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

[zodwriter]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

If they can get them like designer sunglasses, they may achieve mass market appeal.

It will get to that point eventually. It will also likely become more of an in home environment where we won't even need physical goggles. The exponential technological future will make it all happen!

[veritas]

Originally Posted by zodwriter

Ten to fifteen years moving at today's pace. Again technology is not slowing down. Virtual reality will be completely mainstream by then. People won't be thinking anything about TV when they have their own personal Holodecks. VR is still in it's infancy but it is coming along nicely and is pretty good. I doubt very much in that time we will still be debating this topic.

Technology has in a lot of areas actually slowed down in the last 5 to 10 years. Stuff has gotten cheaper and we have learned to mass produce tech but we would need breakthroughs in our approach to improve tech in quite a few areas such as for example memory, ai, or holograms (and breakthroughs cant be forced so they take years or decades to happen if they happen at all). My computers now around 5 years old and if it was 1995 it would make the computer a dinosaur that could barely function being 5 years out of date but in 2017 even 5 years out of date it's a great computer that's in the 90th percentile in terms of performance.

[whipnet]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

How about airpods then? They have been a big success for Apple. .

Aren't those just fancy proprietary earbuds? And I think the jury is still out on those. Too new. And technically earbuds are illegal to drive or bike with in most if not all states. Not sure about UK. So I would never have a use for headphones or earbuds. I would be an example of someone who would not wear this tech.

As far as what VR can bring us, I think the possibilities are endless.

*

[veritas]

Originally Posted by whipnet

Aren't those just fancy proprietary earbuds? And I think the jury is still out on those. Too new. And technically earbuds are illegal to drive or bike with in most if not all states. Not sure about UK. So I would never have a use for headphones or earbuds. I would be an example of someone who would not wear this tech.

As far as what VR can bring us, I think the possibilities are endless.

*

Ya headphones are illegal in my state to bike with but I don't think I have ever seen a cop try to give a ticket to anybody for it. Its just a rather stupid law when people play music at 120 db in their cars and you can hear them blocks away but that is safer in the eyes of the law then a guy with headphones playing music on low while biking.

Also weirdly blue tooth is ok so now we have weird laws about how the device is shaped to your ear deciding if its legal or not to wear when biking or driving. This is the sort of thing that happens when you have corporations and 70 year olds writing laws for tech.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by whipnet

Aren't those just fancy proprietary earbuds? And I think the jury is still out on those. Too new. And technically earbuds are illegal to drive or bike with in most if not all states. Not sure about UK. So I would never have a use for headphones or earbuds. I would be an example of someone who would not wear this tech.

As far as what VR can bring us, I think the possibilities are endless.

*

Wireless buds. But they are wearable!

Yeah, I hope VR takes off. I need it in my life some more!

[Steedeel]

Zodwriter, I can't quote your post for some reason but yeah, hopefully it will get to the point where the tech is like normal glasses. As for the home without goggles, I don't think I will be around for that!

[dublinbluray108]

While looking at both Blu-ray and streaming/download options available to me so far after watching two movies on Flixster Video and two episodes of a popular TV show on Blu-ray. I think I know what my answer is already.

Blu-rays are a clear winner for me and beat digital streaming & downloads out of the water in terms of quality.

Having both options is all well and good. I don't want a future where it is dependent only on downloads. I would like to have the choice to watch stuff on physical media as well. The only physical media in where it's hitting peak for me right now is through Blu-ray and nothing will change that for the long term. I know UHD Blu-rays are around to the masses. But I'm currently not interested in getting UHD/4K for a fair bit of time.

The future of watching Blu-rays on my TV is very bright. Long live Blu-rays.

[PCFan]

I might be going back to primarily blu-ray for my movie purchases or if I stay with digital, I will switch to primarily iTunes from Vudu/UV due to issues I'm having with Vudu. I won't drop Netflix though.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by PCFan

I might be going back to primarily blu-ray for my movie purchases or if I stay with digital, I will switch to primarily iTunes from Vudu/UV due to issues I'm having with Vudu. I won't drop Netflix though.

I am hearing this more and more. Mind you, that's in the U.K. We only have Sky, ITunes or Amazon.

[flyry]

I did just buy a digital title for full price on Amazon since it's only in SD on vudu and google play(Timecrimes)

[meremortal]

I haven't even used Vudu since they dropped the bulk discount for d2d conversions. It kind of left me a little uneasy since I'd just recently gotten into doing them a few months ago and was regularly hunting the local stores for dvds. I still have several big stacks that I was hoping to get around to but then one day they unrolled the mobile platform and simultaneously ended that promotion with it. So I've been unmotivated to add them to a digital library ever since but still check around to see if they add any discounts. Otherwise I'll stick to blus and streaming.

[huskerbear]

Originally Posted by meremortal

I haven't even used Vudu since they dropped the bulk discount for d2d conversions. It kind of left me a little uneasy since I'd just recently gotten into doing them a few months ago and was regularly hunting the local stores for dvds. I still have several big stacks that I was hoping to get around to but then one day they unrolled the mobile platform and simultaneously ended that promotion with it. So I've been unmotivated to add them to a digital library ever since but still check around to see if they add any discounts. Otherwise I'll stick to blus and streaming.

All of that stuff is only here during the transition from disc based to digital based distribution. Eventually all the D2D and codes, instawatch will be gone imo. I did all my D2D stuff years ago, I buy direct now.

