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

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Why not Apple? I thought they had a app that had opened up to other tv manufacturers?

IIRC, Samsung and Roku, I see the app on my Roku Ultra. Other than Apple Music I would not hold my breath waiting on Apple to appear on Android.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by AmishParadise

Nice! I just sold a URC MX-980 remote and MRF-350 RFS base station. Both were brand new. I was gifted them years ago for helping someone unbrick one of their URC remotes. At home I have a Pronto based system. I used to beta test for Philips prior to them getting out of the remote control market. I've got a TSU9600 remote in each zone. They talk to RFX9600 extenders (IR/RS-232/Relay/Power Sensing) over my Wi-fi network, the extenders using ethernet. I control my 15 Sony BDP-CX7000ES Blu-ray players and a Sony BDP-S5000ES Blu-ray player using RS-232. I've got a single RS-232 run going from a RFX9600 to a Digital Loggers SS20 20-port Serial Switch. Use of the switch provides for controlling all my Sony Blu-ray players independently or collectively via a single set of RS-232 commands. (To learn more about my setup see here.) In any event, not ready to make the jump to UHD yet, but when the time comes sticking with a Sony UHD player with RS-232 support will certainly be the way to go.

Philips used to make some nice remotes.

I still use my TSU9800

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Really hated to see the Pronto’s leave the market. URC needs a good competitor in the DIY remote market.

They used to have extremely good touchscreen consumer remotes. But they also had a professional series for installers that were more powerful.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

IIRC, Samsung and Roku, I see the app on my Roku Ultra. Other than Apple Music I would not hold my breath waiting on Apple to appear on Android.

Fire TV stick and box also apparently.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Fire TV stick and box also apparently.

They are Android forks, not official Android TV (at least not the last time I looked).

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Yes you have to have a good TV Manufacturer like Sony with Android Apps that are kept updated. I think the Apps work great, I can go with my Remote from IPTV to any Streaming Provider except Apple....With Outstanding Quality!

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

I thought the iTunes 1080p downloads looked like utter garbage. Are their streams any better? I might get a Roku Ultra to stream iTunes if the streams are any better. I can't get the Apple TV app on my Xbox One S yet. I keep thinking Blu-ray is on its last leg and want to make the transition to digital. I love VUDU. But the quality is just not the same.

the problem with alchav is he only knows one adjective that can be applied to digital

Originally Posted by alchav21

My Streaming to all my Providers, including Amazon Prime is Outstanding.

Originally Posted by alchav21

I watched Primal in UHD on Vudu with Nicolas Cage the other day, and it looked Fantastic. No pixelation or banding, the Picture Quality was Outstanding.

[sapiendut]

I’d like to try Harmony Elite Pro 2400. It can take wired ethernet and use regular 3.5mm IR repeater (up to 6 and individually triggered). Too bad the handheld device is still in the form of regular Harmony Elite. I prefer the old Harmony that looks like a tablet.

[Wendell R. Breland]

One feature that I forgot to mention, the X1000 has an IR Input jack. They make no other references to this jack in the manual other than the label.

I did learn that it is a Tip, Ring, Sleeve, a.k.a. Stereo (3.5mm) type with signal on the ring and ground to the sleeve. For those with IR distribution amps, base stations, controllers, etc. you will need a mono cable (Tip, Sleeve) with a stereo plug (Tip, Ring, Sleeve).

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

the problem with alchav is he only knows one adjective that can be applied to digital

Nothing more than a layman posting opinions as facts.

I would grade the very best UHD Blu-ray movies as “Really Good”. I would grade the montage on the Spears & Munsil UHD Blu-ray Test Disc as “Excellent” (IIRC, Stacey shot this with a Red (Dragon?) Runs about 90 Mbps and encoded with x265. I would grade the Sony F65 16 bit RAW content viewed on a Sony BVM-HX310 as “Outstanding”.

[JohnAV]

Box Office: 'Tenet' Debuts to $20M as U.S. Theaters Reopen, Nears $150M Globally - Hollywood Reporter 9/6/20

Christopher Nolan's film is the first Hollywood tentpole to unfurl in the COVID-19 era.
In a key moment for the ravaged box office, Christopher Nolan's Tenet launched domestically with $20.2 million over the long Labor Day weekend as more U.S. cinemas reopened in earnest after being shut for nearly six months due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The tally includes previews both in the U.S. and Canada.

In pre-pandemic times, a domestic start of $20.2 million would be cause for major anxiety (it's Nolan's lowest since The Prestige in 2006). But considering current circumstances — including limited capacity and the fact that only 65 percent of the U.S. market are open — Tenet was always expected to come in well below Nolan's more recent films. And it certainly scored the top gross domestically of any film that's rolled out since theaters reopened.

"Domestically, while our results show positive like-for-like theater indicators compared to previous films such as Dunkirk, there is literally no context in which to compare the results of a film opening during a pandemic with any other circumstance," Warner Bros. said in announcing the grosses. "We are in unprecedented territory, so any comparisons to the pre-COVID world would be inequitable and baseless."

Chief box office analyst Shawn Robbins of Boxoffice Pro agrees: "Having the film open is already a major symbolic success, while the financial bottom lines can't be objectively assessed until we have a better idea of how the global recovery is tracking weeks, or even months, down the line."

The narrative is much brighter overseas where many countries have been able to reopen more quickly than the U.S. Internationally, Tenet has earned $126 million through its first two weekends for an early global total of $146.2 million. In China, it grossed $30 million to come in No. 2 behind local Chinese war epic The Eight Hundred (some had thought Tenet might do more, but it is still Nolan's biggest opening in the Middle Kingdom.)

