Is the physical disc model dead? I have for as long as I can remember rented discs on Netflix because they always had the latest movies before a streaming option was available. I just checked the DVD/BluRay release schedule for the next 3 months and there are 0 discs that won't be on streaming. Most are releases of older movies. I know it's been dying over the past 2 years but it seems completely dead now.

Something just tells me that not having a gazillion discs in a warehouse somewhere, needing to be handled and shipped in and out is an appealing thought to Netflix.

I also suspect that viewers are thinking that this disc thing is "so old school, isn't everything streaming now?". Disc handing and fussing with a player has probably become boring for the customer too. Plus, there is less clutter at home -- no boxes to connect, the TV does everything.

i still prefer a disk over streaming... but thats because I'm a dinosaur.
streaming and image quality are still at the mercy of the internet, and even with my fiber line it still sucks.

a regular dvd is still better than 4k streaming in my mind.

There is financial incentive for both the streaming service and viewer to keep the bandwidth as low as possible.

I still get Blu-ray discs from Netflix and have had friends' comment how good everything looks and sounds. Even when just watching on TV and not my projector system. They have borrowed them and also commented that it looks better than streaming. While 4K HDR is an improvement sometimes the streaming stuff is using so much compression that Blu-ray looks better and of course definitely sounds better with lossless sound. I won't go as far as saying DVD looks better but if a high bit rate DVD can sound better, obviously no Atmos.

I wish Netflix did 4K Blu-ray but I agree their selection is becoming less and less and discs will eventually die. I think less and less movies are available on any form of disc. Convenience definitely trumps quality and history repeats itself as the same thing happened with music with music streaming services.

At least some music services offer lossless music. I hope movie streaming goes the same route and is not too expensive.

I get wanting to watch the discs so you can get the best out of the audio and video. Have you ever just hooked up an antenna to your TV? It's amazing the video quality compared to dish or cable! But ultimately my question was, is there any discs being released ahead of the streaming release these days?

No kidding. I thought I was the only one that can see how much better over the air broadcasts look. No compression artifacts in comparison to cable, or even worse, Sat rebroadcasts of an over air signal.

A regular DVD??  So not bluray?
You are a dinosaur......who needs an eye exam.

I think Ed needs to clarify: a 4K stream when it gets starved for bandwidth. And all the macro blocking and mosquito noise starts. Then yes, a DVD can look better at that point.

And that is kind of the point don't you think. We have no control over the bottlenecks our video streaming is going to face. We are never guaranteed of the quality. With physical media, we are always going to have a consistent good experience. But nobody cares about that anymore. And that makes me very sad :(

I didn't know Netflix rented physical discs...
Its pretty much all streaming all media in this house with the exception of vinyl but that is giving way to loving sitting in my listening chair with my laptop...in my lap.
My Grand daughter loves to watch Alita on blue-ray in the theater all the time.
I have a Winegard monster HD8200U antenna crammed in my attic and I love it. Honestly would like to drop all tv streaming service and just use the antenna but the other half wont have any of that thought process.

Prior to COVID, disc rental was the primary release mechanism for new movies. They would release it on disc, try to sell as many as they can, and then release on streaming months later. Over the last 6 -12 months, those movies in production seemed to be released at the same time as the physical disc. I'm guessing (and my overall point) that model has died altogether.

That and Hollywood has turned out nothing but garbage as of late.

Do you guys live on Mars?  I can't even remember the last time my internet went out (let alone dropped below the 700 down I'm paying for).  Now that I think about it, my power went out about 8 years ago for the night but my equipment is on a pretty large UPS so I still had internet until I went to bed.

Even my clients out in the boonies can get by with their 10-15 down DSL but many of them are switching over to Starlink anyway.

Besides, if the shit hits the fan someday I still have a large DVD/Bluray collection....I'll go Robert Neville on Shreck if it's the only option!

I have 3 total clients I can think of that still buy physical discs. 2 of them are cinephiles with high-end media systems but don't want to buy Kaleidescape, and 1 of them is an old timer who wants physical media because he just can't get over monthly subscription costs for things.