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

[wolfpackTri]

Originally Posted by twobelowpar

Digital for convenience and price (via codes, D2D, etc)
Physical for films that are among my favourites and worth watching in the best possible quality.

Agreed! There is just no reason to own every single movie on disc. I have lots of movies on Vudu and a few on disc.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Rich1631

Right now streaming is kinda iffy as you all have said. However, it's only going to continue to improve...it's still in its infancy.

Infancy, where have you been.....It's here now, and only getting better. I don't buy Disc anymore if it doesn't have a Digital Copy. I watch all my movies on Streaming now, it's getting to be a waste of money buying Disc. I see barrels of Blu-ray going for $5, and no one buying them because few have Digital Copies. The demise of the Disc is just around the corner!

[RyRyMcNizzy13]

For me physical media is king but with UHD discs coming I'm starting to get rid of all my 1080p movies that I have in my vudu library. Vudu still looks very good but there is a noticeable picture quality difference.

[DreadfulOmen]

Originally Posted by twobelowpar

Digital for convenience and price (via codes, D2D, etc)
Physical for films that are among my favourites and worth watching in the best possible quality.

yea i agree 100%.

[flyry]

Originally Posted by PCFan

Sometimes I get issues with damaged discs or a discs skipping/freezing up.

Having to go through 3 different copies of Crouching Tiger UHD almost made me want to go fully digital if Vudu would stop BSing with exclusivity for UHD.

Right now I'm probably 80/20 in favor of Physical. Maybe higher.

[Cranston37]

If you buy discs with digital codes then there's no need to choose - you have both. Why anyone would buy digital only and basically give up the free disc is beyond me...

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Infancy, where have you been.....It's here now, and only getting better. I don't buy Disc anymore if it doesn't have a Digital Copy. I watch all my movies on Streaming now, it's getting to be a waste of money buying Disc. I see barrels of Blu-ray going for $5, and no one buying them because few have Digital Copies. The demise of the Disc is just around the corner!

Digital gets most of its income from subscriptions and ad-supported free streaming. Discs continue to sell way better than digital for individual titles. In 2015 disc sales were over $6 Billion in the United States... digital sales were under $2 Billion.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

Digital gets most of its income from subscriptions and ad-supported free streaming. Discs continue to sell way better than digital for individual titles. In 2015 disc sales were over $6 Billion in the United States... digital sales were under $2 Billion.

Part of the reason is because Digital cost less, but I'm sure for 2016 these figures will flip. I think UHD Discs will be the last ones, some other form of Storage Distribution has to come out. I think it will be Home Servers and Local Servers that will Store and Stream your Movies. I see the Future with a Fiber Infrastructure, and a Network System with Servers to Store your Cloud Services which will include your Movie Collection.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Part of the reason is because Digital cost less, but I'm sure for 2016 these figures will flip.

What are you basing that on? Why would digital suddenly triple and physical drop to a third? What changed in the past year?

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Part of the reason is because Digital cost less, but I'm sure for 2016 these figures will flip.

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

What are you basing that on? Why would digital suddenly triple and physical drop to a third? What changed in the past year?

I don't know what rock you are living under, but Streaming is taking over. You do know that you Stream from your Blu-ray Player, so why not directly from a Server. If you can't see the writing on the wall, you are still under that Rock.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by alchav21

I don't know what rock you are living under, but Streaming is taking over. You do know that you Stream from your Blu-ray Player, so why not directly from a Server. If you can't see the writing on the wall, you are still under that Rock.

Streaming is definitely growing in popularity and discs are definitely dropping in popularity. But to think that either would ever change that drastically in a short amount of time is absurd.

I've discussed my problem with streaming before... customers have control over discs, but studios have full control over streaming. You said that studios can control discs as well but I still want an explanation for that statement. Nothing any of the studios can possibly do could prevent me from playing, giving away, or selling any of the discs they've already made: the used market ensures that every movie ever released on disc will continue to be available long after the studios drop all support.

Every title released on disc is another title that the studios can't take away. I will support physical media (and only physical media) for as long as I possibly can. It may be a losing battle in the long run, but thousands of titles will be preserved in the mean time.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

Streaming is definitely growing in popularity and discs are definitely dropping in popularity. But to think that either would ever change that drastically in a short amount of time is absurd.

I've discussed my problem with streaming before... customers have control over discs, but studios have full control over streaming. You said that studios can control discs as well but I still want an explanation for that statement. Nothing any of the studios can possibly do could prevent me from playing, giving away, or selling any of the discs they've already made: the used market ensures that every movie ever released on disc will continue to be available long after the studios drop all support.

Every title released on disc is another title that the studios can't take away. I will support physical media (and only physical media) for as long as I possibly can. It may be a losing battle in the long run, but thousands of titles will be preserved in the mean time.

What is a short amount of time when it comes to Technology. Sometimes from one day to another things change, so you can't say it's absurd. Your Discs that you love so much will always be yours, but will you still want to watch them when those same Movies will be in 4K+. Just like VHS, time moves on and new Technology takes the place of old. You are right, Studios want to control their Content and probably with Streaming they can do this better. Bottom Line we are just along for the ride, so let's enjoy it!

