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

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

It's not the rental price. It's the to own price. It won't be available for rent until the 2 weeks from now.

Originally Posted by sapiendut

I read in a couple of places that the $20 is a 48-hour rental price.

Originally Posted by Gretiem

I believe that is rental price only. They aren't for sale.

Clarification: Universal early releases are rental but WB (Harley Quinn) is purchase, so everyone is right!

[cheez avenger]

Yeah, that's WB that's letting people purchase it. Universal/Blumhouse are just giving you the $20 48hr rental, which is too rich for my blood.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

I read in a couple of places that the $20 is a 48-hour rental price.

Well Vudu has it for Early Release UHD Birds of Prey for $20, with $3 Credit on Release Date. This Movie goes into you Collection as owned.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Yeah, that's WB that's letting people purchase it. Universal/Blumhouse are just giving you the $20 48hr rental, which is too rich for my blood.

If they can give me lossless audio, 50 mbps 4K video, I'll be all over it even for $30 just to have something day and date. I'd rather pay that and view it in my 42 ftL home theatre which is much higher than Dolby Cinema's "middling" 31 ftL
projection.

Barring that, I'll wait for the 4K disc or regular BD

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

If they can give me lossless audio, 50 mbps 4K video, I'll be all over it even for $30 just to have something day and date. I'd rather pay that and view it in my 42 ftL home theatre which is much higher than Dolby Cinema's "middling" 31 ftL
projection.

Barring that, I'll wait for the 4K disc or regular BD

[Wendell R. Breland]

Added a new title to my To Order list, the new UHD BD of Midway.

From High-Def Digest:

Midway is in fact a demo-worthy Dolby Atmos audio track that provides the best action listening experience for those with Atmos setups. It's one of the more fun and thrilling audio listening experiences in a long time.

From Media Play News: Honoring History With ‘Midway’ here.

[Wendell R. Breland]

In a rare move for me, I will pre-order 1917. With Sam Mendes directing and Roger Deakins as the DP I figure it will be a worthy purchase.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Added a new title to my To Order list, the new UHD BD of Midway.

From High-Def Digest:
From Media Play News: Honoring History With ‘Midway’ here.

I have that 4K disc. I enjoyed it a lot. The video and audio quality were excellent in my opinion.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Added a new title to my To Order list, the new UHD BD of Midway.

From High-Def Digest:
From Media Play News: Honoring History With ‘Midway’ here.

I should try ordering the US version. The Canadian version is only DTS-HD MA.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

In a rare move for me, I will pre-order 1917. With Sam Mendes directing and Roger Deakins as the DP I figure it will be a worthy purchase.

I did that, too, but I decided to try out Vudu's "disc + digital" service. I can watch the lesser quality 4K stream now while waiting for the 4K disc to arrive; the price for the 4K disc was the same at Vudu as it was anywhere else at the time that I ordered it. I get a second digital copy, too, whoopee!

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

If they can give me lossless audio, 50 mbps 4K video, I'll be all over it even for $30 just to have something day and date. I'd rather pay that and view it in my 42 ftL home theatre which is much higher than Dolby Cinema's "middling" 31 ftL
projection.

Barring that, I'll wait for the 4K disc or regular BD

I am surprised that you would settle for even 50 Mbps when a 4K disc averages much higher than that; are you going soft on us?

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I have that 4K disc. I enjoyed it a lot. The video and audio quality were excellent in my opinion.

The video and audio were cracking but I thought the film was disappointing.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

The video and audio were cracking but I thought the film was disappointing.

Did somebody spoil the ending for you?

There is always the original Charlton Heston Midway with its usage of actual, but very rough looking, combat footage. I like both versions, but I felt that the new one was pretty good, too. The new version lacks the distracting father/son conflict over the son's fiance problem that wastes considerable time in the original.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Did somebody spoil the ending for you?

There is always the original Charlton Heston Midway with its usage of actual, but very rough looking, combat footage. I like both versions, but I felt that the new one was pretty good, too. The new version lacks the distracting father/son conflict over the son's fiance problem that wastes considerable time in the original.

