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

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Ender14

Yes, 35mm trailers. I worked as a projectionist and manager for AMC Theaters for around 11 years and once a movie came out we just threw the trailers away, so I started taking them. I have another whole box in storage I need to pull out to finish filling in the spaces.

cool

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Vilya

You're doing it all wrong. My fantasies are all pleasant ones; why are yours always so negative?

Spends too much time in a dark place watching horror movies, what else.

Maybe a change of genre content for 2022.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

@ gotmule
@ bhampton
others with scope screens

How do you all handle scope movies with subtitles? On the Oppo 203 I can move subtitles into the active picture area. The Sony UBP-X1000 and 800 can not do this . Will need to see if the Zidoo Z9X can move subtitles.

If the subtitles aren't in the image I zoom to where they are at least on the screen.

I remember seeing something recently (surely will remember what it was at some point) on Disney+ and the subtitles were off screen but the UHD BD was better because the subs were in the active image area. I believe that was Jungle Cruise which I haven't picked up yet on UHD BD.

Subtitles and VAR are compelling reasons NOT to have a scope screen but there are far too many great movies in scope ratio and the look of a full 2.35:1 movie at home is so much fun.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

@ gotmule
@ bhampton
others with scope screens

How do you all handle scope movies with subtitles? On the Oppo 203 I can move subtitles into the active picture area. The Sony UBP-X1000 and 800 can not do this . Will need to see if the Zidoo Z9X can move subtitles.

I think I fall in that category.

But it is not constant height and the screen itself is a bit taller then 2.35 so a 16:9/1.35.... presentations will be a bit taller then constant height but not get to full width. I then use presets and vertical/horizontal curtains to frame the best ratio for the film.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by gotmule

Has anyone seen Antlers? I am on the fence with picking it up.

Disappointing film. Don't blind buy it.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Subtitles and VAR are compelling reasons NOT to have a scope screen but there are far too many great movies in scope ratio and the look of a full 2.35:1 movie at home is so much fun.

I would estimate that ¾ of my movies are 2.35 or >. For scope movies I zoom to fill my 2.35 screen and have the Oppo 203 set to display subtitles in the active picture area. It does this for the Info display as well.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

@ gotmule
@ bhampton
others with scope screens

How do you all handle scope movies with subtitles? On the Oppo 203 I can move subtitles into the active picture area. The Sony UBP-X1000 and 800 can not do this . Will need to see if the Zidoo Z9X can move subtitles.

It doesn’t happen a lot, but I change aspect ratios on the projector when the subtitles are not visible. I think the last time was when I was working through Better Call Saul. Most of the time they are still visible. Like Bruce, most movies I watch are 2.35:1 or 2.40:1 and subtitles are in the image. With the JVC coming, I am kicking around some sort of masking system but I don’t have room up top for a motorized one. I will be selling my Panamorph lens since it does not work with the JVC.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

not at all. You made the ridiculous assertion that

I just used them as examples to prove that it is far from enough to keep the lights on becasue they closed their lights

I could have been mean spirted and have pointed out that even though

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/nearly-one...221410961.html

"nearly 29% of U.S. Disney+ users that accessed the app between September 1st to September 12th purchased the $30 “Mulan” film"


they did the same with Raya and the Last Dragon, Cruella, Jungle Cruise and Black widow (aka Marvel pablum) and in none of those cases did Disney+ come close to making a profit and if it was not for the money Disney is willing to shell out every month the lights would off.


But then Some might want to dismiss it because it was 30$ for early access and not technically EST and others would pretend I have something against Disney+ (which I don't but we have the numbers and Marvel pablum that supposedly can keep the lights on) and others like you are doing will pretend I mean it as doom and gloom (which I am not they are just the facts unlike your unsupported opinion in this case that is constantly contradicted by the facts)

I remeber when that was said about UV

neither do I fist and foremost because what ever the future holds, I will be able to watch my films if I want to because they are here in my house.

cool, I have no problem with that.

lol, what happened with cinemanow, target ticket.....

