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

[Boccaccio]

Originally Posted by gotmule

I know there are a couple of folks who spent time in a projection booth that may appreciate this. Hell, I never stepped foot into one, and I am mildly fascinated with this guy’s skill as it is an entertaining way to spend 8 minutes watching a still in use imax projector being setup.

https://dailyblocks.com/r/videos/com...ctor_is_still/

Wow, thanks for posting this. Had no idea it was so complex.
Also, that projector doesn't look 30 years old.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by twobelowpar

Because it’s not “crap”. I’ll always admit it’s not as good, but calling it crap just minimizes your argument.

Originally Posted by sapiendut

Okay, fine, unacceptable for my front projection at all to the point that when I watch streaming it should be on my 55” viewed from 12ft away.

You know what.... it is crap for my regular viewing purposes.

Originally Posted by Vilya

On my TVs, streaming typically looks very good, but I am limited to an 85" screen. At 200", I might be less generous in my assessment. I did not have the privilege of a childhood with regular access to a theater's projection booth, either.

It might not be PC but I can understand the use of the term crap for unacceptable, for me (not that anyone here did) I can't agree with "great" just because something is acceptable.

i.e. I can understand if someone tried hard and got a D and is happy with their mark (no judgement here) but I can also understand if someone sees it as a crap grade, but there is no way that a D is a great grade.


as for what we have


In the family room ~12' from a 75" TV and in the HT the first row is ~10' from a 10' wide projector screen.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by gotmule

I know there are a couple of folks who spent time in a projection booth that may appreciate this. Hell, I never stepped foot into one, and I am mildly fascinated with this guy’s skill as it is an entertaining way to spend 8 minutes watching a still in use imax projector being setup.

https://dailyblocks.com/r/videos/com...ctor_is_still/

nice video, thanks

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

Re: Laserdisks (or LD's), I never got into that format - and am glad I didn't. LD's were very expensive, large/bulky, and inefficient - I also hated how you had to turn them over half-way through a film. I'm surprised anyone was a fan of these even before the DVD era.

Just to add to what Vilya has said. If you want the best then none of the above really matters. LaserDisc had very good audio from the get go, later added CX noise reduction, later still digital audio was added (CD quality. Lastly Dolby Digital (AC3) and DTS sound was added to LaserDisc. The video bandwidth was ≈ 6 MHz, NTSC video is limited to 4.2 MHz.

[Steedeel]

A poster on another thread reckons Vudu force motion smoothing in their 4K transfers. I call bollocks. Anyone confirm either way? I didn’t even think motion smoothing COULD be forced unless it’s on the hardware side. I’m confused.

[The_Donster]

Well, I watched Lucky Logan (and started Howard Hawks El Dorado) on Prime last night and thought both looked pretty good all things considered. I’ve been too preoccupied with the new job to actually sit down and watch anything longer than Match Game or a 30 minute show. So I took advantage of my wife being out of town and the house being quiet thanks to a Star Wars DVD marathon my son’s been on.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by The_Donster

Well, I watched Lucky Logan (and started Howard Hawks El Dorado) on Prime last night and thought both looked pretty good all things considered. I’ve been too preoccupied with the new job to actually sit down and watch anything longer than Match Game or a 30 minute show. So I took advantage of my wife being out of town and the house being quiet thanks to a Star Wars DVD marathon my son’s been on.

I can’t do the prequels anymore. They are just so badly made and poorly acted I struggle to get through them.

I like the current films though and obviously the ‘classic’ three.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

A poster on another thread reckons Vudu force motion smoothing in their 4K transfers.

Not likely. That would require a higher frame rate which means a larger file size. Streaming providers want smaller, not larger, file sizes.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Not likely. That would require a higher frame rate which means a larger file size. Streaming providers want smaller, not larger, file sizes.

That’s what I thought. I’m not sure he is talking about HFR though. I get the impression he meant that the Vudu transfers have a motion smoothing effect similar to what some TVs have (before it is switched off lol)

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

A poster on another thread reckons Vudu force motion smoothing in their 4K transfers. I call bollocks. Anyone confirm either way? I didn’t even think motion smoothing COULD be forced unless it’s on the hardware side. I’m confused.

I think he is mixing stuff up. And what he is talking about is filtering (smoothing) (-grain reduction.....) that help make the movie easier to compress.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

That’s what I thought. I’m not sure he is talking about HFR though. I get the impression he meant that the Vudu transfers have a motion smoothing effect similar to what some TVs have (before it is switched off lol)

Higher frame rates (interpolated) is how motion smoothing is accomplished, some info here. Be sure and click the link in the 24 Hz video section.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Higher frame rates (interpolated) is how motion smoothing is accomplished, some info here. Be sure and click the link in the 24 Hz video section.

I’m hoping I never have to watch it in the home environment. Once at the cinema was enough for me.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

I think he is mixing stuff up. And what he is talking about is filtering (smoothing) (-grain reduction.....) that help make the movie easier to compress.

Oh yeah, I know that!

The way he phrased it was very confusing though.

