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

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

Technically all DVDs are anamorphic. Their native aspect ratio is either 1.5:1 (for NTSC DVDs) or 1.25:1 (for PAL DVDs) but they are always meant to be shown at either 1.33:1 or 1.78:1.

Then having versions of films that have been "enhanced for widescreen tvs" is a good thing.

[cheez avenger]

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Then having versions of films that have been "enhanced for widescreen tvs" is a good thing.

Except that in the case of True Lies you can't get it unless you happen to have the one magic barcode that will let you buy it in Vudu's disc 2 digital program- assuming that it even is offered in the correct aspect ratio.

And no one wants the pan & scan version of the theatrical cut of The Abyss which is all that they offer through the same weird disc 2 digital method.

It is bizarre that they only offer these films via disc 2 digital as opposed to just selling them to anyone that wants them.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Except that in the case of True Lies you can't get it unless you happen to have the one magic barcode that will let you buy it in Vudu's disc 2 digital program- assuming that it even is offered in the correct aspect ratio.

And no one wants the pan & scan version of the theatrical cut of The Abyss which is all that they offer through the same weird disc 2 digital method.

It is bizarre that they only offer these films via disc 2 digital as opposed to just selling them to anyone that wants them.

It's on HBO, so I'm good for now until they decide to release the BD or 4K disc version.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Except that in the case of True Lies you can't get it unless you happen to have the one magic barcode that will let you buy it in Vudu's disc 2 digital program- assuming that it even is offered in the correct aspect ratio.

And no one wants the pan & scan version of the theatrical cut of The Abyss which is all that they offer through the same weird disc 2 digital method.

It is bizarre that they only offer these films via disc 2 digital as opposed to just selling them to anyone that wants them.

I guess that is why you guys are not in the Movie Industry, would you pay extra for Movies that might sell? I'm sure there are a lot of cost to showing these Movies, and you have to budget for the best Profit Margin.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by alchav21

I guess that is why you guys are not in the Movie Industry, would you pay extra for Movies that might sell? I'm sure there are a lot of cost to showing these Movies, and you have to budget for the best Profit Margin.

Your comment doesn't make a lick of sense. Not only are you not in the movie industry, I'm not sure that you are even in your right mind.

I have paid "extra" for many movies, some that are popular and some that are quite obscure. I have been doing so for decades. During the laserdisc era I routinely paid up to $124.99 for a single Criterion release; that's equivalent to paying $221.14 today for just one movie.

Arbitrarily limiting sales to just those doing disc 2 digital conversions restricts sales immensely. Restricting the potential customer pool is not advantageous to making a profit especially when these Vudu conversions are so cheap. Selling a small number of disc 2 digital conversions for $2/$5 each is not making the studio, or Vudu, very much money and making money is the goal of any industry.

The ancient DVD for True Lies sells for $14.99 on Amazon and the special edition of The Abyss on DVD sells for $32.64. It's not too hard to see which is the most profitable here, is it?

If Vudu was selling digital copies of these two movies to everyone that wanted them for prices that are typical of most digital purchases, both they and the studios would be earning a lot more than just the $2/$5 that they are getting from these handful of disc 2 digital conversions that are limited to the very few potential buyers that are in possession of the correct DVD barcode. Access to a digital title is more profitable if more people pay for that access, not less. Seeing as the digital copy exists, offering it to everyone makes more dollars and sense and the latter, sense, is something that you seldom make.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

I guess that is why you guys are not in the Movie Industry, would you pay extra for Movies that might sell? I'm sure there are a lot of cost to showing these Movies, and you have to budget for the best Profit Margin.

[stonesfan129]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

In alchav's mind everything that the streaming services do is perfect. Selling a digital movie for $2-$5 only to people who have a specific bar code is obviously far more profitable then selling it to everyone for a higher price because the streaming services can do no wrong. If you were a Hollywood insider like him (gained from his years of installing cables) then it would all make sense.