Here are some facts then for you to chew on:

Digital sales have seen revenue growth for 10 consecutive years from 2011-2020. Disc sales revenue has fallen every single one of those years.

In 2011, digital grew 8.97% while discs fell 13.27%
In 2012, digital grew 34.61% while discs fell 5.47%
In 2013, digital grew 47.12% while discs fell 8.07%
In 2014, digital grew 30.4% while discs fell 10.85%
In 2015, digital grew 18.1% while discs fell 12.03%
In 2016, digital grew 5.42% while discs fell 9.55%
In 2017, digital grew 5.74% while discs fell 14.1%
In 2018, digital grew 14.43% while discs fell 14.56%
In 2019, digital grew 5.12% while discs fell 18.29%
In 2020, digital grew 16.03% while discs fell 25.55%

2020 is also the year when digital sales ($2.997 billion) exceeded disc sales ($2.451 billion).

2021 is showing declines in both the sale of digital and discs after three quarters, but digital still leads in total revenue $1.705 billion versus $1.378 billion.

When it comes to purchases, all of the growth is with digital and all of the decline is with discs.

https://www.degonline.org/industry-data/

Cinema Now and Target Ticket were only two digital sellers and their failure may have been due to any number of reasons. Digital sales were growing in both 2015 and 2017 when they each shuttered respectively and digital sales were growing in the years prior. Failing in a growing market says more about their likely mismanagement than it does about the digital marketplace as a whole. Clearly, the closure of Cinema Now and Target Ticket did not undermine consumer confidence as evidenced by the unabated growth of digital sales after their demise.

You clearly intended to be mean spirited because you chose to point out the very thing that you said it would be mean spirited to point out. Nothing that you had to say bothered me, sorry to disappoint you, but you can't say that it would be mean spirited to do something and then go ahead and do exactly that without thereby proving that you wanted to be mean spirited all along.

Disney+ has huge start-up costs that will take time to recoup; what is ridiculous is you expecting them to be profitable this early into their existence. Amazon began in 1994, but did not become profitable until 2001. It takes time to grow a business.

Ultraviolet and Movies Anywhere served essentially the same function. The digital marketplace did not need both and the stronger one survived. Most domestic U/V customers retained the vast majority of their UV titles despite this closure.

Nowhere in your reply did you care to comment on what it means for the disc market to lose not three, but four, disc player manufacturers: Oppo, Cambridge, Samsung, and Pioneer.

Hardware manufacturers ceasing to make disc players is another inconvenient truth and that is probably why you chose to ignore it. Year after year after year of declining disc sales and fewer companies making disc players are not signs of a healthy market, but rather of one quickly becoming fringe and niche.

I, for one, can live comfortably with being

[Vilya]

I still have it JohnAV; I can build walls of text, too...and in wide color gamut.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by gotmule

With the JVC coming, I am kicking around some sort of masking system but I don’t have room up top for a motorized one. I will be selling my Panamorph lens since it does not work with the JVC.

Have motorized masking but if I get a JVC then may change the screen also. Looking at the Stewart Filmscreen StudioTek 130 G4 with MicroPerf X² THX Ultra. Will get without motorized masking because I could fit in a larger screen.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I, for one, can live comfortably with being

I believe that is were I have always been.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Have motorized masking but if I get a JVC then may change the screen also. Looking at the Stewart Filmscreen StudioTek 130 G4 with MicroPerf X² THX Ultra. Will get without motorized masking because I could fit in a larger screen.

Nice choice on screens. How big could you go?

[JohnAV]

latest news concerning movie theater chains

AMC Theatres’ New Year’s Resolution: Turn Memestock Status Into Lower Debt - Hollywood Reporter - 1/3

Meanwhile, AMC directors and executives have sold about $90 million worth of stock since its rise in January 2021.