[dublinbluray108]

It appears from WB Digital Support that the transfer of people's digital libraries from Flixster Video to Google Play has not gone smoothly. WB Digital Support have been sending support ticket replies to people to say that there was regret in not having titles which remain unavailable for migration from Flixster Video to Google Play in which they said is down to a 'technical problem'.

If you are hearing or reading this reply from them; you would probably agree with my own thinking on it that it is a official stock reply coming out from the people who run the service in WB. The good news from WB's point of view is that it won't mean people's titles would disappear for good or eventually get taken away from this migration process. WB have said that they will rectify this 'technical problem' by way of an email which is sent to people's email addresses linked with Flixster Video. That email would outline the titles available to you for migration to Google Play once the issue is completely fixed.

Here's that stock reply from someone that I copied off Disqus which had outlined this technical issue.

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out.

We regret that some titles in your Flixster Video collection are not available for migration to Google Play.

We have had some technical problems with some titles listed below in your collection that are listed as unavailable, and we are currently working on making these titles available for migration to Google Play and fixing any related technical issues. We will provide you a notice by E-mail when these additional titles become available for migration, so that you can return to your collection and migrate them to Google Play. Please stay tuned.

Thank you.

I got a smaller stock reply from WB Digital Support 8 days ago in which they said they are researching the issue, about my two Flixster Video titles not porting over to Google Play, that I had reported through my support ticket to them. They said they will contact me soon with further support with a thank you note attached.

What do you think of this reply from them. Will all of that work be doable by December 18th?

[The_Donster]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I can’t do the prequels anymore. They are just so badly made and poorly acted I struggle to get through them.

I like the current films though and obviously the ‘classic’ three.

While the classics are what I grew up with, I don’t mind the prequels too much. Attack of The Clones is my favorite because I saw it at IMAX. That Geonosia arena scene was awesome. But I do think that Lucas kind of boxed himself into a corner with the 3 chapters. Between them not changing the actors and trying to cram so much in the last one it didn’t show the progression of how long The Clone Wars actually lasted. If they had replaced Portman and Christenson with older actors it might have helped.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by The_Donster

While the classics are what I grew up with, I don’t mind the prequels too much. Attack of The Clones is my favorite because I saw it at IMAX. That Geonosia arena scene was awesome. But I do think that Lucas kind of boxed himself into a corner with the 3 chapters. Between them not changing the actors and trying to cram so much in the last one it didn’t show the progression of how long The Clone Wars actually lasted. If they had replaced Portman and Christenson with older actors it might have helped.

The casting was awful, although not helped by awful writing. Even the Vader reveal was handled poorly. It’s a shame Adam Driver wasn’t around then, he would have made a great Anakin/Vader.

There were so many moments that made me cringe but Yoda bouncing around the screen like a rocket propelled Kermit the frog was a low point. The whole reveal of Yoda in the originals worked because of the surprise element. Imagination was enough, we didn’t need to see Yoda in combat. It ruined things for me.
I honestly think Lucas lost the plot with those three films.

[Wendell R. Breland]

For Vilya and anyone interested in the UHD/4K release of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, Bill Hunt of the Digital Bits has a good write up here.

For me, I passed on the Rings but have the Hobbit's on 3D Blu-ray. IMHO, the Hobbit's are some of the best 3D around.

Add: There are so many new releases on BD and UHD BD nowadays that it is getting hard to keep up with what I want.

[octagon]

Well, it looks like Comcast might succeed in doing something Netflix and Amazon and Hulu and Roku and Donner and Blitzen have thus far failed to do.

They just made Turner Classic Movies part of one of their premium sports packages so my choices are do without, pony up an extra ten bucks a month or find an alternative way to get TCM.

Do without is definitely not an option. TCM is a freaking national treasure.

And paying the extra ten bucks isn't all that appealing either. And here's the funny part: I wouldn't even be paying it. I work from home and my company pays for my internet and phone service and a few years ago I talked them into springing for my cable service too. I'm sure they wouldn't even blink at a small upgrade.

But it just bugs the hell out of me.

Am I really cranky enough and stubborn enough to go out-of-pocket to subscribe to a streaming service instead of just opting for the (essentially) free 'upgrade'?

I think we all know the answer to that

****ing Comcast.

[Steedeel]

Octagon, are you buying the upcoming Octagon starring Chuck Norris?

Just wanted to type that!

[Ender14]

Originally Posted by gotmule

I know there are a couple of folks who spent time in a projection booth that may appreciate this. Hell, I never stepped foot into one, and I am mildly fascinated with this guy’s skill as it is an entertaining way to spend 8 minutes watching a still in use imax projector being setup.

https://dailyblocks.com/r/videos/com...ctor_is_still/

Thanks for the video. I was a projectionist for several years. I never ran an IMAX projector, which looks incredibly more complicated than what I worked on. Regular projectors were vertical, not horizontal and the platters sat immediately next to the projector. The films would come on individual reels that we would roll onto the platter and splice together. We would also have to splice the trailers and company announcements/advertising together and then splice the actual film to the end of that reel.

It is the best job I ever had. I still have boxes full of the trailers that I took. Can't really do anything with them but they are pretty cool to have.