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

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

I don't usually, but sometimes people just want to qualify themselves on how cool and grand their HT setup is while knocking others down for budgeting. That's great, now STFU.

I don't like buzzkills. That was my point.

I bet you will be very happy with your planned upgrades.

You can never control what other people say or do, but thankfully you can control your reactions to them. It seems like there is always someone ready to tell you that you made a mistake and that you should have done this or that. Many people love to Monday morning quarterback. They won't offer any helpful advice beforehand, but they'll criticize readily afterwards.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

I also hate the elitism shown by saying stuff like "10k isn't really that much for a UHD HT set-up."

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

To be fair, I don't think octagon was trying to be "elitist" in his post.

It's just that in response to what others have criticized about those who settle for "good enough," he was making a point that for what most people buy, there's always something better out there already available. He wasn't necessarily condoning the most extreme end of an elitist view point (though there are others out there who would, of course).

(Also this all stemmed from a ridiculous statement that alchav made about having to have a certain level of equipment to not be settling for good enough).

I just made the counterpoint in response to octagon about what someone can afford having to be a factor in it.

I was just trying to make a point that "Good Enough" affects both Digital and Physical. Digital Streaming has reached a point where Bandwidth, Equipment, and set up will give you outstanding PQ. If anyone is an elitist, it's the people that prefer Physical. Especially if they are judging with subpar equipment. Also if you can't compare with Bandwidth and set up, you are just going by what others have said and just quoting Specs and Bitrates and not actual observations.

[avs commenter]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

You are so full of it!!! DV on UHD BD is 12 bits, I would wager DV via streaming is 10 bits.

For anyone that cares, a Dolby PDF here.

Huh? Ictpc is not part of UHD Blu Ray. It’s only been confirmed to be included in Netflix DV thus far. Spot the lie

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by alchav21

I was just trying to make a point that "Good Enough" affects both Digital and Physical. Digital Streaming has reached a point where Bandwidth, Equipment, and set up will give you outstanding PQ. If anyone is an elitist, it's the people that prefer Physical. Especially if they are judging with subpar equipment. Also if you can't compare with Bandwidth and set up, you are just going by what others have said and just quoting Specs and Bitrates and not actual observations.

It's all good.

[avs commenter]

Wendell, apologize for being a cranky old fart and I’ll leave this thread for good

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by alchav21

I was just trying to make a point that "Good Enough" affects both Digital and Physical. Digital Streaming has reached a point where Bandwidth, Equipment, and set up will give you outstanding PQ. If anyone is an elitist, it's the people that prefer Physical. Especially if they are judging with subpar equipment. Also if you can't compare with Bandwidth and set up, you are just going by what others have said and just quoting Specs and Bitrates and not actual observations.

Seriously? You are criticizing people for not making actual observations? I, and many others here, both stream in 4K and watch 4k discs. You can't even do the latter at all, yet you comment about it as if you can and have.

We do so with actual surround sound systems that not only allow us to evaluate the picture quality of streaming and disc sources, but that also allow us to assess the audio quality of both sources. All you listen with are wireless headphones, so again, you have no observations to share here.

You can not speak to either the picture or to the audio quality of 4k disc playback because you can't play 4K discs; you can't listen with a multi-speaker surround sound system. But when has actually knowing what you are talking about ever stopped you before?

As you do not have anything resembling a home theater, no av receiver, no speakers, and no 4K disc player, who are you to suggest that anyone is using "subpar" equipment? All you have is a mid tier TV, a basic six year-old blu-ray player, and a pair of affordable wireless headphones. That's it, but here you are implying that other people's home theater gear is subpar when you don't even have a home theater, at all, by any definition whatsoever.

Streaming can provide a very good image under ideal network conditions with most gear. There is nothing about it that is "outstanding" as one can easily find anomalies within the image. I am not saying that these faults are glaring, but they are readily noticed if one is paying any attention at all to the image.

Streaming fares worse with the audio and this is much easier to notice especially when listening with a surround sound system- something else that you are not equipped to do.

Better gear should give better results thereby allowing a source's potential to be realized more fully, but the source is the source is the source and that does not change no matter the gear being used. 4K discs are a better source than a 4K stream provided the content is derived from the same origins. Until you are able to watch and to listen to 4K discs with a home theater that can present both the highest bitrate 4K video and lossless surround sound playback you have no first hand observational basis from which to comment- again. Your impressions of what 4K disc playback can offer is a complete fabrication drawn from second hand accounts at best and steeped in your anti-physical media bias at worst. Stop telling us that we need to compare both 4K discs and 4K streaming first hand when we have already AND when you yourself can not do the same and have not done the same.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by avs commenter

Wendell, apologize for being a cranky old fart and I’ll leave this thread for good

Personally, I'm a crusty curmudgeon. I got the flatulence under control and we can all breathe easier for it.

You shouldn't leave the thread, other points of view are needed here.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by avs commenter

Wendell, apologize for being a cranky old fart and I’ll leave this thread for good

Please apologise Wendell, even if you don’t mean it!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

I don't usually, but sometimes people just want to qualify themselves on how cool and grand their HT setup is while knocking others down for budgeting. That's great, now STFU.

I don't like buzzkills. That was my point.

Yeah, but on the flip side you have folk saying they can’t tell a difference with their tv stuck on a wall and a sound bar watching ITunes etc.. let’s be more real than that. If it’s budget Cuts, well that’s fair enough. However, dont justify it with lies such as ‘no difference’ or ‘just as good as ‘Blu-Ray. Those folk I have a issue with.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Yeah, but on the flip side you have folk saying they can’t tell a difference with their tv stuck on a wall and a sound bar watching ITunes etc.. let’s be more real than that. If it’s budget Cuts, well that’s fair enough. However, dont justify it with lies such as ‘no difference’ or ‘just as good as ‘Blu-Ray. Those folk I have a issue with.

Yeah, I don't dispute that. I've agreed with physical media being better in terms of video/audio, etc. My stance on it from the beginning has always been that digital HD/streaming is good enough for me - in terms of personal preference.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Yeah, I don't dispute that. I've agreed with physical media being better in terms of video/audio, etc. My stance on it from the beginning has always been that digital HD/streaming is good enough for me - in terms of personal preference.

Which then begs the question, ‘Why collect 600+ Blu-Ray discs’?

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Which then begs the question, ‘Why collect 600+ Blu-Ray discs’?

I haven't updated that in years. It's more like 200 now, give or take. A lot of them I put in those sleeve cases and I threw out the cases. I downsized my collection and life within the last couple of years.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

I haven't updated that in years. It's more like 200 now, give or take. A lot of them I put in those sleeve cases and I threw out the cases. I downsized my collection and life within the last couple of years.

Yeah, that’s not for me. I buy the best because they mean something to me. Downsizing is not a problem. I have a room dedicated to HT. I don’t do mess as I’m a neat freak so trust me, my discs are arranged in a way that they don’t get in my way.

I wouldn’t have the confidence to start buying Digital HD anyway, even if I wasn’t a quality chaser. I just don’t see the point as there seems to be so much upheaval with various studios rumoured to be removing content from storefronts to put in their own subscription service. Add to that, the possibility of studios removing offensive content from films if the snowflakes are banging on about the latest thing they are offended by on Twitter, and you have a recipe for disaster. Digital HD is not in my future and I’m not sure it’s in the studio’s futures either. That’s the honest truth, not my disc beating drum sounding off.

Once Disc dies, so does my collecting. I can see myself subscribing to two or three services like Netflix, Disney+ and Sky (Now tv) and making do with my hundreds of blurays and 4K discs. By 2020, I should have hundreds more and I will be approaching 1,000 plus.

Anyway, it’s my birthday, so I’m logging off.

[Krizzle1]

Happy b'day Steedeel!

[avs commenter]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

I haven't updated that in years. It's more like 200 now, give or take. A lot of them I put in those sleeve cases and I threw out the cases. I downsized my collection and life within the last couple of years.

I've downsized quite a bit as well. I had quite a few TV series that I knew I was never going to watch again and they take up way too much space.

[Vilya]

Happy Birthday Steedeel! Take some time away from this loony bin and go have a great time! Maybe treat yourself to a nice new shiny 4K disc that you've been wanting, too?

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by avs commenter

I've downsized quite a bit as well. I had quite a few TV series that I knew I was never going to watch again and they take up way too much space.

Downsized? What is this strange word and what could it possibly mean? It is entirely alien to me.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

I downsized my collection and life within the last couple of years.

If you added Dolby Atmos/DTS:X then you must have upsized your sound system . If you can play MP4, MKV, M2TS, etc. files then you may like to download and play some of the trailers from here. Just have a look around, there are Atmos, DTS:X, THX, etc. files available.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

If you added Dolby Atmos/DTS:X then you must have upsized your sound system . If you can play MP4, MKV, M2TS, etc. files then you may like to download and play some of the trailers from here. Just have a look around, there are Atmos, DTS:X, THX, etc. files available.

This is true but my costs will not necessarily balloon out of control. I'd still buy the occasional 4k BD but I would also buy the digital UHD/4k equivalent.

I have not upgraded to 4k yet, though.

[Leslie Dame]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Downsized? What is this strange word and what could it possibly mean? It is entirely alien to me.

Maybe he lives in a tiny house?