No need to resort to personal attacks. I have been nothing but happy with VUDU. Why not buy the DVD somewhere cheap so that you can scan the UPC into VUDU and get the streaming copy?

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

When people say stupid things they should be called on it. Stupid people do a tremendous amount of damage when they are unopposed (or when they outnumber their opposition).

Here you go when you guys get backed into a corner you start name calling. There is no need for that, we should be civil to each other. As for Vudu, yes I have been with them a long time and have a good Movie Library. You guys think it's so easy to sell Movies, you have to buy those rights then sell them to make a profit. I'm sure there are many ways to buy those rights, with D2D Vudu would only put out certain Discs to convert.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Here you go when you guys get backed into a corner you start name calling. There is no need for that, we should be civil to each other. As for Vudu, yes I have been with them a long time and have a good Movie Library. You guys think it's so easy to sell Movies, you have to buy those rights then sell them to make a profit. I'm sure there are many ways to buy those rights, with D2D Vudu would only put out certain Discs to convert.

The only person ever to be found in any corner is you where you are often seated and wearing your favorite hat:

It is obvious to everyone here but your dense self that making a digital copy available to everyone, and at customary digital prices, is far more advantageous and far more profitable than selling that same digital copy for as little as $2 to a very tiny subset of potential customers. Less money is made when you both sell something at a far lower price and to far fewer people; this isn't hard for anyone to comprehend but you.

[Wendell R. Breland]

My take on the streaming version of True Lies via Vudu. If you are a fan then it may be worth $5, individual call. The PQ was fairly good with a few artifacts, it does not have that “sheen” the D-Theater version has. It is a 2.39:1 presentation. Audio is Dolby Digital (5.1) and not Dolby Digital+ like most streams have.

So I will be keeping my D-Theater version till the UHD BD version comes along.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

Why not buy the DVD somewhere cheap so that you can scan the UPC into VUDU and get the streaming copy?

To do that, you have to buy the DVD release that contains the precise barcode that Vudu accepts. The barcode on my copy was rejected and there is no guarantee that if I buy another DVD copy that I will get one with the barcode that works.

There are other ways around this, but to convert from the DVD you have to have the exact DVD with the correct barcode.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

My take on the streaming version of True Lies via Vudu. If you are a fan then it may be worth $5, individual call. The PQ was fairly good with a few artifacts, it does not have that “sheen” the D-Theater version has. It is a 2.39:1 presentation. Audio is Dolby Digital (5.1) and not Dolby Digital+ like most streams have.

So I will be keeping my D-Theater version till the UHD BD version comes along.

That's good to know. The next time that I accrue enough Vudu credits from watching their free stuff, I will consider using those credits to do this.

[Wendell R. Breland]

For anyone that thinks I am totally against streaming, below is I what I have spent in recent years on streaming hardware:

Mainly used for streaming:

• Sony FMP-X10 ● $470 (sold for $120)
• Sony BDP-S6700 ● $88.00
• Sony UBP-X800/BM ● $268.00
• Sony UBP-X1000ES ● $498.00

Streaming only:

• Nvidia Shield Pro 2019 ● $199.99 + FLIRC Receiver $23 + Inteset IReTV USB IR Receiver $24
• Roku Ultra 2019 ● $83
• (2) Chromecast Audio ● $35.00 each

For a total of $1,603 for hardware.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

For anyone that thinks I am totally against streaming, below is I what I have spent in recent years on streaming hardware:

Mainly used for streaming:

• Sony FMP-X10 ● $470 (sold for $120)
• Sony BDP-S6700 ● $88.00
• Sony UBP-X800/BM ● $268.00
• Sony UBP-X1000ES ● $498.00

Streaming only:

• Nvidia Shield Pro 2019 ● $199.99 + FLIRC Receiver $23 + Inteset IReTV USB IR Receiver $24
• Roku Ultra 2019 ● $83
• (2) Chromecast Audio ● $35.00 each

For a total of $1,603 for hardware.

