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

[mdo7]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Its not being down for days or months. You had your fun.

Nope, I'm not giving up. The day I see Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, HBO Max, or any of the streaming service provider's servers go down and they couldn't get it back up for about a month (and it will happen at some point). Just because it didn't happened today doesn't mean it'll happened in the future.

Also you failed to explain why Sony's PSN outage lasted months in 2011, I don't see you answering my question. So how can I take you seriously even if you did provide evidence, how do you know you're not wrong, JohnAV?

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by mdo7

Also you failed to explain why Sony's PSN outage lasted months in 2011, I don't see you answering my question.

The outage lasted 23 days. At the time of the outage, with a count of 77 million registered PlayStation Network accounts, it was one of the largest data security breaches in history. It surpassed the 2007 TJX hack which affected 45 million customers.

23 days . . . not months.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/04...eat-psn-outage

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Well Disney stock is at $170 and AT&T is $30, so by that comparison Disney is doing better.

You and Lee might find this article useful

HBO Max Is Finally Showing Progress - The Motley Fool 1/28/2021

AT&T closed the fourth quarter with 17.2 million active HBO Max accounts, up from 8.6 million three months earlier. More notable are the 3.3 million net subscriber additions for those signing up directly for HBO Max. While it's showing good progress, there's still a lot of work left for AT&T and HBO.

A couple things stand out. First, AT&T shifted about 5.5 million subscribers from HBO to HBO Max wholesale subscribers. That's a result of its deals with Amazon and Roku. Amazon previously said about 5 million HBO subscribers pay for the service through its Prime Channels. Roku has a similar offer through The Roku Channel.

Next is the jump in retail subscribers. About 3.3 million households signed up for an HBO Max account. That can also be attributed to the deals with Amazon and Roku. People want to watch HBO on their TVs, not their computers and tablets. AT&T's decision to release Wonder Woman 1984 and its entire 2021 WarnerMedia film release slate on HBO Max no doubt contributed to growth in direct sign-ups as well.

By comparison, Netflix added just 860,000 subscribers in the U.S. and Canada during the fourth quarter. But it does have over 73 million subscribers already -- nearly twice as many as HBO had at the end of Q3. Disney said it had added about 2.2 million Hulu subscribers through the first two months of its first quarter. While Hulu has a subscriber base similar in size to HBO, it's less expensive and it includes Live TV subscribers in that number.

There's still room for improvement
There are a few important details worth diving into from AT&T's results that show it still has work to do to improve conversions.

It's still having trouble convincing subscribers to activate their HBO Max subscription. Just 10.3 million of the 30.8 million wholesale subscribers have activated HBO Max. Even the offer to watch a film previously projected to be one of the biggest blockbusters of 2020 wasn't enough to convince 20 million households to download an app and remember their passwords.

And progress throughout 2021 will get harder. CEO John Stankey noted on the earnings call that Wonder Woman 1984 was a tentpole release. And while HBO Max will have more tentpole releases throughout 2021, not every film is going to generate the spike in sign-ups that Wonder Woman 1984 did.

What's more, the company is now trying to convert an audience that's been unmotivated through the first seven months of the service's life. It's also dealing with the potential for subscribers to churn in and out of HBO Max when it releases a film they're interested in. AT&T tried to stem this behavior by offering a discount for subscribers willing to commit to six months of the service, but management didn't provide any color on its success with that effort.

While HBO Max's fourth-quarter results show promise, there's still a long way to go before it should start celebrating its success.

[Steedeel]

I was thinking more about that whole AR glasses thing this week and I have been reading up about it. Including Apple deciding to with VR as a test bed for some of the tech.

Hypothetically, how long do you guys think we would go from around 92% US households with at least 1 tv and similar numbers for U.K in 2021 to a huge percentage of the world using AR glasses for their screens and tv being made obsolete by this tech. Bare in mind that the first true AR glasses aren’t scheduled until 2023-2024.

[Lee A Stewart]

Can you multitask with AR Glasses like you can watching a TV?

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

Can you multitask with AR Glasses like you can watching a TV?

Yes.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Oh yeah, It's a stellar release. One of the best 4K titles of 2020.

If The Legend Of Zorro gets the same treatment as Mask then I will triple dip on it as well.

[reanimator]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Bare in mind that the first true AR glasses aren’t scheduled until 2023-2024.

I think many people just generally don't care for wearing heavy glasses of any kind, so I think a major ergonomics benchmark will need to be reached.

I've been very dubious about VR for many years -- and the few examples I've tried were very underwhelming, and as you pointed out, on screens with low resolution. That said, right before the plague started I got dragged off to The Void with some friends and grudgingly entered their STAR WARS themed VR experience. And I must say, I was extremely impressed -- by far the best VR I've personally taken part in. We all had a great time and I would definitely recommend it.

I can forsee a day when multiplex cinemas, in a play to keep people coming to brick-and-mortar theaters, might convert some of their under-used auditoriums into these kind of VR environments. Say you pay $30 for AVENGERS PART 10 -- which buys you the movie ticket, and also a reservation for the AVENGERS VR experience down the hall when your movie is over.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

If The Legend Of Zorro gets the same treatment as Mask then I will triple dip on it as well.

I've yet to see Legend of Zorro. It got bashed upon release and everyone I have ever talked to says it sucks. Once they introduce the little kid, it jumped the shark, and killed my buzz.

With that being said, I would definitely give it a chance on 4K.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by reanimator

I think many people just generally don't care for wearing heavy glasses of any kind, so I think a major ergonomics benchmark will need to be reached.

