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

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by CV19

I know how you feel when you ring them up and have to listen to recorded messages. Every time I get through to a call centre, it's the same - you get that patronising voice telling you how important you are to them and thanking you for hanging on in the queue.

Honestly though, I hope your issues are resolved very quickly. You deserve free internet for life just for your patience.

The waiting is not the most irritating part; it is when the robot wastes your time trying to diagnose and fix your problem...each and every time you call in. You can't skip this step and the robot never fixes anything; it just wastes still more of your time. I have to say "agent" repeatedly to shut the damn robot up.

I can't claim that I was patient; I called them every single time I had an outage and they got an earful after the four tech visit and still no solution. I was never profane or rude, but I was direct, firm, and blunt with them. I made certain that they were aware of my dissatisfaction.

It was never their idea to credit my bill, after all. I had to insist upon it. You have to be a "squeaky wheel" with these giant ISPs; they volunteer nothing.

I also had to insist on that supervisor visit. His visit was the 6th service visit in a 27 day period and I felt it was high time someone more qualified than their typical tech look into these problems.

My ISP did nothing for me that I did not demand of them in the first place.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Vilya

69 hours of stable internet...71 is the current record.

The Supervisor Of Technical Operations visited me yesterday and told me there were several ongoing issues in my area. He told me that some thieves wanting free cable TV service had disrupted internet service in the city nearest to me after they had hacked into the system. He said that thieves interrupt service somewhat frequently. Last year, when one of his techs confronted a thief, the thief opened fire on the tech with a hand gun! Thankfully, the tech escaped with only minor injuries.

Whether any of that is true, I don't know, but it makes for a more interesting story than the usual tech talk I have been given.

He also told me that Mediacom runs a single fiber line to my village and that it is all copper from that point.

He told me to call him directly if I have anymore problems, thereby allowing me to bypass the annoying robot that answers their main phone number. Maybe, just maybe, there is an end in sight to my internet nightmares?

It sounds like they found the Leak, and you got a knowledgeable Supervisor. If your Internet holds up they fixed the problem. If it goes down again they still have a Leak. Your Network is coming into view, Fiber to your Village and Coax from there. So it should be easy to back track and find the Leaks. Good Luck!

[stonesfan129]

I see this thread is still going. Does anyone create their own digital versions? If this is against the rules to discuss, please tell me and I will delete the post and speak no more about it.

[stonesfan129]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

It is my understanding that it is only against the rules to discuss how to make your own copies. As long as you don't advise people in methods of making copies it should be okay.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/faq.php?faq=forumrules


If hard drives were drastically cheaper I probably would make my own copies. But I'm not willing to pay a few thousand dollars just to make my collection more convenient. And hard drives tend to die after a few years so it would be an ongoing cost of a few thousand dollars every 5 years or so. That's a huge expense just for convenience.

Thanks. Yeah that's kind of what I figured too, that it's not really worth it if you have a large collection and all the time spent and probably the quality loss incurred if you compress them.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

If hard drives were drastically cheaper I probably would make my own copies. But I'm not willing to pay a few thousand dollars just to make my collection more convenient. And hard drives tend to die after a few years so it would be an ongoing cost of a few thousand dollars every 5 years or so. That's a huge expense just for convenience.

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

Thanks. Yeah that's kind of what I figured too, that it's not really worth it if you have a large collection and all the time spent and probably the quality loss incurred if you compress them.

Starting with DVD and going into Blu-ray, I made my own Back-ups 1:1. I would take all that Junk off, and just start with the Movie. I enjoyed watching my Back-ups more that the Commercial Disk. I did have them on my Hard Drive, and played around with Streaming them to my HDTV over a Decade ago before Streaming Providers. I now have a Digital HD and UHD of over 600 Movies. Like we have discussed here with enough Consistent Bandwidth Disc Quality can be achieved, and in my opinion it has. Especially with Streaming Providers like Amazon, MA, and Vudu.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Like we have discussed here with enough Consistent Bandwidth Disc Quality can be achieved, and in my opinion it has.