All of that money spent just to get a heavily compressed bitrate starved stream with lossy audio to boot. I get served the same slop as you, but I didn't spend anywhere near as much to be served the same junk food meal.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You guys think it's so easy to sell Movies, you have to buy those rights then sell them to make a profit. I'm sure there are many ways to buy those rights, with D2D Vudu would only put out certain Discs to convert.

Vudu D2D service is only for media owners to additionally acquire a digital copy not for selling a license for someone else to use that digital copy for profit.

You have to know for example if Vudu had suspected a lot of what people had was stuff from a public library that was scanned using DSD to digital codes to be sold for a profit to a non owner’s whole collection could be jeopardized. They haven’t enforced this, but legally I could see Walmart being sued by content owner and thus all their digital codes issued via D2D recalled.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Vudu D2D service is only for media owners to additionally acquire a digital copy not for selling a license for someone else to use that digital copy for profit.

You have to know for example if Vudu had suspected a lot of what people had was stuff from a public library that was scanned using DSD to digital codes to be sold for a profit to a non owner’s whole collection could be jeopardized. They haven’t enforced this, but legally I could see Walmart being sued by content owner and thus all their digital codes issued via D2D recalled.

You shouldn't come here and frighten the children like that. For shame!

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Vilya

The only person ever to be found in any corner is you where you are also seen donning your usual hat:

It is obvious to everyone here but your dense self that making a digital copy available to everyone, and at customary digital prices, is far more advantageous and far more profitable than selling that same digital copy for as little as $2 to a very tiny subset of potential customers. Less money is made when you both sell something at a far lower price and to far fewer people; this isn't hard for anyone to comprehend but you.

Originally Posted by Vilya

To do that, you have to buy the DVD release that contains the precise barcode that Vudu accepts. The barcode on my copy was rejected and there is no guarantee that if I buy another DVD copy that I will get one with the barcode that works.

There are other ways around this, but to convert from the DVD you have to have the exact DVD with the correct barcode.

two thoughts
1) movie distribution rights have always been crazy contractual and I remember some times when studio x would buy the distributions rights on one format while someone else had the right on a different format or on one version versus a different version. Alchav like always has no idea what he is talking about (but he might not be 100% wrong in this case), my guess part of the issue here is based on who Vudu paid for the distribution rights and what rights that company originally had in their contract.

2) as for UPC let's not forget a UPC is a meaningless number that is only of interest to the company releasing the product. There is no automatic link between a UPC and the film. So it can be a rights issue but it can also be that not all the UPCs where entered

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

two thoughts
as for UPC let's not forget a UPC is a meaningless number that is only of interest to the company releasing the product. There is no automatic link between a UPC and the film. So it can be a rights issue but it can also be that not all the UPCs where entered

Vudu's disc 2 digital program requires that you use your phone to scan the barcode on the dvd's package and it MUST be the exact barcode that they want or the conversion does not occur.

One forum member here had a different barcode than I did for our DVD copies of True Lies. His barcode was accepted while mine was rejected. Same movie, but different barcodes. Having the precise barcode that Vudu wants is mandatory for their disc 2 digital conversion program.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

All of that money spent just to get a heavily compressed bitrate starved stream with lossy audio to boot. I get served the same slop as you, but I didn't spend anywhere near as much to be served the same junk food meal.

Yeah, and that list is not complete, had some Panasonic (3 or 4) and LG players (4) as well. They served as disc players and streamers. Reason for streamers: so when someone says how great xyz looks and/or sounds via streaming I can check it for myself. As stated before, streaming is just another form of pay TV for me. I have a lot of movies on Prime, Vudu, MA, Fandango, Google, etc. but never watch any via these streamers if I have a BD or UHD BD copy. In several cases my DVD copy is better than my streaming copy.