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

[talkingpictures]

Originally Posted by Mikeyos

I purchased Christine on blu-ray this week and finally activated my digital code. I was shocked at the differences between the streaming transfer vs the blu-ray transfer:

The streaming version didn't look like to be the same aspect ratio on the blu-ray (it was slightly zoomed in to fill the screen).

The opening credits were jerky, and unstable, moving left to right like watching something shot on a boat.

The opening shot in the factory featured muted colors, screen print damage, dirt, etc. When I returned to the blu-ray, it felt like I made the jump from DVD to blu-ray - Christine the car was bright red and I noticed details and colors that weren't present on the streaming version.

I love the convenience for streaming, but this vintage transfer makes me nervous about buying older films on iTunes/VUDU.

There is always the possibility of the digital version being an older transfer. However it can also be argued that digital copies sometimes get upgraded to the new restorations for no additional cost, whereas you would have to buy them separately on disc.

One issue I have with digital is that they don't offer a one minute preview of sorts, so that one can see the transfer for themselves and aspect ratio etc. Blu-rays have various sites reviewing them but you don't have that with digital. I guess if the provider has good customer service one could always get a refund (like with Amazon).

[dublinbluray108]

I don't whether this deserved a separate thread but I just got news from Engadget now to say that the FCC have officially repealed rules on Net Neutrality in the US. I want to ask you how does this affect you when using streaming & download services while living in the US?

https://www.engadget.com/2017/12/14/...lity-what-now/

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by dublinbluray108

I don't whether this deserved a separate thread but I just got news from Engadget now to say that the FCC have officially repealed rules on Net Neutrality in the US. I want to ask you how does this affect you when using streaming & download services while living in the US?

I think Net Neutrality will affect people more that have Low Bandwidth, and not bother people with Fast adequate Bandwidth. It seems this Thread has lost momentum, because Disc is almost a lost Art. I was at Best Buy today, and their Disc Section is getting smaller with no one there. I heard this lady say, she wasn't buying this Disc because it didn't have a Digital Copy. I also passed up buying some Discs because of no Digital Copies. Disney is buying Fox in order to keep up with Amazon and Netflix, so the writing is on the wall Digital HD is here to stay!

[Vilya]

Your predictions about the fate of physical media have devolved from being based upon the casual comments of retail clerks at your local stores to the random remark of a single customer at your neighborhood Best Buy- the science behind your predictive methodology is staggering in its implications.

If anyone is interested in actual data about physical media sales, the Home Video Sales thread maintained by member Bruceames has real information on this subject. He keeps it updated with the latest information.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...a+sales+thread

Year to date figures as of 11-12-2017 show overall physical media sales are down 9.1%, DVD sales are down 14.9% and blu-ray is actually up 1.0% as compared to last year. UHD sales had a 2.5% share of the total market in the first quarter of 2017; in this quarter, so far, UHD sales are up to 8.4% of the total market. UHD is showing impressive growth.

Physical media sales are at $3.579 billion dollars this year as of 11-12-2017. A product with sales in the multi-billions of dollars
is not in danger of imminent collapse.

There is no disputing that physical media is declining, but that does not mean that discs are on the verge of disappearing from the market. They will remain available for many, many years even if the market is becoming a niche.

Digital, like your hyperbole, is here to stay. No one is arguing that. The growth of digital has not killed physical media by a long shot. They can, and do, co-exist.

[veritas]

Originally Posted by alchav21

. It seems this Thread has lost momentum, because Disc is almost a lost Art.

I would say its more just that people are to busy complaining about digital on like 5 other pages to complain about it on this one also.

I mean movies anywhere has had just about the worst implementation possible, iTunes has codes saying 4k but playing hd, vudu has stuff vanishing, customer service has become nearly none existent in terms of actually fixing problems and vudu has stuff at the wrong quality level staying sd while all the others have them at hd. I could probably find other problems vudu has but I simply don't use vudu for anything but guardians of the galaxy at this point because iTunes now has everything vudu has at the same or higher quality except for that title for me.

