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

[knight17]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I know, it's part of my personality though. . I try to arrange things in my head so that I have a process going forward of maintaining the things I love.

It's hard work!

It certainly is. Which is why you need to keep an eye on the cooling process.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by knight17

It certainly is. Which is why you need to keep an eye on the cooling process.

The cooling process is the film and a nice pizza!

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by knight17

No point in worrying about the future.

On the other hand you can make it future proof by grabbing all your favorite movies on blu ray.
There are still DVD players around so nothing is going to make the blu ray obsolete any time soon.

For the stuff that never ends up on Blu ray, well at least there are DVDs.

Anyways do yourself a favor and stop worrying.

I'd rather watch movies in Digital HD than DVD, but that's me. I've gone pretty digital. I even choose my Digital HD versions over my Blu-rays most of the time these days.

I've been treating digital as future proofing my collection, despite the possibility that various major digital providers today could be non-existent a decade from now. But if history has taught us anything positive, it's that when digital providers bite the dust, they offer to move your titles to a new provider, so losing your digital collection shouldn't be a big fear either.

We should all take your advice and stop worrying. We should just enjoy our movies in the format of our choice.

[Mr Kite]

Originally Posted by master gandhi

I'd rather watch movies in Digital HD than DVD, but that's me. I've gone pretty digital. I even choose my Digital HD versions over my Blu-rays most of the time these days.

I've been treating digital as future proofing my collection, despite the possibility that various major digital providers today could be non-existent a decade from now. But if history has taught us anything positive, it's that when digital providers bite the dust, they offer to move your titles to a new provider, so losing your digital collection shouldn't be a big fear either.

We should all take your advice and stop worrying. We should just enjoy our movies in the format of our choice.

Does the inferior PQ not bother you?

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by tele1962

Does the inferior PQ not bother you?

Only if I let it, and I rarely let it. I'm so accustomed to watching Netflix, Hulu and HBO Go, it doesn't really get to me that Vudu or iTunes looks inferior to Blu-ray. Now, if I have a person over watching something with us, I might choose the Blu-ray over the Digital HD version, but I play that by ear.

Nobody ever notices the difference but me, so who am I trying to impress? It's about the movie itself, after all. I understand that we want the best possible version, but that sometimes feels like a fool's errand.

The best possible home presentation would be with a 4K projector that's been professionally calibrated with a Dolby Atmos surround sound system and DBox furniture playing a well-encoded UHD Blu-ray in a home theater room with perfect acoustics and zero light leakage, etc.

It's exhausting to pursue that. I'd rather just watch my movies and enjoy them. Granted, I'm not going to choose DVD or digital in SD or watch everything on my phone. I'm still respecting the art of film. I'm not a snob, nor am I a layman. I'm somewhere in between. I think most of the people of this forum are too, even if they prefer to be seen as elitists.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by master gandhi

I'd rather watch movies in Digital HD than DVD, but that's me. I've gone pretty digital. I even choose my Digital HD versions over my Blu-rays most of the time these days.

I've been treating digital as future proofing my collection, despite the possibility that various major digital providers today could be non-existent a decade from now. But if history has taught us anything positive, it's that when digital providers bite the dust, they offer to move your titles to a new provider, so losing your digital collection shouldn't be a big fear either.

We should all take your advice and stop worrying. We should just enjoy our movies in the format of our choice.

Easier to say when you aren't a A/V purist though sir. I mean Flixster? It's like going from 'Goodfellas' to 'stop or my mum will shoot' !

[Fiffy]

Originally Posted by Krizzle1

iTunes has a 48 hour window....regardless of the studio

Depends on where you live:

"You have 30 days to start watching a movie after you rent it. After you start watching the movie, you have 24 hours (in the US) or 48 hours (elsewhere) to finish it. You can watch the movie as often as you like until it expires."

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201611

[Fiffy]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I can't believe I am even contemplating renting down the line. Shows how worried I am about the future.

I think renting is the best choice for about 80-90% of all movies coming out, digital or not. Collecting stuff that you never watch again is just a waste of money (and space, if you buy discs).

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Fiffy

I think renting is the best choice for about 80-90% of all movies coming out, digital or not. Collecting stuff that you never watch again is just a waste of money (and space, if you buy discs).

I do quite well. I am very thorough with my research/reviews etc..

[RandomNinjaAtk]

Originally Posted by Fiffy

I think renting is the best choice for about 80-90% of all movies coming out, digital or not. Collecting stuff that you never watch again is just a waste of money (and space, if you buy discs).

I can agree with this except with the buying/trading of codes + D2D option, you can own a digital copy for the same or less then the price of a rental...

However, you could own a lot more titles like a collector this way and probably spend more as a result. I own a lot more content then I've actually seen. So even though I'm paying less then the price of rental, I'm probably costing myself more as result of the hording/collecting aspect....

