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

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Truewitt

I have no dog in this one, but it's funny you say the bolded above because that is exactly what is happening there.

I have to be fair in this case and say that access to albums are incredibly easy. You can listen to a album in its entirety more than ever since the market shifted from downloads to streaming. Before you would have to pay for a full w,bum, now you can listen to many albums for the price of your subscription.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

No, Groot knows how I feel about sarcasm. I don’t like it and Groot made mention of that a little earlier if you would read posts rather than jumping in. There is a world of difference between sarcasm though and (imo) downright nastiness and vindictiveness. Sarcasm (despite annoying me) isn’t intended to hurt someone.

Also, Groot voices her views and we will at times clash, but she doesn’t hold grudges and she has the good grace to address me with the respect I deserve as aforum member and human being. I post across the entire forum and you will rarely find anyone with anything negative to say about me outside of this thread. That includes the film section, VR section, 3D section etc..

I honestly don't really have an issue with you outside of some of your crazy concerns. And when it comes to the overall issue of physical vs. digital media, you and I are largely on the same side, and there have been a lot of things that I have agreed with you on. You do otherwise seem like a nice guy, and I otherwise don't have a "grudge" against you. I'm sure if we sat down and had a casual conversation together, we would get along.

It's one thing to speculate on the possibility of these things coming to pass, and present that in a level-headed manner in a "what if" sense. But whenever you read a single article about some new technology, small screens, short form content, or whatever, you jump right into "THE SKY IS FALLING" mode and conclude that it is absolute certain death to large TVs, traditional length and formatted movies, television shows, etc. and can't understand why others don't share the same concern. While at the same time you can't even remotely wrap your mind around people feeling the same way about you opting for video games via digital distribution, which is having a much more profound, noticeable, and real impact on gaming than anything that you are concerned about is having on traditional movie viewing.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I have to be fair in this case and say that access to albums are incredibly easy. You can listen to a album in its entirety more than ever since the market shifted from downloads to streaming. Before you would have to pay for a full w,bum, now you can listen to many albums for the price of your subscription.

In the US there is a lot of music available via Amazon Prime and Google play. In many cases I buy Prime songs so I can play them via SSD (USB) in vehicles. I really like the or down and Bookmark feature of Pandora (paid version). Have purchased quite a few songs after hearing them on Pandora. I am concerned that SiriusXM intends to buy Pandora.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

I honestly don't really have an issue with you outside of some of your crazy concerns. And when it comes to the overall issue of physical vs. digital media, you and I are largely on the same side, and there have been a lot of things that I have agreed with you on. You do otherwise seem like a nice guy, and I otherwise don't have a "grudge" against you. I'm sure if we sat down and had a casual conversation together, we would get along.

It's one thing to speculate on the possibility of these things coming to pass, and present that in a level-headed manner in a "what if" sense. But whenever you read a single article about some new technology, small screens, short form content, or whatever, you jump right into "THE SKY IS FALLING" mode and conclude that it is absolute certain death to large TVs, traditional length and formatted movies, television shows, etc. and can't understand why others don't share the same concern. While at the same time you can't even remotely wrap your mind around people feeling the same way about you opting for video games via digital distribution, which is having a much more profound, noticeable, and real impact on gaming than anything that you are concerned about is having on traditional movie viewing.

That’s because it’s not the same thing. Digital games are EXACT copies of disc versions. AV wise they are identical. That’s the big reason I stick with disc right there. Also I play mostly VR which makes it silly to buy discs as you would have to keep taking the headset off to switch discs. I still prefer disc and I still buy discs for flat games. It’s not unreasonable for the thing I love most in the world (material wise) to be my main concern. You can’t actually buy half of the stores VR games on disc.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

In the US there is a lot of music available via Amazon Prime and Google play. In many cases I buy Prime songs so I can play them via SSD (USB) in vehicles. I really like the or down and Bookmark feature of Pandora (paid version). Have purchased quite a few songs after hearing them on Pandora. I am concerned that SiriusXM intends to buy Pandora.

