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

[Vilya]

Is there any better western than ?

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Is there any better western than ?

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Is there any better western than

I haven't heard of The Shakiest Gun in the West, but I do enjoy comedy westerns too. Blazing Saddles is a classic comedy for sure, one of several Mel Brooks films I like very much.

Here in the UK, probably our nearest equivalent to a comedy western would be this:

[gotmule]

Three Amigos is another classic comedy western in my mind. I just used the quote “Would you say I have a plethora?” a couple of days ago.

[Steedeel]

Watched Leatherface (2017) in 4K last night. Enjoyed it more than I was expecting. Not a classic like the original but held my interest throughout.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Is there any better western than ?

Would not say better but there is:



Another Twilight Time title that I let slip away , do have the DVD.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Would not say better but there is:

[Show spoiler]

Another Twilight Time title that I let slip away , do have the DVD.

I missed a few Twilight Time titles here and there, but I did manage to get that one.

I'm also a fan of .

[cheez avenger]

Scooped up some more VS titles from their sale:


Disconnected
Killer's Delight
Creature
Tragedy Girls

Also got The Naughty Victorians, which was also $10 and not officially part of today's sale.

[Boccaccio]

I've now seen all 6 episodes of The English. This was really good.

A bit slow at times but the acting is great and the cinematography was just stunning.

I don't think I've seen many series that use the 2.35:1 format.

[alchav21]

You guys keep talking about Old Movies, are you concerned about no Blu-ray Players at the Show? Even Panasonic and Sony didn't have anything at their presentations. So what do you think about Physical Media now, especially with Players having problems and no Firmware Updates?

[Vilya]

^More importantly, why are YOU concerned about it?

[CV19]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You guys keep talking about Old Movies, are you concerned about no Blu-ray Players at the Show? Even Panasonic and Sony didn't have anything at their presentations. So what do you think about Physical Media now, especially with Players having problems and no Firmware Updates?

No, I'm not in the least bit concerned. Personally I've never had problems with any of my players, and my love of physical media continues to this day as it did when I began purchasing CD's way back in the early 80's. If Blu-ray discs suddenly ceased to become available, I have more than enough movies and TV shows to last me the rest of my days.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You guys keep talking about Old Movies, are you concerned about no Blu-ray Players at the Show? Even Panasonic and Sony didn't have anything at their presentations. So what do you think about Physical Media now, especially with Players having problems and no Firmware Updates?

If things got so disastrous that there were no standalone players, we still have consoles that are excellent with updates.

[Steedeel]

By the way, what made you think new players would be announced at the event?

Disc players can be announced any time and disc is not the kool aid at the moment. Announcements will be low key I would imagine.

Plus, we got a new high end player announcement a few weeks back.

[Boccaccio]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You guys keep talking about Old Movies, are you concerned about no Blu-ray Players at the Show? Even Panasonic and Sony didn't have anything at their presentations. So what do you think about Physical Media now, especially with Players having problems and no Firmware Updates?

What problems are you talking about ? And why would I need firmware updates ?

None of my players are connected to the internet anymore .

It was the firmware update that started the problems in the first place.

All my players will play all my discs without ever needing an update.

[Ender14]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You guys keep talking about Old Movies, are you concerned about no Blu-ray Players at the Show? Even Panasonic and Sony didn't have anything at their presentations. So what do you think about Physical Media now, especially with Players having problems and no Firmware Updates?

Not in the slightest.

Are you concerned about the fact that the streaming bubble is about to burst? Netflix reported year to year declines in subscribers for consecutive quarters for the first time since it's launch. WB Discovery is pulling content left and right from HBO Max in order to stem losses with plans to license them to other services in an attempt to recoup money. Most streaming services raised their prices this year because the majority have still yet to turn a profit. And many are introducing ad-supported tiers for the same reason: they are hemorrhaging money.

So streaming now offers more limited content, higher prices and ads in an effort to become profitable. Sounds a lot like old-school cable TV doesn't it?

