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

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You're right putting Movies on my own Server is not in my plans. I don't have any of the problems with Streaming that you guys talk about. Fiber and Hardwired Ethernet gives me Solid Playback from all my Streaming Providers. My ISP is very reliable and rarely goes down, so my Streaming is like your Disc Playing. I haven't lost any Movies or TV Shows, so depending on my Streaming Providers is not a problem.

Streaming Quality is getting better and Bitrates are slowly climbing. Accessing the Streaming Providers Servers is not a problem, so my Content will only get better with an unlimited supply that will only grow more and more!

I haven't seen any improvements in either streaming quality or bitrates nor have I heard anyone but you make that claim; maybe if you shared the drugs you're on I would?

Even if internet service and streaming servers were reliable everywhere I would never want to be fully reliant upon them for my entertainment. There is so much in my collection that is unavailable on streaming that your hallucination of "unlimited" supply has to be just another manifestation of your drug induced euphoria.

Then there's that whole discs having better A/V quality thing, but we already know that you can't tell the difference between a VHS tape and an IMAX cinema presentation, so no reason to go there again is there?

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

The Synology DS1821+ uses 59.8 W during access and 26.18 W during HDD hibernation. With 8 drives like mine that would be 60 + 52 = 112 Watts total.

On my Synology DS212j I have two external HDD's connected via USB using Inateck FE3001 enclosures. These enclosures will hibernate the HDD after a period of no activity.

I'm ok with all this even if I was wrong with my quick analysis but I am curious if this is specs or measurements you have taken.

In my case it was seeing directly the changes made to my consumption. It's like having a whole house kill a watt device. That said it was just a quick look and the power use of the house does vary throughout the day even though this time of year we don't have any type of HVAC running.

[Wendell R. Breland]

May have found a cure for the momentary freezes when playing content via the Zappiti NAS or Synology NAS and Zappiti Neo. I have both of my NAS drives and a few other devices with Reserved Address set in my Linksys WRT1900ACS router. Reserved the address for the Neo and set the Neo and the NAS drives to High Priority in the Media Prioritization section. Have not had a freeze yet so hope that is the fix.

[crutzulee]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I have never had a video disc player of any type fail. Most playback glitches were correctable just by cleaning the disc, so I don't see those as a problem.

You do, however, need to treat your toys better. They're good to you, so you be good to them.

There was a time when I was more careful with my things and cared more about the packaging that my physical media came in....but over the years, as I've purchased the 10th iteration of the same title on the latest format, or have upgraded a projector that I'd babied LONG before it's bulb needed replacing, or an amp to get the latest sound formats...I've just given up worrying about longevity and concentrated on thoroughly using and enjoying the crap out of what I have right now.

That being said, the PARADIGM Monitor 7s that I use for my L/R surrounds have been in my setup for over 30 years...

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I'm ok with all this even if I was wrong with my quick analysis but I am curious if this is specs or measurements you have taken.

Don't have a Synology DS1821+ so can not measure but have no reason to doubt their specification. Maybe I can measure the Zappiti soon.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by crutzulee

There was a time when I was more careful with my things and cared more about the packaging that my physical media came in....but over the years, as I've purchased the 10th iteration of the same title on the latest format, or have upgraded a projector that I'd babied LONG before it's bulb needed replacing, or an amp to get the latest sound formats...I've just given up worrying about longevity and concentrated on thoroughly using and enjoying the crap out of what I have right now.

That being said, the PARADIGM Monitor 7s that I use for my L/R surrounds have been in my setup for over 30 years...

I have a pair of 38 year-old Polk SDA-2's working as my main front pair. .

Good speakers are so worth the money. They last nigh unto forever and still perform great while most everything else becomes obsolete or gives up the ghost.

Btw, you can fully enjoy your stuff AND treat it nice, too.

[veritas]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You guys are crazy, reminds me of the Winchester Mystery House....Keep Building! No matter how much space you need. Running out of space, Disc not working because of compatibility, Disc problem or poor duplication, and Studio Disc Production troubles. Also Disc Player problems will add to the Frenzy!

I have never had a disc fail on me before the return window closed. The only times I have seen discs fail are factory errors and faulty packaging. I have had media servers fail on me multiple times though. A hard drives life span is 3 to 5 years while a blu rays life span is around 150 years.