Yeah they did, it was the same with Titanic!

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I have that 4K disc. I enjoyed it a lot. The video and audio quality were excellent in my opinion.

Oh yes, totally agree! If you ever get to add immersive audio to your system then this should be one of your first titles to re-watch.

[Steedeel]

Black Hawk Down is my top Atmos track at the moment. Granted I haven’t yet got the UHD collection of some of you guys but I’m working on it.

[cheez avenger]

Looks like the studio is also releasing The Gentlemen on digital next week.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Oh yes, totally agree! If you ever get to add immersive audio to your system then this should be one of your first titles to re-watch.

I remember when Atmos and DTS X came out 5 years ago, and how the majority of people seemed to say it was not going to last as it was a gimmick or not necessary. It has easily been one of my favorite upgrades to my system over the years. Even watching a tv show like Haunting Of Hill House (on Blu-ray) was a jaw dropping experience as the upmixer did a great job of putting you in the house. Midway was certainly one of the better mixes I have heard in a few months, but I predict that the movie The Greyhound with Tom Hanks will be the disc we are talking about from an audio standpoint whenever we get to eventually have it released.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Oh yes, totally agree! If you ever get to add immersive audio to your system then this should be one of your first titles to re-watch.

I'm planning to go all out ATMOS, but I may defer major purchases for awhile until everything returns to normal. I haven't decided upon how many channels I need as ATMOS set-ups come in many configurations. Until then, I will keep slumming with my 5 channel surround system and my legacy Denon AVR 4806. It is still a helluva a lot better than a soundbar or a pair of headphones.

[cheez avenger]

Fox buys Tubi for $440 million as it attempts to join the streaming wars
With a focus on bringing sports and news to subscribers, not original content

Fox Corporation has acquired ad-supported streaming platform Tubi for $440 million, bringing more than 20,000 movies and shows to the platform.

Tubi, which partners with top-tier studios and networks to provide people with thousands of films and TV shows, currently has 25 million users. Fox Corporation, which is separate from 21st Century Fox (the part of the company Disney acquired in 2019 for $73 billion), doesn’t have its own popular streaming platform.

“Tubi will immediately expand our direct-to-consumer audience and capabilities and will provide our advertising partners with more opportunities to reach audiences at scale,” Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in a press release. “Importantly, coupled with the combined power of FOX’s existing networks, Tubi provides a substantial base from which we will drive long-term growth in the direct-to-consumer arena.”
"“Tubi will immediately expand our direct-to-consumer audience and capabilities.”"

Cable customers can stream some forms of entertainment on Fox’s website, but in terms of a platform that can compete with other free, ad-supported streamers including Pluto TV (owned by ViacomCBS), Xumu (Comcast), and Crackle (Sony), Tubi is now it. An interesting tidbit within the acquisition: Fox primarily used the sale of its stake in Roku, another massive company within the world of free ad-supported streaming, to purchase Tubi.

Fox plans to continue running Tubi as an independent service, according to the press release, meaning it won’t come with a new Fox name. Still, Fox will use Tubi to offer a large number of its older TV shows and movies for free to subscribers. The company is also looking to expand the type of content that Tubi can provide to subscribers through national and local news, alongside sports programming. Tubi is not going to suddenly get into the originals business. Essentially, don’t think of it as a competitor to Disney Plus, Netflix, Apple TV Plus, or Hulu.

It’s a good market to be in. The ad-supported video streaming market saw a 38 percent growth in revenue between 2018 and now, and that number is expected to increase. ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish told investors last month that Pluto TV touts more than 22 million monthly users — a growth of 75 percent year over year. As ViacomCBS grows its streaming footprint (the company also offers CBS All Access and Showtime to customers), having a free, ad-supported service like Pluto TV helps. Bakish also expects that number to hit 30 million by December 2020. Similarly, Xumo has 5.5 million active monthly users, and Comcast sees it as a good asset to have in the streaming wars.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/17/2...luto-viacomcbs