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

[tjritter79]

Originally Posted by Jumpman

I concur with this statement, especially after signing up for Hulu this week. Their quality is damn good.

Not a fan of their live TV service. The on-demand stuff is top-notch tho.

I've tried 3 live Tv services now: PS Vue, Hulu & DirecTV Now.
Aside from my login being identical to my AT&T login, I see no connection between DTVNow & regular DTV (satellite) perhaps its an outsourced service?
Anyway, I'm most happy with DTV Now, faster, better picture, better deals, and their guide is quick. Hulu Live has NO guide at all.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Yep, cutting their bitrates imo. Don’t tell Vilya though, as he thinks it’s my latest conspiracy theory.

More a delusion than a theory, I'm afraid. I am far from being alone in my assessment of your predictions.

The bitrates were not "lower"; the image simply degraded at times. It would return to normal after I paused then resumed. The majority of the movie played fine. I get the impression that Amazon can not handle the demand from their customers and the quality deteriorated as a result.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

More a delusion than a theory, I'm afraid. I am far from being alone in my assessment of your predictions.

The bitrates were not "lower"; the image simply degraded at times. It would return to normal after I paused then resumed. The majority of the movie played fine. I get the impression that Amazon can not handle the demand from their customers and the quality deteriorated as a result.

A entire community of people online would disagree with you, but what do I know? You musnt keep up with news tech wise. It is my opinion that they did indeed lower their bit rates. Many people complained.

[Vilya]

My ISP, when working, is more than adequate to stream any content from any provider. I get 80 Mbps down and that is with the lowest tier of service provided by my ISP; I could go higher, but I have not found any reason to do so. The only reason I might is to increase my data cap which is currently at 250 GB per month.

I have streamed from Netflix and from youtube and I seldom experience intermittent image degradation like I do with Amazon. If my streaming is fine with 2 out of 3 of these sources, the problem appears to be with Amazon, not my ISP, and certainly not with my wireless network.

Next month, I will add Vudu and rent something in 4K just to see how well that goes.

Adaptive streaming does not magically elevate streaming bitrates to anything near that of discs. All you get from Netflix and others is at most an average of 16 Mbps, whether you have 80 Mbps internet service, like I do, or even if you get 1 Gbps. Streaming providers offer 16 Mbps for their 4K streams and that's all.

[Jumpman]

Originally Posted by tjritter79

Not a fan of their live TV service. The on-demand stuff is top-notch tho.

I've tried 3 live Tv services now: PS Vue, Hulu & DirecTV Now.
Aside from my login being identical to my AT&T login, I see no connection between DTVNow & regular DTV (satellite) perhaps its an outsourced service?
Anyway, I'm most happy with DTV Now, faster, better picture, better deals, and their guide is quick. Hulu Live has NO guide at all.

Haven’t done live TV over the net. I still have cable via Spectrum. Not my choice. But I do want to try it once...

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Jumpman

Haven’t done live TV over the net.

As an alternate, you could use a SiliconDust or Hauppauge device tuner, antenna required, and stream to your LAN.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

A entire community of people online would disagree with you, but what do I know? You musnt keep up with news tech wise. It is my opinion that they did indeed lower their bit rates. Many people complained.

I wonder about that sometimes, too. There's an entire community online that believes the world is flat, also. Claiming that you have met like-minded people online is not evidence and it does nothing to lend credence to your predictions.

If the image degradation that I observed with Amazon Prime last night were due to them lowering their bitrates, I would have experienced a lower quality image throughout the entire runtime of the movie I viewed. That is not what happened.

The image deteriorated four times over 88 minutes; it was intermittent in nature and it was correctable by pausing and resuming. Most of the movie played as it should. I have used Amazon Prime streaming before and the image looked as good as it ever has other than these periods of image degradation. It seems like Amazon simply can not meet the demand upon their servers or that they refuse to pay for enough bandwidth or even both.