Other then you its not like people are coming on here and proclaiming digital is the winner I would say its going the other way as people go f this digital stuff these studios cant be trusted to not screw us over to save pennies.

I was really optimistic for digital when itunes 4k rolled out and MA rolled out but the studios really proved me right about not being trust worthy to maintain services.

[whipnet]

I was a champion of both physical and digital I preferred to have all of my movies on both, and I was also one of those "I am not buying a disk if it doesn't come with a code". But that has all changed with MA. MA has REALLY soured my view of digital ownership and now that Disney bought FOX, I only see it getting worse. Fox movies will now be $17.99 - $24.99 for digital? HAHAHA. I don't think so.

*

[Petra_Kalbrain]

On top of everything else going on with digital, net neutrality just had its first stab to the heart. We still have to wait for congress to decide whether or not to pull the knife out and let it bleed all over the consumers, or pull it out and perform emergency surgery on it to save its life.

[Zu Nim]

Physical sales should still be double EST in 2017 but a far cry from 5 years earlier when it was an order of magnitude larger. The bigger issue is that revenue is shifting from ownership to subscription. More people are uninterested in owning a movie. They bought DVDs because they were cheap to watch and they're not moving to Blu-rays. EST growth is tapering off. Rental revenue is declining. Subscriptions continue to grow like crazy. Physical may end up being supported solely by collectors and people who are unable to get acceptable internet service. EST may end up being supported by even fewer: collectors only. And with the move to MA, the utility to casuals of buying a digital movie is being reduced (fewer sharing opportunities means fewer reasons to buy).

The MA rollout has been quite the mess but I don't see how it reflects negatively on maintaining services. (Same with the iTunes 4K rollout.) Did anything you had or owned in September change today? All my UV titles are still UV. All my Disney SD-upgraded titles are still HD. I have numerous complaints about MA but that's different than not maintaining services. And a large portion of my Vudu library is now available at iTunes, Google, and Amazon which I didn't have in September so that's a pretty big win in my book.

Having said that, I'm less optimistic about the future. Buyers are getting short shrift which makes it less likely I will buy digitally and more likely I will rely on rental or subs. (I'm not moving backwards to physical.) Buyers should be getting the royal treatment at this point because they're still the most profitable customers. Give SD to HD upgrades, HD to UHD upgrades, or eliminate the artificial distinction entirely. You want my $10-20 for a purchase? Give me a reason why I shouldn't rent it. Show me you're thinking of my future and not just your today. Otherwise I'll rent new titles for $6 and subscribe to get catalog titles for $11 and save myself plenty of cash every month. Or maybe MoviePass and I don't even need to rent the new titles.

Some of my MA complaints:

[Show spoiler]

• Locker management. I still can't see what resolution I own a title in. It took a month but at least they show my title count now.
• The MA app only lets me browse, not search. Seriously?
• Eliminating the SD upgrades was stupid and punishes buyers. Who wants to buy more digital content after a bad SD experience?
• Vudu's bridge between UV and MA has been a real cluster but they continue to work on it.
• Vudu isn't enabling UV on titles when it's available and instead only enabling MA.
• iTunes should push UHD rights to MA when a title is upgraded to UHD.
• Eliminating iTunes redemptions punishes the customer again. Why buy?
• Vudu needs to implement family sharing and do it better than iTunes and Google by not forcing purchases through a head of household.
• More studios and retailers need to join MA. Lionsgate, Paramount, Magnolia, FandangoNow, Microsoft, Comcast, Verizon, etc.
• Don't forget TV shows.

[TROLLY]

Besides subscription, a lot of people are using piracy platforms to consume their media.

UHD Blu-ray is likely to be the last physical media format we’ll see.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TROLLY]

Originally Posted by Mikeyos

I purchased Christine on blu-ray this week and finally activated my digital code. I was shocked at the differences between the streaming transfer vs the blu-ray transfer:



The streaming version didn't look like to be the same aspect ratio on the blu-ray (it was slightly zoomed in to fill the screen).



The opening credits were jerky, and unstable, moving left to right like watching something shot on a boat.



