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

[kfbkfb]

https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/n...0-million.html
^^^
(from the link):
The company disclosed in a Dec. 23 regulatory filing that it was "experiencing negative cash flows from operations during fiscal 2018 and 2017, and expects to incur net losses in the foreseeable future."

"The company has concluded that there is substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of one year," according to the filing.


There's a large F.Y.E. near me (built as a Blockbuster Music store in
the early 1990s) that I used to visit 1-2 times a week, now 1-2
times a month.

I've purchased New/Used CDs, DVDs, an HD-DVD, Blu-rays and a
DVD TV show boxed set (also 1 new vinyl record).

Although Best Buy and Vintage Stock (and Amazon) are other
options, I hope this F.Y.E. stays open.


Kirk Bayne

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by kfbkfb

https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/n...0-million.html
^^^
(from the link):
The company disclosed in a Dec. 23 regulatory filing that it was "experiencing negative cash flows from operations during fiscal 2018 and 2017, and expects to incur net losses in the foreseeable future."

"The company has concluded that there is substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of one year," according to the filing.


There's a large F.Y.E. near me (built as a Blockbuster Music store in
the early 1990s) that I used to visit 1-2 times a week, now 1-2
times a month.

I've purchased New/Used CDs, DVDs, an HD-DVD, Blu-rays and a
DVD TV show boxed set (also 1 new vinyl record).

Although Best Buy and Vintage Stock (and Amazon) are other
options, I hope this F.Y.E. stays open.


Kirk Bayne

I have never even seen an F.Y.E. store, so I can't say that I care what happens to them. I buy most of my toys from online retailers and I have been doing so for many, many years.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

We can buy discs and watch the content encoded on them without agreeing to anything. This is not true with digital distribution.

I am not sure that posters elevator goes to the top. Anyone with a pea brain should know we have NEVER agreed to a TOS/EULA for physical entertainment media (78's, 45's, LP's CD's, LaserDisc, etc).

[Wendell R. Breland]

I know its boring reading but some really needs to read a little on Fair Use Act (here), First Sale Doctrine (here).

It is no secret, content owners would love to do away with physical media because they lost their lawsuit against Sony (Universal [and Disney] vs Sony) here. If it were up to them you would pay each time you viewed their content. That was borne out with Divix DVD.

So the next scheme was UltraViolet, get everyone to switch over to streaming content where the content owner has 100% control. If they could do that then they would be in a position to once again invoke PPV or pay for a period. Alas, UV failed to gain traction and has been abandoned. Now the content owners are trying another concept, direct to consumer with a monthly charge. Will it work, who knows, so far it has been a negative cash flow for most everyone in that game.

In the meantime physical still means billions in revenue annually and nobody in their right mind will leave that on the table. Anyone know the worldwide total for 2019.

[cheez avenger]

Watched some Atmos content last night after setting up the new AVR -- it was fantastic. Now a couple of more days and the circle will be complete!

I still have to get used to the interface an settings on the Sony AVR. I also had to disable some of the bluetoth on the UHD BD player and my Sony region free BD player. Somehow the remote from the UHD player was also controlling the region free one. I definitely do not want to accidentally install a new update on that region free one, because it will revert to region A. I think I figured it out, but it was scary for a bit.

[SillyG]

Originally Posted by mr_buttatoast

I'm more ok with digital purchases if once they were on your device, they are there on that device to stay and can even be transferred to another device outside of their servers and internet connections. But not when the company still has full control and access to take it down or alter it at any time and you're fully dependent on them.

If digital purchases were at least equal to home video equivalents in respect to quality (e.g. CD for music, DVD for SD video, Blu-ray for HD video), and were DRM-free, I would be more open to going digital (though I would still prefer an official physical disc release if one were available). I'm not interested otherwise.

[mr_buttatoast]

Yea I'm more ok with home console digital downloads for instance (so when it comes to gaming), as opposed to just accessing a steam in which to view and access the content.

I'll always prefer physical copies of media, but if digital is downloaded and stays onto your console or hardware (offline). Then I'm not as vigorously opposed to it.

