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

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

didn't you downgrade from Premium to Standard Netflix?

What's your point, I went from 4K to HD on Netflix. They don't carry my Movie and TV Show Library, if I want to watch 4K UHD I have Prime, MA, Vudu and all the rest of the Streaming Providers I want to access. You won't be laughing when your player doesn't work, and the Studios don't Distribute the Discs you want!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

What's you point, I went from 4K to HD on Netflix. They don't carry my Movie and TV Show Library, if I want to watch 4K UHD I have Prime, MA, Vudu and all the rest of the Streaming Providers I want to access. You won't be laughing when your player doesn't work, and the Studios don't Distribute the Discs you want!

In other words, he will be laughing for many more decades.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by alchav21

What's your point, I went from 4K to HD on Netflix. They don't carry my Movie and TV Show Library, if I want to watch 4K UHD I have Prime, MA, Vudu and all the rest of the Streaming Providers I want to access. You won't be laughing when your player doesn't work, and the Studios don't Distribute the Discs you want!

He is implying you don’t care about quality, after all you already stated you don’t see any difference between HD vs 4K UHD. Just rattling off streaming sources doesn’t reinforce your lowered standards except to say you gotten cheaper instead. Hopefully the internet stays working for you this winter.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You won't be laughing when your player doesn't work, and the Studios don't Distribute the Discs you want!

Why would a player stop working? Sometimes a component can go bad but it can usually be replaced. Disc titles are being released by the dozens every month, some here. There are so many being released that it is a pain trying to figure out what I want to purchase next.

What do you plan to do if the studios decide to pull their titles from Amazon, Vudu, iTunes, MA, etc. and make them available ONLY from their own streaming service and disc? Disney has already done this with Netflix so what studio will be next. And remember, you have agreed they can do this at any time, without notice, without compensation and you will not take any legal action.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Why would a player stop working? Sometimes a component can go bad but it can usually be replaced.

What do you plan to do if the studios decide to pull their titles from Amazon, Vudu, iTunes, MA, etc. and make them available ONLY from their own streaming service and disc?

How about Firmware updates, some people are complaining they are lagging or not coming now. As for replacing components, who is going to do that if the Manufacturer is gone? People will have to fix their players themselves. In the Hardware Thread they are complaining about noise, disc problems, and the lack of new 4K Players.

If the Studios pull their titles we are all in trouble. For starters just how do you think they would do that. Go to each Provider and say pull these Movies from your Servers, that's as ridiculous as going to each person and pulling their Discs. New titles maybe, existing titles very unlikely! The Studios want to entertain and for you to enjoy your Movies and Shows, they are not there plotting to remove anything! Those TOS/EULA's that you keep bring up are there for protection!

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

He is implying you don’t care about quality, after all you already stated you don’t see any difference between HD vs 4K UHD. Just rattling off streaming sources doesn’t reinforce your lowered standards except to say you gotten cheaper instead. Hopefully the internet stays working for you this winter.

Only for Netflix, and we all know their Bitrate is lower. I do see a difference in Quality of 4K UHD in my other Providers like Prime, MA, and Vudu. As for being cheaper I'm one of the few that have FTTH with IPTV and 75/75 Symmetrical Speeds, and very good Support for the Winter or any other time of the year!

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by alchav21

How about Firmware updates, some people are complaining they are lagging or not coming now.

Have the Opp and two Sony UHD BD players and they continue to work just fine. How about older streaming devices losing apps and stops working? The Sony DVD player that is 23 years old continues to play DVD’s and CD’s just fine. My older LG Blu-ray players play CD’s, DVD’s and Blu-ray’s just fine but Amazon stopped support so no more Prime on them.

Have As for replacing components, who is going to do that if the Manufacturer is gone?

Authorized service centers.

If the Studios pull their titles we are all in trouble. For starters just how do you think they would do that. Go to each Provider and say pull these Movies from your Servers, that's as ridiculous as going to each person and pulling their Discs.