Lastly, the published bitrates for Amazon have not changed. I have found no articles that state that Amazon, or any other streaming provider, have lowered their bitrates. Without such evidence, your case is weak at best and suggestive of other issues at worst.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I wonder about that sometimes, too. There's an entire community online that believes the world is flat, also. Claiming that you have met like-minded people online is not evidence and it does nothing to lend credence to your predictions.

If the image degradation that I observed with Amazon Prime last night were due to them lowering their bitrates, I would have experienced a lower quality image throughout the entire runtime of the movie I viewed. That is not what happened.

The image deteriorated four times over 88 minutes; it was intermittent in nature and it was correctable by pausing and resuming. Most of the movie played as it should. I have used Amazon Prime streaming before and the image looked as good as it ever has other than these periods of image degradation. It seems like Amazon simply can not meet the demand upon their servers.

Lastly, the published bitrates for Amazon have not changed. I have found no articles that state that Amazon, or any other streaming provider, have lowered their bitrates. Without such evidence, your case is weak at best and suggestive of other issues at worst.

Please do some research.

[Groot]

Originally Posted by tjritter79

You could try a "repeater".
I have 3 of these throughout my house to enhance the wireless capability, especially the 5.0 band. Each unit has 5 1GB Ethernet ports so if strategically placed, you could hook up as many as 5 wired devices. Since the signal is amplified, you'll find the wired devices run better/faster than those that run on wireless.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-671-_-Product

I don’t need it? No where would my post indicate I’m having internet issues or signal loss. Amazon is just shit.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Please do some research.

I have. I have already posted two links about the bitrates provided by streaming providers. I came across zero articles that stated that any had lowered their bitrates.

I have read many of the links that you have provided that describe new services and products in various stages of development. It is you, not the author of the articles themselves, that then draws the curious conclusion that this spells doom for existing products.

Generally speaking, providing evidence is the responsibility of the person presenting a "theory", especially when the "theories" are as outlandish as yours are.

I am not going to spend any effort investigating your wild predictions:

Big TVs are going to disappear! Content will only be viewed on phones! Movie length features and traditional episodic TV will be replaced by 10 minute long shorts! Streaming providers are lowering their bitrates and adding HDR to everything to conceal their actions!

I have better uses for my time.

[Akibiyori]

Originally Posted by Groot

I don’t need it? No where would my post indicate I’m having internet issues or signal loss. Amazon is just shit.

Did you happen to watch some old SD sourced movie or show? They often seem to react poorly to streaming from various sources. Earlier this year during my Prime trial membership I watched a ton of Arrow Video stuff and it was all top notch quality - the Battles Without Honor and Humanity sequels all looked about as good as my Blu of the original and I never encountered any quality drops.

[Groot]

Originally Posted by Akibiyori

Did you happen to watch some old SD sourced movie or show? They often seem to react poorly to streaming from various sources. Earlier this year during my Prime trial membership I watched a ton of Arrow Video stuff and it was all top notch quality - the Battles Without Honor and Humanity sequels all looked about as good as my Blu of the original and I never encountered any quality drops.

Some of their originals and a few recent films. I’ve looked it up, I’m not the only one who experiences similar issues. Not every single time, but depending on the geographical location of the servers it can have severe color and formatting issues.

[Vilya]

I called my ISP and the next higher tier of service is for 100 Mbps and a 1 TB monthly data cap. The speed would likely be higher as my current plan is for 50 Mbps, but I actually receive 80 Mbps.

It would cost $30 more, though, so I have to think about that. They offer no promotions for people like me who only subscribe to a single service- they always push their bundles.

[tjritter79]

Originally Posted by Groot

I don’t need it? No where would my post indicate I’m having internet issues or signal loss. Amazon is just shit.

I was comparing a wired vs. a wireless signal. Sometimes when the device is further away from the router, there's lot of variables that can interfere with the signal. I don't personally see any problems with Amazon, though their menu is difficult to weed through. Just tryin to help.

[tjritter79]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I called my ISP and the next higher tier of service is for 100 Mbps and a 1 TB monthly data cap. The speed would likely be higher as my current plan is for 50 Mbps, but I actually receive 80 Mbps.

