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

[insomniac013]

Will always prefer physical. ALWAYS! Sure streaming is convenient but it's also more complicated and the services can take your content away if they want to. With discs that can't happen.

[socal9]

Originally Posted by Krizzle1

If a purchased movie gets removed from iTunes im pretty sure you can still access it from your Purchase History list

I purchased some TV shows from iTunes some years back. They are no longer available for purchase on iTunes but they are still in my library so the answer is Yes, you can still access them.

[Ray_Rogers]

Physical for me. I sell the Digital Copies. Even sell the DVDs, as long as they don't have the original audio or extras only on the disc which the Blu-ray doesn't have.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I don't do the partially watched thing lol. If I am in, I am in for the long haul.

I know what you mean, new Movies I haven't watched I'll watch from the beginning all the way through, but old Movies I might partially watch and go back to it later. You really can't do this with Disc that easily.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by insomniac013

Will always prefer physical. ALWAYS! Sure streaming is convenient but it's also more complicated and the services can take your content away if they want to. With discs that can't happen.

Well most people have both, and if your Streaming is set up properly it should not be complicated. Also UV is on many Servers, if one Provider goes down, you just use a different one. Your UV Collection is spread through many Servers.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

I know what you mean, new Movies I haven't watched I'll watch from the beginning all the way through, but old Movies I might partially watch and go back to it later. You really can't do this with Disc that easily.

The pristine quality melts away any tiny little problems like that for me. It's all about the A/V for me mate.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Well most people have both, and if your Streaming is set up properly it should not be complicated. Also UV is on many Servers, if one Provider goes down, you just use a different one. Your UV Collection is spread through many Servers.

It doesn't matter how many servers the content is on. I'm not worried about the content accidentally being lost, I'm worried about the studios taking it away. If there is a licensing dispute and a studio is not legally able to provide a title anymore it won't matter how many servers that title is on, it will be removed from all of them.

Physical copies don't have any licensing concerns when selling existing discs, just when making new ones. The thousands of copies of each title that have already been made will continue to work without any support from the studios that made them.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

It doesn't matter how many servers the content is on. I'm not worried about the content accidentally being lost, I'm worried about the studios taking it away. If there is a licensing dispute and a studio is not legally able to provide a title anymore it won't matter how many servers that title is on, it will be removed from all of them.

Physical copies don't have any licensing concerns when selling existing discs, just when making new ones. The thousands of copies of each title that have already been made will continue to work without any support from the studios that made them.

Like I said, most people have both, but when is the last time they had a licensing dispute. Anyway, it's all Digital whether on Disc or a Server, once it's out it out.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Like I said, most people have both, but when is the last time they had a licensing dispute. Anyway, it's all Digital whether on Disc or a Server, once it's out it out.

Every disc is controlled by whoever possesses the disc. They can play it, sell it, or give it away without any support from the studios. If my player breaks I can buy another and all my discs will still work. If my disc breaks I can buy another from one of thousands of people who still has a working copy. None of this requires any support from the studios.

Downloads can not be legally sold or given away and the DRM prevents them from being played on any devices that haven't been authorized by the content providers. At this point content being removed from people's libraries (iTunes, VUDU, Amazon, etc...) is rare, but it has happened. Much more commonly titles have been removed from sale. Meaning if you hadn't bought them at that point there is no way you can legally get them.

A used market is absolutely vital to ensure long term availability and that is only present on physical media. With the used market control lies with the customers rather than the studios and that is how it always should be.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

Every disc is controlled by whoever possesses the disc. They can play it, sell it, or give it away without any support from the studios. If my player breaks I can buy another and all my discs will still work. If my disc breaks I can buy another from one of thousands of people who still has a working copy. None of this requires any support from the studios.

Downloads can not be legally sold or given away and the DRM prevents them from being played on any devices that haven't been authorized by the content providers. At this point content being removed from people's libraries (iTunes, VUDU, Amazon, etc...) is rare, but it has happened. Much more commonly titles have been removed from sale. Meaning if you hadn't bought them at that point there is no way you can legally get them.

A used market is absolutely vital to ensure long term availability and that is only present on physical media. With the used market control lies with the customers rather than the studios and that is how it always should be.

It is one of those things where people won't realise until it's too late. It has happened before with music but I believe this would be a bigger thing.

[jmerr]

I have both for movies are really like, I rarely have time to sit and watch an entire movie, so I love with digital streaming that I can watch it for awhile and come back later and quickly pick up right where I left. Convenience out weighs picture quality for me.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by jmerr

I have both for movies are really like, I rarely have time to sit and watch an entire movie, so I love with digital streaming that I can watch it for awhile and come back later and quickly pick up right where I left. Convenience out weighs picture quality for me.

Seems like a odd statement when you own over 700 Blu-Ray's. Oh well, it takes all kinds.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by jmerr

........so I love with digital streaming that I can watch it for awhile and come back later and quickly pick up right where I left. Convenience out weighs picture quality for me.

You guys keep talking PQ, with the right set up PQ is Fantastic! Another plus, I have been watching Shameless, and going from Disc to Disc and Season to Season, it's seamless. Just pick up where you left off, and keep going. Disc Lovers, keep flipping those Discs!

