! At Fox Studios with the Execs! Post Your Fox Questions Here and We Will Ask Away (1 Viewer)

[Tony Bensley]

I think this is an issue based on experiences. Much as people who lived through the Great Depression and kept up their frugal ways even after the economy had recovered, those of us who once had little hope or chance to revisit old favorites are more inclined to go for certainty over convenience.

Exactly! By the same token, those who grew up taking the ability to revisit their favorites for granted tend to be content with having the convenience.

CHEERS!

 

[marshman1138]

Physical media for me.

 

[Dave Moritz]

I remember back in about '96 - if there was a title I wanted to watch on DVD the only choice I had was to purchase it because I knew Blockbuster wouldn't have it. Now I can simply speak to my Apple TV whatever title my heart desires and it begins playing for a $3-6 charge.

I can not afford to pay $3-$6 every time I want to watch a movie and that is one of the things that is great about physical media. You pay for it once and as long as you watch it a bunch of times it beats paying every time you want to watch something. I have watched a movie on demand every once in awhile but it is not often. On top of that the audio track is not lossless and while there are some older titles that I can skip on that part, many movies I insist on having loss less audio. I have a few episodes of the original Battlestar Galactica but I am not going to buy an Apple TV to watch them from my pc.

I still can not imagine having to pay for a movie that I can not watch just because I can not afford internet. If I purchase the disc I just walk over to the shelf and put in in a player and there is no buffering issues if I have to downgrade my internet. If I do not own digital movies I do not have to worry about the company going bankrupt and loosing all the movies I paid for. If the player dies your movies are still there on the shelf and all you do is plug in another player and your back in business. If you download your movies and the hard drive dies and there is a good chance of that happening you have no movies until you replace the drive and download every single one.

There is a good chance that once physical media dies and it goes to internet downloads that I will be done. And lets not forget that alot of people in this country do not have internet and or cable tv. When and if physical media dies they will be cutting out all those customers that do not make much money. The average consumer even if they decided to support UHD content doesn't have a fast enough connection to stream UHD content. So now that we have UHD Blu-ray discs it has made physical media relevant again offering the best performance to produce the best quality reproduction. That doesn't mean that people will not choose quality over convenience because that is what happened with music downloads, especially when listening to music on a smart phone. I would consider digital media if it was bit for bit equal in picture quality and offered the same audio tracks like Dolby True HD /DTS-HD Master Audio /Dolby Atmos or the upcoming DTS-X. And offered it at a competitive price point but the main sticking point is having to have internet or you can not purchase or stream the content or having to hope the cable company doesn't go bankrupt. For myself going backwards to Dolby Digital is not an option as I did not invest money on all my upgrades just to slid back into a format I did not care for to begin with. Many here know that I was very pro DTS and I am not ashamed of that. Now that we have loss less audio and have Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio I have no issue buying ether Dolby or DTS. But I just do not see myself doing pay per view for every movie I want to watch instead of purchasing physical media that give me the best viewing and listening experience. Most likely when physical media dies the hobie dies with me no matter how much I love movies. I would continue to watch the movies I have and maybe even watch content via netflix or another subscription service that yoy pay a low monthly fee but I will not be purchasing digital downloads.

 

[Patrick Donahue]

Dave, I agree with everything you said, but my comments were aimed at how the majority will be using media, not the very small minority that you and I are apart of. Those homes you speak of without fast internet are more likely to get that before they get 4K TV's with HDR, a receiver that can pass that through, speakers that can play DTS-HD Master Audio, and movies for $40 a pop.

The problem is that OUR numbers are getting so small that we're about to get eaten up. We won't be able to collect a product that won't be made.

 

[Raul Marquez]

Again, All of this streaming is dependent on "THE INTERNET". I'm lucky to live in a city with cable modem based high speed internet (200Mega speed). It's fairly reliable, BUT.... I was just without internet service for 36 hours (it came back on 5 hours ago).
At times like this I was thankful for my Blu-rays. (Managed to finally watch "The Night Before" which to my surprise I really liked and "ExMachina")
Of course I was using my iPhone's personal hotspot for basic internet such as emails and texting, but for streaming it would be prohibitive in terms of cost. A large part of the country still doesn't have good infrastructure for high bandwith service which is needed for proper streaming without hiccups like pauses and pixelation. Until that happens I believe physical media will still survive.

