Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD - Page 2

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

Call it "Netflix" with the same fees and I might be interested.

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

When i read the title of this troll thread, I was gonna come in here and counter the OP. Thanks to everyone above for beating me to it.

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

Louis,

Some of us don't have enough time to watch all the piles of SD DVDs and HDMs we already own. I, for one, am forever trying to catch up w/ my buying, LOL. I don't need to spend even more $$$ on additional paid services at this point -- and I don't plan to retire anytime soon either. Of course, I do seem to have too many hobbies to spend so much time watching movies. In the past year, I took up the violin (and viola) w/ the kids -- very rewarding I must say. And before that, I took up photography too. If you're looking for additional hobbies, might I suggest taking up a musical instrument or photography too? And no, it's never too old to do either of those as I've found in the relevant discussion forums for them.

Cheers!

_Man_

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

Could someone explain to me why everytime digital distribution is mentioned, it's always in the context of it being the dominant and sole means of watching movies in the future? The example people always bring up is i-tunes. Has i-tunes completely replaced cd's? Maybe in terms of profits, but for consumers? No, it hasn't.

I just find it odd people are always predicting the demise of physical media, while there's nothing from a historical perspective to support that theory. Just putting that out there. It's that basis to which I've always had a problem with DD proponents. They're always predicting the end of something I prefer; having the physical copy of music and film, and that rubs me the wrong way.

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

Went to the press conference and to the booth at CES. No studios are currently signed up regarding providing content. This system is for satellite streamed HD content not for network or cable content. Once it's on your media server that's where it stays- you can't copy it to any other medium. You can stream it inside your home to up to 4 HD devices. They were very hazy on the cost. $399 @ year annual subscription, plus a monthly subscription plus a payment per program-maybe. I'd wait for future announcements before getting too excited.

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

That sounds like it's gonna be pretty steep for something like that. They'll probably have to be no more expensive than Netflix for me to bite. I'll just stick w/ some sort of rental method instead (on top of purchasing media), if it's significantly more expensive than renting a few movies a month.

_Man_

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

I for one am not predicting the end of it, but I think the historical perspective is irrelevant. There has never been a way in the past to not need physical media. I am a collector and want to own the "disc". but having recently gotten free HBO from the cable company I find myself watching a lot of HD movies that I can't get any other way. My DVR is almost full. It's a good thing I have a cable card tuner coming for my PC. It's got me thinking about some of the HD titles that I paid $15 for and have watched once, and wondering if there may be something to digital delivery. I know that HD DVD/BD have a better picture and sound, but the selection of HD available through digital delivery is huge compared to what is available on media.

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

Ugghhh, HBO HD? I just dropped mine. I kept it after The Sopranos ended (against my better judgment) and I finally got fed up with cropped and zoomed 2.35:1 films. I'll save the $15/month until The Sopranos: The AJ Years debuts.

As to the original topic, I've had On-Demand for 5 years now, as has most of Comcast, and it hasn't even put a dent in DVD in that time. Maybe rentals, but not DVD. I don't see it doing anything to HDM either.

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

That answer is simple - there is no downside. Going with any media based product requires product development, manufacturing, shipping, warehousing... where creating catalog for download only requires transferring the films and making the files available. The costs drop significantly, there is no risk of dead product, and if the films are being transferred for cable anyway, there is huge upside with little additional investment.

After being in on the ground floor with DVD, I would welcome the ability to simply download my films for viewing (paying substantially less than I would for something that sits decaying on the shelf 99.9% of the time). If an option for a permanent license was also available, I could "own" the films I wanted while renting the rest, which is a much better situation than collecting DVDs has been.

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

I think some people forget that there's more to dvd than just the film. You have packaging, booklets, special features, menues, etc. All of which may or may not be great. While downloads seem to always be reported as not as good as the actual pressed disc in regards to PQ and AQ. If you're like me, then, you're going to want the best PQ and AQ and suppliments available. To those that don't, well, to each thier own, I guess.

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

Apple - Apple TV - HD Movie Rentals

Apple announces HD movie rentals, with wide studio support.

Surely this will be HD Lite if that, but it ought to be interesting. I eagerly await the free update of my Apple TV so I can give it a try.

I would imagine the XSTREAMHD guys will not be jazzed with this announcement.