Anything that requires a streaming and active permission of sorts to a server which can be altered and changed as seen fit by them, not so much.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by SillyG

If digital purchases were at least equal to home video equivalents in respect to quality (e.g. CD for music, DVD for SD video, Blu-ray for HD video), and were DRM-free, I would be more open to going digital (though I would still prefer an official physical disc release if one were available). I'm not interested otherwise.

As I noted above, the content owners want 100% control not 0% control. Some of the studios and hardware makers came up with a scheme called Vidity, it never gained any traction and not sure of the current status. Some Vidity info here. IMHO, I don't see very many folks willing to download a 60 to 100 GB file for a single movie. The original Vudu and Sony download to own services never made any real headway with consumers. Vudu was sold to Walmart and Sony shutdown their download service. I believe Vidity will have the same fate.

[Vilya]

Another , what to do, what to do?

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Another , what to do, what to do?

Happy birthday. Now is the time for TP: The return!

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Another , what to do, what to do?

Happy Birthday!

[SillyG]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

As I noted above, the content owners want 100% control not 0% control. Some of the studios and hardware makers came up with a scheme called Vidity, it never gained any traction and not sure of the current status. Some Vidity info here. IMHO, I don't see very many folks willing to download a 60 to 100 GB file for a single movie. The original Vudu and Sony download to own services never made any real headway with consumers. Vudu was sold to Walmart and Sony shutdown their download service. I believe Vidity will have the same fate.

I am aware of that (in respect to your first point) as that is more or less the situation throughout the entertainment industry (movies, music, and games), and I never realistically expected DRM-free material to be available for the majority of content, but that would be the only thing to push me toward digital, but as long as a physical option is available, I would overwhelmingly prefer that.

The problem with Vidity is that it is crippled with DRM, requires enormous downloads, and proprietary equipment in order to use, and has no discernible benefit over UHD Blu-ray. I'd be fine with downloading 60GB+ files if the film was DRM-free and I could burn my own disc, for example, but I'm concerned that UHD-Rs won't even see the light of day at this point as BD-Rs failed to gain traction with consumers, and remain an extremely niche product with only the most hardcore of physical enthusiasts and professionals making use of them (incidentally, while I don't often do event filming, I provide Blu-rays to clients by default).

[Ender14]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Another , what to do, what to do?

Happy Birthday!!

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by SillyG

The problem with Vidity is that it is crippled with DRM

Did some more looking into Vidity, not sure if it is still in operation. Samsung says to purchase more content go to M-Go which was purchased by Fandango some time back. I have a Fandango account and the only downloads I can find on their site is to tablets and phones. No other devices are mentioned. Vidity appears to be DOA.

Fine by me as I am 100% (well maybe 98.5%) a physical (disc, tape, etc.) person.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Some may find the usage chart below to be interesting. Story here.

And it looks like Redbox is getting into the AVOD business. Just another form of commercial broadcast TV. With broadcast TV I could record desired content, edit out commercials and watch at my convenience. I am told most player controls, as in Skip, FF, are locked out by the AVOD folks during commercials.

[Show spoiler]

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Some may find the usage chart below to be interesting. Story here.

And it looks like Redbox is getting into the AVOD business. Just another form of commercial broadcast TV. With broadcast TV I could record desired content, edit out commercials and watch at my convenience. I am told most player controls, as in Skip, FF, are locked out by the AVOD folks during commercials.

[Show spoiler]

This statement from that article underscores what many of us been saying regarding streaming's appeal:

"According to survey respondents, price is the most vital attribute for a streaming service."

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/nielse...reaming-video/

Quality is not the primary consideration for most streaming customers, economy is their main concern. Streaming providers have little incentive to improve their video/audio quality when cost is what their customers care about most.

[Vilya]

Thanks to each of you for the birthday wishes! I wish I could share my cake with all of you!

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Quality is not the primary consideration for most streaming customers

But, but, but quality is fantastic if you are wired and have a symmetrical fiber connection. After all, digital is digital.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

But, but, but quality is fantastic if you are wired and have a symmetrical fiber connection. After all, digital is digital.

Thanks Wendell for thinking about me, but Quality is all in the eyes and ears of the beholder. I still think if you have Quality Equipment, good Bandwidth, Hard Wired, you'll enjoy your Streaming much more. It is catching up to Disc very fast, I think HD is already there!

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Another , what to do, what to do?

Happy Birthday!