Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[V40LLY]

Originally Posted by knight17

I am in a third world country.

Which country do you live in?

[knight17]

Originally Posted by V40LLY

Which country do you live in?

Sorry but am going to keep that a secret.

[V40LLY]

Columbia?

[knight17]

Originally Posted by V40LLY

Columbia?

Hell bent on finding me, eh?

[V40LLY]

Why not just say?

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by knight17

Hell bent on finding me, eh?

Someone obviously has to spy on you since you won't give in to digital media.

[knight17]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

Someone obviously has to spy on you since you won't give in to digital media.

Yes, it seems they will convert you by any means necessary,

[hogger129]

I would gladly move over to digital downloads entirely if they were the same quality and price as Blu-ray or UHD; and they were not DRM-protected so that I could watch them on anything that supports that file format. They could even offer the compressed versions for people with slower connections at a reduced price.

[V40LLY]

Originally Posted by hogger129

I would gladly move over to digital downloads entirely if they were the same quality and price as Blu-ray or UHD; and they were not DRM-protected so that I could watch them on anything that supports that file format. They could even offer the compressed versions for people with slower connections at a reduced price.

They are more or less comparably priced. Obviously not UHD Blu-ray, because digital download does not offer 4K resolution yet. One day it will.

On iTunes, you have the option of buying the HD version of the movie, which also gives you the SD one. Or, if you're on a budget, you can just buy the SD version, for a lower price. DRM encryption can be removed with certain software; no doubt attainable online, once you've downloaded a movie and it's on your hard drive. It's not something I've ever bothered to look into, though. I'm firmly placed within the Apple ecosystem and have no intention of ever leaving.

The quality may not be as good as Blu-ray, as the files are compressed, but I've not noticed the difference. I have a Panasonic 50" 2013 model, but it's not UHD. I honestly can't spot the difference in picture quality.

Others will argue with me on that one, but I would say they are being bloody minded.

[Rocket Richard]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

Something about having cable and being very price conscious seems contradictory to me. It may be different in the UK but everyone I know in the US who has cable spends more on it than all of my physical media purchases combined.

Oh ya, people pay for all these extra channels they don't even watch. And unfortunately, you have to pay for a bundle to get the 1 channel you want.

I had to pay $20 more/month to get my sports channels, otherwise I would have stayed with basic Cable, or moved on to an Antenna to get (OTA), Over The Air free local channels, like the News, etc....

Now your cable bill is higher if you want the 4K channels.....

[hogger129]

Originally Posted by V40LLY

They are more or less comparably priced. Obviously not UHD Blu-ray, because digital download does not offer 4K resolution yet. One day it will.

On iTunes, you have the option of buying the HD version of the movie, which also gives you the SD one. Or, if you're on a budget, you can just buy the SD version, for a lower price. DRM encryption can be removed with certain software; no doubt attainable online, once you've downloaded a movie and it's on your hard drive. It's not something I've ever bothered to look into, though. I'm firmly placed within the Apple ecosystem and have no intention of ever leaving.

The quality may not be as good as Blu-ray, as the files are compressed, but I've not noticed the difference. I have a Panasonic 50" 2013 model, but it's not UHD. I honestly can't spot the difference in picture quality.

Others will argue with me on that one, but I would say they are being bloody minded.

You're getting short-changed. The quality is nowhere near Blu-ray even on the iTunes 1080p stuff. There is a way around iTunes DRM (not going to go into it here). But the loss in quality is not reflected in the price.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...w.avsforum.com

[V40LLY]

Originally Posted by hogger129

You're getting short-changed. The quality is nowhere near Blu-ray even on the iTunes 1080p stuff. There is a way around iTunes DRM (not going to go into it here). But the loss in quality is not reflected in the price.



https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...w.avsforum.com

I'm not going to deny that the picture quality of digital downloads (1080p) is slightly inferior, but I think we are 'splitting hairs'.

Maybe, if I was to get a UHD 65" TV, I'd appreciate Blu-ray a little more. But, it will probably be another 7 years, before I replace my existing HD 50" Panasonic. Unless, it dies on me sooner than that.