I have Spotify and I also buy Vinyl and CD. I’m going to get into smart speakers next year so I will see what works best for me there. If I want to escape into music, it’s still vinyl for me. I have a pair of Sony headphones if it’s evening and I float into the velvet smooth feel that is Vinyl.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

That’s because it’s not the same thing. Digital games are EXACT copies of disc versions. AV wise they are identical. That’s the big reason I stick with disc right there. Also I play mostly VR which makes it silly to buy discs as you would have to keep taking the headset off to switch discs. I still prefer disc and I still buy discs for flat games. It’s not unreasonable for the thing I love most in the world (material wise) to be my main concern. You can’t actually buy half of the stores VR games on disc.

I understand buying a game digitally that simply isn't available physically. I've done the same, despite my distaste for digital distribution.

That said, when it comes to games available in both manners, while the end result may be the same experience, the ownership rights of digital vs physical (which you have largely seemed to agree with me on in regards to movies) still applies. And even if you don't revisit a game after completing it, that should be up to you and no one else. And if you have a physical copy, at least you have some to sell/trade off if you no longer want it, and someone else who does want it can obtain it.

At any rate, I don't want to get into a huge back and forth again over the gaming issue. I'm just pointing out the relative hypocrisy in you not only having your concerns about movies, but seeming to be regularly flabbergasted that others don't share the same concerns, but then just brush off comparatively more real, impactful concerns others have about gaming. And I mean this as a general concept, and not just specific to this thread.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I’m going to get into smart speakers next year so I will see what works best for me there.

Do you have a network capable AVR or AVP? If not, you may want to look into them before you procure smart speakers. I have both (AVR and AVP) that does IP and added Google Chromecast Audio (CCA) to both. Used optical cables for connection. If WiFi is a problem the CCA can be hardwired with adapter. This way I can play almost anything to the processors including Google Home or Amazon Echo (if you are into voice control ).

[Wendell R. Breland]

@Steedeel.

Forgot to mention my AVR and AVP have vTuner app built in. I really like how vTuner shows the audio codec and data rate for each streaming source. Never used it but they have a mobile app that should be able to cast to a CCA.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Do you have a network capable AVR or AVP? If not, you may want to look into them before you procure smart speakers. I have both (AVR and AVP) that does IP and added Google Chromecast Audio (CCA) to both. Used optical cables for connection. If WiFi is a problem the CCA can be hardwired with adapter. This way I can play almost anything to the processors including Google Home or Amazon Echo (if you are into voice control ).

Thanks for the tip, I will look into that.

[The_Donster]

Originally Posted by Groot

Dynamo - That long winded garbage is another example of my general disdain towards you. Keep writing those books no one wants to read.

Donster - You’ve spoken to me enough that you know what isn’t the case. Ribbing on him every so often is fine and usually deserved. This entire thread the last bit is nothing but going at him. I think it’s starting to be a little much. I dislike Dynamo and Wendell but don’t make it a point to reply to their posts every time and point out why I disagree with them or they’re wrong from my perspective. Every single time I’ve read the thread lately it’s bashing him or poking the bear to bash him some more.

Yep, I know you better than most here. Your heart is in the right place, but misplaced in this situation. Everyone is familiar with everyone’s schtick at this point. Which is why when anyone here makes an outlandish claim on the “future” impact of home entertainment it is met with such opposition. So Steedeel isn’t being treated any different than anyone else in the thread. The difference is he’s the only one who takes it personally when he is.

Originally Posted by Steedeel

It’s just opinions about tech and the future (included in the heading of this thread) it’s not s crime to have what others consider far out opinions.

Do me a favour guys, never go on jury duty.

Finally, thanks Groot. There’s a difference between sarcasm and (imo) vindictiveness. These guys will probably choose to not see that though.

Objection, your HONOR! Opposing counsel would have everyone believe that most of us here don’t know the difference between hearsay and fact

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Do me a favour guys, never go on jury duty.

Too late.

[flyry]

I was in this site at work the other day and a younger coworker (24) asked what i was reading. I told him about blu-rays and he looked at me confused and asked "what's that?"