I have also lost digital copies before sometimes they come back eventually a fair number of times the digital copy is either gone forever or turns into a brick because support never lasts forever.

As for space I have had space problems both digitally and physically. For digital I buy larger hard drives and for physical I sell some of my collection generally for more then I payed for it. A digital collection is worthless if you don’t want a part of your collection theirs nothing you can do with it while a physical collection can always be liquidated.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I haven't seen any improvements in either streaming quality or bitrates nor have I heard anyone but you make that claim; maybe if you shared the drugs you're on I would?

I don't remember a single post by that one where there was any proof offered to substantiate claims posted here. Even told him how he could check info from Prime but he never posted a reply.

Info from Prime using a Nvidia Shield Pro (Android):

[Show spoiler]

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by veritas

I have never had a disc fail on me before the return window closed. The only times I have seen discs fail are factory errors and faulty packaging. I have had media servers fail on me multiple times though. A hard drives life span is 3 to 5 years while a blu rays life span is around 150 years.

I have also lost digital copies before sometimes they come back eventually a fair number of times the digital copy is either gone forever or turns into a brick because support never lasts forever.

As for space I have had space problems both digitally and physically. For digital I buy larger hard drives and for physical I sell some of my collection generally for more then I payed for it. A digital collection is worthless if you don’t want a part of your collection theirs nothing you can do with it while a physical collection can always be liquidated.

He's an "expert" on disc prices. He'll tell you that discs have no resell value no matter what your experience to the contrary has been.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

I don't remember a single post by that one where there was any proof offered to substantiate claims posted here. Even told him how he could check info from Prime but he never posted a reply.

Info from Prime using a Nvidia Shield Pro (Android):

[Show spoiler]

It's hard to prove make-believe.

[crutzulee]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

May have found a cure for the momentary freezes when playing content via the Zappiti NAS or Synology NAS and Zappiti Neo. I have both of my NAS drives and a few other devices with Reserved Address set in my Linksys WRT1900ACS router. Reserved the address for the Neo and set the Neo and the NAS drives to High Priority in the Media Prioritization section. Have not had a freeze yet so hope that is the fix.

One of the ways I've justified my procrastination in setting up a NAS is my fear of getting into the weeds of network issues that one always reads about on the forums of almost all media players. From an RPI, to an NVIDIA SHIELD, to the ZIDDO Z9X, my local media is directly attached a powered hub that is directly hooked up to the latest media player. This presents a few minor issues but ensures absolutely stutter free playback....

[veritas]

Originally Posted by Vilya

He's an "expert" on disc prices. He'll tell you that discs have no resell value no matter what your experience to the contrary has been.

The second hand market is actually what got me into collecting in the first place. I bought a used copy of Aladdin for 2 bucks and sold it for 20. It’s become a game kind of.

It’s actually created an odd problem for me where I recently zeroed out my spending on around 8 sets of Naruto and zeroed around 15 sets of one piece. I’m kind of mixed on if I should keep buying Naruto and one piece or if I prefer looking at these large series that I spent nothing on lol.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by crutzulee

One of the ways I've justified my procrastination in setting up a NAS is my fear of getting into the weeds of network issues that one always reads about on the forums of almost all media players. From an RPI, to an NVIDIA SHIELD, to the ZIDDO Z9X, my local media is directly attached a powered hub that is directly hooked up to the latest media player. This presents a few minor issues but ensures absolutely stutter free playback....

If I should continue to have issues then I will move the Zappiti NAS close to the home theater equipment room and connect to the Neo using a old Linksys E2000 router that I have. Will setup using the HTPC, turn off Wi-Fi so the only connected devices will be the HTPC, NAS and Neo player.

[Vilya]

Expense and power consumption aside, who has time to rip 8000+ discs to a server? Just thinking about it makes me tired.

[Warm Gun]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Expense and power consumption aside, who has time to rip 8000+ discs to a server? Just thinking about it makes me tired.

Not just rip. Often you don't know what a subtitle or audio track is until you check the rip. Then you have to name them, set defaults and remux. I go a step further and fix subtitle choices I don't like.



Whole thing can be pretty time-consuming.