The bitrates don't lie: streaming has not matched disc quality. You are free, of course, to believe anything you choose.

If you were to rip your movies from a blu-ray to a hard drive in their full 1:1 file sizes, which can easily run from 20-50 gb each, you would fill up a lot of hard drives. Same thing if you download them in their equivalent blu-ray file size.

With 4K UHD, the file sizes can can vary from 60-100gb. Ripping these 1:1 or downloading these files in the same sizes as found on the 4K disc would devour hard drive space.

And it would be very time consuming. Just imagine how many hard drives I would need to accommodate my collection. It would be absurd and exorbitantly expensive. I once calculated that I would need to spend $80,000 to buy all of the hard drives I would need to store my collection and that was over a year ago and before I started buying 4K discs; my collection has grown a bit since then.

I downloaded a 22.4 gb file late last night. It took nearly 3.5 hours. The time could have been a factor of the website I was downloading from and my notorious ISP, but it still a slow process. Downloading files of that size routinely would blow through my paltry data cap of 250 gb per month and it would be beyond tedious.

Hard drive storage of a large movie collection is wildly impractical. I have found that my discs are extremely reliable and way more durable than any conventional hard drive. I use all SSD drives (Samsung) in my computer and my discs will likely outlast them, too.

A new streak is under way: 96 hours without an outage. Almost time to bake a cake!

[stonesfan129]

Originally Posted by Vilya

The bitrates don't lie: streaming has not matched disc quality. You are free, of course, to believe anything you choose.

If you were to rip your movies from a blu-ray to a hard drive in their full 1:1 file sizes, which can easily run from 20-50 gb each, you would fill up a lot of hard drives. Same thing if you download them in their equivalent blu-ray file size.

With 4K UHD, the file sizes can can vary from 60-100gb. Ripping these 1:1 or downloading these files in the same sizes as found on the 4K disc would devour hard drive space.

And it would be very time consuming. Just imagine how many hard drives I would need to accommodate my collection. It would be absurd and exorbitantly expensive. I once calculated that I would need to spend $80,000 to buy all of the hard drives I would need to store my collection and that was over a year ago and before I started buying 4K discs; my collection has grown a bit since then.

I downloaded a 22.4 gb file late last night. It took nearly 3.5 hours. The time could have been a factor of the website I was downloading from and my notorious ISP, but it still a slow process. Downloading files of that size routinely would blow through my paltry data cap of 250 gb per month and it would be beyond tedious.

Hard drive storage of a large movie collection is wildly impractical. I have found that my discs are extremely reliable and way more durable than any conventional hard drive. I use all SSD drives (Samsung) in my computer and my discs will likely outlast them, too.

A new streak is under way: 96 hours without an outage. Almost time to bake a cake!

To be fair, he is not wrong that given enough bitrate, streaming 'can' match disc, and he did say it was his opinion that it had.

[Vilya]

I have been watching old episodes from the first season of Hazel and I just finished their first color episode where Hazel and Mr. Baxter go shopping for TVs- color ones at that.

The salesman proudly shows them the best set in the store: a 25" color console with a stereo record changer/ radio for just $895...in 1961. Today, that would be the same as spending $7,499.62 , and again for just a 25" TV and a stereo record player/ radio with the in cabinet speakers a mere three feet apart for awesome stereo separation.

It was a set-up rather like this 1963 model:



I don't think I will ever complain about the price of TVs again. Our purchasing power today, for electronics anyway, is astounding compared to what you could buy then and for many decades thereafter. $7,499.62 buys a pretty amazing TV today, far beyond anything they could have imagined in 1961.

[octagon]

I honestly can't remember the last time I complained about the price of TVs.

Wait, no, that's not true. Every time I've bought a TV the price of that TV dropped significantly shortly after.

But other than that, no, no complaints here.

