How do you explain your love of physical media in an era of streaming? (1 Viewer)

[ManW_TheUncool]

Guys,

You can always do both and simply reap the most benefits of both as they may (or may not) best serve you. Doesn't need to be exclusively one or the other.

Also, streaming is not only limited to services like NetFlix, et al that rotate content in/out of access. There are those like iTunes and Vudu (and a few other lesser ones) that offer you perpetual licenses to own individual movies or TV seasons/series much more like owning discs. Access to those generally don't just disappear on you at the whim of big corporate like the way they would on NetFlix, et al. Sure, if Apple or their iTunes business dies, you might lose access then... but that's an extremely unlikely scenario and would probably portend bigger problems to worry about... Still, there's nothing stopping one from owning discs for the most important content and (streaming) digital (licenses) for the less important (or more marginal or blindbuy) content typically more cheaply (or just for additional convenience on top of owning discs... especially since many disc releases do include digital copies) or whatever other blend/mix in between -- I typically only pay $3-5 for digitals on sale at iTunes, and they usually give free upgrades to 4K if they ever eventually get those from the studios...

There are also some streaming services like the Criterion Channel you might find very worthwhile for the niche they target too. CC and maybe Disney+ are the 2 services I feel most worthwhile keeping year-round... and Criterion actually gives (annual?) charter(?) subscribers a (stackable) $10 GC every now and then (roughly 2-3x a year) to use in their recurring flash sales -- not sure if they offer those GCs to non-charter members or those who don't do annual subscriptions though. I find there are plenty of titles I'd like to watch on CC but not necessarily own (or at least risk a blindbuy anyway), particularly at Criteron's prices (although CC actually rotates quite a lot of catalog titles not released by Criterion on disc too). And in their case, I'd think subscribing helps sustain them so that they can continue to release discs as well...

_Man_

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Guys,

You can always do both and simply reap the most benefits of both as they may (or may not) best serve you. Doesn't need to be exclusively one or the other.

I think you may be fighting a losing battle pointing this out - it’s never worked any of the times I tried

If you go back through historical posts on this site, there are always holdouts when a new format comes along. I remember when DVD first came out and there was a vocal contingent that was adamantly against DVD. Often, it would be similar misunderstandings to why some people avoid streaming here. I know you’ve been around here a long time too - do you remember any of the “I’ll stick with VHS or Laserdisc because those are uncompressed and DVDs have compression” threads?

Streaming has been widely adopted for over a decade now. I’m resigned to the fact that some people are simply not interested in using it, or if they used it and didn’t have an ideal experience, are not interested in troubleshooting that. They are never going to convince the general public or the industry to abandon it, but at this point, they’re probably not going to get onboard with it either and that’s their choice to make.

I’m with you. Allowing myself access to the whole lot of it, from discs to a la crate rentals and purchases to streaming subscriptions has allowed me to see more content than ever before for less money than ever. I think it’s a win-win.

Writing this in solidarity with your kind attempt to be helpful

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I use streaming subscriptions (HBO Max, Criterion Channel, etc) as an equivalent to renting movies in the old days. Movies I like enough, or for collector’s sake (Universal Horror, Hammer, 3-D, many others), I buy the discs (sometimes the digital if it’s 5 bucks or less). To me, it’s the best of both worlds.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Some of the holdouts might be due to their lack of internet bandwidth because of costs or lack of access.

 

[Desslar]

Guys,

You can always do both and simply reap the most benefits of both as they may (or may not) best serve you. Doesn't need to be exclusively one or the other.

That certainly makes sense in the short term. But if the balance of purchases continues to tip more and more away from discs and toward digital downloads, eventually the studios won't see much reason to release discs (unless it is a property with an exceptionally rabid collector fanbase like Star Trek).

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That certainly makes sense in the short term. But if the balance of purchases continues to tip more and more away from discs and toward digital downloads, eventually the studios won't see much reason to release discs (unless it is a property with an exceptionally rabid collector fanbase like Star Trek).

