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

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by crutzulee

I'll be receiving my ZIDOO Z9X today or tomorrow as the inlaws fit in from Florida late last night. Depending on how it handles my collection, I'll probably be building a poor man's NAS similar to this..

Looks like a lot of Disc Drives with too much heat, wouldn't a SSD be much better. More compact, faster, and better heat control? I guess it might cost more.

[crutzulee]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Looks like a lot of Disc Drives with too much heat, wouldn't a SSD be much better. More compact, faster, and better heat control? I guess it might cost more.

I actually have 6 or 7 of the exact Seagate drives he uses in that video already. For some reason STAPLES up here in Canada sells them for dirt cheap 2 or 3 times a year. Whenever they go on sale (~$150 CAD), I buy one whether I need it or not. Currently, I have them attached to a 7 port powered USB 3.0 hub attached to my NVIDIA SHIELD.
I'm pretty sure this setup should just plug into the ZIDOO and work the same but if it doesn't I'll go the route described in the video. The box he uses has all the fans and cooling required.

My son will probably have to rerip our entire collection as I think I'll lose the data on the drives when I "shuck" them.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Anyone else viewed Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore? Last night we viewed via HBO Max and the ATV4K*. IMHO, the visual aspect of the movie was fair to good. A little on the dark side with subdued colors. The sound track: 2.5 of 5. Music was at back ground levels, had about 3 uses of Atmos and very little use of LFE.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them remains a goto disc for visual and auditory stimulus. The Crimes of Grindelwald is just passable.




*Tried first on the Nvidia Shield Pro, showed as Atmos but only played in DD+. Streaming apps and hardware remain a CF in that you never know what to expect.

I will pick it up when it comes out since I enjoyed the first two. Fantastic Beasts is certainly demo worthy, and I thought Crimes was pretty close as it had a lot more dynamics to it.

I got around to watching Last Night in Soho today and loved the vibe of it. Atmos mix was stellar once the visions started. Incredibly tight accurate bass.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

IMO, some really good deals here. Dune (2021) UHD BD for just $13.99

Agreed. The only title I didn’t have was Halloween Kills so grabbed that a couple of days ago.

[cheez avenger]

My VS order arrived with Cloak & Dagger and Thriller on 4K discs. My copy of Drive on 4K disc should be arriving by June 13, but I'm hopeful it arrives tomorrow. No worries if it doesn't, though. I've got quite a few new 4K titles to get through anyhow.

[stonesfan129]

I'd rather just rent something digitally these days through Vudu, or watch it free on Tubi, and if it's a movie I really enjoy where I think I'll watch it more than a few times, then I'll pick up the Blu-ray; used if I can find it cheap.

I own close to 900 Blu-rays and DVDs currently and have space for about another 1000 or so. I keep them all in Case Logic binders (anything else I've found scratches them). I have a few 4K Blu-rays, but mostly I don't care for the format.

I just feel like there's less and less I want to watch again and the Redbox kiosks around me rarely have new releases anyway. The one by CVS hasn't had new releases in about two months. The one by Piggly Wiggly sometimes has them, but only gets a few copies and they run out of stock quickly. I just wish digital rentals were the same price ~$2.50/night vs $5.99 that they are charging now.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I got a notice of a new device activation from Vudu that I didn't expect.

I do share my Vudu account with my step dad. And, I don't actually use Vudu much myself because I tend to favor Apple and iTunes.

So, I had a look and my Vudu account is activated on 156 devices.

Wow. I guess a bunch of stuff has come and gone without me really noticing.

I actually really don't give a damn about Vudu but I guess I'll deactivate all of them and slowly re activate the ones that still exist.

If you use Vudu, the limit to devices seems large.

-Brian

don't know if the 156 makes sense to you and if "unexpected" was accounted for (if it makes sense to you forget the rest of my post). But yeah a clean up might be a good idea, and if the number seems way too high it might be a good idea to change the PW as well. Some stranger watching a film you activated on Vudu is not a big deal, but in the wrong hands (not talking about your step-dad) it can lead to hackers getting access to things that matter.

not meaning to come off as preachy but I used to work for a group that helped people that need to get their finances in order and some of those people it was from their making but some where from identity theft that started off from something that looked benign.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Hi Brian thanks for this information, I went to my Vudu Account and Manage Devices also found over a hundred Devices. My Sony TV and Panasonic Blu-ray Player were there, but I also Deactivated everything. Then I Activated only my Sony and TCL 4K TV's and labeled them. Now I'll watch and see if it stays this way, but I did contact Support. So let's see what they say, I didn't get any emails of Activations. Again Thanks Brian

don't know how Vudu works, but assuming it is like everything else you try checking again later. I am guessing if someone can access it to add a device they can also access it and change where the e-mail is sent for activating a device (assuming that is the reason for the long list of devices which might not be)

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by The_Donster

What up gang. How fairs everyone? It’s been forever. Started a new job, having relationship issues, and haven’t had the energy to watch or play much lately. Which stinks, since I have Paramount+ for another week or so. I’m a big Halo fan, so I want to try and watch the series before I cancel my free month. I can’t remember the last disc I bought, maybe Wonder Woman 84 steelbook? Right now I’m just trying to work out my bills and what I can afford if I move out. I plan on staying in the area for my job regardless.

good luck hope everything goes better

[cheez avenger]

Watched The Northman last night on 4K disc and it rocked! What a great blind-buy!