 

[Dave Moritz]

Dave, I agree with everything you said, but my comments were aimed at how the majority will be using media, not the very small minority that you and I are apart of. Those homes you speak of without fast internet are more likely to get that before they get 4K TV's with HDR, a receiver that can pass that through, speakers that can play DTS-HD Master Audio, and movies for $40 a pop.

The problem is that OUR numbers are getting so small that we're about to get eaten up. We won't be able to collect a product that won't be made.

Alot of people have gone years without blu-ray discs and even internet. Back between 2005 - 2008 I installed appliances and it was not uncommon in lower income homes to see people that did not have HDTV's and those without computers and internet. And I agree that we are part of a small minority because most of people I delivered to did not have home theaters. The day that they move away from physical media and towards the digital media internet model we will see alot of those people who will not have access to movies beyond cable tv. I am willing to bet that studios will loose a percentage of people that buy movies on physical media even those a good chunk of those people are the ones buying dvd's.

Right now I do not have speed issues and am lucky enough to have internet although that could change if income keeps getting worse. Right now I have internet through Verizon and have Verizon Fios Quantum and get 150mb/sec up and down although there are times I get more than that. The top tier at this time is 500mb/sec but I can not justify that or afford it. I realize that like many here we are ahead of the curve and willing to spend more to get that cinema experience unlike the average consumer. With my income level I am at times surprised that I have the system that I have and feel very lucky. Through sheer determination and stubbornness I have saved for everything I own and that is the only reason I am able to have the system i have.

A good percentage of standard 1080p blu-rays have DTS-HD Master Audio but how many consumers actually have the ability to decode it and are listening to DTS-HD Master Audio in standard DTS or even Dolby True HD in Dolby Digital? My dream/goal is to finally get a 4K projector and have a 120" screen if I still have the room for that size screen and the throw distance. If not I will just get a 80" 4K UHD TV but that depends on finances and where I am living at the time. It will get hard to get used to $40 a pop for movies but that is going to force me into buying less and concentrating on 4K UHD titles while still getting some 1080p Blu-rays and 480p DVD will not even be a consideration for any reason. Granted I know this is not how the average consumer consumes movies but I can only hope that physical media survives for years in order to build a decent 1080p and 4K UHD blu-ray collection.

 

[Patrick Donahue]

^ I like pretty much all of that. Cheers.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I will go further than that and say the future is in not owning media at all.

The #1 complaint people have about digital is them not wanting to own a digital file. I think most people would ask why you need to own at all.

I remember back in about '96 - if there was a title I wanted to watch on DVD the only choice I had was to purchase it because I knew Blockbuster wouldn't have it. Now I can simply speak to my Apple TV whatever title my heart desires and it begins playing for a $3-6 charge.

I used to be proud of the 200 Blu-rays I had on a shelf. Now when I compare it to the 15,000 titles available right through the TV, it actually seems LIMITING.

All these wish lists we put on here of titles we want studios to release? There's a 90% chance you can speak it into your Siri remote and it will play in 1080p. Interested in 4K UHD? There's no need to upgrade if you only rent.

And look at music - for a $10 charge you can listen to any album you want. It makes it hard to justify, or to find any need, in purchasing an album now, whether it be physical or digital. I argue that is the future of movies, and that's not all bad.

There is always the collector who won't be swayed. I saw a poster on another forum this morning saying how he was going to stay with his Blu copy of a favorite movie because the UHD copy didn't come with a slipcover. That isn't a movie fan, that's just someone who likes to collect "things to put on shelves."

It's not as much fun, sure, and I feel like I am in a long goodbye to a hobby I once loved, but if all you care about is watching movies it's honestly a godsend.

