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

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

No, I have not had the opportunity. I hope I can resume with FWWM soon.

Ok, hope it was nothing too serious.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by alchav21

I just want the person claiming that their Streaming is degraded by their actual observation, and then Post their Bandwidth, ISP, and set up. Like Wired or Wireless and Streaming Device. Then maybe we can see a pattern with their Streaming problems.

For the umpteenth time most of that doesn’t mean jack unless the streaming provider provides a method of checking the data rate and resolution with the current playing content. AFAIK only Netflix does this with certain Sony equipment, don’t know how many other brands have this capability. Amazon will show HD, HD1080, etc. and VUDU will show SD, HD and HDX but removed their three bar data rate display.

Three nights ago at 2100 hours EDT I started a episode of Planet Earth on Netflix and it looked like a DVD even after a couple of minutes. Checked the diagnostic and it showed 720P @ 3 Mbps. Stopped, went to the Netflix Check Internet screen and it showed 25 Mbps, next I started Season 1, Episode 1 of the Test Patterns and it went to 16 Mbps. So the problem was the CDN, peering, routing, etc. that was supplying that episode. The next night and episode played at 1080 @ 7 Mbps.

The above is a clear case where only a method of checking the data rate and resolution with the current playing content will show if there is a problem with your streaming.

Netflix has removed their diagnostic display from certain devices and VUDU has removed their three bar data rate display. It is clear the provides want you to know less about their data streams, not more. Just a another negative for streaming.

[XanderAE]

I see "Stark Raving Dad" has disappeared from The Simpsons Season 3 on iTunes. Annoying!

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by XanderAE

I see "Stark Raving Dad" has disappeared from The Simpsons Season 3 on iTunes. Annoying!

Did they also remove it from people who already bought it? Or just from being able to be purchased going forward?

[avs commenter]

the whole episode is on youtube. it's always going to live on in digital one way or another

[Vilya]

I tried to watch something last night via streaming with Amazon Prime and doing so continues to be uniquely problematic with this provider. In roughly the middle of the show, the image would freeze while the audio continued. The only solution was to back up a few seconds, pause, wait a minute or two, and then continue. The image and audio were quite good other than for this predictable interruption. I have no such problems with Netflix, Vudu, or Youtube.

Calling Amazon was a waste of time; they just wanted me to restart everything essentially blaming my network and ISP despite my having no issues with any other provider. It was also plain that their tech support could not care less about the problems I was having.

As for the "Stark Raving Dad" Simpsons episode disappearing from digital purchases, that underscores, highlights, and emphasizes why I will never trust digital purchases no matter what quality level they may otherwise achieve in the future. My purchased physical content is not subject to being removed by any provider and I would never tolerate even the possibility of such an event.

AR glasses sound intriguing. I am not sure that I like the smartphone pairing requirement. If such glasses can provide a better viewing experience AND if they allow me to view my physical library, then I am interested. If they only allow for streamed content to be viewed, then I will pass.

People needing corrective lenses will need them regardless of whether they embrace AR or stick with TVs. AR glasses will have to work with corrective lenses in some acceptable and comfortable fashion. Clip-ons were available with 3D; I own some, but they were never well received as attaching and removing them from your glasses was a nuisance and could result in scratching your eyeglass lenses if you were not careful with them.

Prescription AR glasses will add considerable expense to their price. Plus, vision prescriptions change for many people in just a couple of years thereby requiring new prescription lenses. This old fart needs new glasses roughly every 3 years. Getting new prescription AR glasses that frequently might just be too expensive. And of course such glasses only work for the person for whom they were prescribed; you can't share them. In households with more than one person needing corrective lenses, prescription AR glasses might be unfeasible. It would probably be best if AR glasses worked in conjunction with existing corrective lens options.

Either way, I do not see TVs being discontinued in a mere 10 years time. If TVs are supplanted at some point by better display technology that works with all existing video sources and accommodates people with vision deficits, then I see no cause for concern, but rather probable cause for celebration.

[RefractiveIndex]

Originally Posted by avs commenter

the whole episode is on youtube. it's always going to live on in digital one way or another

Yeah until the copyright strike comes, and it will come.

[RefractiveIndex]

Originally Posted by kieranx

I bought it on Amazon when this whole thing happened a few weeks ago and just checked my library and it's gone. This is why I hate streaming. I can spend money on something and it can be taken away with no recourse. It was only $1.99 but I want to lodge a complaint with Amazon just on the principle of the thing.

That is absolutely unacceptable. If people are still supporting and arguing in favor of "owning" digital after this, not only are they supporting anti-consumer practices, they're also self-harming morons.

[PenguinInfinity]

Originally Posted by avs commenter

the whole episode is on youtube. it's always going to live on in digital one way or another

Piracy is the answer to digital's shortcomings?

[avs commenter]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

Piracy is the answer to digital's shortcomings?

Just pointing out that nothing really goes away anymore

[PenguinInfinity]

Originally Posted by avs commenter

Just pointing out that nothing really goes away anymore

The Simpsons is one of the most popular shows ever made so it isn't the best example of showing that "nothing really goes away". If the same censorship happened to a much less popular movie or TV show it could easily be lost.

Pirated content is constantly taken down by the copyright owners and has to be re-uploaded. With a much less popular movie or TV show there may not be anyone who cares enough to re-upload it after a while.

