Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Now, I agree with you there. Amazon with their HD titles and VUDU with their HDX titles look much better than any of the competition, but I think they are still well below a proper BD transfer. There's also the other stuff like the lack of lossless audio and extras.

Oh, I agree. The lossless audio and extras are another area where blu-ray wins for sure. Plus the biggest reason of course is keeping control of our films in our court by owning the discs and not relying on their servers.

[Arch Stanton]

Originally Posted by mar3o

So you're basing you're opinion on Amazon's film streaming based on 2 films, one of which may not have had an HD master?

Yep!

Well, I've actually started others and given up. I'm not sure if this some issue with my router or some kind of technicaly port issue because Virgin Media are trash

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Arch Stanton

Yep!

Well, I've actually started others and given up. I'm not sure if this some issue with my router or some kind of technicaly port issue because Virgin Media are trash

You may just be having some connection issues with Amazon's servers for some reason. I know with Netflix, if your connection speed drops, they lower your stream quality automatically.

Amazon HDR 4k streaming looked quite good for me, and like I said, their bitrate for their 1080p movies is quite high these days.

[Steedeel]

All the above is yet another reason why digital/streaming is bad news for the home cinema lovers amongst us. Not only will it threaten disc, our continued enjoyment of movies on any digital format depends entirely on fibre actually sticking around and still being available in future. With mobile only homes and the big squeeze that will come it's 5g, that is by no means a cert.

Awful times to be a home cinema fanatic. So much worry about what could stop us enjoying our hobby.

[murphywmm]

I don't know why you're worrying at all. So many great movies are on Blu-ray and there are still many being released. Just enjoy what you have now and don't worry about the future.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by murphywmm

I don't know why you're worrying at all. So many great movies are on Blu-ray and there are still many being released. Just enjoy what you have now and don't worry about the future.

I always have, can't help it. I honestly see nothing but bleakness. The day I have to rely on mobile is the day I declare film dead.

[Atomic Salad]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I always have, can't help it. I honestly see nothing but bleakness.

[flyry]

This board is Woody Allen levels of neurotic

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Atomic Salad

Not really. Read the data. Those are shifting patterns not made up fiction. Are you questioning that mobile only households are not on the increase?

Are you debating broadband homes are not declining?

All I am saying is once 5g is introduced to the mainstream, we could see a huge swing. My logic is perfectly sound, many people are struggling finance wise.

Fibre may be a thing of the past.

By the way Sarah was correct!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by flyry

This board is Woody Allen levels of neurotic

I have seen the future and where we are going, we don't get tv sets.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I have seen the future and where we are going, we don't get tv sets.

I gotta laugh at people who think people won't be watching TV in the near future and everything will be streaming on their phones. Lol.

Most people are exhausted after a full day's work and look forward to coming home and unwinding if possible. For millions of people, that means relaxing in front of the TV and watching their favorite shows. Do you honestly think people are going to give up their TVs and switch to staring at their tiny phones all evening to watch their shows? I guess the whole family is going to huddle around the phone? Just because phones are popular with teenagers doesn't mean adults don't want to relax in front of their TV and unwind at night. TVs still sell quite well last time I was in Best Buy or Wal-Mart.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by flyry

This board is Woody Allen levels of neurotic

I don't remember him being obsessed with slipcovers and steelbooks. He strikes me as more of a "content is more important than packaging" kind of person.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

All the above is yet another reason why digital/streaming is bad news for the home cinema lovers amongst us. Not only will it threaten disc, our continued enjoyment of movies on any digital format depends entirely on fibre actually sticking around and still being available in future. With mobile only homes and the big squeeze that will come it's 5g, that is by no means a cert.

Awful times to be a home cinema fanatic. So much worry about what could stop us enjoying our hobby.

And I say this is all ridiculous.

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever why we can't have both. None.

Video rental stores dominated the home market for over 2 full decades (from the early 80's through the 2000's). Has that put a stop to purchasing movies? No, not at all. I remember visiting rental stores every week and the stores were absolutely packed, especially on weekends, and I don't live in a big city either. Everyone rented movies. Yet people also bought VHS tapes, and DVD sales exploded, all while video stores were still renting them out.

Why can't streaming just fill the absence of the rental store? Why does everything have to be black or white? Some people want to just rent (stream) and some like to own. And many do both. I have a pretty nice collection of blu-rays but I still stream on occasion. I streamed Amazon's "Red Oaks" series because I found it entertaining. That doesn't mean I'm about to abandon my blu-ray collection.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by mar3o

I gotta laugh at people who think people won't be watching TV in the near future and everything will be streaming on their phones. Lol.