Patrick,

Not trying to dismiss anyone else's opinions in this thread.

However, it was these words that I pondered over very carefully and then read a few time over.

It had an interesting effect upon me.

I believe you describe a situation that has affected many of us as we now as we have aged since the days of laserdiscs.

Movie collecting is becoming a thing of the past. For me, as well, it isn't as much fun anymore --- especially since I have Blu-rays sitting on my office floor because I have run out of shelving to store them.

I am literally spending hundreds of dollars on movies each month that I will only watch once in my lifetime.

Those of us who still collect titles and are remotely thinking about entering these new niche formats (UHD and ATMOS) are dinosaurs. The younger generation, who has been downloading crappy quality music and streaming Netflix don't have the same interests we do.

I have had a member or two berate me for even suggesting that streaming is a great alternative to collecting. After all, this forum has been established with the mindset that movies should be released and watched with highest quality standards.

I am not disputing nor ignoring our mission statement here. However, it's impossible to ignore that times are changing. Those of us that demand the highest quality presentation when viewing a film are now a dying breed.

Personally, I'm too old, tired and broke to be spending all this money on upgrading equipment every 10 years just to support a new format. I used to waste my money frivolously on swapping out receivers, Blu-ray players and displays. Heck, I just spent $2k to upgrade to Dolby Atmos. So, perhaps I am still not learning that "enough is enough."

I have seen UHD at the studios. I agree it looks pretty good. However, I don't see widespread consumer adoption of this technology -- at least on the Blu-ray side. Consumers will be forced into 4k because all displays available will be that format. I would suppose at some point broadcasters will be forced to switch over to 4k. However, disc wise, I don't see the general public flocking to buy 4k physical media.

Of course, I could be wrong.

The bottom line is that there has been a sense of change in the air for a very long time. I think all of us are aware that this hobby of ours is dwindling in support.

 

[Rob W]

Like you, Ron, I have pretty much run out of room to store my packaged media and am so far behind watching it all I constantly wonder why I continue to keep adding to it. But the new alternative for me, even more so than streaming, is Turner Classic Movies . Now that they have gone genuine HD ( after years with a faux-HD channel ) they have an impressive amount of classic content in full HD. I've owned Mildred Pierce in at least three different formats over the years, and would likely have purchased it again if it had ever been released on blu. I've seen it twice now in the past year in HD on TCM , and the quality was so good I have to question if it makes any sense for me to continue to re-buy many of these titles since there are at least a half dozen opportunities every year to see the classic MGM and Warner catalogue. Fortunately, compression issues are almost non-existent on my cable system and the lossy audio takes away nothing from these titles. I'm watching them on a calibrated 60 inch Kuro Elite which hides nothing in a transfer, for better or worse.

I read with great interest the recent announcement of the Rock Hudson / Doris Day Collection on blu from Universal, and was planning to order it until last week, when I chanced on TCM's double feature of Lover Come Back and The Thrill Of It All . Both undoubtedly were the same excellent transfers we'll see on the upcoming set. I watched and enjoyed both, and won't have any need to see them again for the near future. $40 saved , since I already own Pillow Talk.

 

[LeoA]

Except the James Garner movie isn't on the Blu-Ray set, it's all the Day/Hudson comedies. So you're only 2/3's of the way there between what you watched and Pillow Talk.

 

[OliverK]

I have had a member or two berate me for even suggesting that streaming is a great alternative to collecting. After all, this forum has been established with the mindset that movies should be released and watched with highest quality standards.

I am not disputing nor ignoring our mission statement here. However, it's impossible to ignore that times are changing. Those of us that demand the highest quality presentation when viewing a film are now a dying breed.

I think you may as well have this personal opinion but streaming is currently not the most reliable nor the most high quality delivery format so you are indeed contradicting your mission statement a bit with this advice

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I think you may as well have this personal opinion but streaming is currently not the most reliable nor the most high quality delivery format so you are indeed contradicting your mission statement a bit with this advice

You are 100% correct, Oliver.

