Do they just watch on DVD resolution to select special effect winner? 1080p resolution and Blu ray has been with us for 15 years and they are still on DVD?
The SD resolution of the DVD screener is part of the security. It's not dissimilar to changing the port of SSH. It's just one more thing to make the time less desirable to copy. After all, who wants to pirate/share/download/watch a crappy SD video?
Who cares enough about movies that they want a physical copy, but not enough that watching standard def video blown up to 1080 or 4K is fine? That Venn diagram must overlap far more than I think it does.
To expand, there is also tons more content only available on VHS than other formats. Straight-to-video was all the rage in the 80s/90s. Mind, that it's not necessarily good content.
Also, upscalers matter. To my nearly half-century eyes Sony upscalers aren't too bad. No one is claiming they're in any respect hi-def, but they're also hardly a miserable experience. Craptastic upscalers, on the other hand, are craptastic, sometimes from major brands who cheaped out.
Like what ? I don’t think I own a single device capable of playing back plastic discs in any format.
This was maybe true 15 years ago, but not today.
I think game consoles are the last holdout, and even there we’re finally seeing versions free from this antiquated technology.
And blu-ray players are under $100 now.
Physical media still has a lot going for it. High bitrate video which cannot be taken away from you, and doesn't require you to be online.
So we went from "anything will play DVD" to "you have to buy a specific piece of outdated technology"
Also, OP article pointed out how most people screening these things "haven't touched their AV setups since 1999." Blu-Ray might be a nonstarter if you want to win the popularity contest. Lowest common denominator and all that.