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

[IronSoldier]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Bloody spoilsports. I was planning on keeping it going until Sunday.

[stonesfan129]

When did rentals become $5 each?

[flyry]

Originally Posted by veritas

Disney movies aren't in 4k on iTunes because Disney and iTunes are feuding over 4k pricing and hd to uhd upgrade policys. So its not possible you watched beauty and the beast in 4k on iTunes you may have watched it in sd though its technically possible.

Us Vudu users don't have that Disney UHD problem

On a related note since you disc lovers always want to pull up posts about digital issues there are multiple reports of The Last Jedi 4K disc freezing.

[veritas]

Originally Posted by flyry

Us Vudu users don't have that Disney UHD problem

On a related note since you disc lovers always want to pull up posts about digital issues there are multiple reports of The Last Jedi 4K disc freezing.

Is anyone else having trouble playing deadwood the complete series on the apple tv 4k? I am getting unexpected error for the last 2 days and I'm not really sure how to fix it and rather reluctant to go though 3 hours of apple customer service to probably not get the problem fixed anyway.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by flyry

Us Vudu users don't have that Disney UHD problem

On a related note since you disc lovers always want to pull up posts about digital issues there are multiple reports of The Last Jedi 4K disc freezing.

I only saw 1 complaint about The Last Jedi 4K on the forum for my player, the Oppo 203. A user got a "pink" screen that usually is just a handshake issue on their particular set-up and a simple restart solved the problem. I am not seeing any other complaints for that disc with my player on the Oppo 203 thread.

On The Last Jedi 4K thread, two people with my player say they can't resume playback at chapter 44 if they chapter skip in reverse, but these are the only complaints I saw involving my player. Even overall, I do not see an avalanche of playback issues. I counted 6 between the two threads, but I only read the last 15 pages of The Last Jedi 4K thread; it has over 2800 posts. Some of the other complaints were simply about a weird white film on the disc that had to be wiped off before playing and that was with a steelbook edition.

There are, of course, varying opinions on the quality. Some say its great, some say the image is drab. Others say the audio is a little subdued requiring the volume to be turned up, but very few complaints that the 4K disc freezes or otherwise fails to play. For what it is worth, the review on this site gives the 4K disc a 5 out of 5 for PQ and AQ and makes no mention of any playback problems.

"Disney's UHD is one of the best, if not the best, in the business. Picture and sound are perfect (just make sure to turn the sound up)."

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Star-...193044/#Review

The seven user reviews do not mention any playback issues, either.

I think we would see a lot more complaints if there were massive widespread problems with this disc. It is a rather popular title after all. Sometimes issues are resolved with a firmware update, too. I don't have it yet, so I can't test it. I will watch the threads more closely to see if more people report problems and if they are similar. I am not finding any pattern to the very few playback complaints I have seen.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by flyry

On a related note since you disc lovers always want to pull up posts about digital issues there are multiple reports of The Last Jedi 4K disc freezing.

Originally Posted by Vilya

I only saw 1 complaint about The Last Jedi 4K on the forum for my player, the Oppo 203. A user got a "pink" screen that usually is just a handshake issue on their particular set-up and a simple restart solved the problem. I am not seeing any other complaints for that disc with my player on the Oppo 203 thread.

Well you have one of the high end Players, I think Oppo's or Panasonic you should not have that many problems. Less expensive low end Players will probably have more problems. Freezing up usually means the processor can't handle the higher resolutions and Bitrate.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by flyry

Us Vudu users don't have that Disney UHD problem

On a related note since you disc lovers always want to pull up posts about digital issues there are multiple reports of The Last Jedi 4K disc freezing.

Well you could always wait until the digital quality matches 4K disc and buy it then. Not sure if they will have the right setup in a retirement home though?

[stonesfan129]

4K disc freezing? I watched it on release day on my Xbox One S, never had that problem. I even went directly to Ch 44 like one of the previous posts were saying, never had the issue. Sounds like a specific player problem. In fact, I've never had a single problem with a Blu-ray disc. I have had maybe 2 or 3 DVDs over the years that would not play out of the box. I returned them and got working copies. Most likely a disc-pressing issue. Anyway, never had a single problem with any Blu-ray I own.