Hardly, very easy to do with streaming, all providers have to remove titles when their license expires and is not renewed. Do some searching. They can not do anything with disc that one purchases, disc are covered by The First Sale Doctrine.

Those TOS/EULA's that you keep bring up are there for protection!

The TSO/EULA are just that, they state the content owners and providers position and in essence say they can do whatever they wish with their content including modifying, removing or charging for continued access. And the best one all, they can change TSO/EULA in whole or in part, without prior notification and there is nothing you can do about it.

Just how many times does one need to go around the block with these points with you? Most readers seem to catch on pretty quickly!!!

[Wendell R. Breland]

Anyone want to take bets as to what page Vilya is on in his new owners manual?

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Anyone want to take bets as to what page Vilya is on in his new owners manual?

That depends if he is going to use Audyssey or not. That section and feature can definitely take up some time. I am going to say he is almost done.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Yes, but at what Quality Level? DVD is selling the most then BD, with UHD selling the least. Here is a video by SpareChange talking about the increase Quality of Streaming!

Are The Lord Of The Rings 4K Blu-rays Subpar? Wonder Woman 84 HBO MAX 4K Dolby Vision/ Atmos - YouTube

I don’t do YouTube for AV reviews. I’m the only critic of films in my home.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by alchav21

If the Studios pull their titles we are all in trouble. For starters just how do you think they would do that. Go to each Provider and say pull these Movies from your Servers, that's as ridiculous as going to each person and pulling their Discs. New titles maybe, existing titles very unlikely! The Studios want to entertain and for you to enjoy your Movies and Shows, they are not there plotting to remove anything! Those TOS/EULA's that you keep bring up are there for protection!

The best example is simply a legal dispute over someone or something involved with a film or TV content that has the lawyers demanding it be removed from streaming. Even if you bought it you can't validate that agreement anymore if the streaming host doesn't validate it. Change of content ownership is also in play.

Consumers can subscribe (no rights subjective to content exclusivity terms/rotations), purchase VoD content (limited rights) or purchase physical media (full rights of retention, but not authorized for performances in front of public audiences without permission).

It isn't that common with single title retracted occurrences, the same for a streaming store/provider to go off-line, ultra violet was a interesting example that ticked consumers off.

Also MA doesn't have everyone one board so any studio that allows Vudu redeeming but can't be done via MA is easier to be a pain for you in the future. Lionsgate, Paramount as examples.

We should also add that digital codes don't propagate across streaming providers equally, some might be HD others 4K if that's what you bought.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Anyone want to take bets as to what page Vilya is on in his new owners manual?

I have made it to about page 250 out of 339; many sections do not apply to my situation...yet.

Originally Posted by gotmule

That depends if he is going to use Audyssey or not. That section and feature can definitely take up some time. I am going to say he is almost done.

It took hours just to disconnect everything from the old AVR. It didn't help that I decided to shift all the furniture around, too, and I moved components to different places. I had to make some space for the subwoofie phase, too.

Everything is now connected, but I am getting some error messages with some legacy connections. I am happy to report that none of my speakers were damaged during my old AVR's death throes. I will play with the speaker settings tomorrow; I am tired after spending all day and most of the night working on this stuff. I'm even too tiggered to argue with alchav.

[cheez avenger]

Been watching 4K discs and some streaming the last few days.

Wrapped up The Hobbit Trilogy on 4K disc yesterday and they were fantastic! Yesterday I watched Mank in 4K via Netflix and it had Dolby Vision and standard 5.1, but I found the film underwhelming. I love David Fincher, but I had difficulty connecting with Mank. There are a few scenes that had some great dialogue but fell flat for me for the most part.

I watched LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring on 4K disc and it was glorious! I will probably watch Two Towers tomorrow.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Just how many times does one need to go around the block with these points with you? Most readers seem to catch on pretty quickly!!!

Hey you're talking to the wrong guy, I haven't lost anything and going on 8 years of Collecting. So for me these are exciting times, watching any Movie or Show at home when they first come out....Entertainment just keeps getting Better!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Hey you're talking to the wrong guy, I haven't lost anything and going on 8 years of Collecting. So for me these are exciting times, watching any Movie or Show at home when they first come out....Entertainment just keeps getting Better!