Most people are exhausted after a full day's work and look forward to coming home and unwinding if possible. For millions of people, that means relaxing in front of the TV and watching their favorite shows. Do you honestly think people are going to give up their TVs and switch to staring at their tiny phones all evening to watch their shows? I guess the whole family is going to huddle around the phone? Just because phones are popular with teenagers doesn't mean adults don't want to relax in front of their TV and unwind at night. TVs still sell quite well last time I was in Best Buy or Wal-Mart.

That behaviour is kicking in now, so yeah, I do think that's the way we will consume video in the coming years. I wish I didn't believe that but I do.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by mar3o

And I say this is all ridiculous.

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever why we can't have both. None.

Video rental stores dominated the home market for over 2 full decades (from the early 80's through the 2000's). Has that put a stop to purchasing movies? No, not at all. I remember visiting rental stores every week and the stores were absolutely packed, especially on weekends, and I don't live in a big city either. Everyone rented movies. Yet people also bought VHS tapes, and DVD sales exploded, all while video stores were still renting them out.

Why can't streaming just fill the absence of the rental store? Why does everything have to be black or white? Some people want to just rent (stream) and some like to own. And many do both. I have a pretty nice collection of blu-rays but I still stream on occasion. I streamed Amazon's "Red Oaks" series because I found it entertaining. That doesn't mean I'm about to abandon my blu-ray collection.

That doesn't address the fibre/5g issue.

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

That doesn't address the fibre/5g issue.

So your argument is that faster mobile data will encourage more people to ditch ISPs? There is still a high-speed data limit each month. 4G data is already fast enough to stream video in many cities. I'm not sure why you think 5G will be a game-changer.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Awful times to be a home cinema fanatic.

Never before have film fans had access to so many high quality films on home video. We have multiple durable, scratch-resistant home video formats capable of delivering tens of gigabytes of high-quality video and audio, 3D, and HDR 4k video, all in lossless studio quality surround sound. Not to mention bonus features that can enhance the feature and add additional value.

Personally, I own a 55" UHD 3D TV with a 7.1 surround system. I have a nice collection of vintage 1950's 3D films in true 3D that look astounding on my passive 3D TV, with many more 50's 3D films on the way. We are seeing amazing catalog titles get 4k remastering and Lionsgate has just created a new Vestron blu-ray label for their catalog horror tiles. There's a huge used market out there. And a cheap region-free player literally opens up a whole world of films and alternate releases for us to choose from. Plus all-you-can-eat streaming services that deliver 1080p and 4k HDR content, filling in the gap where video rental stores used to dominate.

Heck, I just bought Buck Rogers in the 25th Century on blu-ray a couple months ago! On blu-ray! The full series!

Yeah, awful times to be a home cinema fanatic.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

That doesn't address the fibre/5g issue.

I don't see an issue.

[cakefactory]

Yeah, what a ridiculous post. There is no time in the past that was better in terms of selection. Sure, you have to buy a lot of used DVDs since there's no longer a boom in physical formats, but to say this is worse than say, the VHS days is insane, considering you couldn't get anything that looked remotely good back then. If you're a PHYSICAL MEDIA fanatic then your days are numbered, but it's not like selection is going to go down, and the used market is going to be just fine for a long time going forward, plus I don't think the expensive LE sorts of labels are going anywhere.

[WhySoBlu?]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I have seen the future and where we are going, we don't get tv sets.

You have no idea what you're talking about. It's just that simple.

Since you're fond of six-month-old articles...

[Show spoiler]

Everybody Wants 4K: New Research Shows Massive UHD TV Sales Surge

New research and sales analysis out today has revealed that approximately one in every eight North American homes will own an Ultra HD/4K TV before the end of 2016.

According to a report by Strategy Analytics, this eye-catching figure – which equates to more than 11 million North American homes – is the result of rapidly falling prices for 4K TVs and increased availability that’s seen shipments of 4K TVs to the region this year surge by more than 70%.

The Strategy Analytics report also makes the point that North America’s penchant for very big TVs relative to other regions around the world has played a part in Ultra HD’s success there. More than 80% of Ultra HD TVs shipped in 2015 were 50-inch or bigger, at the same time that big-screen TVs which don’t have Ultra HD native resolutions have been becoming increasingly hard to find as manufacturers switch production over to the higher resolution format.
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