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

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by V40LLY

Does your Blu-ray player work during a power failure. If my my internet connection went down, temporarily, I would do without, until it was back on again.

Yes, I have a generator.

[V40LLY]

You got me. [emoji51]

Still, all my 500+ iTunes movies can travel a lot easier in my pocket, wherever I go, than if they were on discs. I know I need WiFi connectivity to watch them on my hand held device, unless any of them are downloaded locally on it's hard drive.

I can even take my Apple TV with me, when visiting my friend in Hawaii.

They'll be a day in the long distant future, when all cheap, scruffy motels in the third world, have powerful enough download speeds to stream, whilst it's plugged into the TV in your room.

No point in mentioning 'UV' to me. As, there is limited titles available on Blu-ray at present. Not impressed with it. Call that a bonus, when you get it.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by V40LLY

You got me. [emoji51]

Still, all my 500+ iTunes movies can travel a lot easier in my pocket, wherever I go, than if they were on discs. I know I need WiFi connectivity to watch them on my hand held device, unless any of them are downloaded locally on it's hard drive.

I can even take my Apple TV with me, when visiting my friend in Hawaii.

They'll be a day in the long distant future, when all cheap, scruffy motels in the third world, have powerful enough download speeds to stream, whilst it's plugged into the TV in your room.

No point in mentioning 'UV' to me. As, there is limited titles available on Blu-ray at present. Not impressed with it. Call that a bonus, when you get it.

I don't and won't watch films on a mobile device. IMO, it's abuse of film.

[Droid420]

My vote is for digital movies. I have converted to digital for music, movies and games. I have not owned a standalone cd, dvd or blu-ray player for years. I do own about 1,000 dvd's and about 200 blu-rays but most have already been converted via disc to digital and are currently in storage. For movies that there is not a digital copy that I own, I rip it and stream it via Plex. Digital movies will replace physical media like digital music basically replaced physical media for music. Sure, the quality will never compare to owning the physical media but most people are fine with that. The biggest advantage for digital movies I feel is the ability to share your collection with your family members. My brother who lives hundreds of miles away is able to watch the thousands of digital titles in my UV locker anytime he wants and the beauty of it is you can share with up to 5 people! In my lifetime I have owned Videodisc, Laserdisc, VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray and now there is 4k Blu-Ray. In the transition period between DVD and Blu-Ray I ended up purchasing some of the same titles again in the higher resolution. I will never do this again. It was costly and did not improve my movie watching experience. I do however feel that if physical media goes away then I will no longer be able to get new digital releases for $5 or less.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Droid420

My vote is for digital movies. I have converted to digital for music, movies and games. I have not owned a standalone cd, dvd or blu-ray player for years. I do own about 1,000 dvd's and about 200 blu-rays but most have already been converted via disc to digital and are currently in storage. For movies that there is not a digital copy that I own, I rip it and stream it via Plex. Digital movies will replace physical media like digital music basically replaced physical media for music. Sure, the quality will never compare to owning the physical media but most people are fine with that. The biggest advantage for digital movies I feel is the ability to share your collection with your family members. My brother who lives hundreds of miles away is able to watch the thousands of digital titles in my UV locker anytime he wants and the beauty of it is you can share with up to 5 people! In my lifetime I have owned Videodisc, Laserdisc, VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray and now there is 4k Blu-Ray. In the transition period between DVD and Blu-Ray I ended up purchasing some of the same titles again in the higher resolution. I will never do this again. It was costly and did not improve my movie watching experience. I do however feel that if physical media goes away then I will no longer be able to get new digital releases for $5 or less.

That last sentence. That's what makes me laugh about all this.

[PCFan]

^
Are you going to stick with HDX even if a UHD version comes out on Vudu for a movie you own on the service or are you going to rebuy the movie in UHD? The reason I ask is you is because you said will never repurchase the same titles again if a newer format is released when you mention you went form DVD to Blu-ray on some titles you own and I wonder if that means you won't do it digitally either?

[Droid420]

Why does it make you laugh? I don't want physical media to go away because as a digital movie collector, I depend on people that buy the physical media and sell me their code. When it does go away, the low prices I pay for digital copies will definitely go up. Also, I feel they will stop doing $1 disc to digital in the future because it is a very small revenue stream for the studios. I think they are only doing this right now to get people converted and once they have a large enough base, they will end it like flixster did.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Droid420

My vote is for digital movies. I have converted to digital for music, movies and games. I have not owned a standalone cd, dvd or blu-ray player for years. I do own about 1,000 dvd's and about 200 blu-rays but most have already been converted via disc to digital and are currently in storage. For movies that there is not a digital copy that I own, I rip it and stream it via Plex. Digital movies will replace physical media like digital music basically replaced physical media for music. Sure, the quality will never compare to owning the physical media but most people are fine with that. The biggest advantage for digital movies I feel is the ability to share your collection with your family members. My brother who lives hundreds of miles away is able to watch the thousands of digital titles in my UV locker anytime he wants and the beauty of it is you can share with up to 5 people! In my lifetime I have owned Videodisc, Laserdisc, VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray and now there is 4k Blu-Ray. In the transition period between DVD and Blu-Ray I ended up purchasing some of the same titles again in the higher resolution. I will never do this again. It was costly and did not improve my movie watching experience. I do however feel that if physical media goes away then I will no longer be able to get new digital releases for $5 or less.