What people are trying to tell you is that subscription is king in the digital world. Disney+ owns Marvel, Fox, Lucasfilm and Pixar, they are one example of keeping all their content together. (Fox films and tv will be a separate subscription under the same company obviously). Now, what if Warner do that with Warnermedia? What If Peacock do the same? Or Apple buy a major studio and ring fence that content? The middle men would be cut out of the deal.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by alchav21

What's your point, I went from 4K to HD on Netflix.

Isn't the point obvious? I have not bought or seen a film on DVD since 2006
I went from SD to HD to UHD and the quality of the films I watch has gotten better but somehow you interpret someone else saying "I would rather save $ and buy the DVD as somehow the quality of the films I watch as getting worst. On the other hand the quality of the films you watch has actually gotten worst since you downgraded your service.

They don't carry my Movie and TV Show Library, if I want to watch 4K UHD I have Prime, MA, Vudu and all the rest of the Streaming Providers I want to access.

you mean low quality fake 4k UHD.

You won't be laughing when your player doesn't work, and the Studios don't Distribute the Discs you want!

no I won't but by then I will be a long time dead. I am 50 after all, by life expectancy for a male in Canada that means close to 30 more years, if I look at my relatives that have died in their late nineties that means close to 50 years. On the other hand I can still buy a record player that can play my great grandfathers 78 records he bought over a century ago, and I can still buy records to play on the record player.

This is not digital, it is not like Target saying "I am tired of loosing money on digital so they shut down target ticket and all the suckers that bought films had nothing to watch the day after the plug was pulled.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Hey you're talking to the wrong guy, I haven't lost anything and going on 8 years of Collecting. So for me these are exciting times, watching any Movie or Show at home when they first come out....Entertainment just keeps getting Better!

Well I've been at it since day one with UltraViolet and I don't know if I lost anything or not, don't really care. I gave away hundreds of of UV codes.

I also procured a Sony FMP-X10 right after it came out. I skipped the FMP-X1 because it had no remote. These were some of the first UHD devices available. The X10 could stream UHD content from Netflix, also another first.

Some folks procured quite a few movies on the X10 (X1?) at $30 each. All gone now because Sony shut down the Movie Store and these devices stopped working. Several tried to get members to ban together to file a class action law suit. I posted it would be a lost cause and they needed to read their Sony TOS/EULA they had agreed to. You had to do this before the device would work.

Why Sony still shows the X10 on their site and why Amazon (X1 and X10) still sells them is one of the A/V great mysteries!!!

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

What people are trying to tell you is that subscription is king in the digital world. Disney+ owns Marvel, Fox, Lucasfilm and Pixar, they are one example of keeping all their content together. (Fox films and tv will be a separate subscription under the same company obviously). Now, what if Warner do that with Warnermedia? What If Peacock do the same? Or Apple buy a major studio and ring fence that content? The middle men would be cut out of the deal.

You're right Steedeel, that is the direction Studios are going Direct to Consumer Streaming. I told this to AT&T years ago, with Content and Infrastructure they could be King of the Hill! AT&T never wanted to be a Dumb Pipe. I think my Investment in them will finally start to pay off!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You're right Steedeel, that is the direction Studios are going Direct to Consumer Streaming. I told this to AT&T years ago, with Content and Infrastructure they could be King of the Hill! AT&T never wanted to be a Dumb Pipe, I think my Investment in them will finally start to pay off!

That’s an unproven market. A very, very unproven market.

As for AT&T, aren’t they 150 billion in debt with a under performing streaming service?

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

That’s an unproven market. A very, very unproven market.

As for AT&T, aren’t they 150 billion in debt with a under performing streaming service?

To this day Netflix is still in negative cash flow and a growing debt load.

You may like to read “It’s Time to Streamline Streaming Services” here (mostly about SVOD and AVOD). IMO, that ship sailed long ago and streaming remains a hardware and software CF because there was/is not a central governing body.