All I am saying is that whether one supports streaming or not, times are changing.

I still believe in our mission statement and I would never push streaming over physical media.

However, we are on the losing side. That's all I am bringing to light.

 

[OliverK]

Ron I think we all know that the writing is on the wall but why should we remind ourselves so often? I would rather enjoy my Blu-rays as long as I can and read about Blu-ray related stuff in the Blu-ray subforum.

So this is my opinion regarding streaming talk in this subforum after being happy to possibly read something new about upcoming / planned Fox Blu-rays and then noticing that the last posts in this thread are about anything but Fox Blu-rays.:

To me discussions about streaming seem to flame up so often in the Blu-ray disc forum that I find it remarkable.
If streaming is so great or even interesting why not discuss its advantages and that it will win all in a streaming forum or subforum?

Just one look at the streaming forum over here shows that there is little interest and participation. The most interesting thing with regard to streaming seems to be people posting in the Blu-ray subforum how streaming will soon take over and we are all doomed – how refreshing and new. And I am not saying this to single out anybody as I think quite a few of us have been bringing up streaming more often than necessary in this subforum.

I would really prefer if most streaming vs Blu-ray related discussion could be concentrated in maybe one main thread in the blu-ray subforum that can be full of all the statistics and reasons why streaming will win in the end, why classic releases will die out first etc. etc.. the other posts may as well stay mainly in the streaming forum or in general discussion.

Obviously this is only my personal opinion but I really get the impression that at times there must be more posts concerned with streaming in the Blu-ray forum than there are in the streaming forum and that seems weird if streaming is so popular? But maybe most members like to read about streaming in the Blu-ray forum, too so everything is good, Myself I would prefer to read about streaming in the streaming subforum if I feel like it (I don't) so I am putting this out here now that we are off-topic anyway

 

[Dr Griffin]

Patrick,

Not trying to dismiss anyone else's opinions in this thread.

However, it was these words that I pondered over very carefully and then read a few time over.

It had an interesting effect upon me.

I believe you describe a situation that has affected many of us as we now as we have aged since the days of laserdiscs.

Movie collecting is becoming a thing of the past. For me, as well, it isn't as much fun anymore --- especially since I have Blu-rays sitting on my office floor because I have run out of shelving to store them.

I am literally spending hundreds of dollars on movies each month that I will only watch once in my lifetime.

Those of us who still collect titles and are remotely thinking about entering these new niche formats (UHD and ATMOS) are dinosaurs. The younger generation, who has been downloading crappy quality music and streaming Netflix don't have the same interests we do.

I have had a member or two berate me for even suggesting that streaming is a great alternative to collecting. After all, this forum has been established with the mindset that movies should be released and watched with highest quality standards.

I am not disputing nor ignoring our mission statement here. However, it's impossible to ignore that times are changing. Those of us that demand the highest quality presentation when viewing a film are now a dying breed.

Personally, I'm too old, tired and broke to be spending all this money on upgrading equipment every 10 years just to support a new format. I used to waste my money frivolously on swapping out receivers, Blu-ray players and displays. Heck, I just spent $2k to upgrade to Dolby Atmos. So, perhaps I am still not learning that "enough is enough."

I have seen UHD at the studios. I agree it looks pretty good. However, I don't see widespread consumer adoption of this technology -- at least on the Blu-ray side. Consumers will be forced into 4k because all displays available will be that format. I would suppose at some point broadcasters will be forced to switch over to 4k. However, disc wise, I don't see the general public flocking to buy 4k physical media.

Of course, I could be wrong.

The bottom line is that there has been a sense of change in the air for a very long time. I think all of us are aware that this hobby of ours is dwindling in support.

Old, tired and broke, that sounds vaguely familiar.

 

[David Weicker]

I guess I'm in the co-exist camp (one of the smallest groups, apparently).

I have no problem with streaming replacing my rental viewing.

However for viewing my favorites, I want to own - in my library - not in some company's cloud/hd.