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by flyry

I was in this site at work the other day and a younger coworker (24) asked what i was reading. I told him about blu-rays and he looked at me confused and asked "what's that?"

And it will seen as a sign of the apocalypse in 1, 2, 3...

I have a coupe of undergraduate students living near to me that just bought a 4K TV- the box is still outside waiting to be picked-up; maybe that will provide balance to the universe?

[Groot]

Given the younger people on this board (16 is the youngest I know is active) I don't hold much stock in this as a big deal. There's many 24 yr olds can't even name a book or a Supreme Court Justice (See: Jimmy Kimmel/Jay Leno/Stats) I'm not surprised there's one out there that wouldn't know about blu's if movies aren't a hobby of theirs.

[flyry]

Originally Posted by octagon

Even limiting the field to films, all the rending of garments and gnashing of teeth is just silly. Let's set aside the 'smartphones are going to kill television sets'.

Even the time-honored perennial carping that 'they don't make 'em like they used to' and its popular current variant 'Hollywood is officially out of ideas' carping just doesn't fly.

Sure, Hollywood - like anything else - goes through cycles and phases and some of those phases are more awesome than others. But if you're willing to look for it every era has produced some really awesome stuff and this era is no different.

Don't get me wrong, I love being a curmudgeon as much as the next guy but there's so much to be excited about today it's difficult to know where to even start.

Take this very thread.

We're arguing the best way to view high-definition movies and tv shows. We're arguing about compression and bit rates and just how multi the multi-channel audio is.

We would have all killed to have these 'problems' twenty years ago.

Same with displays. Most of us would turn our noses up today at 65" displays that would have seemed like science fiction twenty years ago but don't quite measure up when it comes to black levels or gray scale uniformity or motion processing or any of the other things we have the luxury of obsessing over.

And content is cheaper and more readily available in more formats and through more portals than ever before.

Woe is us, I guess?

I won't lie. The other day i was exiting best buy after picking up my soundbar and a man was loading a 55" in his car and i thought for a second "that's kinda small"

[flyry]

Originally Posted by Groot

Given the younger people on this board (16 is the youngest I know is active) I don't hold much stock in this as a big deal. There's many 24 yr olds can't even name a book or a Supreme Court Justice (See: Jimmy Kimmel/Jay Leno/Stats) I'm not surprised there's one out there that wouldn't know about blu's if movies aren't a hobby of theirs.

I don't either. Let's just say this guy grew up and lives in the hood. But i felt compelled to share that story

[Groot]

Originally Posted by flyry

I won't lie. The other day i was exiting best buy after picking up my soundbar and a man was loading a 55" in his car and i thought for a second "that's kinda small"

Bedroom, Office, Apartment, etc... not small.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by flyry

I was in this site at work the other day and a younger coworker (24) asked what i was reading. I told him about blu-rays and he looked at me confused and asked "what's that?"

That suggests to me that the guy isn’t even a film fan. Any film fan would know that. So in other words, you are asking a person who doesn’t care about films if he has heard of a forum dedicated to films on a high quality format. Nice one!

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

That suggests to me that the guy isn’t even a film fan. Any film fan would know that. So in other words, you are asking a person who doesn’t care about films if he has heard of a forum dedicated to films on a high quality format. Nice one!

My apologies for deviating a little here, but this reminded me of a time when I was out on a trip with a group of photographers from a photography forum. Most were in their early to mid-20's and always shot with digital cameras or using their phones.

None of them, apart from a guy about my age, had ever used film or even seen a film camera. As soon as they saw me loading up my camera, the look of astonishment was something to behold. When I spoke about 35mm and 120 roll-film, they looked at me like I'd just landed from Mars!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by CV19

My apologies for deviating a little here, but this reminded me of a time when I was out on a trip with a group of photographers from a photography forum. Most were in their early to mid-20's and always shot with digital cameras or using their phones.

None of them, apart from a guy about my age, had ever used film or even seen a film camera. As soon as they saw me loading up my camera, the look of astonishment was something to behold. When I spoke about 35mm and 120 roll-film, they looked at me like I'd just landed from Mars!

. They would probably ask, “can it do selfies’ in most situations like that!