[Vilya]

Even when you do have to exchange a disc, it is an easier process than dealing with Digital customer service from the numerous accounts I have read on the forums here. Digital customer service often denies responsibility and the different providers blame each other for the issue and it can take a lot of time and persistence to get them to correct their mistakes.

A store or an online retailer will simply exchange the disc with no fuss at all. I have even written to the studios directly when I am past the exchange period and in many instances the studios replaced the defective disc free of charge. Exchanging a defective disc has been a rare event for me, but it has also always been an easy thing to accomplish.

[alchav21]

My Digital Collection is close to 600, with only a couple of D2D issues that were resolved quickly. All the problems I have read are with iTunes people. Even with the addition of MA, my Collection has Ported to many Streaming Providers with no problems. I don't have iTunes to worry about.

[Vilya]

I have a whole 95 Digital titles only because of the Disney Rewards migration to MA. I have not tried watching any of them, not even the free Ghostbusters remake that they gave me for doing it.

I wonder how many of the codes I have locked away in my disc cases even still work? For fun, I tried the ones in my Lord Of The Rings extended cut trilogy and they failed, yet I have heard other people say that some codes never expire. It seems like it is just a big crap shoot.

Both disc and digital customers deserve good customer service and I hope overall that they feel they are receiving it.

[flyry]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

4K disc freezing? I watched it on release day on my Xbox One S, never had that problem. I even went directly to Ch 44 like one of the previous posts were saying, never had the issue. Sounds like a specific player problem. In fact, I've never had a single problem with a Blu-ray disc. I have had maybe 2 or 3 DVDs over the years that would not play out of the box. I returned them and got working copies. Most likely a disc-pressing issue. Anyway, never had a single problem with any Blu-ray I own.

I'm still scared every time I buy a new 4K disc that it won't play since I had to go through 3 Crouching Tigers (2 from Amazon and 1 from Target) until it finally played.

Luckily my Sicario and Fury Road played even though those were known for having issues.

Still it's something I never have to deal with with digital.

Every time I get a 4K disc I pop it in immediately just to make sure it plays.

[Steedeel]

https://www.techradar.com/news/mobil...nba-basketball

Yet more evidence of the trend. It says large numbers of their audience watching on mobile ONLY.

Didn’t some of you guys say people would have tv screens for sports ALONE before even discussing movies? It seems younger people just ate not interested n tv screens. I have been saying this all along.

Can we stop it? No, but those that have went digital have accelerated this process by at least a decade.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

https://www.techradar.com/news/mobil...nba-basketball

Yet more evidence of the trend. It says large numbers of their audience watching on mobile ONLY.

Didn’t some of you guys say people would have tv screens for sports ALONE before even discussing movies? It seems younger people just ate not interested n tv screens. I have been saying this all along.

Can we stop it? No, but those that have went digital have accelerated this process by at least a decade.

Nothing in that article alarmed me at all. Sports fans are an avid bunch and they want to watch their teams wherever they happen to be, so they simply use what is available to them at the location they find themselves. Young people are likely more mobile than most, so of course they watch the big game on whatever they have access to; the big game will always be preferred on the big screen.

When I see sales numbers for big screen TVs and projectors decline in double digits year over year, I will begin to maybe worry, but not before. TV and projector sales are healthier than physical media and I am not concerned about the survivability of either.

Right now, TV sales are fairly constant in the U.S. anyways. Nothing to worry about.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...nts-in-the-us/

[flyry]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

https://www.techradar.com/news/mobil...nba-basketball

Yet more evidence of the trend. It says large numbers of their audience watching on mobile ONLY.

Didn’t some of you guys say people would have tv screens for sports ALONE before even discussing movies? It seems younger people just ate not interested n tv screens. I have been saying this all along.

Can we stop it? No, but those that have went digital have accelerated this process by at least a decade.

I agree with Vilya for once, nothing in this concerns me.

The NBA has been miles ahead of other leagues for a long time when it comes to social media and fan engagement , highlights etc, so this is not shocking.

Actually the only time I will watch something on my phone is when a big NBA game is on and i'm still at work. Then I'll rush home and catch the 2nd half on my big screen.

One of my co-workers works the night shift and he has the games on his phone on a "tripod"/stand so he can watch while he works.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by flyry

I agree with Vilya for once

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Can we stop it? No, but those that have went digital have accelerated this process by at least a decade.