Brian

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

I would be very interested in downloadable movies depending on the quality. Currently I only own about 100 DVDs. These are the standards like Star Wars, LOR, and Harry Potter etc… I belong to the BB monthly on line plan for $20 per month and we watch about 15 movies per month. The vast majority of the movies we watch we will never watch again. Another small percentage maybe once or twice again. Cost wise it is cheaper to spend $240 per year and watch about 180 movies than buy 24 - $10 movies for the same yearly total. Even at the discounted price of $5 per movie that is still only 48 movies.
I am still trying to talk myself into getting a Bluray player and can’t do it. The cost of the movies is too much. I watched a movie last night and was very happy with the quality of a SD movie played through a $90 DVD player that can convert to 1080p and plays on a 720p projector. So even if the downloaded quality is not equal to HD, as long as it is not terrible, I will be interested in it. Heck 25 years ago I was still watching TV in black and white on a 20” screen. Even now our main TV is a 29” SD. I can not get HD TV with out going satellite.
My daughter has about 17 movies on her 80gig video Ipod that are less than 1 gig in size each. I have not played them in my theater, but I have watched them on my 17” computer monitor and could not find anything wrong with the picture. Look at the mp3 market. The quality is not top notch, but is definitely acceptable and is widely used.
As far as the extras go – bonus material, cover artwork, etc. I am not interested in any of that at all. I might have looked at 2 or 3 bonus DVDs in my entire life.
If I could have a monthly membership to download a movie in about 15 minutes from a selection of 1,000s of titles, with the option to buy the movie for under $5 – $10, I would be all over it.

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

Louis, I don't deny anyone who wants hd download. I just love owning what I like. It's a collector's mentallity I guess. Recently, I was at my local Barnes & Noble and while scanning the thriller dvd section, I found "Curse of the Demon/Night of the Demon" A 1957 horror movie classic. I was so happy to buy this and add it to my collection. Not to mention, watch it again for the first time in many years. This movie scarred the hell outta me when I was a kid. We lived in Baltimore and there was a latenight saturday show called "Ghost Host Theater". It would show various horror movies every week and from 12 A.M. to 2 P.M. I would sneak out of bed and watch this on channel 45. This movie was one that they aired and it had me shook up bad when I was a kid and that's a sure sign of a great horror movie. It's fun to be scarred from horror movies. This movie, along with many others, sit in my collection now. Sometimes I look through my collection at the movies just to see the covers. That usually sparks memories. I can't get that from Direct download. So, for people like me it's a hard sell. I do understand that you enjoy it and that's good. I guess at 34 years old, I'm old fashioned that way.

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

It's certainly the future...but, discs are not obsolete yet!

I think this will take 10-15 years to really become ingrained. Heck, I've only had DVD for 10 years, so I think I'll enjoy my Blu Ray and HD-DVD for 5-10 before I start looking into the streaming/downloadable content!

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

Hehheh, I guess I'm "old fashioned" like that also though I have a few more years on Troy.


Aye. When I took up the violin/viola alongside my kids nearly 2 years ago, I think my collecting inclination started kicking in there also. Now, I've got a few different violins *and* violas (along w/ various bows) and even a cello that I don't actually play (yet?), LOL. I justify (or more likely rationalize ) it by thinking my kids could eventually make good use of them.


Hmmm... I'd try that if I thought doing that in the livingroom area (where our relatively modest HT resides) would pass the WAF test -- not to mention what the in-laws would say.


Hmmm... Then it sounds like there might be a cure for us all -- just wait another couple decades...

_Man_

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

I would definitely stick with having a physical media over downloadable movies. Even if they offer titles that were never available on DVD/HD, I don't think I'd put up with the obvious issues that said downloads would have. Aside from the PQ not measuring up, you also have to remember how DRM ridden the shit will be. It's rather unlikely you'd be able to just burn it to DVDR/BDR with your preferred authoring software. What happens when your HDD fails? You have to buy the goddamn things again? Yeah, right. If they really wanted to make some money off the idea, they should offer downloads of movies that are still in theaters, as an alternative to theaters. There's only 1 theater in the area I like and they keep skipping half the movies I want to see, even big box office ones like National Treasure BoS and Fantastic 4 RotSS. Although, even if they offered downloads that some people would pay for, there are still a lot of areas where broadband internet is unavailable. I'm in one of those areas. There's no way I'd pay 3x the price of DSL/cable to get dish/wireless internet that's probably not as fast.

Of course, as the industry gets more into paid movie downloads, the MPAA will probably start slamming the P2P crowd more. As it is, I'd never buy a song online because the RIAA are such cocksuckers; not to mention the DRM and/or lack of quality in comparision to CD music or even high quality P2P downloads (FLAC, high bitrate MP3).

Re: Is Blu-Ray Already Obsolete???----Now Comes XSTREAMHD

Downloading music from a service like iTunes(or even P2P sites) is one thing, but building a library of "digital" movies is too much of a pain in the ass if you ask me. I've bought into both HD-DVD & Blu-Ray and those are the formats I plan on watching for a LONG time. These download systems are of no interest to me at this point in time.