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

[Boccaccio]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I didn’t bother with it.

Understandable.

[JohnAV]

Majority Of Moviegoers Will Return To Cinemas If COVID-19 Safety Guidelines Are In Place, EDO Survey Finds - Deadline 5/15/20

EXCLUSIVE: Good news for big circuits AMC, Regal and Cinemark and other movie theaters hoping to return to business in late June or early July. According to an updated EDO moviegoer study titled “Movie Theaters and Social Distancing,” 75% of respondents said they were more likely to return to cinemas upon their reopening when Tenet, Mulan and Russell Crowe’s Unhinged hit — if movie theaters implement certain safety measures.


EDO survey says majority of moviegoers headed back with COVID-19 safety measures
EDO
What cinema safety protocols would encourage moviegoers to head back sooner? A lopsided 91% said theaters should have hand-sanitizer stations throughout the building, while 86% are in favor of limited showtimes to allow for extended cleaning times between screenings. Other factors encouraging the moviegoing population to come back include cinema employees wearing facemasks (77%), employees getting their temperatures checked before work (~70%) and attendees also wearing facemasks (~70%).

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Boccaccio

Have you seen the B/W version ? I've heard some say it's pretty good.
I have my doubts. That movie just screams for color.

It's fun and has validity, but I do prefer the theatrical presentation. Now if they were to release the B/W version and give it a nice 4K HDR upgrade like The Elephant Man, I'd be all over that in a microsecond.

[JohnAV]

With Movie Theaters Closed, Marquees Go Viral - New York Times 5/16/20. Open spoiler to see more images

[Show spoiler]

[JohnAV]

In Utah they are shifting from orange to yellow status, how the movie theaters and live shows are changing. KSLNewsRadio 5/15

MOVIE THEATERS
Officials with Megaplex Theaters say it’s still far too early to go back to a traditional way of doing business, but they’re trying to see if they can slowly bring customers back. Starting Friday, they’re allowing groups and families to reserve theaters for private screenings at four of their locations, namely St. George, Lehi, South Jordan and Centerville. If conditions continue to improve, management will look into bringing back a more traditional business model where the theater plans show times and customers decide which one they want to see.

Megaplex Theaters President Blake Andersen says they’re also finding new ways to deliver concessions and keep enough space between groups.

Andersen says, “We have software developed that will allow individuals, couples or families who choose their reserve seats together, the seats around them will automatically be blocked.”

LIVE THEATER

There are big changes for live theater managers as we shift from orange to yellow, but Hale Center Theater Executive Director Mark Dietlein says they really aren’t significant enough to allow them to resume operations. They’re allowed to have more than 50 people inside, but he says they still have to allow for six feet of distance between groups.

“That still only allows us to be at about 1/3 capacity. It still doesn’t make sense to perform because we would actually be losing money,” Dietlein says.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by moreorless

People tend to view technology as a constant state of improvement but I would argue that a lot of the time "good enough" ends up being the standard, with something like say photography for example 35mm came to dominate rather than medium/large format.

it depends on the tech.
For example if you make phones, then "improving" it to get people to replace their perfectly functioning phone is worth it because it brings in more money. If someone owns a multi unit building then improving a unit could mean the guy can charge more for rent and if there is central heating/cooling replacing the old HVAC with a new more efficient one can reduce costs.

Whats more its not going to make sense for someone like Netflix to offer a premium higher bitrate service since that's going to make the standard service look worse. I can see their being smaller more quality focused services but they might struggle for content where as with physical media exclusivity isn't such an issue.

Netflix does offer premium 4k service. in that sense it makes sense for Netflix to offer a higher end premium priced service.

We all know people that were super hyped because they bought the new HD/4k/8k TV but they end up watching an SD source on it.