[Show spoiler]

“In 2020 and early 2021, AMC took on debt at high interest rates to survive. If we can, in 2022 I’d like to refinance some of our debt to reduce our interest expense, push out some debt maturities by several years and loosen covenants. With an improving financial position, one of our 2022 goals is to strengthen our balance sheet. There is no guarantee of success, but we will try very hard to get this done.”

The fact that AMC has an improving financial position after nearly two years of a global pandemic is something of a miracle in and of itself.

But December also brought a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which drew astonishing box office numbers even as omicron continues to test movie theaters.

“In our opinion, those who are bearish on the potential for a post-pandemic exhibition industry recovery need to take notice of what just happened,” B. Riley’s Eric Wold wrote in a note after the film’s opening. “A film released in the middle of a pandemic-driven Omicron variant surge with a multitude of at-home viewing platforms in focus just generated the third-best domestic opening weekend box office of ALL TIME.”

AMC fans and other retail traders poured money into the company’s stock sales, despite the warning that accompanied it (“Under the circumstances, we caution you against investing in our Class A common stock, unless you are prepared to incur the risk of losing all or a substantial portion of your investment” [bolding theirs]), 2022 looks to be the year they find out how sharp their spider-senses are.

Spiderman has been good for theaters.

Ontario to Shutter Cinemas Amid Omicron Surge - Hollywood Theaters 1/3

Canada's biggest media market is temporarily closing cinema screens again amid a resurgent coronavirus outbreak.

Ontario is temporarily closing cinema screens in major markets amid a resurgent coronavirus outbreak.

[Show spoiler]Cineplex, Canada’s largest cinema operator, said its Ontario theaters will shut down in two days as the Canadian province takes measures to crack down on a dramatic spike in infection cases due to the emergence of the omicron variant.

“Based on recent government directives, all 67 theaters in Ontario will be closed as of Wednesday, January 5, and will reopen as soon as we are allowed,” a Cineplex spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. Cineplex has also begun offering refunds to all customers that pre-bought tickets for upcoming film screenings.

Despite Spider-Man: No Way Home breaking pandemic box office records, Canada’s recently-imposed capacity and other cinema restrictions amid the Omicron variant surge have blunted key Christmas season ticket sales for local exhibitors like Cineplex. In 2020, Canadian cinema chains shut down their theaters as the novel coronavirus pandemic took hold, and then reopened their circuits as government-imposed lockdowns eased and Hollywood tentpoles once again hit the local multiplex in mid-2021.

The announcement of the latest cinema closures in Quebec and Ontario follows provincial health advisors recommending tightened restrictions for COVID-19 hot spots, which includes Toronto and Montreal, where the number of virus cases is surging.

The Ontario government is looking to stem a post-holiday surge in omicron variant infections to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed and schools able to reopen in mid-January. Investors shrugged off the latest theater closures for Cineplex as shares in the movie chain rose by 12 cents, or nearly 1 percent, to $13.61 on Wednesday

Interesting to note that the marketplace sees this as a another temporary spike and they aren't worried.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Here are some facts then for you to chew on:

Digital sales have seen revenue growth for 10 consecutive years from 2011-2020. Disc sales revenue has fallen every single one of those years.

In 2011, digital grew 8.97% while discs fell 13.27%
In 2012, digital grew 34.61% while discs fell 5.47%
In 2013, digital grew 47.12% while discs fell 8.07%
In 2014, digital grew 30.4% while discs fell 10.85%
In 2015, digital grew 18.1% while discs fell 12.03%
In 2016, digital grew 5.42% while discs fell 9.55%
In 2017, digital grew 5.74% while discs fell 14.1%
In 2018, digital grew 14.43% while discs fell 14.56%
In 2019, digital grew 5.12% while discs fell 18.29%
In 2020, digital grew 16.03% while discs fell 25.55%

2020 is also the year when digital sales ($2.997 billion) exceeded disc sales ($2.451 billion).