[Steedeel]

That's when we find out the true story. It's one thing getting cheap codes. It's a different thing entirely paying full whack for a item you can't hold in your hands.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Let's see then. Wager? If you are so confident? By 2030, until that point cable will exist. What's your price? Couple of grand?

You do realise sports alone are tied up in contracts until next decade? (depending on the sport)

It seems people feel so strongly about my opinions but can't show any conviction to THEIR comments. That's the Twitter generation for you right there.

[Dustin44]

Originally Posted by meremortal

I haven't even used Vudu since they dropped the bulk discount for d2d conversions. It kind of left me a little uneasy since I'd just recently gotten into doing them a few months ago and was regularly hunting the local stores for dvds. I still have several big stacks that I was hoping to get around to but then one day they unrolled the mobile platform and simultaneously ended that promotion with it. So I've been unmotivated to add them to a digital library ever since but still check around to see if they add any discounts. Otherwise I'll stick to blus and streaming.

^That's why I tried to finish up all my D2D'ing by the end of last year. Because I knew the bulk discounts on D2D wasn't going to last forever. I knew they could end it at anytime. And they finally did about a month ago when they came out with the new mobile D2D.

I mean, D2D is still a very good deal.......But that 50% bulk discount was awesome.

[meremortal]

Originally Posted by Dustin44

^That's why I tried to finish up all my D2D'ing by the end of last year. Because I knew the bulk discounts on D2D wasn't going to last forever. I knew they could end it at anytime. And they finally did about a month ago when they came out with the new mobile D2D.

I mean, D2D is still a very good deal.......But that 50% bulk discount was awesome.

It's still a great deal for blus (imo). But ~$5.50 after fees per dvd adds up really fast after buying to convert to digital. Vudu is just one of those things that I signed up for a few years ago but never got around to embracing until a few months ago. Now I'm back to sidelining it since I've already watched all the content I converted.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by PCFan

I might be going back to primarily blu-ray for my movie purchases or if I stay with digital, I will switch to primarily iTunes from Vudu/UV due to issues I'm having with Vudu. I won't drop Netflix though.

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I am hearing this more and more. Mind you, that's in the U.K. We only have Sky, ITunes or Amazon.

PCFan, you should change your name to ITunesFan, because you never mix PC's with Apples. Blu-rays have ended in 2016 according to my Sound&Vision Magazine, it's UHD now. Some of you guys are still saying Digital HD is no where near Disc, when most of you don't have the Bandwidth or the proper Connection. With my Sony UHD TV Hard Wired with Structured Cat5, I can Stream UHD Video from dozens of Streaming Providers that's equal to or better than Disc Quality...With HDR Sound!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

PCFan, you should change your name to allu? ITunesFan, because you never mix PC's with Apples. Blu-rays have ended in 2016 according to my Sound&Vision Magazine, it's UHD now. Some of you guys are still saying Digital HD is no where near Disc, when most of you don't have the Bandwidth or the proper Connection. With my Sony UHD TV Hard Wired with Structured Cat5, I can Stream UHD Video from dozens of Streaming Providers that's equal to or better than Disc Quality...With HDR Sound!

Really? You are hard wired? You never said before?

Yeah, no. Blu-ray Disc is most certainly not dead in 2017. If it is, someone better tell the labels because they keep churning out delight after delight. So many labels providing us with even obscure titles. Never been a better time to be a collector. Oh, and when/if the day ever comes, I have some rare titles that probably won't ever see the light of day on Digital.

[PCFan]

Originally Posted by alchav21

PCFan, you should change your name to ITunesFan, because you never mix PC's with Apples. Blu-rays have ended in 2016 according to my Sound&Vision Magazine, it's UHD now. Some of you guys are still saying Digital HD is no where near Disc, when most of you don't have the Bandwidth or the proper Connection. With my Sony UHD TV Hard Wired with Structured Cat5, I can Stream UHD Video from dozens of Streaming Providers that's equal to or better than Disc Quality...With HDR Sound!

I need Windows for PC gaming though and that's the only reason I use Windows still and I like having a custom built PC for gaming. I have an iPhone 5s though and I most likely will buy an Apple TV. There are a few attributes of iTunes that I prefer over Vudu. I actually prefer the iTunes service over Vudu but the only thing that makes it hard for me to switch back to iTunes is the size of my Vudu library compared to my iTunes library. I feel like I'm sort of locked into the UV ecosystem.

[flyry]

Originally Posted by PCFan

I need Windows for PC gaming though and that's the only reason I use Windows still and I like having a custom built PC for gaming. I have an iPhone 5s though and I most likely will buy an Apple TV. There are a few attributes of iTunes that I prefer over Vudu. I actually prefer the iTunes service over Vudu but the only thing that makes it hard for me to switch back to iTunes is the size of my Vudu library compared to my iTunes library. I feel like I'm sort of locked into the UV ecosystem.

The irony of preferring something Apple, but feeling "locked" is too much for me

Originally Posted by veritas

Technology has in a lot of areas actually slowed down in the last 5 to 10 years. Stuff has gotten cheaper and we have learned to mass produce tech but we would need breakthroughs in our approach to improve tech in quite a few areas such as for example memory, ai, or holograms (and breakthroughs cant be forced so they take years or decades to happen if they happen at all). My computers now around 5 years old and if it was 1995 it would make the computer a dinosaur that could barely function being 5 years out of date but in 2017 even 5 years out of date it's a great computer that's in the 90th percentile in terms of performance.

The modern smartphone didn't even exist 10 years ago. Nor did the tablets as we know them. It's crazy to me.

I still think VR is stupid and will never be a thing. They'll keep trying every 20 years though.