Point is, I'm content with the picture and audio quality of the iTunes movie collection I have and I can take them anywhere I like. Carrying them around on physical discs isn't practical. Also, if I'm sitting on my couch, I can turn my Apple TV on and scroll through my 500+ titles on the screen. It's awesome. You should try it. I've experienced Blu-ray already. [emoji6]

Also, there is ton's of titles available on iTunes, that aren't even available on Blu-ray. [emoji851]

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by V40LLY

I'm not going to deny that the picture quality of digital downloads (1080p) is slightly inferior, but I think we are 'splitting hairs'.

Maybe, if I was to get a UHD 65" TV, I'd appreciate Blu-ray a little more. But, it will probably be another 7 years, before I replace my existing HD 50" Panasonic. Unless, it dies on me sooner than that.

Point is, I'm content with the picture and audio quality of the iTunes movie collection I have and I can take them anywhere I like. Carrying them around on physical discs isn't practical. Also, if I'm sitting on my couch, I can turn my Apple TV on and scroll through my 500+ titles on the screen. It's awesome. You should try it. I've experienced Blu-ray already. [emoji6]

Also, there is ton's of titles available on iTunes, that aren't even available on Blu-ray. [emoji851]

See I actually find the scrolling endless movies on a screen the worst part of digital. The 700+ I have in VUDU is cumbersome to navigate. Even iTunes I can't stand navigating. These companies don't want to let me put movies in categories or folders that I specifically want. That sucks.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

It seems most people here want to take a one or the other stance. They both have pros and cons and there is nothing wrong with their coexistence.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

It seems most people here want to take a one or the other stance. They both have pros and cons and there is nothing wrong with their coexistence.

If every title existed on both, then I'd have no problem with people buying digital. Unfortunately that isn't the case: less support for physical media means less titles available on physical media. As was pointed out two posts ago "...there is ton's of titles available on iTunes, that aren't even available on Blu-ray." I don't understand why the digital supporters are trying to convert anyone though, since the studios prefer digital no amount of support for physical is going to limit the digital selection.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

If every title existed on both, then I'd have no problem with people buying digital. Unfortunately that isn't the case: less support for physical media means less titles available on physical media.

You say that as if digital is fully to blame though. There are VHS movies that never even came out on DVD and that was before digital. You can be stubborn and not own/watch a movie in HD that'll never come to Blu-ray or you can rent/buy it digitally. People stomping their feet won't make it come to disc.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

You say that as if digital is fully to blame though. There are VHS movies that never even came out on DVD and that was before digital. You can be stubborn and not own/watch a movie in HD that'll never come to Blu-ray or you can rent/buy it digitally. People stomping their feet won't make it come to disc.

If there were huge spikes in sales when titles came to disc (because people weren't buying them digitally) then more titles would come to disc.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

If there were huge spikes in sales when titles came to disc (because people weren't buying them digitally) then more titles would come to disc.

Again this happened before digital too. You're making a correlation because you want to. Sometimes there is reasons these things never come to disc. True Lies is not on Blu-ray or digital. So is that digitals fault?

As I said both have pros and cons and people that deny that on either side are just being stubborn. They can coexist.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

Again this happened before digital too. You're making a correlation because you want to. Sometimes there is reasons these things never come to disc. True Lies is not on Blu-ray or digital. So is that digitals fault?

As I said both have pros and cons and people that deny that on either side are just being stubborn. They can coexist.

An example like True Lies is an oddity, it would easily be profitable on both digital and Blu-ray but apparently James Cameron is holding that up.

I'm talking about new releases, not remastering catalog titles. Indie titles and TV shows frequently get released only on digital. The studios would rather make a quick buck off of easy digital sales rather than spend money on discs. If the sales numbers were way higher for discs than digital then a lot more titles would be made on disc.

The best example of digital holding discs back is The Simpsons. Each season of The Simpsons sold pretty well on Blu-ray and DVD but Fox decided they could make more money from ongoing advertiser revenue from their Simpsons World app then from yearly season sales. They therefore stopped releasing new discs.

It may seem like an extreme example at this time but it's a clear indication of what can happen: more support for digital means digital will become the only option. The studios will experiment with more and more control to see what customers are willing to accept.

[Rocket Richard]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

It seems most people here want to take a one or the other stance. They both have pros and cons and there is nothing wrong with their coexistence.

Exactly. Some diehard disc owners will swing, others won’t. Time will tell!