That article mentions VR too and during the NCAA tourney here the NBA ran commercials touting VR as being 'as close as you can to sitting courtside'.

Are the people embracing VR also part of this problem?

Could we perhaps delay the inevitable death of The Big Screen if we get those people to smarten up a little and realize the harm they're doing?

Or is just a headset and am I just overreacting?

Originally Posted by Vilya

Nothing in that article alarmed me at all. Sports fans are an avid bunch and they want to watch their teams wherever they happen to be, so they simply use what is available to them at the location they find themselves.

Yup. We've talked about previous generations (who still look very, very good for their age if they do say themselves) would watch all sorts of stuff on small black-and-white portables but sports fans took that to ridiculous extremes.

You couldn't go tailgating without seeing dozens of five inch portables which were later replaced by portable LCD televisions.

And that doesn't even get into how many people are following one or more games on their phones while watching another on a TV or dual-casting (or whatever it's called) the game they're watching on TV.

Originally Posted by Vilya

...the big game will always be preferred on the big screen.

Also true. When those huge three-CRT projection rigs started showing up in the late-seventies/early eighties where were you most likely to find one?

In a sports bar.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by octagon

That article mentions VR too and during the NCAA tourney here the NBA ran commercials touting VR as being 'as close as you can to sitting courtside'.

Are the people embracing VR also part of this problem?

Could we perhaps delay the inevitable death of The Big Screen if we get those people to smarten up a little and realize the harm they're doing?

Or is just a headset and am I just overreacting?



Yup. We've talked about previous generations (who still look very, very good for their age if they do say themselves) would watch all sorts of stuff on small black-and-white portables but sports fans took that to ridiculous extremes.

You couldn't go tailgating without seeing dozens of five inch portables which were later replaced by portable LCD televisions.

And that doesn't even get into how many people are following one or more games on their phones while watching another on a TV or dual-casting (or whatever it's called) the game they're watching on TV.



Also true. When those huge three-CRT projection rigs started showing up in the late-seventies/early eighties where were you most likely to find one?

In a sports bar.

Why are you bringing VR into this? I love VR. It’s a tech that allows me to watch content on a huge screen. I own a headset and I know how fantastic and immersive this tech is. However, I have been around long enough to know that exciting tech doesn’t always go mainstream. Phones ARE mainstream and the point you guys are missing is the article stated young people are watching the sport on mobile as their ONLY access. Not casting, not some tv watching but mostly mobile, mobile ALONE.

By the way, I’m not sure you understand what VR is. It’s the complete opposite of mobile phones. It’s immersive, it has 3D 360 video and 3D spatial audio. You can watch a 200 inch 3D Blu-ray or regular Blu-ray through it. You can experience immersive theatre through it, you can play in any scenario the developers dream up. It’s still a big screen experience. Developers are working on 4K and 8K screens also.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by flyry

I agree with Vilya for once, nothing in this concerns me.

The NBA has been miles ahead of other leagues for a long time when it comes to social media and fan engagement , highlights etc, so this is not shocking.

Actually the only time I will watch something on my phone is when a big NBA game is on and i'm still at work. Then I'll rush home and catch the 2nd half on my big screen.

One of my co-workers works the night shift and he has the games on his phone on a "tripod"/stand so he can watch while he works.

Again, that’s an example of doing both. That’s not what the article says.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Nothing in that article alarmed me at all. Sports fans are an avid bunch and they want to watch their teams wherever they happen to be, so they simply use what is available to them at the location they find themselves. Young people are likely more mobile than most, so of course they watch the big game on whatever they have access to; the big game will always be preferred on the big screen.

When I see sales numbers for big screen TVs and projectors decline in double digits year over year, I will begin to maybe worry, but not before. TV and projector sales are healthier than physical media and I am not concerned about the survivability of either.

Right now, TV sales are fairly constant in the U.S. anyways. Nothing to worry about.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...nts-in-the-us/

I see it differently. Maybe it depends how old you are? If someone is in their 60’s they aren’t going to worry about it as much as someone in their 40’s who is more likely to be affected by it. It would absolutely devastate me as I have loved film from the age of 5.