The opening shot in the factory featured muted colors, screen print damage, dirt, etc. When I returned to the blu-ray, it felt like I made the jump from DVD to blu-ray - Christine the car was bright red and I noticed details and colors that weren't present on the streaming version.



I love the convenience for streaming, but this vintage transfer makes me nervous about buying older films on iTunes/VUDU.

I’ve got 982 titles in my iTunes locker and I’ve never noticed anything wrong with any of them. I bought them all from the iTunes Store.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Zu Nim

The MA rollout has been quite the mess but I don't see how it reflects negatively on maintaining services. (Same with the iTunes 4K rollout.) Did anything you had or owned in September change today? All my UV titles are still UV. All my Disney SD-upgraded titles are still HD. I have numerous complaints about MA but that's different than not maintaining services. And a large portion of my Vudu library is now available at iTunes, Google, and Amazon which I didn't have in September so that's a pretty big win in my book.

Having said that, I'm less optimistic about the future. Buyers are getting short shrift which makes it less likely I will buy digitally and more likely I will rely on rental or subs. (I'm not moving backwards to physical.) Buyers should be getting the royal treatment at this point because they're still the most profitable customers. Give SD to HD upgrades, HD to UHD upgrades, or eliminate the artificial distinction entirely. You want my $10-20 for a purchase? Give me a reason why I shouldn't rent it. Show me you're thinking of my future and not just your today. Otherwise I'll rent new titles for $6 and subscribe to get catalog titles for $11 and save myself plenty of cash every month. Or maybe MoviePass and I don't even need to rent the new titles.

I don't see the big problem with MA, but then my main Providers are Amazon and Vudu plus I also use Sony Ultra. The only problem is like you said, no search. As for owning and watching new releases, I look for the best price and I'll pay around $10 to watch a Movie early. Depending on the Movie or if I want to add it to my Collection, I'll pay around $15. I use to buy Combo Movies for the Digital HD Code, but some don't carry them anymore and if they are over $20 it doesn't pay I can't sell the Discs to make my money back. Even 4K Discs don't sell for that price, they want them way under $20.

[maverick22]

I have never redeemed any of my codes. Do most of you keep them or sell them, and why? All the different options makes me not even want to mess with it (different sites to redeem, etc.).

I guess by selling them I could pocket a little more money to buy future discs, but at the same time, part of me thinks it would be nice to have a backup in case something happens to my physical discs (fire/stolen).

Looking forward to hearing what you guys do.

Thanks

[Geoff D]

sell sell sell! I have no use for a digital copy, I don't live my life via my phone and very rarely use streaming for anything. It's just not my thing so I'd rather that the code did something for me rather than sitting there gathering dust.

[Brahmzy]

I’ve never redeemed any either. Do people buy em? Where can I sell em?

[maverick22]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

sell sell sell! I have no use for a digital copy, I don't live my life via my phone and very rarely use streaming for anything. It's just not my thing so I'd rather that the code did something for me rather than sitting there gathering dust.

I hear you. No telling how much I could make off selling these things ha. How much do they go for on average? $3-$5?

Please keep the input coming!

[maverick22]

Forgot to mention I don’t travel either. Another reason I don’t really need to keep.

On the flip side, I like to keep them in case I need to sell a turd at the local store (have to have the code if it states it on the case).

[Member-167298]

Originally Posted by maverick22

I hear you. No telling how much I could make off selling these things ha. How much do they go for on average? $3-$5?

Please keep the input coming!

Definitely sell. I have no need for codes and once I realized I could sell them it was like finding money.

[DJJez]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

sell sell sell! I have no use for a digital copy, I don't live my life via my phone and very rarely use streaming for anything. It's just not my thing so I'd rather that the code did something for me rather than sitting there gathering dust.

this ^^^ plus who wants inferior picture quality and no lossless sound.

[Frank@Chicago]

Many media collectors don't use codes and refuse to sell them or give them away.

The reason is quite simple, every code is potentially a lost media sale to someone.

The more I think about it, the more I agree with this position.

Only time I even think about using a code is for DV and I haven't even redeemed those.

[Sky_Captain]

Sell 'em. Don't want or need them. As Geoff said, it's money just sitting there.