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

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by gotmule

There is talk about him (and Warren his chauffeur) making the trip a bit further to my house for a home cooked meal and a movie, so hopefully we can make that work.

Fantastic !

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by gotmule

Vilya update. We had our second “date” on Sunday since he was in town for testing, and went out for Mexican. As he has shared, the disease is attacking other parts of his body and not just his heart, but he is admittedly stubborn and still enjoys good food although swallowing is often not easy. We talked a lot about AV equipment, movies, tv shows, and of course our group on this thread. He updated me on his recent tests and findings and what is to come, and as last time we met, he continues to impress with the amount of knowledge he has obtained as he works his way through the hand he has been dealt. He does stop by and keeps up to date mostly with the postings, updates, and general shenanigans, but doesn’t always have the stamina to post something to his usual high standards. He misses everyone and truly values time spent with you all and thanks everyone for all the well wishes.

There is talk about him (and Warren his chauffeur) making the trip a bit further to my house for a home cooked meal and a movie, so hopefully we can make that work.

Absolutely fantastic, I’m sure it gives him a great boost as well.

Top stuff gotmule.

That Mexican sounds great also!

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by gotmule

Vilya update. We had our second “date” on Sunday since he was in town for testing, and went out for Mexican.

I bet Vilya really values your hospitality and sharing. Has to be a bright spot in his trying times. Thanks for taking the time to accommodate a fellow member and enthusiast.

[cheez avenger]

Just had a small parcel arrive from DiabolikDVD.

The Haunting of Julia 4K disc (UK BFI)
Seventh Seal 4K disc (UK BFI)


I know both have domestic releases, but the BFI is no slouch and gave Seventh Seal 4K DV/HDR10, while Criterion only gave it an 4K SDR one. Easy choice there.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Just had a small parcel arrive from DiabolikDVD.

The Haunting of Julia 4K disc (UK BFI)
Seventh Seal 4K disc (UK BFI)


I know both have domestic releases, but the BFI is no slouch and gave Seventh Seal 4K DV/HDR10, while Criterion only gave it an 4K SDR one. Easy choice there.

Would be interested in your opinion of the first one. I was on the fence about a blind buy.

[Ender14]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Just had a small parcel arrive from DiabolikDVD.

The Haunting of Julia 4K disc (UK BFI)
Seventh Seal 4K disc (UK BFI)


I know both have domestic releases, but the BFI is no slouch and gave Seventh Seal 4K DV/HDR10, while Criterion only gave it an 4K SDR one. Easy choice there.

I plan to go with the BFI Seventh Seal disc as well.

[cheez avenger]

Just finished watching Scream 6 on P+ and I was not a fan.

I also just received a nice care package from Vinegar Syndrome, so that's pretty cool.

[Wendell R. Breland]

For those that like to watch content via digital lockers see spoiler graphic. Keep in mind this is what my data is like at my location and time. I did check a couple of times a day or two before (2330 and 2245) and got similar results.

In this round Movies Anywhere was the clear winner for these three movies even tho the audio was not quite as good as iTunes.

[Show spoiler]

[alchav21]

Plane.jpg

Hey I don't know of all these HUD Specs, but at 100/100 Mbps Symmetrical with HDR and Atmos this Movie looked and sounded Fantastic on Vudu. Bought it on Sale and watched it adding it to My Collection. Gerard Butler is at his greatest in this Action Packed Movie!

[bhampton]

The sad thing is while you are paying a lot for that super symmetrical internet connectivity, the online version of movies are heavily compressed for people with average internet capacity.

What Internet speed do I need to watch Vudu UHD?

We recommend broadband Internet with a minimum 11 Mbps network connection.


The amazing thing is no matter what type of internet you have you still have the option to improve that fantastic looking and sounding video by getting the disc instead of the vudu streaming copy.

The disc will often come with the dudu copy priced correctly at free.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Just finished watching Scream 6 on P+ and I was not a fan.

I also just received a nice care package from Vinegar Syndrome, so that's pretty cool.

Yeah, mine just shipped. Should have the batch by Wednesday.

By the way, I enjoyed Scream 6 more than 5. I noticed in the film thread you don’t care for Scream 2 but I loved it so we are on different pages with this franchise. It was Scream 3 and 4 I hated.

[bhampton]

I tend to enjoy the Scary Movie franchise more than I should. I adore Anna Feris.



I tend to think anyone would agree A Haunted House 2 is one of the worst movies ever made. I don't think it's possible to make a case for that one. I'm impressed with how terrible it is. Is is useful for making every other movie look great.

However, every Pokemon is someone's favorite.

[lgans316]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

There again it makes no difference in terms of A/V quality as it pertains to Apple HUD. The actual video data rate is the only concern here. Back to the Future had average bitrate video:13.69Mbps audio:770.34Kbps, it does not matter that the: indicated bitrate peak:30.74Mbps average:21.42Mbps, the fact remains the video was 13.69Mbps.

For Power of the Rings ● average bitrate video:19.67Mbps audio:448.45Kbps ● indicated bitrate peak:21.94Mbps average:18.90Mbps. What does this mean, the data burst from Amazon where longer in duration therefore there was not much difference between the peak and average. Did not change the fact the video data rate was 19.67Mbps as shown on HUD, was 20,000,000 (20 Mbps) on Prime diagnostics.

That is one of the problems with streaming, you never know where the program is coming from and for most of us there is not a way to do a trace route. Another, I am viewing in UHD-SDR, you may be viewing in UHD-HDR (DV, etc.) That could explain some of the differences.

