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

[wolfpackTri]

I'm picking up both Star Trek movies in 4K UHD tomorrow. The only discs I'm buying are 4k movies I really want to own. If it won't come to 4k bluray, I may get it on UV instead.

This is why I was trying to say earlier, everything needs a balance.

Some movies at Best Buy I'd rather just have on UV because I really don't care about the best quality.

Other movies I must have on disc because they are my favorite. However, I do not want a disc collection of 1,000 blurays haha.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by wolfpackTri

I'm picking up both Star Trek movies in 4K UHD tomorrow. The only discs I'm buying are 4k movies I really want to own. If it won't come to 4k bluray, I may get it on UV instead.

This is why I was trying to say earlier, everything needs a balance.

Some movies at Best Buy I'd rather just have on UV because I really don't care about the best quality.

Other movies I must have on disc because they are my favorite. However, I do not want a disc collection of 1000 blurays haha.

Most films I buy warrant a Bluray. I have never sat there thinking 'that would be great even on DVD'

I'm jumping into 4K next year.

[master gandhi]

I too grow a bit tired of all these negative predictions.

Look at it this way. IF the content providers find that people are spending less and less to own movies digitally, THEN we might see them charging us a fee to maintain access to our collections. Otherwise, they'd just be losing money. It makes sense to me. I don't see it being a giant fee. Just something to help them justify the continued existence of their service, and prove that you still even watch your movies on there. Maybe they'd let people watch a certain amount of hours for free, or pay a fee for unlimited access.

Or maybe nothing like that will happen, and they will remain free with unlimited access because people keep buying more movies and they keep making money that way.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by master gandhi

I too grow a bit tired of all these negative predictions.

Look at it this way. IF the content providers find that people are spending less and less to own movies digitally, THEN we might see them charging us a fee to maintain access to our collections. Otherwise, they'd just be losing money. It makes sense to me. I don't see it being a giant fee. Just something to help them justify the continued existence of their service, and prove that you still even watch your movies on there. Maybe they'd let people watch a certain amount of hours for free, or pay a fee for unlimited access.

Or maybe nothing like that will happen, and they will remain free with unlimited access because people keep buying more movies and they keep making money that way.

Like I said, Digital HD growth is slowing. It's in single figures YOY. It is very early days to be seeing a peak. That is not a vibrant market. They will try everything until eventually they will be forced into a subscription service for all films.

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Like I said, Digital HD growth is slowing. It's in single figures YOY. It is very early days to be seeing a peak. That is not a vibrant market. They will try everything until eventually they will be forced into a subscription service for all films.

Maybe, maybe not. It's all a bunch of unknowns. We don't know how much money they need each year for this to still be considered successful.

Earlier, I pointed out how many formats there are these days. There are too many, really. The market is spread too thin. There really should only be Blu-ray and Digital HD. That's it. It's nice to have 3D Blu-ray, UHD Blu-ray and even Digital UHD, but it's too much for consumers to make sense of. Plus, there's still DVD and digital in SD. They need to narrow it way down.

People are probably either sticking to DVD or Blu-ray because they're overwhelmed by the rest of it. It's a strange time for home media.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by master gandhi

Maybe, maybe not. It's all a bunch of unknowns. We don't know how much money they need each year for this to still be considered successful.

Earlier, I pointed out how many formats there are these days. There are too many, really. The market is spread too thin. There really should only be Blu-ray and Digital HD. That's it. It's nice to have 3D Blu-ray, UHD Blu-ray and even Digital UHD, but it's too much for consumers to make sense of. Plus, there's still DVD and digital in SD. They need to narrow it way down.

People are probably either sticking to DVD or Blu-ray because they're overwhelmed by the rest of it. It's a strange time for home media.

I am more than happy that 3D is still available. There is some great work happening to give us some of the classics.

[wolfpackTri]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Like I said, Digital HD growth is slowing. It's in single figures YOY. It is very early days to be seeing a peak. That is not a vibrant market. They will try everything until eventually they will be forced into a subscription service for all films.