Warners believes Tenet will have a longer run in theaters than is usually the case, versus boasting a mega-opening weekend. Most analysts agree, saying the film has a shot at earning $500 million worldwide. If it doesn't, it will likely lose money.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Why not Apple? I thought they had a app that had opened up to other tv manufacturers?

Apple is a good Company their stock does very well, I invest in them. Recently they had a 1:4 Split, and I'm sure with their Clone following the stock will climb again. I have never been an Apple guy, still have my Microsoft Phone. Word is that there is an other AppleTV coming. I'm happy with my Android Apps!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Apple is a good Company their stock does very well, I invest in them. Recently they had a 1:4 Split, and I'm sure with their Clone following the stock will climb again. I have never been an Apple guy, still have my Microsoft Phone. Word is that there is an other AppleTV coming. I'm happy with my Android Apps!

On the computing side, I have felt let down by Apple over the last year. Their software used to be rock solid, but for me that is no longer the case imo. I blame iOS13, it seems to be buggy as heck, even after all the updates.
I need them to pull through, otherwise I might have to return to PC.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Nothing more than a layman posting opinions as facts.

I would grade the very best UHD Blu-ray movies as “Really Good”. I would grade the montage on the Spears & Munsil UHD Blu-ray Test Disc as “Excellent” (IIRC, Stacey shot this with a Red (Dragon?) Runs about 90 Mbps and encoded with x265. I would grade the Sony F65 16 bit RAW content viewed on a Sony BVM-HX310 as “Outstanding”.

agree and we are all layman, but that is not the point.

let's say we have a scale from 1-10 and Bob is very strict, and A= 1,B=2,C=3,D=4,E=5 and Joe is very generous with his marking and he has given A=6,B=7,C=8,D=9,E=10. If for me C=6 I know how A or E compare to it and I can use my judgement for what it means. But if Tom gives everything a 1 and Dick gives everything a 6 and Harry gives everything a 10 all their 3 opinions become worthless on the subject.

[Vilya]

Especially for those of you that still labor, Happy Labor Day!

As for the apps on my two TVs, both of which use the Android OS, I have had no issues using or updating them.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

agree and we are all layman, but that is not the point.

From where I sit it is the point. I am a retired audio/video professional. I was responsible for the technical quality of audio/video production and post production for 36 years. That is the reason I mentioned the equipment items in that post and provided links for same.

[stonesfan129]

OK so here we go. I bought a code for The Way Back back on May 18, 2020. It was iTunes HD through MA, so ported over to my iTunes and VUDU. Well went into VUDU to try to find this movie recently to watch it - not there. I tried going into my iTunes account - not there. So it seems this movie is gone like a fart in the wind. Paid for it and they can just say "nope, not yours anymore." I guess had I bought the DVD or Blu-ray, I'd still have it. Anyone know where to start with getting this fixed?

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

OK so here we go. I bought a code for The Way Back back on May 18, 2020. It was iTunes HD through MA, so ported over to my iTunes and VUDU. Well went into VUDU to try to find this movie recently to watch it - not there. I tried going into my iTunes account - not there. So it seems this movie is gone like a fart in the wind. Paid for it and they can just say "nope, not yours anymore." I guess had I bought the DVD or Blu-ray, I'd still have it. Anyone know where to start with getting this fixed?

Yes, scrap digital and go back to disc.

[veritas]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

OK so here we go. I bought a code for The Way Back back on May 18, 2020. It was iTunes HD through MA, so ported over to my iTunes and VUDU. Well went into VUDU to try to find this movie recently to watch it - not there. I tried going into my iTunes account - not there. So it seems this movie is gone like a fart in the wind. Paid for it and they can just say "nope, not yours anymore." I guess had I bought the DVD or Blu-ray, I'd still have it. Anyone know where to start with getting this fixed?

Basically pray since your just at the mercy studios with digital content. The only real fix is to buy physical. If you read the agreements you make with digital then they can pull stuff off a platform with basically no penalty.

You should contact iTunes and they might take pity on you and fix it eventually but consumer protections with digital are pretty none existent and the whole system is set up on faith. if the studios decide to rip you off you have almost no recourse except to sue and try and break a very unfair license that you did digitally sign.

[stonesfan129]

I will wait to hear back. I contacted Disney MA initially, they told me the problem is VUDU since that is where I supposedly redeemed the code through. I contacted VUDU so I will wait and see what I hear back. If it's no bueno there I guess I will be contacting Apple. But this f**king sucks. I paid for the movie fair and square and they just up and deleted it out of my library like that without warning.

Does anyone else own this movie digitally that still has it? It was a redeemer code I bought through a third party. Maybe they saw it was a redeem code and wacked it.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

I will wait to hear back. I contacted Disney MA initially, they told me the problem is VUDU since that is where I supposedly redeemed the code through. I contacted VUDU so I will wait and see what I hear back. If it's no bueno there I guess I will be contacting Apple. But this f**king sucks. I paid for the movie fair and square and they just up and deleted it out of my library like that without warning.

Does anyone else own this movie digitally that still has it? It was a redeemer code I bought through a third party. Maybe they saw it was a redeem code and wacked it.

Vudu maintains a purchase history under your account settings. See if you can find your purchase therein. All purchases are listed there even the zero dollar transactions that came from redeeming digital codes.

If the transaction is listed there, Vudu will all but certainly restore your title to you.