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

[Anthony P]

happy new year may 2021 be a much better year for everyone

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

happy new year may 2021 be a much better year for everyone

Same to you Anthony.

[gotmule]

Happy New Year to all. May it be filled with health, happiness, and good fortunes.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

So I was about to order the two subs I've had my eye on from Monoprice but they increased the price on it and also charge for shipping, when they didn't. Now good news is that they are actually local down here and are roughly 40 miles away from me. They offer free will call/pick-up, so when the price goes down, I will come back and use that option.

Sorry you missed the lower price deal, were the subs holiday priced or did they increase the regular price?

I too have missed out on discounted prices because I thought the price might go lower so I waited and the price increased. Flip side, a few years ago Magnolia Design Center put my AVP on a ½ price sale, two days later it went to ⅓ price so I ordered. A day after I ordered it went back to regular price and never had another sale on it. A lot of folks at AVS was sorry they hesitated.

When Oppo announced they were coming out with a UHD BD player I signed up for email notification the first day they started taking sign ups. Placed my order the same day Oppo said I could.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by mdo7

Yeah, well guess what. That's going to change when the price of subscription is going to go up.

subscription streaming/renting will always have a price advantage for the most part over buying (i.e. some months I spend 0$ and still get to watch many films- something that can't happen with subscription/rating, if my identity gets stolen, my business and credit rating annihilated and savings emptied out I could go many years (if not the rest of my life) without spending a penny on content just re watching the thousands of titles I already own which is something that won't be true for someone that threw their money into streaming)

[alchav21]

Happy New Year to all you Guys, the New Year always brings New Hope!!!

[mdo7]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

[Show spoiler]

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...8#post18478968

We have a sticky thread that tracks disc sales every week. Let me know the number of times BD outsold DVD will you. And you can use 2019 if you want to avoid the pandemic anomaly.

You still failed to explain why some companies like Sentai Filmworks, and Discotek scrap DVDs and put SD material on blu-ray (aka SD BD). I mean I remember somebody mentioning about Warner Bros joked about putting one of their TV show that was recorded in SD and putting it on BD, and that was way before Sentai Filmworks and Discotek actually did it.

So if Sentai and Discotek were able to expand on SD BD, then maybe other companies may release SD BD in the near future, who knows.

Originally Posted by Anthony P

subscription streaming/renting will always have a price advantage for the most part over buying (i.e. some months I spend 0$ and still get to watch many films- something that can't happen with subscription/rating, if my identity gets stolen, my business and credit rating annihilated and savings emptied out I could go many years (if not the rest of my life) without spending a penny on content just re watching the thousands of titles I already own which is something that won't be true for someone that threw their money into streaming)

Well guess what, not many thing that are released on BD get a streaming. Also, stuff that are on streaming don't stay there for too long.

For example, for the last 2 years, I was watching the Outer Limits (yes, both the classic and the 1995 revival) on Amazon Prime Video. Last month, I found out both shows are no longer available to view on Prime Video. There were several movies I wanted to watch on Prime Video that I added on my watchlist, and I found out several of my movies on my Prime Video watchlist are no longer available for me to watch, and I wanted to watch them badly. Now they're gone, and no other streaming sites has that movie.

That's my biggest pet peeves when it comes to streaming. Shows that used to be available on streaming no longer there for me to view.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

subscription streaming/renting will always have a price advantage for the most part over buying (i.e. some months I spend 0$ and still get to watch many films- something that can't happen with subscription/rating, if my identity gets stolen, my business and credit rating annihilated and savings emptied out I could go many years (if not the rest of my life) without spending a penny on content just re watching the thousands of titles I already own which is something that won't be true for someone that threw their money into streaming)

Streaming is all about having choices for the least expenditure of funds. That's why it's so popular today. People want value for their money. They want lots of content to choose from. And they don't want to spend a lot of money. They will have 3 or 4 SVODs and a whole bunch of free AVODs.

Ownership is no longer a priority. It's become a niche market which gets smaller and smaller with each passing year.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Sorry you missed the lower price deal, were the subs holiday priced or did they increase the regular price?

I too have missed out on discounted prices because I thought the price might go lower so I waited and the price increased. Flip side, a few years ago Magnolia Design Center put my AVP on a ½ price sale, two days later it went to ⅓ price so I ordered. A day after I ordered it went back to regular price and never had another sale on it. A lot of folks at AVS was sorry they hesitated.

When Oppo announced they were coming out with a UHD BD player I signed up for email notification the first day they started taking sign ups. Placed my order the same day Oppo said I could.

