BuckNaked2k

Me too....and Mallrats.

E Unit

Cool, thanks for looking those up. Very few I want, and The Last Starfighter has been out on blu for a while now. I would love for Midnight Run to come out though, as well as Sneakers and Streets of Fire. Surprising yes, but nothing that screams out why haven't they been released on blu yet.

Gizmo

streaming does not offer Special Features. But depending on the service, offers DD+ and NO forced trailers.

Incorrect about Lionsgate. Several studios strip lossless in favor of vanilla DD5.1.


LOL. Ok, so now you can wait a month...or 45 days. How wonderful. Streaming is available on day 1. Redbox and Co are available typically after the title plummets in price. It's not just those two studios either. That's also even if you service of choice offers them in disc at all.


Watched 3 episodes of Who at "peak" times and not a single problem.

Gizmo

Slither was available in Canada sans Special Features and I think the wrong AR. Long out of print.

Beerfest was available day and date on Blu when the HD DVD came out. Dukes (and Smallville S5) are the last Warner exclusive titles.

Still not out.

Sneakers is coming out somewhere in the world this March. Germany?

bunkaroo

I know you're not producing list, because you like to throw out arbitrary numbers....THOUSANDS!.....with no backup.

Your problem is some of your points are valid to an extent but you undermine every one of them with every shrill hyperbole you use.

bunkaroo

Firmware will not be a problem to get. You were implying manufacturers let their customers twist in the wind. Oppo does not. And really, neither do any of the good major brands.


See above.

No, so you can prove your argument. You can't throw out arbitrary numbers and not expect to have to back it up. That's what people tend to a call bullshit argument.



I'm not a Blu-ray apologist - not even close, but you were one of the leading HD DVD apologists and cheerleaders and are obviously still butthurt over what happpened to the format. I am not the only one to call you out on it.

As I have already stated I know physical media is on the decline, and it's because of people like you who want quantity and convenience over quality. Just like DD+ was "good enough", so is streaming and its compromised quality because hey it's not Blu-ray and that means it's good!

I owned both formats from November 2006 on. I preferred Blu-ray, but I was buying HD DVD discs as long as there were still exclusives available, because unlike you, I am a movie fan, not a format fanboy.

I had problems with HD DVD whose main cheerleaders touted the "good enough" philosophy due to the technical limitations of their chosen format. I had more issues with HD DVD than Blu-ray. I also got stuck with an HD DVD player that advertised itself as 1080p even though it wasn't. And still I bought an XA2 and keep it in my rack because I have a handful of HD DVD exclusives left. Because again, I care about the content, not the format.

You can twist my words and act like I said Oppo has zero issues but you know as well as I do Blu-ray hardware has been solid for a while now, and certainly as long as streaming has been viable. So your original argument that streaming is somehow more reliable than owning a Blu-ray player is bullshit.

Gizmo

Yes, it will be. Most consumers have no idea how to do firmware updates. Apple had to animate some damn icon just so consumers would know the iPhone was updating via WifI and not to restart their phone. You and I are savvy, most consumers are not. Once a disc doesn't play thats it. End of story.

I did. Netflix.com. Amazon.com. Go look for yourself.

Yes, yes you are. I'm not butthurt over HD DVD. Its dead and gone. Only you and other's bring it up when backed into a corner and can't defend their position. How often do I bring it up here when it's not already part of the conversation?

It's "good enough" for the big studios to license out titles to sub-par studios that release lossy and use incorrect aspect ratios and old transfers. That's cool! But not streaming. BAD!

DD+ is good enough since most consumers don't have lossless. Or even Speakers aside from their TV.

As did I. I have posts here to back it up (July for HD DVD, August or Sept for Blu-ray). Movie fan first, format second. But I also don't close my eyes and pretend Blu-ray was amazing and awesome when it was half-baked at release with numerous issues.

What "technical issues" are we talking about? HD DVD could do 1080p, Lossless and had 30GB discs with a 50GB disc on the horizon before it was canned. Plenty of Blu-rays today don't even fill up a 25GB disc.

How did you get stuck with a 1080p HD DVD player that wasn't 1080p? Would love to hear that story

No need to twist your words. You said it. Buy a $500 to be "problem free", except that player has issues as well. Even the $1,299 does.

Your points are all moot. Blu-ray has issues playing discs. All players. No matter if they are $35 or $500. But hey, let's harp on $7.99 streaming instead. The thing most consumers are now opting to do over discs. The thngs studios are going crazy over.

Just today Warner licensed 8 hows to Netflix to stream. All probably in HD. Some of them will never be released on Blu-ray. Now what? Netflix streaming has better quality episodes of Disc. Shocking Warner won't release these on Blu-ray since sales are sooooo big.

E Unit

Again Gizmo, I hear your thoughts about blu's always having issues. But I have a PS3, Sony, Samsung, and Insignia blu ray players, and I haven't had to update firmware on any of them in the past year at least. Well, the PS3 has had some, but those have been mostly gamining updates. Although on October 11th, 2011 there was a firmware update 3.73, which was for "3D playback* of Blu-ray Java™ ("BD-J") content is now supported. You can now enjoy BD-J content recorded on Blu-ray 3D™ discs." and "DTS-HD audio output is now supported while playing Blu-ray 3D™ content".

Texan26

I'm glad that you are happy to support the studios by giving them 6 bucks to watch it four weeks in advance. Not sure where you are getting 45 days from. If it works for you I guess that's fine. I get about 16 blu-rays a month from Netflix for about the cost of 4 to 5 streaming movies.