Do you have a link to back up your claims?

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by wolfpackTri

Do you have a link to back up your claims?

Can't remember where I saw it. Will try to dig it out.

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I am more than happy that 3D is still available. There is some great work happening to give us some of the classics.

That's not my point. I like having all of it (except for DVD and digital in SD). My point is that it's confusing to consumers. They don't know which format to adopt outside of their current go-to. I doubt there's actual growth with any one format. Like I said, it's spread too thin.

[wolfpackTri]

I think 4k bluray is here to stay. All movie purchases of discs going forward for me is 4k.

[Fiffy]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Like I said, Digital HD growth is slowing. It's in single figures YOY.

Actually EST in the US grew by 18% in 2015. Yes, it is slower than 2014 (where it grew by 30%), but I think it's way too early to proclaim a trend. The 30% may have just been a "coming out" effect, boosted by the introduction of incentives like the early release windows for digital. It is true though that subscription VOD grew even faster. But the only clear loser at the moment are discs.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Like I said, Digital HD growth is slowing. It's in single figures YOY. It is very early days to be seeing a peak. That is not a vibrant market. They will try everything until eventually they will be forced into a subscription service for all films.

Originally Posted by master gandhi

Maybe, maybe not. It's all a bunch of unknowns. We don't know how much money they need each year for this to still be considered successful.

Earlier, I pointed out how many formats there are these days. There are too many, really. The market is spread too thin. There really should only be Blu-ray and Digital HD. That's it. It's nice to have 3D Blu-ray, UHD Blu-ray and even Digital UHD, but it's too much for consumers to make sense of. Plus, there's still DVD and digital in SD. They need to narrow it way down.

People are probably either sticking to DVD or Blu-ray because they're overwhelmed by the rest of it. It's a strange time for home media.

Yea Steedeel drags things out of a hat with no back up information, I also saw an increase in UV here in The States. But the Average Person really doesn't care about Format, as long as they can watch and enjoy their Movie, most are happy with DVD or SD Digital. The only people that care about PQ and Sound are here or Video Techs. I subscribe to a Video and Sound Magazine, and some of the people were questioning the quality of UHD Blu-ray not being much better than 1080P Blu-ray. Like I said, it's all in the eye of the beholder or the quality of the equipment used.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Most films I buy warrant a Bluray. I have never sat there thinking 'that would be great even on DVD'

I'm jumping into 4K next year.

So you usually buy Blu-ray, but how about Movies that you just want to view, do they also have to be Blu-ray? Even Movies that don't have a lot of graphics, just characters? That could get quiet expensive, and run up your collection. I don't really go to the Cinema anymore, and I would Rent Movies from Red Box unless I knew I was going to view them at least one more time I would buy. Yes, when I bought it would be Blu-ray, but now with Digital HD my options have changed. If it's a Movie I like, and a keeper I look for UV HD before buying.

[knight17]

Originally Posted by alchav21

So you usually buy Blu-ray, but how about Movies that you just want to view, do they also have to be Blu-ray? Even Movies that don't have a lot of graphics, just characters? That could get quiet expensive, and run up your collection. I don't really go to the Cinema anymore, and I would Rent Movies from Red Box unless I knew I was going to view them at least one more time I would buy. Yes, when I bought it would be Blu-ray, but now with Digital HD my options have changed. If it's a Movie I like, and a keeper I look for UV HD before buying.

This is only an issue with current releases. Taking my own personal circumstance into consideration, I still have a long way to go in collecting movies that have been released some time back.

There's always the option of checking reviews and opinions over the internet as well as asking for recommendations from people known to you in real life.

I agree with the other poster in the fact that you have to think positively but that doesn't mean you should blindly ignore the possibilities of what could happen.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by knight17

This is only an issue with current releases. Taking my own personal circumstance into consideration, I still have a long way to go in collecting movies that have been released some time back.

