing again. Whether it’s DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Blu-ray, CD, vinyl, etc., it’s cool to see people getting back into it. Ownership is a big deal, and it’s one of the reasons why I got into this hobby in the first place. Before streaming, there was just no way to watch things unless you wanted to scour the TV guide and turn something on at the right time. A DVD let me watch my favorite movies at any time, so I’ll always cherish them for that. Even today, they’re an affordable entry point into the hobby, so it’s not like it’s all bad. I’ve just outgrown the format and pretty much only buy 4K UHD at this point.
My expiration date came over a decade ago, but remember, you’re not in the same boat as me. You might not care about the same things I do, and if that’s the case, your DVDs will last a long time. It’s also nice that your DVDs aren’t going anywhere even if you upgrade to a 4K Blu-ray player. DVDs play across several devices — DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Blu-ray players — so there’s no compatibility issues whatsoever.