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by crutzulee

I'll be receiving my ZIDOO Z9X today or tomorrow as the inlaws fit in from Florida late last night. Depending on how it handles my collection, I'll probably be building a poor man's NAS similar to this..

For a while I had considered an 8 bay Synology here. But at my age the turnkey Zappiti NAS was more attractive. It has one drive built in, have an external USB 3.0 BD drive as well. Then I have a Pioneer UHD BD drive in my PC so I was copying 3 disc at a time. On the PC I copied the disc to a local drive and at the end of the day would copy the files to the NAS. The file transfer was always 111 MBps (888 Mbps) so was close to the limit of my 1000Base-T LAN.

My son will probably have to rerip our entire collection as I think I'll lose the data on the drives when I "shuck" them.

Also looked into shucking drives but caught these on sale at Amazon so I purchased 9 of them, 8 to use and 1 as a spare. As to CMR vs SMR HDD’s, some info here. The Western Digital Red Plus drives are CMR types.

In the video it was indicated that each drive was written to until it was full then the next drive was written to. If so, it may be possible to install a couple of HDD’s then copy your files to them then use those drives to add to the NAS. IIRC, RAID 5 and 6 writes to all drives in the RAID (segmented) so that method would not work.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

don't know how Vudu works, but assuming it is like everything else you try checking again later. I am guessing if someone can access it to add a device they can also access it and change where the e-mail is sent for activating a device (assuming that is the reason for the long list of devices which might not be)

The Devise Manager is holding at my two Devises. Support has not told me why the Devise count was so high, but let's see what they say. I hadn't checked it for a long time, maybe something to do with the Fandango Merger.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Watched The Northman last night on 4K disc and it rocked! What a great blind-buy!

Getting it next month when it hits here.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by alchav21

The Devise Manager is holding at my two Devises. Support has not told me why the Devise count was so high, but let's see what they say. I hadn't checked it for a long time, maybe something to do with the Fandango Merger.

Like I said I don't know much about Vudu on this front but 2 ideas off the topo of my head

1) when Vudu launched it was distributed content, i.e. you PVR/dl something on your vudu player and then if t your neighbor wanted it it would dl from your machine. Don't know if it still works that way a bit and if

2) if it is a proprietary ID thing (and not the MAC address of the device which is static) it might be like software BD players and the AACS key. It was designed from the get go to expire and get renewed every few months, making old aacs key for the player useless (the idea was that this way people would not be able to have none-legitimate player on the PC)

[JohnAV]

Box Office: ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ Bites Off $143.4M Opening - Hollywood Reporter 6/12

The movie easily won the weekend even as 'Top Gun: Maverick' continued to fly high in its third outing.

The dinos are back.

Jurassic World Dominion devoured an estimated $143.4 million from 4,676 theaters in its domestic opening after roaring to a Friday gross of $59.6 million. Globally, the summer tentpole finished Sunday with a total of $389 million as the box office recovery continued to gain momentum.

The final installment in Universal and Amblin’s Jurassic World trilogy easily won the weekend as audience sensation Top Gun: Maverick fell to No. 2 in its third outing. Top Gun 2 continues to overperform, however, as it approaches the $400 million mark domestically. The Paramount and Skydance pic earned $50 million for a domestic total of $393.3 million and a jet-fueled $747 million globally after adding another $52.7 million internationally.

Jurassic World Dominion came in narrowly behind 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ($148 million) and notably behind 2015’s Jurassic World ($208.8 million), but boasts one of the biggest openings of the pandemic era. It even beat Top Gun 2‘s three day opening of $126.7 million, although it isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison since Maverick’s four day launch was $260 million.

Critics ravaged the film, but audiences disagreed, giving it an A- CinemaScore and solid exits on PostTrak. Jurassic World Dominion presently has a 34 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest of any title in the iconic dino series.

One advantage is that Dominion is taking away Imax and premium large format screens from Top Gun: Maverick. Another advantage: Actors Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill and BD Wong are reuniting for the first time since starring in director Steven Spielberg’s first Jurassic Park (1993).

And a third: youngsters under 17 turned out in force (23 percent), signaling family appeal. The film skewed male (56 percent), while nearly half of ticket buyers (46 percent) were between ages 18 and 34, according to PostTrak. Higher-priced Imax and premium large format screens accounted for a whopping 35 percent of the gross ((Imax alone turned in $25 million). And 3D accounted for 25 percent of ticket sales.