That has already happened. That is pretty much the entire reason that studios have been willing to license content to third party distributors like Kino, Arrow and Criterion, and have cut back on putting out catalog titles under their own shingle.

 

[John Dirk]

I think you may be fighting a losing battle pointing this out - it’s never worked any of the times I tried

I can't believe this thread is still percolating. There are battles worth fighting. This ain't one of them.

 

[Sam Posten]

And not or

 

[Desslar]

That has already happened. That is pretty much the entire reason that studios have been willing to license content to third party distributors like Kino, Arrow and Criterion, and have cut back on putting out catalog titles under their own shingle.

Right, so you really can't have your cake and eat it too, as some have suggested. At least not for very long.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Right, so you really can't have your cake and eat it too, as some have suggested. At least not for very long.

Everyone will do what suits them best. Not actually gonna save physical media if there aren't actually enough (real) demand for it to at least keep its niche... not that physical media will necessarily die out from the current trend of course. It may well survive just fine enough in the niche it's finding itself going forward, and if so, it's still much better than what it was before DVD came along (and essentially created a physical media bubble w/ the help of the dotcom rollercoaster boom) -- we're not all having to pay $50-100 (or more for something like Criterion editions... and in 80's and early-90's $$$ no less) for each title (in far far lower quality) at least.

My own disc buying has probably reached a fairly stable level and not really reduced much (probably the entire last decade), if at all, by streaming. I'm just able to see more w/out necessarily buying discs -- I've never liked renting much, but being able to buy digitals for <=$5 on top of subscription streaming fills that gap for me, not that I've actually stopped blindbuys of discs either, just being more selective about that is all...

Even if the studios, et al completely stop producing anymore catalog titles on disc, I would still already have waaay more BDs and 4K discs in my collection (easily exceeding 2K-plus discs and probably approaching 2.5K, if not already there, and I don't even collect much TV content) than time to (re)watch anyway -- and they'd most likely continue to release reasonably popular new release titles on disc at least. I never imagined my collection would ever grow remotely that big when I first jumped into the hobby (and for the 1st decade or so after)... and 99% of people, including many family and friends, probably think I'm nutz to have such a collection (and still growing), LOL.

_Man_

 

[Capt D McMars]

Everyone will do what suits them best. Not actually gonna save physical media if there aren't actually enough (real) demand for it to at least keep its niche... not that physical media will necessarily die out from the current trend of course. It may well survive just fine enough in the niche it's finding itself going forward, and if so, it's still much better than what it was before DVD came along (and essentially created a physical media bubble w/ the help of the dotcom rollercoaster boom) -- we're not all having to pay $50-100 (or more for something like Criterion editions... and in 80's and early-90's $$$ no less) for each title (in far far lower quality) at least.

My own disc buying has probably reached a fairly stable level and not really reduced much (probably the entire last decade), if at all, by streaming. I'm just able to see more w/out necessarily buying discs -- I've never liked renting much, but being able to buy digitals for <=$5 on top of subscription streaming fills that gap for me, not that I've actually stopped blindbuys of discs either, just being more selective about that is all...

Even if the studios, et al completely stop producing anymore catalog titles on disc, I would still already have waaay more BDs and 4K discs in my collection (easily exceeding 2K-plus discs and probably approaching 2.5K, if not already there, and I don't even collect much TV content) than time to (re)watch anyway -- and they'd most likely continue to release reasonably popular new release titles on disc at least. I never imagined my collection would ever grow remotely that big when I first jumped into the hobby (and for the 1st decade or so after)... and 99% of people, including many family and friends, probably think I'm nutz to have such a collection (and still growing), LOL.

_Man_

Josh S made a good point on the conditions surrounding the release of cataloged titles from the major studios now and into the future when he stated "That has already happened. That is pretty much the entire reason that studios have been willing to license content to third party distributors like Kino, Arrow and Criterion, and have cut back on putting out catalog titles under their own shingle." Well said sir, well said!!