[tvine2000]

Originally Posted by Krizzle1

I'd love to know what is everyone using for their movies...Blurays? or iTunes/VUDU/Amazon/Google?

Ive only recently started to buy digital movies (strictly iTunes for me), before I used to download online (using frowned upon methods) but wonder if I should buy physical copies of movies too?

I know there are pros n cons of digital movies, like:
Pros
- Almost immediate viewing (no piracy warnings, etc)
- Stream to all devices (phones/tablets)
- No need to take literally hours to rip a physical bluray to play on phones/tablets
- You could rent movies and play them immediately
- No need to wait for shipping/delivery
- You can get 'extras' with certain iTunes purchases now too (so not only limited to physical media)

Cons
- iTunes is sometimes more pricey than owning a physical bluray
- There's a worry about internet connection dropping (for whatever reason)
- Some people still have bandwidth caps
- You can't sell your digital movie collection
- The content could 'disappear' from iCloud (or online)

I know there's more but I wanna hear from you guys...

So to sum up:
Do you have/use digital movies or physical copies...or both?
Which services do you use if you use digital?
Why do you use physical or a specific digital format?

I use physical media because I like to collect, look at the case read the info on the covers. If you a,b a streaming movie vs the same movie physical the physical always looks better because it's a direct signal. If you don't care about the PQ I guess streaming is for you. I get the streaming thing. What I don't like is the control they have over you. How many different streaming services do we have now.It seems more studios are starting there own services.How many do you have to subscribe to right now. With the physical ,I own it ,nobody can take it from me unless I sell it. It's not in some cloud where at any time can disappear. And if you download it how big of a hard drive will you have to have if you collect. And I will never get watching a movie on a phone. Give me a big screen. But all that said I get why none of the things I just said means anything to most people. This debate has been going on for years.But my feeling has been there is a coo going on and has been for years since the idea of streaming movies started from that crowd. How do you get people onboard with streaming? Easy ,propaganda. That's how it starts. You state false things about physical media even make up things and tell those lies over and over again until people believe it's truth. How did they get people to switch from audio records to cassettes , cassettes to CDS , Laser disc from VHS ,DVD from VHS Blu-ray from DVD mostly. They just tell you over and over again it's better or smaller and better or faster . And it becomes a thing.Now we do everything from a phone. My question is why is physical discs always the one thing that's always going to disappear according to the doomsayers? I find it strange that audio receivers are still selling well, TVS always selling well,phones,speakers and on and on yet the one thing they scarce us with all the time is ...discs?? I find that suspect.

[flyry]

Can't believe this thread is still going

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Either way, I do not see TVs being discontinued in a mere 10 years time.

Welcome back!

Have you been following the Panasonic DP-UB9000 thread? If not, below is is Robert's March allocation, apparently all have been pre-sold. For me, one of the most interesting aspects is the collaboration between Panasonic and JVC for optimized tone mapping settings on their devices. They say the JVC NX9 will do almost 100% of the DCI color space.

[Show spoiler]

[Wendell R. Breland]

For Netflix subs, watched Highwaymen last night in UHD and it looked really good. It was shot on a Panavision Millennium DXL (8K) camera in scope (2.39). It was done old school with very little handheld so there were few artifacts. It was pretty close to Aquaman Blu-ray in terms of detail. Have not seen Aquaman in UHD (2K DI).

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Welcome back!

Have you been following the Panasonic DP-UB9000 thread? If not, below is is Robert's March allocation, apparently all have been pre-sold. For me, one of the most interesting aspects is the collaboration between Panasonic and JVC for optimized tone mapping settings on their devices. They say the JVC NX9 will do almost 100% of the DCI color space.

[Show spoiler]

Thank you! It is nice to be back.

I am aware of the Panny 9000 generally, but I have been out of the loop. I will try to poke my head into that thread going forward.

I was unfamiliar with the JVC NX9. Are you getting them? An $18K projector with the Panny 9000 should make for a hell of a combo.

I thought about buying another 4K player, possibly the Panny 9000, but too many uncertainties now have put that idea on hold. If you get one, or both, of these products let us know what you think about them.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

For Netflix subs, watched Highwaymen last night in UHD and it looked really good. It was shot on a Panavision Millennium DXL (8K) camera in scope (2.39). It was done old school with very little handheld so there were few artifacts. It was pretty close to Aquaman Blu-ray in terms of detail. Have not seen Aquaman in UHD (2K DI).

Yes Wendell I did watch this Movie last night, with Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson, real good flick. It came in very nice, PQ was outstanding. I checked the Specs 2160@16Mbps. No degradation throughout the whole Movie. Do you Stream to your Projector, and what Device do you use and how is it connected? It sounds like this Movie came in good for you.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I was unfamiliar with the JVC NX9. Are you getting them?

Just kicking the tires for now. I have started my Pro and Con list for the Panny, have not done anything for the JVC.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Do you Stream to your Projector, and what Device do you use and how is it connected?

A Sony UBP-X1000ES is used, info here. Connection PDF here.

[spider-neil]

3D - Blu ray (don't really have a choice with that one)
4K - Digital (so I can watch it on my phone as well a on the TV)
Must own classics - (for example The Matrix) 4K Blu ray disk

The dilemma is when there is a movie that would look great in 4K and 3D, like Infinity War, which version do you get? Getting both would be expansive.