2021 is showing declines in both the sale of digital and discs after three quarters, but digital still leads in total revenue $1.705 billion versus $1.378 billion.

When it comes to purchases, all of the growth is with digital and all of the decline is with discs.

https://www.degonline.org/industry-data/

Cinema Now and Target Ticket were only two digital sellers and their failure may have been due to any number of reasons. Digital sales were growing in both 2015 and 2017 when they each shuttered respectively and digital sales were growing in the years prior. Failing in a growing market says more about their likely mismanagement than it does about the digital marketplace as a whole.

You clearly are wishing to be mean spirited because you chose to point out the very thing that you said it would be mean spirited to point out. Not that it bothers me, but you can't say it would mean be to call me, for example, a rude name and then proceed to use that name in addressing me while at the same time claiming to be above that type of behavior.

Disney+ has huge start-up costs that will take time to recoup; what is ridiculous is you expecting them to be profitable this early into their existence. Amazon began in 1994, but did not become profitable until 2001. It takes time to grow a business.

Ultraviolet and Movies Anywhere served essentially the same function. The digital marketplace did not need both and the stronger one survived. Most domestic U/V customers retained the vast majority of their UV titles despite this closure.

Nowhere in your reply did you care to comment on what it means for the disc market to lose not three, but four, disc player manufactures: Oppo, Cambridge, Samsung, and Pioneer.

Hardware manufacturers ceasing to make disc players is another inconvenient truth and that is probably why you chose to ignore it. Year after year after year of declining disc sales and fewer companies making disc players are not signs of a healthy market, but one quickly becoming fringe and niche.

I, for one, can live comfortably with being

Blimey, I had to check you weren’t Lee Stewart for a second there!

[cheez avenger]

Morbius delayed until April 1, 2022.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Blimey, I had to check you weren’t Lee Stewart for a second there!

See, this is exactly how things escalate. Lee has NOTHING to do with my comments. If you dislike what I had to say, take it up with me.

I will buy physical media for as long as I am able to enjoy this hobby; that will not change, but that does not mean that I am going to pretend that things are other than they really are.

More than a decade of plummeting disc sales along with hardware manufacturers ceasing production of disc players says nothing promising about the state of physical media or of its future as anything other than a specialty market catering to a small bunch of die hard devotees and the occasional bargain bin diver.

I turn 60 next month and I have long known that I am way past my prime. The heyday of physical media is hell and far gone, too, and it will not return. Yes, I would absolutely love to be wrong about all of this. Predict the imminent and triumphant resurgence of physical media. I prefer happy fantasies, remember?

[kfbkfb]

https://www.flickeralley.com/mod/mod-faqs/

Then there's the specter of Manufactured on Demand discs, physical media that probably isn't as durable as stamped discs.

About 15 years ago, I copied many of my CDs to blank CDs to play in my car, starting a few years ago, some of the copies won't play songs recorded near the outer edge of the CD.

I bought my 1st MOD DVD ~5 years ago (I didn't think it was an obscure title though) and more recently did get an obscure title on an MOD DVD, so far, no playback problems.


Kirk Bayne

[flyry]

Originally Posted by Vilya

From what I have read about the LG C1, you have made an excellent choice! What size did you choose? Regardless, I hope that it serves you well and that you are over the moon happy with it. You deserve such a nice TV.

I went 65". i really wanted to go 77", but with my current setup it would have been absurd.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by flyry

I went 65". i really wanted to go 77", but with my current setup it would have been absurd.

A 65" screen provides a very good viewing experience while a 65" OLED screen elevates that experience to greatness.

[unberechenbar]

Originally Posted by gotmule

Has anyone seen Antlers? I am on the fence with picking it up.

I liked it. Some beautiful cinematography and a very bleak story. Pretty atmospheric although I was disappointed that the connections made to Native American lore were insubstantial and there was a statement about the environment at the beginning that wasn't explored further. It was somewhat similar to Lamb, if you've seen that.