 

[Desslar]

Everyone will do what suits them best. Not actually gonna save physical media if there aren't actually enough (real) demand for it to at least keep its niche... not that physical media will necessarily die out from the current trend of course. It may well survive just fine enough in the niche it's finding itself going forward, and if so, it's still much better than what it was before DVD came along (and essentially created a physical media bubble w/ the help of the dotcom rollercoaster boom) -- we're not all having to pay $50-100 (or more for something like Criterion editions... and in 80's and early-90's $$$ no less) for each title (in far far lower quality) at least.

My own disc buying has probably reached a fairly stable level and not really reduced much (probably the entire last decade), if at all, by streaming. I'm just able to see more w/out necessarily buying discs -- I've never liked renting much, but being able to buy digitals for <=$5 on top of subscription streaming fills that gap for me, not that I've actually stopped blindbuys of discs either, just being more selective about that is all...

Even if the studios, et al completely stop producing anymore catalog titles on disc, I would still already have waaay more BDs and 4K discs in my collection (easily exceeding 2K-plus discs and probably approaching 2.5K, if not already there, and I don't even collect much TV content) than time to (re)watch anyway -- and they'd most likely continue to release reasonably popular new release titles on disc at least. I never imagined my collection would ever grow remotely that big when I first jumped into the hobby (and for the 1st decade or so after)... and 99% of people, including many family and friends, probably think I'm nutz to have such a collection (and still growing), LOL.

_Man_

Sure, that all makes sense. I guess in part one's perspective depends on where one is in their collecting journey. Sounds like you are already near the top of the mountain. I just left the parking lot.

I casually bought the odd disc here and there over the last two decades, but not with any particular plan. I always thought I'd get around to building up my collection one day when I had a little more disposable income sitting around. Then in 2020 or early 2021 I read an article (maybe on HTF) saying that some studio or another was thinking about not producing Blu rays for some new titles, and it hit me that the end of discs might only be a few years away. So the last couple years I have been buying up discs as fast as I can. A lot of 60s - 90s TV series I want are out of print or Region 2 only so it can get pricey.(Maybe I should consider digital downloads for some of them)

But my ambition is not as great as yours. I think every title I could possibly want to own would top out around 500, of which I'm currently at about 100 or so. But I'm mostly after complete collections of TV shows and film franchises. I don't buy many single film releases.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

A lot of 60s - 90s TV series I want are out of print or Region 2 only so it can get pricey.(Maybe I should consider digital downloads for some of them)

But my ambition is not as great as yours. I think every title I could possibly want to own would top out around 500, of which I'm currently at about 100 or so. But I'm mostly after complete collections of TV shows and film franchises. I don't buy many single film releases.

I feel for you if your main interest is in catalog TV series. The studios, et al definitely seem to give the lowest of priority to those for disc releases. You may indeed need to consider going w/ "digital" for at least some of them, especially if you want decent-to-good HD quality.

_Man_

 

[Desslar]

I feel for you if your main interest is in catalog TV series. The studios, et al definitely seem to give the lowest of priority to those for disc releases. You may indeed need to consider going w/ "digital" for at least some of them, especially if you want decent-to-good HD quality.

_Man_

Yeah, as for digital downloads being an easier way to own content than discs, I am not sure how much that applies to classic TV programs, outside of the very biggest hits. I never paid that much attention to download options before, but quick searches through iTunes and Amazon suggest to me that there are a lot of older series that are not available for downloads.

 

[Wardog555]

The highest quality possible is why I download remux rips. Far better than streaming. Only time I do streaming is when it doesn't get released onto disk.

Audio quality is a major benifit when you have invested into a home theater setup! This does not include audio bars as I tried one virtual 5.1 and all I got was 2 channel at best when I wanted real surround sound. Now have 5.1.2 Dolby atmos and it's a game changer!
I wonder if I'm the only one in my city and or region who has Dolby atmos in the first place!