I don't believe they were on any sort of holiday sale. The funny thing is I just went to their site and the subs are now $4 cheaper and they once again offer free shipping. I still pay the sales tax, though.

Granted, even with this new adjustment, I would still be paying $42 more for the order than when they were first on sale a month or two ago.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by mdo7

You still failed to explain why some companies like Sentai Filmworks, and Discotek scrap DVDs and put SD material on blu-ray (aka SD BD). I mean I remember somebody mentioning about Warner Bros joked about putting one of their TV show that was recorded in SD and putting it on BD, and that was way before Sentai Filmworks and Discotek actually did it.

So if Sentai and Discotek were able to expand on SD BD, then maybe other companies may release SD BD in the near future, who knows.

Those are Japanese releases. Japan likes to experiment. Remember MUSE-LD? First HD on disc sold to the public. 12 years before BD/HD DVD.

BTW, at one time WB talked about putting a BD on one side and an HD DVD on the other: a hybrid flipper. It went nowhere. Just like your SD/BD instead of DVD.

If it hasn't happened by now, it's not going to happen at all. The cost of making a DVD is still cheaper than a BD. Always has been, always will be. That's why so many US releases are DVD only. Cheaper to make and the buying market is bigger. If you had taken the time to visit the thread I listed you would see that almost all the time, DVD is outselling BD. But you have chosen to ignore this fact. It doesn't fit your agenda.

DVD players will always be cheaper than BD players. They have a single red laser while a BD player needs both a red and blue laser. They only pay a single license fee and a single royalty per player. BD players have two license fees and two royalties per player: DVD and BD because BD players have to be backwards compatible with DVD.

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by mdo7

Well guess what, not many thing that are released on BD get a streaming. Also, stuff that are on streaming don't stay there for too long.

For example, for the last 2 years, I was watching the Outer Limits (yes, both the classic and the 1995 revival) on Amazon Prime Video. Last month, I found out both shows are no longer available to view on Prime Video. There were several movies I wanted to watch on Prime Video that I added on my watchlist, and I found out several of my movies on my Prime Video watchlist are no longer available for me to watch, and I wanted to watch them badly. Now they're gone, and no other streaming sites has that movie.

That's my biggest pet peeves when it comes to streaming. Shows that used to be available on streaming no longer there for me to view.

Absolutely true. I have had things disappear on me on every site. Poof. Gone. It wont take long for Disney+ to also do this since they use to love putting titles in vault to create fake shortages. So they'll play that game eventually too where things will disappear on their D+ service. And of course, there is a TON of content that simply cannot be streamed and might never be.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Vinegar Syndrome is back and open for business. Just ordered the UHD BD of The Beastmaster.

[stonesfan129]

The only things I watch on streaming are codes from my disc purchases and then I have 1 or 2 things on there which are not available on disc yet. Ever since getting a 4K TV, I have been buying Blu-rays again, even if just the 1080 ones. I think streams look okay on it, but Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray both look better significantly. Only thing I hate about my player (Xbox One S) is that it doesn't support Dolby Vision (it says the TV doesn't, but Vudu and iTunes both play HDR on it correctly using the native apps).

I have been reading here and there about Disney saying they're not supporting the 4K Blu-ray format anymore (wonder if this is discs in general) in order to get people onto Disney+. And Samsung and Oppo as you all know stopped making 4K Blu-ray players all together. I really hope this format doesn't go the way of 3D Blu-ray.

I started warming up to using Vudu until things I bought with an Instawatch code were wiped after Fandango bought them. It would really be nice if iTunes had a Mobile D2D option like Vudu does. I would use iTunes entirely if they supported that. But as like others have said here, all it takes is for the services to be sold and then your codes can be removed and there's little you can do about it.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by s2mikey

Absolutely true. I have had things disappear on me on every site. Poof. Gone. It wont take long for Disney+ to also do this since they use to love putting titles in vault to create fake shortages. So they'll play that game eventually too where things will disappear on their D+ service.

Disney like all the other studios are dealing with long term "content leasing" contracts which were done prior to them even considering going into the streaming business.

Eventually, when all the contracts expire, the content will return to the originating studios.

So what's the upshot? People will just cancel one SVOD and adopt another. And when the content returns - they will cancel/adopt again.

And of course, there is a TON of content that simply cannot be streamed and might never be.

This needs further explanation. Exactly what content can't be streamed and why?