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by alchav21

What is a short amount of time when it comes to Technology. Sometimes from one day to another things change, so you can't say it's absurd.

Digital's growth has slowed down over the past few years. Digital sales grew 30% from 2013 to 2014, but only 18% from 2014 to 2015. So I can absolutely say it's absurd for digital sales to grow 200% from 2015 to 2016.

Originally Posted by alchav21

Your Discs that you love so much will always be yours, but will you still want to watch them when those same Movies will be in 4K+. Just like VHS, time moves on and new Technology takes the place of old. You are right, Studios want to control their Content and probably with Streaming they can do this better. Bottom Line we are just along for the ride, so let's enjoy it!

My concern is about titles being discontinued and unavailable. If they are discontinued they obviously won't be available on later formats (physical or digital).

I still watch plenty of movies and TV shows on DVD because they aren't available on Blu-ray. Most of the titles I have on Blu-ray will never be available on UHD Blu-ray. I am perfectly capable of enjoying titles on lesser physical formats and will likely continue to watch all three formats (and hopefully later physical formats) for the rest of my life.

[Rich1631]

Agree with the point about UHD being the final disc format. I don't even think that will last. I've always been very pro physical, but they are slowly pushing us the other way.

[Rich1631]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Infancy, where have you been.....It's here now, and only getting better. I don't buy Disc anymore if it doesn't have a Digital Copy. I watch all my movies on Streaming now, it's getting to be a waste of money buying Disc. I see barrels of Blu-ray going for $5, and no one buying them because few have Digital Copies. The demise of the Disc is just around the corner!

It's still very new and glitchy. The quality isn't quite there yet. And there needs to be a "Steam" for movies (that is for PC gaming). One big huge marketplace that has competitive deals. The digital deals suck right now, physical is often cheaper. There is not much incentive to go digital.

[Canada]

I am all about the physical disc.

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by Rich1631

It's still very new and glitchy. The quality isn't quite there yet. And there needs to be a "Steam" for movies (that is for PC gaming). One big huge marketplace that has competitive deals. The digital deals suck right now, physical is often cheaper. There is not much incentive to go digital.

The deals aren't always there when compared to the physical equivalents, but they're there often enough to get us digital enthusiasts excited. Plus, sometimes iTunes has exclusive extras. That's incentive enough for me to go digital. Fox and Universal have deals of the day, plus there's weekend deals, weekly deals, gift card sales, etc.

I've had the Black & Chrome edition of Mad Max Fury Road for weeks. I enjoyed the alternate ending to Sausage Party. I appreciated the added footage in Suicide Squad. Digital feels good to me.

[veritas]

Originally Posted by alchav21

I don't know what rock you are living under, but Streaming is taking over. You do know that you Stream from your Blu-ray Player, so why not directly from a Server. If you can't see the writing on the wall, you are still under that Rock.

Streaming should not be counted in digital sales when you are comparing it to blu ray. Streaming is killing cable more then anything. Its basically like studios saying they found a penny but they dropped their wallets to pick it up.


Anyway I do use the digital copies that come with blu rays and a few titles from Vudu such as wreck it ralph just magically disappeared. With digital the studio can do this to me with the push of a button but its almost impossible for them to take back a blu ray they have already printed. This is why people support physical with physical i own something, with digital I just have a license (that I cant sell) which they can pluck away from me with a few key strokes.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by veritas

Anyway I do use the digital copies that come with blu rays and a few titles from Vudu such as wreck it ralph just magically disappeared. With digital the studio can do this to me with the push of a button but its almost impossible for them to take back a blu ray they have already printed. This is why people support physical with physical i own something, with digital I just have a license (that I cant sell) which they can pluck away from me with a few key strokes.

The Studios do want more control over their Movies, and I think with Digital they get this. Your titles should not disappear, if you keep good records and stay with one Provider your Library is pretty safe. With UV it also saves them on various Servers. What I have been telling you guys about FTTH, and in The Home has been verified by my Magazine Sound & Vision. They said with Streaming Video Fiber will be needed, especially with 4k+. I watch all the recent Movies now Streaming, because I can see them way before they come out on Disc. These time intervals are getting shorter and shorter, and I'm sure First Run Movies are next to come to Streaming.

[PCFan]

Originally Posted by alchav21

The Studios do want more control over their Movies, and I think with Digital they get this. Your titles should not disappear, if you keep good records and stay with one Provider your Library is pretty safe. With UV it also saves them on various Servers. What I have been telling you guys about FTTH, and in The Home has been verified by my Magazine Sound & Vision. They said with Streaming Video Fiber will be needed, especially with 4k+. I watch all the recent Movies now Streaming, because I can see them way before they come out on Disc. These time intervals are getting shorter and shorter, and I'm sure First Run Movies are next to come to Streaming.

Staying with one provider is impossible if you redeem UV codes that come with blu-rays. Not every UV code redeems through Vudu, but most do. You still have to rely on Flixster for some UV codes and I even had to redeem one UV through Paramount as per the instructions on the slip. If I unlink my Vudu account from my UV account then all those UV codes that I did not redeem through Vudu will not show up in my Vudu account unless I relink my Vudu account to my UV account, so I'm still depending on other UV services to have all my UV movies show up in my Vudu library.