There's always the option of checking reviews and opinions over the internet as well as asking for recommendations from people known to you in real life.

I agree with the other poster in the fact that you have to think positively but that doesn't mean you should blindly ignore the possibilities of what could happen.

Well I knew almost 20 years ago this day would come, when I was watching my Ripped Digital DVD's from my Home Server. The PQ and Sound were just like DVD, and I knew Movies would be shown like this. It took a while, but my predictions are here now. I for one just love Streaming Video, the possibilities are endless.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Fiffy

Actually EST in the US grew by 18% in 2015. Yes, it is slower than 2014 (where it grew by 30%), but I think it's way too early to proclaim a trend. The 30% may have just been a "coming out" effect, boosted by the introduction of incentives like the early release windows for digital. It is true though that subscription VOD grew even faster. But the only clear loser at the moment are discs.

That's not the report I read but until I find it, I can't disprove it.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

So you usually buy Blu-ray, but how about Movies that you just want to view, do they also have to be Blu-ray? Even Movies that don't have a lot of graphics, just characters? That could get quiet expensive, and run up your collection. I don't really go to the Cinema anymore, and I would Rent Movies from Red Box unless I knew I was going to view them at least one more time I would buy. Yes, when I bought it would be Blu-ray, but now with Digital HD my options have changed. If it's a Movie I like, and a keeper I look for UV HD before buying.

Just characters you say? Every film I have is enhanced by Blu-Ray. Take Locke, which is a one character film set mostly in a car. The clarity of Blu-Ray enhances that no end. If I am excited for the film, I buy it on Bluray with no exceptions. If I can't buy on Bluray I buy on iTunes. That is strictly for titles that are not available on Blu. For titles that I want to see at some point, I wait for cable or Netflix.
I basically pick 60 films I want the most each year. All the others I can wait for.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Yea Steedeel drags things out of a hat with no back up information, I also saw an increase in UV here in The States. But the Average Person really doesn't care about Format, as long as they can watch and enjoy their Movie, most are happy with DVD or SD Digital. The only people that care about PQ and Sound are here or Video Techs. I subscribe to a Video and Sound Magazine, and some of the people were questioning the quality of UHD Blu-ray not being much better than 1080P Blu-ray. Like I said, it's all in the eye of the beholder or the quality of the equipment used.

Of course there was an increase, UV started at a very small base. The thing is, all it takes is someone to open a UV account out of curiosity and those figures are added to the stats. The average UV account has just five movies.(now that is a fact I can back up)

Now, considering that Digital HD through ITunes,Amazon etc.. Is also factored into Digital EST for the year, the fact the growth has shrunk suggests to me that UV is not making anything like the impact it imagined. Vudu or no. Like many have said before, The Netflix genie is out of the bottle and it ain't going to be put back.

[tob]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Just characters you say? Every film I have is enhanced by Blu-Ray. Take Locke, which is a one character film set mostly in a car. The clarity of Blu-Ray enhances that no end. If I am excited for the film, I buy it on Bluray with no exceptions. If I can't buy on Bluray I buy on iTunes. That is strictly for titles that are not available on Blu. For titles that I want to see at some point, I wait for cable or Netflix.
I basically pick 60 films I want the most each year. All the others I can wait for.

But Locke is a film i don't mind having on dvd instead of blu ray because its focus is on Tom Hardy in a car non stop like you said steedeel so you don't get any benefit from the quality of that film when on a rare occasion you are focused on him all the way.
That is why i have Locke on dvd instead on blu ray steedeel.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by tob

But Locke is a film i don't mind having on dvd instead of blu ray because its focus is on Tom Hardy in a car non stop like you said steedeel so you don't get any benefit from the quality of that film when on a rare occasion you are focused on him all the way.
That is why i have Locke on dvd instead on blu ray steedeel.

It is enhanced Tob. You can see more detail. It was shot with the Red camera, it looks great. I can't watch DVD now, it's like watching through a soft filter.