BTW, streaming services adds new content each month. Here are just 3 examples:

https://tvanswerman.com/2020/12/31/d...s-wandavision/

https://tvanswerman.com/2020/12/24/h...-january-2021/

https://tvanswerman.com/2020/12/20/n...new-originals/

[Vilya]

People attribute all manner of evil to Disney, but they have not officially said that they were dropping support for any disc format.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by mdo7

Well guess what, not many thing that are released on BD get a streaming. Also, stuff that are on streaming don't stay there for too long.

For example, for the last 2 years, I was watching the Outer Limits (yes, both the classic and the 1995 revival) on Amazon Prime Video. Last month, I found out both shows are no longer available to view on Prime Video. There were several movies I wanted to watch on Prime Video that I added on my watchlist, and I found out several of my movies on my Prime Video watchlist are no longer available for me to watch, and I wanted to watch them badly. Now they're gone, and no other streaming sites has that movie.

That's my biggest pet peeves when it comes to streaming. Shows that used to be available on streaming no longer there for me to view.

what does that have to do with what I posted and what I replied to?

Let me put it this way if Phineas buys 4 10$ films on physical media a month to watch (and the rest stuff in his collection) and Suzy spends 10$ a month for her streaming service her streaming service (or she can add more for more content) can quadruple and she will still feal she has a better deal then Phineous. there is no way the two can compete on price unless one adds extrenuating circumstances (i.e. Month X Phineous did not buy anything but was still able to watch his films while Suzy had to pay her 10$ or she lost access to all the content.

As to this post, I fully agree with you. When I first started collecting that was the major reason, I went to the rental store, looked for the film I wanted to watch and it was no longer there on the shelf, that is when I decided to buy films that were important to me, it then expended to why would I want to deal with going going to the rental place and now to why would i want to waste my time on a low quality version of the film. But I am not everyone we all have stuff that is important to each of us. Like Lees chart shows people that do streaming do so because it is cheap, "being able to watch the content I want" did not even make it to the list (the closest to that concept is live content that was dead last) there was resolution which fell low in the list but even then it the quality of that resolution did not make the list. To put a fun spin on this there is a reason it is called Netflix and chill, no one cares what is playing it is just an excuse for "chilling" ( or background noise or an excuse to sit on their a$$.). That might not be what I am about and maybe not what you are about but in the end every person is different. I don't care if my car has no luxury features and is starting to rust since it is still exceptionally good at getting me from A to B. But for others a car is a status symbol, for others they care about a luxurious ride, others like to see power..... and even though peoples priorities at the individual level can change at the end of the day there will always be people that care what they watch when they sit down and people that want the cheapest option.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

Streaming is all about having choices for the least expenditure of funds. That's why it's so popular today. People want value for their money. They want lots of content to choose from. And they don't want to spend a lot of money. They will have 3 or 4 SVODs and a whole bunch of free AVODs.

agree 100% most people in whole or in part don't care about quality but just # of crappy titles. That is what we have all tried to tell you and Alchav since the beginning and why it will always be a bad choice when someone actually cares about content and quality.

Ownership is no longer a priority. It's become a niche market which gets smaller and smaller with each passing year.

again agree 100% the difference is physical media can survive in an ultra niche market and even in a "dead" market (people can listen to their 8-tracks or watch their laserdiscs if they want). virtual media cannot.

[Ron2600]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

This isn't 100% fair sene some movies and TV shows only get a DVD release, l wonder what it would look like it it only showed releases that got. Blu-ray and DVD release.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

Let me put it this way if Phineas buys 4 10$ films on physical media a month to watch (and the rest stuff in his collection) and Suzy spends 10$ a month for her streaming service her streaming service (or she can add more for more content) can quadruple and she will still feal she has a better deal then Phineous. there is no way the two can compete on price unless one adds extrenuating circumstances (i.e. Month X Phineous did not buy anything but was still able to watch his films while Suzy had to pay her 10$ or she lost access to all the content.

OK - Phineous spends $40/mo. for 4 new films on PM. Suzy spends $10 a month on her streaming service (Disney+). Disney+ currently has 500 movies available and more than 7,500 TV episodes along with original content. Each month Disney+ adds new content to the service.

In 3 months Phineous has spent $120 and got 12 new movies. Suzy spends $120 and gets an entire year of Disney+. The existing available library plus 12 new monthly additions.

Phineous is stuck rewatching content while Suzy enjoys watching new content all year . . . for the same price.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Vinegar Syndrome is back and open for business. Just ordered the UHD BD of The Beastmaster.

Silent Madness has a superb 3D transfer if you are interested.