It would cost $30 more, though, so I have to think about that. They offer no promotions for people like me who only subscribe to a single service- they always push their bundles.

Yes, I have the same gripes with Comcast. Don't want their TV packages, don't want to pay for stuff I don't watch.

[flyry]

My only issues I have with Amazon are on my TV that I access it wirelessly. It usually buffers in SD for a few seconds before I get crystal clear HD for the entirety of the movie.

Those few seconds it takes to get to HD are usually during opening studio and production company credits.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

A entire community of people online would disagree with you, but what do I know? You musnt keep up with news tech wise. It is my opinion that they did indeed lower their bit rates. Many people complained.

Why did all those people complain? They don't care about quality. They just want quick and easy, right?

And why did Amazon fix it after those many people complained? Amazon wants lower bit rates, don't they?

It seems like everybody in that equation should have been content, no?

And yet, they weren't.

Interesting, don't you think?

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Groot

I don’t need it? No where would my post indicate I’m having internet issues or signal loss. Amazon is just shit.

Originally Posted by tjritter79

I was comparing a wired vs. a wireless signal. Sometimes when the device is further away from the router, there's lot of variables that can interfere with the signal. I don't personally see any problems with Amazon, though their menu is difficult to weed through. Just tryin to help.

Tell us how you really feel Groot, I have no problems with Amazon their HD and 4K come in Fantastic. As more people change to Streaming a lot of the weak areas will be exposed. Bandwidth and Signal are the two main components for Streaming, and Wired wins hands down over Wireless. As you can see the Wired people are not having any serious problems.

[Ender14]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Tell us how you really feel Groot, I have no problems with Amazon their HD and 4K come in Fantastic. As more people change to Streaming a lot of the weak areas will be exposed. Bandwidth and Signal are the two main components for Streaming, and Wired wins hands down over Wireless. As you can see the Wired people are not having any serious problems.

For the love of all that is holy and sacred in this world, will you please stop with the wired connection nonsense. I am begging.

Your theory has been disproven by several here so please stop spewing your falsehoods. I stream 4K content over a wireless connection with zero problems. ZERO. Groot even stated that her other services stream with no problems. It is only Amazon. Why do you refuse to accept evidence that your antiquated beliefs are wrong?

I am constantly amazed by people who are presented with hard, irrefutable facts and then continue to spout falsehoods. What is the disconnect for you? It would be one thing if you presented what you said as an opinion, such as "Well, that may be, but I still think..." But you don't. You speak as if you are the final authority on all things and anything as meaningless to you as facts are just wrong. I just can't wrap my head around that level of cognitive dissonance. Though to be fair to you, it seems to be rampant in our society, so at least you're not alone.

Sorry, rant over. I just couldn't take it any more.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Tell us how you really feel Groot, I have no problems with Amazon their HD and 4K come in Fantastic. As more people change to Streaming a lot of the weak areas will be exposed. Bandwidth and Signal are the two main components for Streaming, and Wired wins hands down over Wireless. As you can see the Wired people are not having any serious problems.

The issue being discussed regarding Amazon's streaming has NOTHING to do with a wired or wireless network. When only one of out of several streaming providers are manifesting an issue, anyone with any deductive reasoning would conclude that the problem lies with that one particular service. If it was a home network problem, ALL streaming services would be adversely impacted, not just one. Why someone like you, who pretends to have networking expertise, can not grasp this obvious fact staggers rational minds everywhere.

I get the same streaming results when viewing with my hard wired computer as I do with my smart TV over my wireless network. Are you able to deduce what that means? It means the problem with Amazon's streaming is entirely unrelated to my home wireless network. All other streaming sources perform normally over both wired and wireless connections.

Every single computer professional that I know, real ones- not mere internet installers, uses a wireless home network. Not just because wireless is convenient, but because it works and it works exceedingly well.

If wireless did not deliver the desired results, we would use a hard wired network. Neither I nor these same computer professionals would tolerate anything less than a full performance home network.