Last order:





Can't remember when I ordered Criterion outside of the biyearly sales. Would have only saved a dollar. Was hoping Sony would include A Matter of Life and Death in Columbia 4K Volume 2 or 3. They don't release enough old movies. Most of them, even their catalogs, are modern.

camelcamel.com says Herzog is at the lowest price in years. I've seen a few of his movies.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Warm Gun

Not just rip. Often you don't know what a subtitle or audio track is until you look at the rip. Then you have to name them and remux. I go a step further and fix subtitle choices I don't like.

[Show spoiler]

Whole thing can be pretty time-consuming.

Last order:

[Show spoiler]

Can't remember when I ordered Criterion outside of the biyearly sales. Would have only saved a dollar. Was hoping Sony would include A Matter of Life and Death in Columbia 4K Volume 2 or 3. They don't release enough old movies. Most of them, even their catalogs, are modern.

camelcamel.com says Herzog is at the lowest price in years. I've seen a few of his movies.

Doing all that would finish me off. I'd be before I was even 5% done with the project.

Be sure to inspect the discs in that Herzog set; I remember that there were lots of complaints about it when it first came out. I'd love to upgrade my DVDs of these movies, but the reports of damaged/defective discs scared me off. I hope you are lucky with your set.

[bhampton]

I've gone back and forth with the media server idea but for the moment I have let the thing go.

I didn't have anything on the server that I don't have on disc and I only tend to watch one thing at a time.

I don't want to maintain it or more importantly deal with any bugs or problems.

I was thinking this when I bought my Panasonic UB9000 but the Zidoo looked fun so I gave the idea one last chance. The best thing about it is probably watching series as it makes it all instantly available so you don't have to figure out what disc you are up to.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I've gone back and forth with the media server idea but for the moment I have let the thing go.

I didn't have anything on the server that I don't have on disc and I only tend to watch one thing at a time.

I don't want to maintain it or more importantly deal with any bugs or problems.

I was thinking this when I bought my Panasonic UB9000 but the Zidoo looked fun so I gave the idea one last chance. The best thing about it is probably watching series as it makes it all instantly available so you don't have to figure out what disc you are up to.

The server idea might have interested me if I was just beginning to collect movies, but to start such a project now would be a colossal undertaking. It would also be something else to have to buy hardware for and something else to maintain.

I love this hobby and I love home theater tech, but I also like EZ peezy lemon squeezy. Plopping a disc into a tray is about as EZ as it gets. There's a lot to be said for "keep it simple, stupid" that is lost upon the designers of all this tech wizardry. They have forgotten what "user friendly" means. The excessive complexity of this hobby is one of the biggest reasons why I can't convince people to try it. People want to simply enjoy a movie without having to learn how to pilot the damn space shuttle in order to do it.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Warm Gun

Not just rip. Often you don't know what a subtitle or audio track is until you check the rip. Then you have to name them, set defaults and remux. I go a step further and fix subtitle choices I don't like.

Whole thing can be pretty time-consuming.

One reason I went big (98TB) because Zappiti rips to .ISO, that way I can just play the movie or play with menu.

I have a 1TB SSD in the Neo with all my concert DVD and BD ripped there. Really like that feature.

IMO, folks should really like into the pros and cons of media servers and players before investing money. I certainly have no intention of removing any of my disc spinners. IF there is a player that becomes available that supersedes my Oppo UDP-203 then I most likely will procure one.

[crutzulee]

According to the HT app on the ZIDOO I have over 1400 titles. Truth be told, I know that a significant portion of them are DVDs that I've long since carried off to the charity shop.
I remember that I did an enormous purge of DVDs once bluray got a sufficient hold of the market. When my son took over archival duties as a condition of getting his first PC gaming super computer, he must have found a bunch of DVD ISOs on older drives kicking around the house.

I would never watch anything less than 1080p in my HT now so I know that I still own all the physical discs for those titles. He even found that I had purchased duplicate titles when he went through the collection due to my deteriorating memory..
With the ZIDOO, I can scan my posterwall for any title I desire. If it is in DVD quality or not available, I can simply order it online and within a day or two it shows up on my posterwall as a newly added title because my son has picked it up off the front porch and ripped it before I get home. Unless otherwise instructed, I ask him to simply rip the movie only as I don't care for menus and supplementary material any more...