Meanwhile I can't keep up with all of the physical releases I want to add to my library and more are being announced every day. Which industry seems the healthiest to you?

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You guys keep talking about Old Movies, are you concerned about no Blu-ray Players at the Show? Even Panasonic and Sony didn't have anything at their presentations. So what do you think about Physical Media now, especially with Players having problems and no Firmware Updates?

If you were a serious streamer then you would know there is not and have not been any new streaming boxes made available in recent years. Apple has a newer ATV4K and Roku has updated the Ultra in recent times but nothing really new from any streamer. The reason is simple for streamers and Blu-ray players, there is no reason for new hardware designs.

I can see that you have not read any of the Apple, Roku, Shield and other threads that I have provided links to for you. If you had then you would not post comments that make you look like a .

Have not followed CES for many years but I believe someone said Sony will not show any new TV’s at CES 2023.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You guys keep talking about Old Movies, are you concerned about no Blu-ray Players at the Show? Even Panasonic and Sony didn't have anything at their presentations. So what do you think about Physical Media now, especially with Players having problems and no Firmware Updates?

The purpose of CES is to announce and showcase advancements in technology. The blu-ray format will be 17 years-old and 4K blu-ray will turn 7 years-old this year. There's really not anything that needs updating with blu-ray or 4K disc players and that is also the reason why we haven't needed any firmware updates.

Geoff D put it best in the CES 2023 thread:

Originally Posted by Geoff D

If all the majors who are still making 4K players haven't released updated players already, why would 2023 be any different? There's literally nothing left to update, Blu-ray wasn't born fully formed which is why there were a lot of updates early on, then along came guff like 4K upscaling, streaming apps and so on so there was always some reason to be tarting up their players every year. And there was a major revision to the spec in terms of 3D which needed new compression methods, players, TVs, and software. But that came quite early in BD's life, only about four years in, and we're now seven years down for UHD.

But for UHD it's done, there's nothing left to add. Dolby Vision was in there from the start, albeit not on the hardware & software side but several players now support it, and HDR10+ was added but has proved to be a busted flush. And note the lack of "8K upscaling" as a selling point for whatever player, there are some crackpots on here who think that 8K disc is following in just a few years but just compare the 4K marketing to the 8K: you couldn't move for players that had "4K upscaling" 10 years ago but I've yet to see a single disc spinner with an 8K upscale feature. I know that upscaling is not native, I'm not that stupid, my point is that the initial exposure of 8K as a 'feature' is quite simply non-existent at this point.

As for, say, 4K 3D, there isn't even a DCI theatrical spec for 4K 3D never mind a home version, and they're not going to add 48p to the UHD spec on the basis of a grand total of four movies that use it (three of which have already been released on 24p UHD anyway), even if one of them was directed by The King of the World™.

It would be nice to see Sony get rid of their imbecilic requirement to manually toggle Dolby Vision on and off on their 4K disc players. The Panasonics could offer better DVD playback, support a wider variety of file types, and support SACD playback. It would be nice to see better build quality in the players costing $500 and less; I like the player to weigh more than its remote, for example.

I love physical media now more than when I first started collecting it over 30 years ago. It's benefits have only become more relevant, especially in that no one can alter what I buy after the fact. We continue to see an amazing number of titles being released on disc. I don't know that there has ever been a better time for physical media enthusiasts.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You guys keep talking about Old Movies, are you concerned about no Blu-ray Players at the Show? Even Panasonic and Sony didn't have anything at their presentations. So what do you think about Physical Media now, especially with Players having problems and no Firmware Updates?

My player has no problem and now I have a second player that can serve as backup if needed.

On the bigger topic of what do I think about physical media now, I have to say recent buys have been great fun to watch.

House of the Dragon was outstanding



Smile, Pearl, Terrifier 2, Don't Worry Darling were all amazing



Great time to get into Physical Media, it's not too late. Physical Media is where the fun is.

-Brian

[Ender14]

As usual with Alchav he pops in to cause trouble: