I have not read the whole spec, but it looks like the New UHD players will be made to read older Blu Ray, so I can only guess that older blu ray players will not be able to read the new UHD but play in a regular blu ray resolution/spec.
Here is where I see the problem. There are not many stores that carry movies at least not around me. The ones that do have two columns of shelves with 2/3 devoted to DVD and 1/3 to Blu Ray. So no you introduce a 3rd new format. Who is going to carry it? You are stuck with a single source now like Amazon. You loose the impulse buy all together and there will be ZERO driving force to bring the prices down. Say FRINGE MARKET.
What you say about the reduction in stores selling movies is quite true and aside from the usual Best Buy and music stores like HMV that sell them, there is not much left. It is interesting to note though in that up until a couple of years ago, I was buying a considerable number through an independent store just up the street from me who had been around for about fifteen years but, unfortunately, went out of business. When I talked to one of the owners, he told me they weren't closing because people weren't buying movies it was because customers were no longer buying from them and were now going online to places such as those you mentioned(Amazon.com/ca) for prices that undercut them and in certain cases offer free delivery. Like many other forms of storefront retailers that have failed in recent years, these guys were just another example of those that succumbed to online shopping.
As in previous technologies the hardware always tends to precede the software in the market place, so clearly, if the prices are right and the mass market is interested, it should do OK. We will see.