TVs have been getting bigger and better and cheaper and it's freaking awesome.

[Vilya]

I have noticed that many, not all, dvds stored in translucent white cases, such as TV seasons in particular, are prone to getting covered in a heavy, milky residue. This residue is different than the greasy film that sometimes appears on discs from either black cases or on blu-ray discs from their cases. The residue from these translucent white cases "dries" onto the discs and it can be stubborn to remove. I found an answer for it and I describe it here for those that are interested:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...67&postcount=9

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I have noticed that many, not all, dvds stored in translucent white cases, such as TV seasons in particular, are prone to getting covered in a heavy, milky residue. This residue is different than the greasy film that sometimes appears on discs from either black cases or on blu-ray discs from their cases. The residue from these translucent white cases "dries" onto the discs and it can be stubborn to remove. I found an answer for it and I describe it here for those that are interested:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...67&postcount=9

Thank you for posting this. I often notice a greasy residue on blue or black cases, so I'll check the clear ones as I do have a fair amount of them. Arrow normally supply their Blu-rays in these clear cases.

Frankly, I think they should go back to the sturdier non-glossy type of Amaray case we used to have with DVD's when they were first introduced. Normally they were a dark grey colour and were much stronger; I rarely ever had one cracked or broken as I seem to get now and again with Blu-rays. These new ones now are very cheaply made I dare say - and it shows.

[Steedeel]

Never had that problem, odd.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Never had that problem, odd.

I've picked out about a dozen or so titles at random that came with clear cases just to check them out, and nothing seems to be showing up at the moment. However, in another few years time, you never know.


Just as an added note, all the cases I checked were Amaray. I don't know if the problem you're having is with specific brands or whether it's with any of them.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by CV19

Thank you for posting this. I often notice a greasy residue on blue or black cases, so I'll check the clear ones as I do have a fair amount of them. Arrow normally supply their Blu-rays in these clear cases.

Frankly, I think they should go back to the sturdier non-glossy type of Amaray case we used to have with DVD's when they were first introduced. Normally they were a dark grey colour and were much stronger; I rarely ever had one cracked or broken as I seem to get now and again with Blu-rays. These new ones now are very cheaply made I dare say - and it shows.

Even Blu-Ray cases today are not as sturdy as the ones made early in the format's life. While the eco-cases are obviously flimsier, even the non-eco ones are flimsier than the ones from years ago. I've compared them first hand.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

Even Blu-Ray cases today are not as sturdy as the ones made early in the format's life. While the eco-cases are obviously flimsier, even the non-eco ones are flimsier than the ones from years ago. I've compared them first hand.

You're absolutely right, those eco-cases are very flimsy. I arrived on the Blu-ray scene fairly late I have to admit, so I don't know what the first cases were like in comparison. But it so happens earlier on I was sorting some DVD's out and I still have lots of titles released back in 1999/2000. Those old cases were certainly more durable, and none of them ever had that residue on the inside like you get with today's cases.

[stonesfan129]

I used to like those whitish/clear DVD cases. I think Criterion uses them.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

I used to like those whitish/clear DVD cases. I think Criterion uses them.

Here in the UK there was a video company called 'Entertainment In Video' which used white cases for their DVD's. I have several of these too and they were made by Amaray.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by CV19

Here in the UK there was a video company called 'Entertainment In Video' which used white cases for their DVD's. I have several of these too and they were made by Amaray.

In my opinion, the worst company to ever release DVD.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

In my opinion, the worst company to ever release DVD.

Do you mean for extras? I'd agree with that mate. Some early titles I have from them have absolutely zilch......they call 'scene selection' a special feature. It's probably only the Lord Of The Rings set where they've put in some sort of effort into it.

[tob]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

In my opinion, the worst company to ever release DVD.

If you want a example you should look what they did to Turbulence i can't watch it on dvd but at least i have it on Sky HD in its normal aspect ratio and in HD.