At least my library is shared with multiple users, UV allows that...

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Easier to say when you aren't a A/V purist though sir. I mean Flixster? It's like going from 'Goodfellas' to 'stop or my mum will shoot' !

I've never watched Flixster on a TV. I've tested on my phone, and The Hateful Eight looked decent for being on a phone (but Vudu looks okay on my phone and it's SD). Tried Adventure Time and it played back in SD and looked lousy. If Flixster was my primary Digital HD provider, I'd be very unhappy. Luckily there are other providers, even for you. You have iTunes and Amazon and Sky.

I realize digital is a step down from Blu-ray, so I recognize that many enthusiasts will avoid it whenever possible. That's their choice and I respect it. My wife hates it if I watch a DVD instead of Blu-ray, but is all for Digital HD. She doesn't feel compromised. Neither do I for the most part. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a Blu-ray, though, and digital just won't do. That is pretty rare these days.

Who knows, maybe once I've seen what UHD Blu-ray can do, I'll go nuts with that format. Right now I'm supporting it more out of principle than out of need. I've decided that I'll get new releases on UHD BD when those are available. When the best version is BD or 3D BD, I may go with one of those, but I also may just go digital. There's the best, then there's the rest.

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I do quite well. I am very thorough with my research/reviews etc..

Me too. It almost never happens that I watch a movie I don't like at all, because of the research I've done beforehand.

[Fiffy]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I do quite well. I am very thorough with my research/reviews etc..

I found that even among movies I like, I rewatch very few of them. I'd estimate I own somewhere around 800 movies on disc that I haven't watched more than once. That corresponds to something like 8m of shelf space.

[RandomNinjaAtk]

Originally Posted by Fiffy

I found that even among movies I like, I rewatch very few of them. I'd estimate I own somewhere around 800 movies on disc that I haven't watched more than once.

Ever consider D2D your collection and unloading them?

[Fiffy]

Originally Posted by RandomNinjaAtk

Ever consider D2D your collection and unloading them?

Selling them is not worth my time IMO. I have moved them into two of those 600-disc aluminum storage boxes though (which was a lot of work as well). I was glad to get rid of all the packaging ...

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by Fiffy

I found that even among movies I like, I rewatch very few of them. I'd estimate I own somewhere around 800 movies on disc that I haven't watched more than once. That corresponds to something like 8m of shelf space.

I may not rewatch each of my movies too often, but sometimes I have a spontaneous urge to watch a particular movie or series of movies and I'm thankful that I have them in my collection already. It could be because I'm reminded of that film or it has a sequel coming out or remake or the filmmaker has a new movie. Lots of reasons. But I love having hundreds of movies. It's like a personal video store in my home.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by master gandhi

I've never watched Flixster on a TV. I've tested on my phone, and The Hateful Eight looked decent for being on a phone (but Vudu looks okay on my phone and it's SD). Tried Adventure Time and it played back in SD and looked lousy. If Flixster was my primary Digital HD provider, I'd be very unhappy. Luckily there are other providers, even for you. You have iTunes and Amazon and Sky.

I realize digital is a step down from Blu-ray, so I recognize that many enthusiasts will avoid it whenever possible. That's their choice and I respect it. My wife hates it if I watch a DVD instead of Blu-ray, but is all for Digital HD. She doesn't feel compromised. Neither do I for the most part. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a Blu-ray, though, and digital just won't do. That is pretty rare these days.

Who knows, maybe once I've seen what UHD Blu-ray can do, I'll go nuts with that format. Right now I'm supporting it more out of principle than out of need. I've decided that I'll get new releases on UHD BD when those are available. When the best version is BD or 3D BD, I may go with one of those, but I also may just go digital. There's the best, then there's the rest.

I think 4K is going to be great. If I am as impressed with my first 4K disc as I was with my first bluray, (Apocalypto) happy days!

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I think 4K is going to be great. If I am impressed with my first 4K disc as I was with my first bluray, (Apocalypto) happy days!

It isn't that big of a leap. 4K Blu-ray is great, but not like the leap from DVD to Blu-ray was.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by master gandhi

I may not rewatch each of my movies too often, but sometimes I have a spontaneous urge to watch a particular movie or series of movies and I'm thankful that I have them in my collection already. It could be because I'm reminded of that film or it has a sequel coming out or remake or the filmmaker has a new movie. Lots of reasons. But I love having hundreds of movies. It's like a personal video store in my home.

Yes! A personal video store. That is what I love. Rows and rows of blurays!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Fiffy

I found that even among movies I like, I rewatch very few of them. I'd estimate I own somewhere around 800 movies on disc that I haven't watched more than once. That corresponds to something like 8m of shelf space.

I still love the idea of just being there when I am in the mood. Some films I watch once a year.