I've been very dubious about VR for many years -- and the few examples I've tried were very underwhelming, and as you pointed out, on screens with low resolution. That said, right before the plague started I got dragged off to The Void with some friends and grudgingly entered their STAR WARS themed VR experience. And I must say, I was extremely impressed -- by far the best VR I've personally taken part in. We all had a great time and I would definitely recommend it.

I can forsee a day when multiplex cinemas, in a play to keep people coming to brick-and-mortar theaters, might convert some of their under-used auditoriums into these kind of VR environments. Say you pay $30 for AVENGERS PART 10 -- which buys you the movie ticket, and also a reservation for the AVENGERS VR experience down the hall when your movie is over.

I used to worry that VR would vanish like 3D films but that’s not going to happen now. The Quest has transformed VR’s fortunes and the developers are starting to really gear up now. The downside of that is there seems a huge bias towards that headset now.
VR is here to stay and the tech will only get better.

The AR glasses? Well, they might be slightly heavier than regular glasses at first but tech moves so quick that I doubt that would remain the case. Most in the industry think we will have full, AR glasses with the ability to overlay sophisticated graphics/objects within this decade. 2023 might see very early versions of the eventual mass market product.

The lens inserts for glasses wearers turns me off though, reflection city. Hopefully Apple crack the self adjusting tech their patent shows that they are working on.

So, what do you reckon? Mass market replacement for all screens by? (I say 2035)

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

So, what do you reckon? Mass market replacement for all screens by? (I say 2035)

I strongly doubt it. The communal TV is so entrenched in our daily lives, I just don't see glasses of any kind replacing it. Augmenting it? Sure. You could just as easily asked will they replace movie theaters. And again I would strongly doubt it.

One of the functions of the television set, unfortunately, is to act as the "electronic baby sitter" for young children. Adults are more prone to accept glasses than children are. That in itself will be a deterrent to adoption IMO.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

I've yet to see Legend of Zorro. It got bashed upon release and everyone I have ever talked to says it sucks. Once they introduce the little kid, it jumped the shark, and killed my buzz.

With that being said, I would definitely give it a chance on 4K.

The very reason that we try to view as many movies as we can, sometimes we agree with reviews and other times we are 180° from most everyone else.

I very much disliked Blade Runner (1982) after a large theater viewing. Watched again sometime later on HBO and have dipped (LaserDisc [CLV, CAV?], DVD, BD, BD and UHD BD) so many times I have lost count since then. IMO, another title with a very good re-mix in Atmos audio.

[sapiendut]

The best Atmos sound from a re-release is Resident Evil. I’ve rewatched the movie a couple more times just because of the sound.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

The very reason that we try to view as many movies as we can, sometimes we agree with reviews and other times we are 180° from most everyone else.

I very much disliked Blade Runner (1982) after a large theater viewing. Watched again sometime later on HBO and have dipped (LaserDisc [CLV, CAV?], DVD, BD, BD and UHD BD) so many times I have lost count since then. IMO, another title with a very good re-mix in Atmos audio.

Indeed. I also have Blade Runner on 4K. I had it on LD, DVD, HD-DVD, BD, and now 4K disc. In addition to digital 4K.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

I strongly doubt it. The communal TV is so entrenched in our daily lives, I just don't see glasses of any kind replacing it. Augmenting it? Sure. You could just as easily asked will they replace movie theaters. And again I would strongly doubt it.

One of the functions of the television set, unfortunately, is to act as the "electronic baby sitter" for young children. Adults are more prone to accept glasses than children are. That in itself will be a deterrent to adoption IMO.

People don’t want to wear glasses now, but things change. Decades ago, teenagers who played games on a PC were nerds. Now, most everyone plays games.
Same with dating apps, teenagers thought it was tragic for people to use dating agencies or advertise in their local paper. Now, most young people use dating apps and it’s accepted.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

The best Atmos sound from a re-release is Resident Evil. I’ve rewatched the movie a couple more times just because of the sound.

I picked up the set during the holidays, but have yet to pop it in. I just ordered a couple of new Line Conditioners for my system, so I will wait for them to be broken in before I take a trip to Raccoon City.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

The very reason that we try to view as many movies as we can, sometimes we agree with reviews and other times we are 180° from most everyone else.

I very much disliked Blade Runner (1982) after a large theater viewing. Watched again sometime later on HBO and have dipped (LaserDisc [CLV, CAV?], DVD, BD, BD and UHD BD) so many times I have lost count since then. IMO, another title with a very good re-mix in Atmos audio.

Even though I really liked the original, I liked 2049 a little bit more. I may be in the minority on that one.

[cheez avenger]

Pre-ordered Donnie Dark 4K disc set and Battle Royale 4K disc set from DiabolikDVD this morning.

[RefractiveIndex]

I'm feeling so vindicated in my decision to stick with physical media right now. When I first decided to make the jump to 4K I decided either I would go with the discs or iTunes but made an objective decision to stay with physical media.

Now that I know I'm moving to Australia permanently towards the end of this year I've found out that I will lose access to the entire library in my UK iTunes account once I've relocated. My iTunes only contains a handful of titles thanks to free codes from discs purchases so there's nothing lost but the point remains.

On the other hand my physical media collection will be shipped with rest of my belongings to Australia.

Stay away from digital movie purchases they are nothing more than indefinite rentals. You have no control, you own nothing. It's foolish for a film fan who spends a lot of money on movies to hand over control of his collection to a big corporation who can deny access at any moment for any reason.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Vilya

It takes a long time to list a large collection and I can easily understand why someone might not want to do so.

not only that but large collections=constantly buying so it is an endless task as well, either you put in the time every week to keep it up to date or very soon any use is useless.