General Discussion Letter to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (1 Viewer)

[Todd Erwin]

The following was sent as a letter to Keith Le Goy, President, Distribution & Networks, Sony Pictures Entertainment on October 5, 2022. It was sent as a consumer, and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Home Theater Forum.
As of December 6, 2022, I have yet to receive a response.
Keith Le Goy
President, Distribution & Networks
Sony Pictures Entertainment
10202 West Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA  90232
Dear Mr. Le Goy:
As a consumer, I can understand the reason for studios pushing for us to transition to digital platforms from physical media – less overhead, little to no shipping costs, etc. However, what I find frustrating is how inconsistent the same movie will be available across various digital retailers in terms of audio and video formats, and then to further frustrate matters, when those inconsistencies are brought up to both the studio and the retailer, the retailer claims that they are at the mercy of what the studio delivered to them, and...

Continue reading...

 

[Todd Erwin]

In case anyone was wondering, SPHE falls under Mr. LeGoy's umbrella.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Keep fighting the good fight.

 

[John*Wells]

I have a beef with Sony also regarding the Cobra Kai TV Series. it seems that Season 1 and 2 were available for Digital purchase through I tunes/Apple Store. However Seasons 3-5 are not. Seasons 1-4 have been released on DVD so far which I am grateful for.

And not to Jack Todd's thread but I have similar beef with Disney regarding some of their titles Especially Fox properties. For example, The original 1947 version of Miracle on 34th Street is on D+ Along with the 1994 version. So where is the 1973 Version with David Hartman and Sebastian Cabbot?

 

[Robert Crawford]

I have a beef with Sony also regarding the Cobra Kai TV Series. it seems that Season 1 and 2 were available for Digital purchase through I tunes/Apple Store. However Seasons 3-5 are not. Seasons 1-4 have been released on DVD so far which I am grateful for.

And not to Jack Todd's thread but I have similar beef with Disney regarding some of their titles Especially Fox properties. For example, The original 1947 version of Miracle on 34th Street is on D+ Along with the 1994 version. So where is the 1973 Version with David Hartman and Sebastian Cabbot?

This is not the thread for your discussion points. This thread is not about missing titles. It is about Sony's inconsistent quality and formats across retailers regarding titles available digitally. I will delete any further posts that might sidetrack this thread from that subject matter.

 

[Wes Candela]

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINES.

 

[DarkVader]

I'm a bit confused. My copy of "Annie" on Movies Anywhere is HD with 5.1 audio but I see that it's listed in Todd's chart as being available in 4K on that platform. Am I missing something?

 

[Todd Erwin]

I'm a bit confused. My copy of "Annie" on Movies Anywhere is HD with 5.1 audio but I see that it's listed in Todd's chart as being available in 4K on that platform. Am I missing something?

Movies Anywhere is sometimes confusing. After the spreadsheet was created, MA changed their listing to 4K rights but not currently supported on Annie.

 

[Lee Sandersen]

My problem with digital downloads versus a bought disc includes many of the authors points, but also, the DRM silliness. Many companies will not allow anything but a single device, say one TV. No actual computer playable files that one could copy for back up and put into a RAID for whole house distribution. I have not tried to download purchased material for quite a while, so maybe this has changed. Why all the fuss? To dissuade piracy? I got news for ya fellas, it is there anyhow, so why punish those of us who are honest legitimate customers? I still prefer buying real discs for quality and as a back up, plus I can rip them for my own use to use as I please. Too bad those days are numbered. I think that after discs, I still would like to somehow purchase a digital copy of something that I can hold in my hands. Perhaps flash drives.

 

[Robert Crawford]

My problem with digital downloads versus a bought disc includes many of the authors points, but also, the DRM silliness. Many companies will not allow anything but a single device, say one TV. No actual computer playable files that one could copy for back up and put into a RAID for whole house distribution. I have not tried to download purchased material for quite a while, so maybe this has changed. Why all the fuss? To dissuade piracy? I got news for ya fellas, it is there anyhow, so why punish those of us who are honest legitimate customers? I still prefer buying real discs for quality and as a back up, plus I can rip them for my own use to use as I please. Too bad those days are numbered. I think that after discs, I still would like to somehow purchase a digital copy of something that I can hold in my hands. Perhaps flash drives.

I understand your position of contention, but it’s off-topic for this particular thread.

 

[Todd Erwin]

My Best Friend's Wedding is yet another blunder from Sony on the 4K digital front. Most are missing HDR, no one has Dolby Atmos.

Movies Anywhere: HD, DD+ 5.1 (This title is not supported in 4K error)
Vudu: UHD (no HDR), DD+ 5.1
Apple TV: DV, DD 5.1
Prime Video: UHD (no HDR), DD+ 5.1

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Unfortunately for all the enthusiasts w/ (good enough) DV and/or Atmos capabilities, you're probably in too small a minority (of those who care enough) for the studios, storefronts, et al to prioritize (for such issues), especially for this particular market (so far), I guess...

Since I'm not DV-capable (and barely HDR-capable at all) and ended up not upgrading to Atmos (for foreseeable future) afterall, I certainly haven't bothered w/ these issues myself -- for foreseeable future, I only care whether it's 4K at all or not (and just hope such issues will be ironed out enough by the time I maybe someday can make real use of DV, or even full use of HDR10, and/or Atmos)...

Also, ultimately, if I care about a title quite that much, I'd probably own the 4K disc (w/out such issues) anyway... at least while discs are still being produced/available that is -- I know this thread is about digital/streaming, but IMHO, this is related enough... at least until such issues make any meaningful progress to resolution anyway... and it's not like we have tons of traffic here afterall...

_Man_

 

[Todd Erwin]

Nearly four months later, and not a peep from the studio.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Still no word from the studio, and yet another title is missing HDR and Atmos everywhere.

Remains of the Day
Movies Anywhere: 4K (no HDR), DD+ 5.1
Vudu: UHD (no HDR), DD+ 5.1
Apple TV: 4K (no HDR), DD 5.1
Prime Video: UHD (no HDR), DD+ 5.1

 

[Mark-P]

Still no word from the studio, and yet another title is missing HDR and Atmos everywhere.

Remains of the Day
Movies Anywhere: 4K (no HDR), DD+ 5.1
Vudu: UHD (no HDR), DD+ 5.1
Apple TV: 4K (no HDR), DD 5.1
Prime Video: UHD (no HDR), DD+ 5.1

That’s because Remains of the Day has been available in 4K digital for years now, and none of the digital retailers have upgraded to the new release yet, in which Atmos and HDR are new.