I just recently starting buying 4k uhd blu-ray disks and now have 4 in total!

 

[Capt D McMars]

Yeah, as for digital downloads being an easier way to own content than discs, I am not sure how much that applies to classic TV programs, outside of the very biggest hits. I never paid that much attention to download options before, but quick searches through iTunes and Amazon suggest to me that there are a lot of older series that are not available for downloads.

Downloads are convienient, I would keep the digital file backup on a seperate drive for safety's sake. The very real possibiliy of file corruption or total loss of the files would be one of my concerns in investing heavily into digital medium. Plus with digital you don't have the information at your finger tips. Maybe I'm just to old school? But I still enjoy vinyl, cds and dvds...all very tackle mediums.

 

[JoshZ]

If you go back through historical posts on this site, there are always holdouts when a new format comes along. I remember when DVD first came out and there was a vocal contingent that was adamantly against DVD. Often, it would be similar misunderstandings to why some people avoid streaming here. I know you’ve been around here a long time too - do you remember any of the “I’ll stick with VHS or Laserdisc because those are uncompressed and DVDs have compression” threads?

To be fair, that first wave of DVDs in 1997-1998 had genuine issues until studios started figuring out how digital compression works. Laserdiscs were actually superior in some (many?) instances. Have you tried to watch the first DVD release of Blade Runner on a big screen recently? Yikes.

 

[jayembee]

To be fair, that first wave of DVDs in 1997-1998 had genuine issues until studios started figuring out how digital compression works. Laserdiscs were actually superior in some (many?) instances. Have you tried to watch the first DVD release of Blade Runner on a big screen recently? Yikes.

Yeah, in the early years of DVD, I found most compared unfavorably with LD, though I'd come across some that definitely looked better than the existing LD. Hell, I remember that there were some titles where the LD was properly widescreen, and the later DVD was pan & scan -- one example being Peter Weir's Fearless (I was so happy when WAC issued it on blu-ray in the proper ratio).

 

[YANG]

To be fair, that first wave of DVDs in 1997-1998 had genuine issues until studios started figuring out how digital compression works. Laserdiscs were actually superior in some (many?) instances. Have you tried to watch the first DVD release of Blade Runner on a big screen recently? Yikes.

sonically, laserdisc wins by more than an edge in matrix surround when compared to DVD downmixed to matrix surround. here‘s my review on Apocalypse Now on LD vs DVD and LD backup DVD copy.

[Old Flicks, New Rigs]- Pumping old movie medias thru new gears in a simple HT setup

Fellow Folks. Most of you may know by now, my HT had shrunk to just a simple setup consisting just a Bluray player sound bar, Laserdisc player, a harddisk recorder together with a 32inch LED TV due to over the year space constrain. I believe that some folks here are still using Laserdiscs and...

www.hometheaterforum.com

visually, i cant do the comparison as DVD certainly have its winning edge. however, i do agree, first few releases of DVD titles look crappy, even in PAL transfers(R4/2 Blade Runner, R4/2 Fugitive and R4/2 Twister) where there would be little more improvement in resolutions when compared to NTSC.

 

[Alan Tully]

I seem to have a lot of discs (CD, DVD, Blu-ray), but my buying has really slowed down. I don't mind taking a chance on a new film, as a Blu-ray is about the same cost of going to a cinema, which I've largely stopped doing now (Death On The Nile was delivered today & I'll be buying The Batman, I can't think of another new film that I'm interested in right now). It's easy cutting down on catalogue releases, as there's not a lot released that I'm interested in, & I've joined the enemy & signed up with Netflix, & that's opened up a whole new viewing world. There's still a ton of films that I'd like to own on Blu-ray (viewing a good Blu-ray on a decent monitor or projected is about as good as it gets for a movie lover), but I'm done with just buying a film for the sake of it.