Now, I've never been a disc collector. I'm a film buyer. I didn't do it for the fun of it. I wanted a library of movies I will watch.

So for catalog titles, I'm mostly set. I would like to upgrade the last third of my titles from DVD to Blu-Ray, but that may never happen. But for new releases, I hope I still have the ownership option.

Over the past several years I've added another 140 catalog titles to my collection (105 BR/35 DVD archive) - with little left on my want list. Yet I've added about 50 new releases.

 

[Patrick Donahue]

Oliver,

I totally get what you're saying about being off topic (a problem that constantly comes up in forums), and it would be ideal if people stayed on the topic of each thread... but isn't that how discussions just go?

You sit down to have a beer with people... you're talking about sports... then you're talking about politics... then your family... That's just the way discussions among people naturally evolve and I just think it's not worth the effort to force them into the little boxes of subforums and threads.

I say as long as the discussion is good and civil be happy and let 'er go...

Just my opinion
Cheers

 

[OliverK]

Oliver,

I totally get what you're saying about being off topic (a problem that constantly comes up in forums), and it would be ideal if people stayed on the topic of each thread... but isn't that how discussions just go?

You sit down to have a beer with people... you're talking about sports... then you're talking about politics... then your family... That's just the way discussions among people naturally evolve and I just think it's not worth the effort to force them into the little boxes of subforums and threads.

I say as long as the discussion is good and civil be happy and let 'er go...

Just my opinion
Cheers

I know what you mean you start with one topic and then you end up somewhere completely different but then we DO have subforums.

As I said: If everybody is happy with how things are I have no problems with that, no hard feelings.

 

[Dick]

Like you, Ron, I have pretty much run out of room to store my packaged media and am so far behind watching it all I constantly wonder why I continue to keep adding to it. But the new alternative for me, even more so than streaming, is Turner Classic Movies . Now that they have gone genuine HD ( after years with a faux-HD channel ) they have an impressive amount of classic content in full HD. I've owned Mildred Pierce in at least three different formats over the years, and would likely have purchased it again if it had ever been released on blu. I've seen it twice now in the past year in HD on TCM , and the quality was so good I have to question if it makes any sense for me to continue to re-buy many of these titles since there are at least a half dozen opportunities every year to see the classic MGM and Warner catalogue. Fortunately, compression issues are almost non-existent on my cable system and the lossy audio takes away nothing from these titles. I'm watching them on a calibrated 60 inch Kuro Elite which hides nothing in a transfer, for better or worse.

I read with great interest the recent announcement of the Rock Hudson / Doris Day Collection on blu from Universal, and was planning to order it until last week, when I chanced on TCM's double feature of Lover Come Back and The Thrill Of It All . Both undoubtedly were the same excellent transfers we'll see on the upcoming set. I watched and enjoyed both, and won't have any need to see them again for the near future. $40 saved , since I already own Pillow Talk.

I love TCM. Have since they first broadcast. However, although it is still a 'free" channel, I am unable to access it without buying a big freaking package full of home shopping and sports channels and other crap I will never, ever watch. I want ONLY TCM, but no cable company has yet offered a la carte line-ups. I understand that, if if people could omit them from their subscriptions, a lot of these crap channels would quickly die. Okay, so what? I'd pay $30.00 per month JUST for TCM, but not a penny for the other dreck.

 

[Dick]

I know what you mean you start with one topic and then you end up somewhere completely different but then we DO have subforums.

As I said: If everybody is happy with how things are I have no problems with that, no hard feelings.

It's really like being a kid and playing a game called Telephone. Kind of funny comparing the first whispered message to the last.

 

[Dave Moritz]

Now, I've never been a disc collector. I'm a film buyer. I didn't do it for the fun of it. I wanted a library of movies I will watch.

Same here I do not collect discs I purchase titles that I will watch over and over again.



Am looking forward to hearing more about 4K UHD releases from Fox. I am wondering what Fox plans on releasing in the next few months on UHD Blu-ray. And since Universal and Disney are not releasing anything that I am aware of that means more money for Fox releases.