Several here have complained about problems with Prime, at my location Prime has been pretty good in terms of A/V quality with their original content. They suck with digital locker movies. Vudu is almost as bad.

Linked before but will again, chart here.

I have triple checked BTTF on iTunes. It is constantly streaming at 23-24 Mbps for me on iTunes APP via ATV 4K box. I am talking about average video bit rate and not indicated. Btw, Apple was throttling bit rates on movies streamed via Apple TV app outside ATV 4K box. Sadly I don't have my good old router and companion softwares in my new place to dive deep.

However, if you have a phone with 5G and good data limit, create Wi-Fi hotspot, connect ATV 4K to it, play BTTF for like 10 minutes and check how much data was munched assuming the DEV HUD is indicating correct numbers whilst playback.

I had one my networking colleague check Avatar Way of the Water on iTunes and he reported about 35 GB of data was streamed averaging at 24-25 Mbps which tallies with the indicated bit rates. This also tallies with folks who watched a WebRIP of the same and its size was 35 GB as well.

Also randomly spot checked my purchases from many years ago and the numbers haven't not changed one bit on iTunes and MA.

[bhampton]

Placing my speakers for 7.2.4 and the most challenging thing I have to contend with is the left side speaker will be directly in the traffic of people headed to the first row of seating. I will recess the bookshelf speaker into the wall (I can hear a million audiophiles crying but I think it will be ok... anyways I'll try.) It will still protrude a few inches and be in harms way.

I like Wendell's suggestion to illuminate it.

I'm starting to think the only speakers that will be challanging are the side surround speakers and I"m considering using in walls for that pair.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Yeah, mine just shipped. Should have the batch by Wednesday.

By the way, I enjoyed Scream 6 more than 5. I noticed in the film thread you don’t care for Scream 2 but I loved it so we are on different pages with this franchise. It was Scream 3 and 4 I hated.

I only like the first one and part 5. I've finally watched all of the films, but have yet to watch the series. I may give that a go at some point.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by lgans316

I have triple checked BTTF on iTunes. It is constantly streaming at 23-24 Mbps for me on iTunes APP via ATV 4K box.

Have tried to make it clear the numbers could be different depending on location, time of day, etc. Bandwidth was included in my post so readers could see the streaming numbers were not limited by low bandwidth. Also pointed out my numbers are for UHD-SDR, other combos will most likely be different from mine.

Also randomly spot checked my purchases from many years ago and the numbers haven't not changed one bit on iTunes and MA.

You and others seem to be hung up on numbers presented by Apple HUD. It is real simple, Apple clearly shows the audio and video data rates. In addition they show you the network bandwidth and the peak and average data rates coming in.

If you people understood entropy DCT video codecs and segmented adaptive streaming then you would understand that streaming is CBR (constant bit rate) for any given segment (data rate and resolution) selected by the server that is based on several factors.

Disc does not have to deal with the problems of streaming and the video is VBR (variable bit rate) to save on disc space.

Already pointed out Apple HUD average bitrate video numbers match those of Amazon Prime diagnostics. The ATV4K will not show the info screen of Netflix like my Shield* and Sony X1000 does but IIRC the video bit rate numbers were close to the Apple HUD numbers.

You really need to delete the Peak Rates column because you are implying that is video peak rates which it is not.

*The Shield does not do this natively, to access you need F4 from a keyboard which a FLIRC can do as well as a BT keyboard.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Edit - I don't think I will do that idea. Making a wooden trapazoidal decorative column would be easier, cheaper and better.

I'm starting to think the only speakers that will be challanging are the side surround speakers and I"m considering using in walls for that pair.

DIY or purchased ready made?

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

DIY or purchased ready made?

I'm still kind of far from figuring this out. The lucky thing is I made the room myself and have complete control over it.

My speakers are Paradigm Titan V2 and the matching CC-170. I mate them with dual PDR 10 subwoofers. I have 10 of the Titans V2s now to use as all my speakers apart from the center and subs.

Secrets of home theater and High Fidelity gave them a nice review.

https://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_6...-speakers.html

If I put ready made in wall speakers on the side and had a pair of the titans left over it wouldn't be bad. They could be swapped out in case one of them needed to be re-foamed. And, I would find a use for them elsewhere most likely.

I've decided to break this upgrade into phases. I will either do the ceiling or the bed layer first. I may raise the fronts later as Ive read good things about DIY AT screens and that could be fun.

I would like to start with the bed layer speakers as I realize the side surrounds are way off the mark that is my first area of interest and likely the most difficult thing.

One funny idea is on the left wall I could make a complete tunnel and the bookshelf could "become" an in wall with it's rear end hanging out the other side. This is actually a contender of an idea.

The 2 pairs I bought on Ebay recently were about $50 each so it's also tempting to saw the back of the cabinet off and make them DIY in walls. Could be an Audio tragedy but for $50 It could be fun to try.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by bhampton

The 2 pairs I bought on Ebay recently were about $50 each so it's also tempting to saw the back of the cabinet off and make them DIY in walls. Could be an Audio tragedy but for $50 It could be fun to try.

Bad idea, they need a certain internal volume and port to operate properly.

I would have a look see at the H65-IW v2 or H55-IW v2 (here) to see if they would satisfy your needs.

[bhampton]

I've read about folks doing such mods and about the problems caused.

I think apart from the left and right side speakers it's easy enough to mount the rest of the speakers with wall mounts. So, I only need a pair.

Wow, thanks for the link... I was trying to find paradigm in wall speakers earlier but you found um. Now I just have to find out where to buy them.