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

[Geoff D]

I didn't say remotes would disappear completely, they'll just be looked upon as rather quaint and old-fashioned in the coming voice-controlled decades.

[avs commenter]

I can already control my whole setup with my phone

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by antspawn

Rip them to hard drives then stream them to your TV. Get rid of the physical copies, sell, throw out, give away etc

Always a good option.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I didn't say remotes would disappear completely, they'll just be looked upon as rather quaint and old-fashioned in the coming voice-controlled decades.

Voice activation doesn't jive well in the southeast US. Our heavy accents don't even do well with Siri.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Night*Wolf

I came to this crossroad about 5 years ago, and to be honest there are pros and cons for digital & hard copy, it all depends on what your looking for. I wanted versatility on how I can watch my movies but for me the X factor was future proofing, so I decided to go strictly digital and every movie I own is purchased directly through itunes. I put movies in my wishlist and wait for them to go on sale, 80% of my library are movies that I purchased on sale from $4.99-$9.99, about 20% were full price at $19.99. I can never bring my self to buy a UHD disk for $35 when it will be on sale for $9.99 a year or 2 later. I honestly struggle to even buy digital at full price because I know it will go on sale.

I wanted a way to watch my movies on multiple devices, I can now watch anything in my collection on my iphone, ipad, laptop, & apple tv. But where I truly benefited from my decision was when apple announced free upgrades to 4K. I almost have about 200 4k movies now, I only payed for about 20...the rest were upgraded for free and I will continue to get upgrades. Thats a lot of money saved

Also all of my movies are stored in the cloud, I stream to watch them or I can download them locally on my device. A friend of mine had a collection of about 800 physical movies, there was a flood from a storm and most of them where destroyed, that cant happen in the cloud.

I don't think digital is better than hard copy, but its better for what I’m looking for, which is versatility and future proofing. I really miss having a nice steelbook hardcopy though, nothing like a shelf full of metal

Discs go on sale the same as does anything else. I have very seldom paid over $30 for a 4K disc and usually never higher than $25. I sometimes buy them for as low as $15. Occasionally, I have even paid just $9.99.

For the price paid, I usually get three ways to watch the movie: the 4K disc, the blu-ray, and the digital copy. I get the primary viewing method plus two back-ups. I have no interest in watching a movie on a tiny phone, tablet, or laptop screen...ever. I have started to redeem some of my digital copies only to have access to them when I am away from home. I seldom travel much now as my career was nothing but travel, but I like the idea just the same. I have never watched any of my 149 redeemed digital copies. I could spend days redeeming many, many more, but I can't be bothered.

I have been lucky thus far and I have never lost anything to fire or natural disasters. Insurance can mitigate those risks, but if such a tragedy ever does befall me, I suspect I will have far more important matters to deal with than the fate of my movie collection. It won't do me much good to have movies in the cloud when all of my display devices are destroyed and I doubt I would have much free time to watch anything while dealing with the aftermath. Escaping with my life is what is important; I can cash the insurance check and start to rebuild soon after.

I do not trust the studios and digital providers with my content. They can delete, alter, or censor it at any time with no warning and no recourse. While full deletions are rather rare, we have seen entire ebook libraries get deleted and the same can happen with any type of digital content; the terms of service allow for it and that is not by accident.

Alterations and censoring occur more frequently and I can not tolerate that, either. I can not agree to such blatantly unfair terms just for the convenience and possible economy that digital offers.

When I buy something it must be in my possession and under my absolute control. I am not buying something and entrusting it with the seller; why anyone would still strikes me as naive especially as the precedent for removing, altering, and censoring digital content has already happened.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by JPK

The argument isn't there for buying a film for $25 that you are mildly interested in watching, that doesn't have sound design that insists on a 7.2.4 $20,000 sound system and that you likely wont watch again; when you can rent it for $7.

My Netflix Blu-ray by mail disc average ≈ $2.00 per disc. Digital rentals would cost me much more. So I get the best quality for the lowest price which is the opposite for most things.

On the road, when did this thread get moved?

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by spider-neil

My collection used to look great on my shelf but I have books that now take that space. So it's a combination of the space and convenience.
I also sold all my Blu rays to fund a Playstation Pro and 4K player. Moving forward I'm not buying Blu ray, just 4K, and 3D.

I'm glad that you still buy some physical media; every purchase helps keep the market for it viable.

I am amused by people with large book collections because they often marvel at the size of my movie collection only to ask me why I buy so many of them when, according to them, I can not possibly watch all of them more than once at most.

When I ask them the same thing about their books; how many times have they read any of them more than once, they drop their argument. The number of times that a book is read or that a movie is watched is really not the main or sole determinant in justifying their purchase.

Frankly, as much as you appear to prize digital conveniences and all the space that they save, I am surprised that you have not embraced ebooks. Physical books are heavy and take up lots of space after all.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

My Netflix Blu-ray by mail disc average ≈ $2.00 per disc. Digital rentals would cost me much more. So I get the best quality for the lowest price which is the opposite for most things.

On the road, when did this thread get moved?

JPK started his own thread last night titled:

Physical vs Digital 4K and the limits of a physical collection

The mods merged it into this one as there was no need for yet another physical vs. digital thread... and one with a very similar title to this one at that.

JPK's thread originally appeared in the Ultra HD blu-ray forum and after the merger "our" thread was moved from the "Blu-ray Technology and Future Technology" forum into the "Ultra HD blu-ray" forum. Maybe by accident or by design, I do not know.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by avs commenter

I can already control my whole setup with my phone

You use your phone as a universal remote, so what?

If you used mental telepathy, or somesuch, to control your whole setup, that would be impressive.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Voice activation doesn't jive well in the southeast US. Our heavy accents don't even do well with Siri.

They (Alexa & Google) work well enough in some parts of the house but not a home theater setup. A few years back I spent quite a bit of money on mobile control (Global Caché GC-100-12, 9" iPad, iRule, Rommie, etc.), in the end my wand remote (URC MX-980) is much easier and quicker than voice or mobile remote control. Still use the voice stuff, the mobile stuff has become useless, Roomie has completely changed to subscription, iRule will shut down the servers soon and the others that I purchased have gone out of business.

[Vilya]

How well do these voice activated devices work when you unleash a string of profanities at them? My accent they can likely handle, but what about my freedom of expression?

[Steedeel]

Why has this thread been moved?

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by spider-neil

Itunes removed the IMAX aspect ratio on The Dark Knight. If you want the theatrical experience you have to get the physical copy.

It will only get worse.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Why has this thread been moved?

I guess when they merged JPK's thread into this thread they also moved it from the "Blu-ray Technology and Future Technology" forum into the Ultra HD blu-ray forum by design or by accident.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I guess when they merged JPK's thread into this thread they also moved it from the digital forums into the Ultra HD blu-ray section by design or by accident.

It should not have been moved imo.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

It should not have been moved imo.

I sent you a PM that expands upon the subject.

[Vilya]

This thread was in the "Blu-ray Technology and Future Technology" forum actually and I sent a PM to a mod requesting that it be moved back as that is where we are all accustomed to finding it.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

This thread was in the "Blu-ray Technology and Future Technology" forum actually and I sent a PM to a mod requesting that it be moved back as that is where we are all accustomed to finding it.

I have just done the same, thanks.

[The_Donster]

Good luck with that Vilya. At least they changed the title to a less confrontational one and we’re getting new (old) faces into the discussion

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by The_Donster

Good luck with that Vilya. At least they changed the title to a less confrontational one and we’re getting new (old) faces into the discussion

I don't think that our thread title has changed, just the forum where you now find it. Having "vs." in any thread title invites a measure of confrontation, hopefully civil, but there are no guarantees.

More people to play with is always welcome.

I won't lose any sleep about where the thread is located either way. I know my way around these parts.