It is easy for Netflix to say "we have 4k for a premium" and get enough people to buy into it. But how many people look at Netflix's bitrate? how many people care what the picture and audio are like? what happens if Joe looks at the bitrate and is paying for high bitrate but because of 1001 reasons (in or out of Netflix's control) the stream does not reach that higher bitrate the person is paying for?

for me it is not as much as does it make sense or not , in someways it does. But can it be marketed and get enough people to pay a premium for it. To that I think the answer is no.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Yep, I share your views in regards to picture quality. It feels like quality lovers are fighting the tide sometimes.

but isn't that always the case about anything?

very few people care to buy a luxury sports car, most people are happy driving an ordinary car.

very few people care about living in a castle or mega mansion, most people are happy with their reasonably priced homes.

very few people buy haute couture to wear once, most are happy buying cheap clothes they wear over and over again.

some people have to run out and buy the newest cell phone, most people are happy keeping their phone for 2 or more years.
….

It does not matter what is being discussed there will always be a very small number of people that are passionate about it, while most people don't really care. And there will always be some dumb people that can't understand why people can be passionate about something they don't care about.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

Netflix does offer premium 4k service. in that sense it makes sense for Netflix to offer a higher end premium priced service.

We all know people that were super hyped because they bought the new HD/4k/8k TV but they end up watching an SD source on it.

It is easy for Netflix to say "we have 4k for a premium" and get enough people to buy into it. But how many people look at Netflix's bitrate? how many people care what the picture and audio are like? what happens if Joe looks at the bitrate and is paying for high bitrate but because of 1001 reasons (in or out of Netflix's control) the stream does not reach that higher bitrate the person is paying for?

for me it is not as much as does it make sense or not , in someways it does. But can it be marketed and get enough people to pay a premium for it. To that I think the answer is no.

I imagine there is a majority of people that buy that new 4K UDTV but still use it to play less quality content still. Take the example of one individual that is nameless that spent as much money as his 4K TV on a UHD BD player but only liked the cost of DVDs for his entertainment. Occasionally he tried better media. He was not a streamer at all. His example represents a lot out there, that are not hyped about new technology, only new products that replace his current products to play the same less quality content.

I know of others that do that even if they are somewhat affluent because they are more active socially then stay at home types. They might surf on the internet to read, but home theater its just never been their source of entertainment. So against the "people tend to view technology as a constant state of improvement" comment they might get that new phone eventually but far later then some techie that rushes out for the latest.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Plutotype

I didn´t mean DI´s or DCP´s. BD and UHD format are fine, but still...in a digital domain, they could create whatever master/format they want if the consumers would pay for it ( higher res, 4:4:4 sampling, higher bitrate, higher bitdepth, better compression...).

not sure what your point is. It does not matter if it is digital or physical they both can and can't be what ever format they want.

A long time ago there was CD some people said "we want a CD with video" and VCD was born in some parts of the world such disks were even more prominent then DVD (cheaper to manufacture then DVD).

A long time ago there was DVD. Some people decided we want HD and WMV 9 was created, it used a physical DVD but the content on it was in HD and a few movies were released on that format before HD-DVD and BD hit the market.

On the other hand if someone has an old smart TV or other old device that works with Netflix but does not support 4k they can't watch Netflix o in 4k using that player. They can buy a new player that plays 4k the same wa y they could have p bought a VCD player or WMV player back in the day.

The reality is s the same physical or virtual media
1) new format means people need a player that works with that new format so you can't just do what you want
2) there is a reason no one offers UHD BD or even BD quality streaming because it does not matter if it is physical media or virtual media reality always has limiting factor.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

In Utah they are shifting from orange to yellow status, how the movie theaters and live shows are changing.

Even though I think our State is very progressive, I haven't been to any Cinemas here. The Theater Lounge Cinemas I've been to are in Texas. I do think that Theaters have to change to the "New Normal," less with Lounge Chair Space. The Distribution Model changing to more Movies coming to PVOD, and Home Theaters will have to change their Source Access!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

but isn't that always the case about anything?

very few people care to buy a luxury sports car, most people are happy driving an ordinary car.

very few people care about living in a castle or mega mansion, most people are happy with their reasonably priced homes.

very few people buy haute couture to wear once, most are happy buying cheap clothes they wear over and over again.

some people have to run out and buy the newest cell phone, most people are happy keeping their phone for 2 or more years.
….

It does not matter what is being discussed there will always be a very small number of people that are passionate about it, while most people don't really care. And there will always be some dumb people that can't understand why people can be passionate about something they don't care about.