[Leslie Dame]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You guys keep talking PQ, with the right set up PQ is Fantastic! Another plus, I have been watching Shameless, and going from Disc to Disc and Season to Season, it's seamless. Just pick up where you left off, and keep going. Disc Lovers, keep flipping those Discs!

I don't quite get this mentality. This whole convenience thing actually scares me. Seems like people don't want to do anything anymore that requires the least amount of physical activity?

I'm starting to believe this isn't sci-fi anymore

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Leslie Dame

I don't quite get this mentality. This whole convenience thing actually scares me. Seems like people don't want to do anything anymore that requires the least amount of physical activity?

I'm starting to believe this isn't sci-fi anymore

It's gone from convenience to pampering people. Our young generation are becoming self-entitled robots because of it. Just look at that latest rumour of allowing phones into cinemas. *** that!

Anyway, the convenience thing will never make up for the sheer quality of Blu-Ray visually and audio wise. The watch anywhere thing doesn't apply to me. I wouldn't degrade myself by watching a movie on a phone. Besides, that just encourages SD quality as many people have strict data limits. They could use home wifi but if they are doing that at home, those people are lost causes to me.

Just watching a Blu feels like a complete different experience. Even the joy of having watched a great film and slotting the case next to another of a similar genre in my display cabinet knowing I will be returning to it.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You guys keep talking PQ, with the right set up PQ is Fantastic! Another plus, I have been watching Shameless, and going from Disc to Disc and Season to Season, it's seamless. Just pick up where you left off, and keep going. Disc Lovers, keep flipping those Discs!

But we already have the best quality. Soon 4K will be more common. When will Digital HD (or digital lite as I call it) catch up? Maybe by the time 8k is out, Digital will resemble true Blu-Ray 4K?

About your Tv series point, classics like GOT and Hannibal (classic despite not getting the viewing figures) demand the best quality and the disc is a time capsule for that. Changing a disc over is a pleasure when I know I am getting such a A/V feast.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Krizzle1

If a purchased movie gets removed from iTunes im pretty sure you can still access it from your Purchase History list

I get what you're saying, there's definitely some advantages to Bluray, maybe one day i'll 'upgrade' my collection to physical. I just dont want to pay twice for my digital collection to get the physical copy :/

It's simple. If you truly value movies use Optical. If you don't, go the streaming route.

[jmerr]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Seems like a odd statement when you own over 700 Blu-Ray's. Oh well, it takes all kinds.

My discs are stored away in a closet, I watch them only if I don't have a digital copy.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by jmerr

My discs are stored away in a closet, I watch them only if I don't have a digital copy.

Which I find odd. Why buy them in the first place? You might as well have just continued buying DVD and then move onto Digital. You obviously don't care about quality?

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

It's simple. If you truly value movies use Optical. If you don't, go the streaming route.

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Which I find odd. Why buy them in the first place? You might as well have just continued buying DVD and then move onto Digital. You obviously don't care about quality?

The world isn't black & white. There's no debating that Blu-ray is the best quality. I have tons of them, but that hasn't stopped me from also picking up digital copies when they're on sale or have exclusive extra features (or they contain the features that were added to a double dipped version on Blu-ray) or when a Blu-ray version doesn't exist.

As great as Blu-rays are, they can (and do) add clutter to the household (unless you have a dedicated room for them), they can succumb to disc rot/scratches, take longer to load (and I'm not referring to the act of standing up and physically loading the disc into the player, but the player itself and all the forced trailers/warnings/etc) and sometimes have awkward packaging/disc hubs.

To say that streaming is only for those who don't want quality is snobbish and rude. If you have a decent home internet connection and streaming device then quality isn't much of an issue most of the time. It doesn't feel like you're slumming it. Every title in my Vudu collection is a minimum of HDX (1080p) quality. Every title I buy on iTunes is in HD (unless it's an old TV show like Monty Python). Yes, streaming lacks lossless audio, but I've never been an audiophile, so it could be two-channel stereo and I wouldn't mind (it's usually surround sound, though).

I'm super weird about my discs. I don't even like my wife to watch them when I'm not there to load it into the player myself, so the fact that she can just access a large portion of my collection on our Roku/Apple TV with the click of a button eliminates that issue.

So if I buy a new Blu-ray, I prefer it to include a digital copy. It doesn't mean I'll never watch the Blu-ray, but if that happens, so what? It's the movie itself that matters, and special features appeal to me too. I'm getting a little tired of scrutinizing the quality of the presentation to the extreme. I'm not saying that quality doesn't matter because it still does to me. At my viewing distance (6-8ft) on my TV screen (65"), I'm pleased with the quality of streaming almost as much as Blu-ray.

I'm not all-digital all the time, but mixing the two formats works for me, and that doesn't mean I don't truly value movies or don't care about quality. I love movies and I love quality. But I also really like this new(ish) discovery. If it's not THE future of home cinema, it's definitely still going to be a big part of it. Get used to it (or don't, but please stop judging the way you are).