Anyone @100% Digital?

[PaulMe]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

I've been told that gigabit fiber is coming near me within the next year. It's only $12 more per month than my 25/2 internet service is, but I'll probably opt for one of the slower/cheaper speed tiers of 50/50, 200/200, or 500/500, which should do perfectly fine for getting rid of the occasional streaming issues I experience, making it even more attractive an option for me.

I have mainly physical media. Anything I have seen and want gets a physical copy.

I've started watching many things through streaming/digital purchases that I would have been hesitant to buy on disc. In most cases I would have really not wanted them. A lot of them are complete garbage. I unfortunately have entirely too much media that I bought where that was the only way to see it was buying the media that falls into that category. I doubt I'll want to watch again. But... I put them into storage, at some point I'll rip them all.

Anyway... I have fiber, and I still have streaming issues way more than I care for. Buffering, and just plain timeouts. My connection is just fine, the services just crap out, or the apps just suck. Things just aren't reliable enough for me to want to try switching to digital.

This is of course outside of being entirely at the mercy of the:
Internet provider
Media provider
Studios

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by PaulMe

Anyway... I have fiber, and I still have streaming issues way more than I care for. Buffering, and just plain timeouts. My connection is just fine, the services just crap out, or the apps just suck. Things just aren't reliable enough for me to want to try switching to digital.

This is of course outside of being entirely at the mercy of the:
Internet provider
Media provider
Studios

The only time I have issues with streaming is when my internet is having issues. I've been having that a lot lately late at night, and as a night owl, that can be annoying. If I'm having issues with streaming, I can open up SpeedTest and see that my internet speed and pings are unusually slow.

[meremortal]

A lot of people probably underestimate how much space will be needed for a physical media collection. I've had way too many for years and it was really frustrating during a move last year. I packed thousands away into heavy boxes and bins and injured my back/neck transporting them around. For several months I was having to store them off-site in a storage unit with air conditioning that was pretty expensive. And then once I took them out of there came to the realization that they're probably just better left in the bins and boxes. But the problem is there are so many of them stacked around that trying to find a particular movie can take well over an hour and the pain of moving heavy boxes around to find it. So what I often have to do is find several to watch and sit them aside. And even then I ran out of room and so movies ended up in cabinets and drawers. Organization is pretty much non-existent. As time's gone by I kind of wished I'd gone digital for a decent few of the more casual interest releases and just streamed others. And that said, I still go back and buy some blus of stuff I already have on digital hd as well. Been trimming down the collection a bit but could do much better.

[kwr212]

I've got a fair few Apple movies (970 at last count on Apple), and definitely appreciate the low prices, Dolby Vision/HDR digital exclusives, and convenience. It also takes up no space, which I appreciate but don't necessarily need. But I just don't view them as high quality as the physical releases. Sound is compressed, the file size is so much smaller and often has DNR that the disc version does not to make them more streaming friendly (especially on older titles). Instead, I've got a hybrid collection. I'm ripping all my discs to a local NAS and playing them at full quality (audio and sound) via Plex on an NVIDIA Shield. I still buy (and definitely rent) digital movies, and have nothing against them, but right now the sound quality and sometimes the video transfer is just not as good. I imagine it will match and eventually surpass discs, so I will continue to buy/redeem digitally, but I am probably never giving up my physical media collection. There's still too many benefits. The local NAS and physical discs also still work when the Internet goes down, so that's a plus too.

Another benefit of ripping movies is that you can create your own version of a film that may not exist in physical or digital realms. For instance, the latest DMC blu-ray of Make Mine Music was missing a sequence, so I was able to take that sequence from the DVD and put it in the proper place in the movie file. Now when I play back the movie on Plex, it plays all the segments in the correct order (albeit with the one DVD segment at a lower resolution). There isn't a version of this movie on Apple or Disney+, and even when there will be, it will be the censored version. So this gives me complete control over my collection and the conveniences of streaming.

[Lozin]

Originally Posted by meremortal

A lot of people probably underestimate how much space will be needed for a physical media collection.

This is very true, I'm almost out of space myself and don't want to put up more shelves.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Lozin

This is very true, I'm almost out of space myself and don't want to put up more shelves.

I have noticed that almost everyone that I know, with the exception of one wealthy minimalist (maybe that's why he's wealthy), has a lot of something filling up their home. It may not be movies, but they all own a lot of stuff and as they have aged they accumulate still more stuff.

My stuff just happens to be movies and they are neatly arranged on shelves. From a distance people think that I own a lot of books and they applaud my voracious reading appetite. Owning a lot of books is apparently more respectable than owning a lot of movies. When they discover that they are movies they ask me if I have heard of Netflix ...and they then proceed to ask if they can borrow something. And the answer is always no.

[Darrin88]

I'm at about 90%. My physical collection was large. I moved from a large house to a small apartment and there just was not enough room.

[meremortal]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I have noticed that almost everyone that I know, with the exception of one wealthy minimalist (maybe that's why he's wealthy), has a lot of something filling up their home. It may not be movies, but they all own a lot of stuff and as they have aged they accumulate still more stuff.

My stuff just happens to be movies and they are neatly arranged on shelves. From a distance people think that I own a lot of books and they applaud my voracious reading appetite. Owning a lot of books is apparently more respectable than owning a lot of movies. When they discover that they are movies they ask me if I have heard of Netflix ...and they then proceed to ask if they can borrow something. And the answer is always no.