Director and Jurassic World architect Colin Trevorrow, after sitting out Fallen Kingdom, returned to helm Jurassic World Dominion, which is the final title in the trilogy that has been anchored by actors Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.

This time out, the dinosaurs live — and hunt — alongside humans all over the world. Jurassic World Dominion boasts never-seen dinosaurs and new visual effects.

Overseas, the movie began opening in a raft of additional markets this week for a foreign tally of $245 million (it first launched last weekend in select territories).

Dominion is one of the few Hollywood tentpoles to get a release date in China, where it opened to a promising $52.2 million. While that’s behind Fallen Kingdom several years ago ($111 million), Dominion will easily rank as the biggest Hollywood opening in China this year, topping The Batman’s lackluster $12.1 million debut in March. (Some of 2022’s top Hollywood earners like Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick and Marvel’s Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness have been denied China releases by Beijing regulators due to political reasons.)

Dominion is contending with a far more depressed China film market than when Fallen Kingdom played. Although many urban centers, including Shanghai, are emerging from recent, economically damaging COVID lockdowns, approximately 23 percent of cinemas across the country remain closed as a public health precaution and consumer activity continues to be suppressed.

Elsewhere, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness placed third in its sixth weekend with $4.9 million for a domestic total of $397.8 million and foreign tally of $532.4 million. The Marvel and Disney pic is the first film of 2022 to cross $900 million, and finished Sunday with a total of $930.2 million in ticket sales.

20th Century and Disney’s The Bob’s Burgers Movie came in fourth with $2.3 million in its fourth weekend for a domestic tally of $27.1 million.

DreamWorks Animation and Universal’s The Bad Guys, released almost two months ago, rounded out the top five domestically with $2.3 million for a North American total of $91.5 million and $229.6 million globally.

June 12, 8:05: Updated with revised weekend numbers.

[JohnAV]

‘Squid Game’ Creator Teases Season 2 Character Appearances - Hollywood Reporter 6/12

In a letter released by Netflix, Hwang Dong-hyuk promises the return of Gi-hun, the Front Man and possibly a fan-favorite slapper.

Finally, some concrete details about Squid Game season 2.

After the Korean thriller series became a worldwide sleeper sensation, delivering a season two became a no-brainer for Netflix. For the past six months-plus, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has pulled double duty, campaigning for the first season throughout both the winter awards circuit and now the summer TV season while writing a second season of the drama it took him 12 years to bring to life.

And now, Netflix has officially greenlighted the second season, along with some specifics about who we’ll actually see, via a letter from Hwang and released by the streamer (mild spoilers for the global few who haven’t yet watched the show): Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), of course, as the winner and sole survivor of the titular games, as well as the mysterious Front Man, revealed as superstar Lee Byung-hun, who operates the competition.

In addition, Hwang teases the possible return of a fan-favorite cameo: beloved Korean leading man Gong Yoo, who played the anonymous recruiter who lures desperate people into the game via the traditional Korean card-flipping game of ddakji.

And finally, Hwang promises a new threat: “You’ll also be introduced to Young-hee’s boyfriend, Cheol-su.” Although never named as such in the show, Korean viewers of a certain age will recognize Young-hee as the name of the little-girl character in their childhood textbooks, whose image was terrifyingly reappropriated as the larger-than-life animatronic figure during the deadly game of “Red Light, Green Light.” In the textbooks, Young-hee shared adventures with a little boy, named Cheol-su.

Netflix also has released the first official teaser art for the second season, a close-up of the eye of an animatronic figure (likely Cheol-su), with a glowing red “2” in the iris:

The mega hit streaming sensation looks to be coming as fast as possible.

Squid Game Season 2 is finally coming soon - YouTube

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by gotmule

I will pick it up when it comes out since I enjoyed the first two. Fantastic Beasts is certainly demo worthy, and I thought Crimes was pretty close as it had a lot more dynamics to it.

I got around to watching Last Night in Soho today and loved the vibe of it. Atmos mix was stellar once the visions started. Incredibly tight accurate bass.

Likewise I will too at the end of June, like the Harry Potter series not everything is equally attractive as far as the all the parts to the story. This series is a 5 movie arc as I recall.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Box Office: ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ Bites Off $143.4M Opening - Hollywood Reporter 6/12

The movie easily won the weekend even as 'Top Gun: Maverick' continued to fly high in its third outing.

Once again, impressive numbers.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Likewise I will too at the end of June, like the Harry Potter series not everything is equally attractive as far as the all the parts to the story. This series is a 5 movie arc as I recall.

I couldn’t last the pace with the Potter films. Started to bore me half way through the series.

Give me LOTR any day, fantasy wise.

[bhampton]

I recently bought a second home and just got fiber networking.

I can’t wait until I can get it at my other house.

I pay for 300mbs but it tests near 400.