What equipment were you using? Baffled as to how you didn't see a huge difference between DVD and Blu-Ray?

[Droid420]

Originally Posted by PCFan

^
Are you going to stick with HDX even if a UHD version comes out on Vudu for a movie you own on the service or are you going to rebuy the movie in UHD? The reason I ask is you is because you said will never repurchase the same titles again if a newer format is released when you mention you went form DVD to Blu-ray on some titles you own and I wonder if that means you won't do it digitally either?

To be honest I prefer the SD version when possible simply because some of my siblings have really crappy internet service. They have not complained about data caps but they do complain that they are unable to view netflix or hulu while watching vudu in another room unless it is SD. Unfortunately cable or fiber internet is not available in 100% of homes yet but will be eventually.

[Krizzle1]

Honestly though how often have you used your generator? I dont know how much power generators hold or how well/long they run, but (i think) if i needed a generator, i'd probably use it for something more useful

(Who knows maybe you can power your whole house with one? In that case it'd be pretty sweet )

[PCFan]

I wonder who has the lead in sales worldwide for movie purchases (not rentals or subscription services, or buying digital codes)? Is it iTunes, Vudu, Amazon VOD, or Blu-ray?

[Droid420]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

What equipment were you using? Baffled as to how you didn't see a huge difference between DVD and Blu-Ray?

Of course I saw a difference, who wouldn't? My point was that it did not improve my movie watching experience. I watch movies for the movie itself and since the move away from VHS, the quality is fine for me.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Droid420

Why does it make you laugh? I don't want physical media to go away because as a digital movie collector, I depend on people that buy the physical media and sell me their code. When it does go away, the low prices I pay for digital copies will definitely go up. Also, I feel they will stop doing $1 disc to digital in the future because it is a very small revenue stream for the studios. I think they are only doing this right now to get people converted and once they have a large enough base, they will end it like flixster did.

Exactly. Don't you see the irony in that? Digital is great! It's the future! The HD quality is catching up! I can watch on my iPod! I can take it into the shower with me! But...........I ain't paying over six pound/dollars! Hilarious!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Droid420

Of course I saw a difference, who wouldn't? My point was that it did not improve my movie watching experience. I watch movies for the movie itself and since the move away from VHS, the quality is fine for me.

Odd. So you are saying you wouldn't feel The Revenant for example is massively enhanced by the superb HD quality of Bluray?

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by PCFan

I wonder who has the lead in sales worldwide for movie purchases (not rentals or subscription services, or buying digital codes)? Is it iTunes, Vudu, Amazon VOD, or Blu-ray?

Got to be Bluray.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Krizzle1

Honestly though how often have you used your generator? I dont know how much power generators hold or how well/long they run, but (i think) if i needed a generator, i'd probably use it for something more useful

(Who knows maybe you can power your whole house with one? In that case it'd be pretty sweet )

I don't have a generator! I was just being a clever dick.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Droid420

To be honest I prefer the SD version when possible simply because some of my siblings have really crappy internet service. They have not complained about data caps but they do complain that they are unable to view netflix or hulu while watching vudu in another room unless it is SD. Unfortunately cable or fiber internet is not available in 100% of homes yet but will be eventually.

that is all kinds of wrong. Prefer the SD version? I can't carry on this conversation.

[Droid420]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Exactly. Don't you see the irony in that? Digital is great! It's the future! The HD quality is catching up! I can watch on my iPod! I can take it into the shower with me! But...........I ain't paying over six pound/dollars! Hilarious!

I will if I have to, I spent about $90 for the Star Wars Digital Collection ($45 since I used Vudu Movie Credits). Also, Disney titles can be very expensive especially if they have been vaulted. Unfortunately, Disney titles are only for me to enjoy since they cannot be shared. I like digital because I can share it with my family and right now it is very cheap, I have built a collection of over 2500 titles which would have cost me 10 times more that what I have spent had I gone the physical route.

[Droid420]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

that is all kinds of wrong. Prefer the SD version? I can't carry on this conversation.

I think you miss my whole point that I do digital mostly for the benefit of my family members than myself.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Droid420

I will if I have to, I spent about $90 for the Star Wars Digital Collection ($45 since I used Vudu Movie Credits). Also, Disney titles can be very expensive especially if they have been vaulted. Unfortunately, Disney titles are only for me to enjoy since they cannot be shared. I like digital because I can share it with my family and right now it is very cheap, I have built a collection of over 2500 titles which would have cost me 10 times more that what I have spent had I gone the physical route.

I am speaking generally. I see comments like yours all the time.