When I lived in a rural area it seemed like most homes were pretty cluttered with a bunch of stuff. One of my best friends' growing up, their dinner table was always full of newspapers and mail, and there were boxes and clothes piled up. And a lot of people had tools in the garage. In the city, however, it seems most people are more minimalist with things like artwork on the walls and perhaps books.

[InuYashaCrusade]

I don't own a single physical movie at this point. I've still got my physical anime collection. All my movies are digital. Either upgraded them with Vudu or used the codes that came with the physical copies.

[Canada]

All physical media.

[daudino]

Essentially all digital at this point. Had actually gotten down to 0 physical discs, but sometimes I still get a cheap 4K disc, use the digital, then sell the physical copy later.

As someone that once had a couple thousand DVDs and around 500 Blu-ray (4K and regular) it is super nice not to have all the physical items to store.

I may at some point decide to keep a very small, cultivated physical collection of my absolute favorite movies (maybe around 50), but not sure.

I also once had a CD collection of around 10,000, but own only about a dozen in a CD wallet in my car for when I don't feel like connecting my phone/iPod.

Only own a couple books, have gone completely digital with that as well.

[DCW]

I'm 99% digital. Darn you Zack Snyder's Justice League and Star Wars theatrical trilogy.

Edit: Strangely enough, I do have a somewhat large collection of books. I use a Kindle as well but usually only buy books on that from Amazon's deal of the day.

[SmittysGelato]

I think about going digital simply for the money I would save. 4K discs are ridiculously priced in Canada. And then there are some titles that haven't even been released on disc yet. However, when I think about what Disney did with the credits of Toy Story 2 on Disney+, or that any other digital service can yank whatever they want off of there and replace it...I grow hesitant.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by meremortal

When I lived in a rural area it seemed like most homes were pretty cluttered with a bunch of stuff. One of my best friends' growing up, their dinner table was always full of newspapers and mail, and there were boxes and clothes piled up. And a lot of people had tools in the garage. In the city, however, it seems most people are more minimalist with things like artwork on the walls and perhaps books.

I am not talking about clutter where mounds of stuff are piled any and everywhere and are kept in disarray. I am referring to homes that contain a large amount of neatly arranged personal belongings.

People seem to fully utilize whatever amount of space they have at their disposal and this can be done while still maintaining an orderly and clean home. We hoomans just like to accumulate stuff. Attend a few estate sales if you want to see just how much people can acquire over their lifetime. I have found this to be the case regardless of where they live, urban, suburban, or rural. Apparently, people abhor a vacuum as much as nature does.

[the one who knocks]

Originally Posted by Darrin88

I'm at about 90%. My physical collection was large. I moved from a large house to a small apartment and there just was not enough room.

Same scenario here. I mostly only kept stuff that can't be owned digitally yet. I miss collecting sometimes -- especially the boutique labels -- but it's probably more freeing than anything to not be worrying about upcoming releases, sales, filling in gaps, storage solutions, etc. It's also nice to think that the next time I move I won't be hauling like 30 extra boxes.

[meremortal]

Originally Posted by the one who knocks

Same scenario here. I mostly only kept stuff that can't be owned digitally yet. I miss collecting sometimes -- especially the boutique labels -- but it's probably more freeing than anything to not be worrying about upcoming releases, sales, filling in gaps, storage solutions, etc. It's also nice to think that the next time I move I won't be hauling like 30 extra boxes.

It was a really tough experience to move and I don't know how some people can frequently do it. Perhaps it'd be way easier to just pay a dedicated moving company. With a couple, it was really tough to load and unload heavy furniture. And of course the physical media collection was really annoying to move since there were so many boxes. A lot of stuff I just ended up giving away and even that was difficult. Prior to moving I'd set up ads online for people to pick up old furniture for free and was surprised with how many people who never showed up. Several of the people I'd talked to sounded it was a routine game where they picked up stuff pretty regularly and not just as a one-time thing to decorate a home. Threw away so much stuff during that move and am trying to downsize again and it's not as easy as I was hoping.

[gpete]

I have a 400 Disc Sony DVD player and love it still for the convenience of finding and playing a movie. Had Sony not discontinued the Blu-ray version quickly after release, I would probably have a few of those. So really for me it was the end of high volume carousels that pushed me to digital. I hate the idea of having to store 1,500 discs in a way that's easily accessible. Maybe down the road if I have a dedicated theater room.

[bookcase]

I'm far from digital-only (and will never be 100% digital), but it seems I'm heading closer in that direction -- over the past couple years, I went from nearly 1,500 BDs to fewer than 500. If I like-but-don't-love the movie, I keep the digital copy and sell the BD. There are many others in my collection that fit that criteria, so I'll continue to trim the fat.

[Don Corleone]

Why the love for digital. Do you guys like purchasing air ? What if movies disappear from the Apple or Vudu servers. You can’t watch 3D movies over digital. I get it. It’s convenient and you don’t have to search for a disc. But to go 100% digital and sell off all your physical. I just could never do it. Maybe thin it out but I have to keep the essentials on disc (Lawrence of Arabia, Jaws, Indy, Godfather, etc etc etc)

[ThanatosPT]

Originally Posted by Don Corleone

Why the love for digital. Do you guys like purchasing air ? What if movies disappear from the Apple or Vudu servers. You can’t watch 3D movies over digital. I get it. It’s convenient and you don’t have to search for a disc. But to go 100% digital and sell off all your physical. I just could never do it. Maybe thin it out but I have to keep the essentials on disc (Lawrence of Arabia, Jaws, Indy, Godfather, etc etc etc)

And what happens when they no longer support BD players?