I guess so, yes.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

And vice versa: there will always be dumb people who can't understand why people don't care about the things they are passionate about.

And there will always be dumb people who don't understand niche markets. They think that if something isn't extremely popular it can't survive.

Dumb or Smart you have to be realistic, Studios or Independent Distributors will not sell Discs if the market is not there. There are set Profit Margins that these Companies set up, and if the numbers are not coming in the manufacturing will terminate. Studios will switch to Distribution that has the best Profit Margins!

[stonesfan129]

Has anyone noticed VUDU Disc+Digital is no longer available?

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

Surely you can't be talking about streaming! Streaming subscriptions are racking up billions of dollars in debt and EST continues to have low sales.

If studios abandoned all but the largest, most profitable markets then they would only be supporting broadcast, cable, and satellite TV. Neither physical media nor streaming would have ever been worth their time or money.

When the studios terminate support for physical media all of our discs will continue to work. When studios terminate support for iTunes, Vudu, and Amazon Video everyone's digital collections will be lost. Regardless of what happens in the future, physical media is always a safe bet.

The same could be argued about a fire consuming an entire movie collection in one hit or a house being burgled. Sure, insurance may give you a large chunk of money to buy most of the movies but I have a number of movies in my collection that are irreplaceable.

Pros and cons for both sides.

I buy physical media and I stream. What happens down the line, happens.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by spider-neil

The same could be argued about a fire consuming an entire movie collection in one hit or a house being burgled.

Nowhere near the same, for physical that would only effect that one individual. For streaming it would effect everyone that streams.

You can insure physical media, you can not insure streaming titles unless your carrier is willing to write you a special rider on your policy at additional cost.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

Has anyone noticed VUDU Disc+Digital is no longer available?

Never used VUDU for that but since it has been sold to FandangoNow I would not be surprised to anything that happens to them. They went from a fairly well consumer rated enterprise (Walmart) to one of the worst (Comcast).

[Steedeel]

Wendell, Vilya, I watched San Andreas 3D last night. Superb FX and 3D displayed very decent depth. The film itself was a cut above the usual disaster movie fare in terms of characters. I liked the family dynamic and felt they got the blend of action and story spot on.

Recommended

Film 4/5
3D depth 4/5
Pop out 2/5

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Wendell, Vilya, I watched San Andreas 3D last night. Superb FX and 3D displayed very decent depth. The film itself was a cut above the usual disaster movie fare in terms of characters. I liked the family dynamic and felt they got the blend of action and story spot on.

Recommended

Film 4/5
3D depth 4/5
Pop out 2/5

I saw this film in theaters and thought it was awful. I did enjoy Rampage, though.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

I saw this film in theaters and thought it was awful. I did enjoy Rampage, though.

I thought everything about it was good. The kids were likeable, the backstory solid, the action scenes were impressive, the FX held up extremely well, and Dwayne Johnson was on form. It had everything I want in a blockbuster disaster film, including cheese, last gasp escapes and impossible situations.

Honestly, I thought Rampage was awful! Not just saying that by the way.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Dumb or Smart you have to be realistic, Studios or Independent Distributors will not sell Discs if the market is not there. There are set Profit Margins that these Companies set up, and if the numbers are not coming in the manufacturing will terminate. Studios will switch to Distribution that has the best Profit Margins!

definitely dumb.
1) he was talking in general terms and there are countless of niche markets one can look at, in some markets (like personal vehicles) every thing is niche (i.e. <50%)
2) if we are talking movies, did VHS wipe out LD
3) your answer has an innate contradiction in it to quote what you said "if the market is not there" if we are talking Niche market then the market is there by7 definition. Yes there is no market (aka as no one cares to spend cash on ) Beta or VHS or UHD-DVD or UV or cinemanow ... and so those markets disappeared but that was because consumers stopped supporting them first, the market disappeared and the studios dropped those formats.

does it make sense that no one will care about ownership? does it make sense that no one will care about quality? IMHO the answer is no. Just like there will always be people that want a small car (like a compact or sub compact) others that want a big car so they can fit every one and everything like an (SUV or van) others that want a luxury sports car so they can show they made it....