Qui Gon Jim

I have a refurb Samsung BD, the first player I got. The only real issues I have ever had with it were long load times on T2 (BD-J BS) and I had to try a couple times to get Ghostbusters to play. I have kept up on firmware updates as the player is connected to my network, but if connected, I can't imagine the updates being any easier for J6P to do. I can't recall the last update, so it has been a while.

I don't really think the issues being discussed have much bearing on why the hobby/market is shifting to streaming. Right around when HD-DVD died, and before I got into BD, I started getting into Netflix streaming on my Wii. It really hit me how convenient it is not to have to plop in a disc. I could change what I am watching without getting up. My affinity has only gotten greater since I added a tablet (iPad) to the mix. Netflix isn't perfect, but if I wake in the middle of the night and can't sleep, I don't need to even get out of bed to watch something if I can reach my iPad.

Back when I started using this service, I think I posted on here that I really thought that streaming would win the race, not HD-DVD and not BD. IIRC, I got KILLED on here by a few of the guys still here beating up on Gizmo. I really felt that convenience would trump quality for most people, and it seems like it is playing out that way. I was told to take my sour HD-DVD grapes and cry it off.

Now don't get me wrong... Nothing on NF comes close to the quality of its counterpart on BD, but I think even some diehard collectors are paring back and supplementing their collections with streaming options and rentals. My BD collection is far more focused than my DVD collection is/was. If I have marginal interest, I will Redbox or Netflix a film. Sometimes those films make their way into my library (on BD), sometimes they don't. I used to blind buy a ton. However, if streaming and/or Redbox were prevalent then, maybe I would have utilized those systems to "audition" titles rather than blind buying.

Finally, as mentioned, Netflix totally OWNS BD when it comes to TV offerings. No contest there at all.

orangerunner

For the average Joe the hobby of collecting endless amounts of movies was going to crash. Logic was eventually going trump impulsive shopping habits and streaming would take over. In the near future, streaming will probably provide as good or better picture quality than Blu-ray and feeds will become much more stable.

If you have a collection of, say, 4000 titles it would take you 11 years of watching one title per day, every day, to see all of your films. That doesn't include the new releases over the next 11 years either.

Of course part of the fun for most collectors is the collecting part, not the practical aspect. Not everyone is a collector, either.

I think there's been a fundamental shift in the under-30 crowd to move away from collecting much of anything. I think this generation has grown up with the "use it, toss it out/delete it" mindset that the latest technology has allowed them to do. This is also coupled with the fact that most young people are much more mobile, moving from place to place and living in cramped apartments. There's no room for 4000 DVDs.

I grew up searching out a used VHS copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark for $30 and saved my allowance all summer to buy it. That kind of dedication and energy put towards acquiring a movie simply doesn't exist anymore. It's all cheap or free and "easy-come, easy-go".

I'm not suggesting this represents everybody in this demographic but I think in the larger picture it has some truth.

TheBang

Netflix is region restricted too.

That AVS list isn't completely up to date, but it's pretty close. Looking over the list, there are about 40 red titles from Universal still not on Blu. And 2 from Warner. That's about it for major studio stuff. So that's mainly due to Universal being terrible at catalog.

The rest of the red exclusives (about 45), are all minor studio or obscure stuff or music stuff.

bruceames

If you're referring to "terrible" meaning the release rate, then you should know that Universal is actually on par with other studios in catalog output (new titles, not reissues). Universal has far too many non-HD DVD exclusives in their vault to be neglecting at the expense of getting all the exclusives out first (just to appease a few purple owners).

bunkaroo

I'm not going to keep going around in circles with you - people can see what your motivations are. I'll just say, for someone who's obviously so pro-streaming, why is it your only post in the Streaming Talk subforum is in a thread that originated in this forum? I think that says it all about your motivations here.

TheBang

Really? Well, certainly in terms of quality.

But regarding release rate, your last sentence doesn't make sense. Why would that be appeasing purple owners? I'm a Blu owner, and there are a couple red-only releases that I would like to own. Given that these releases should be a relatively simple re-author, they could probably release all 40 red-reauthors in the amount of time it takes them to do 10 new ones.

bruceames

It's all about timing and selection. They plan their releases accordingly to make the most money in the long term. The fact that's it's "ready to go" now is practically irrelevant. Any title they release will have to be prepped anyway and it's really not that big a deal. Besides, isn't Universal reauthoring everything anyway and adding an extra dash (or two) of DNR?

The point is, Universal doesn't care what people think about when they should be releasing 40 odd titles just because they were released on HD DVD. They'll get the same amount of consideration as the many other thousands of movies in their vault. Maybe it's just the fact that they're exclusive on HD DVD that makes one aware of it want it more, but for Universal, it's business. They'll stick to their schedule, and the slow catalog sales as a whole on the format certainly don't help to accelerate it.

Sub-Zero

December 29:

Alan Smithee

Yay!

Texan26

And now my Netflix blu-ray of "Dredd" from Lionsgate has lossless audio. So maybe Lionsgate has changed their ways. What are the other several studios because all my recent Netflix blu-ray movies from Fox, Universal, Disney, Sony, Paramount, and Warner have lossless audio. I always check them. The only ones I can remember recently are "The Hunger Games" and "The Cabin in the Woods" both from Lionsgate.

Why So Blu?

The Redbox Blu-ray of Dredd will most likely have just a plain DD track. Netflix is much better when it comes to full lossless/unrated/extended versions, etc.

Texan26

It's been reported on blu-ray.com that the Redbox version of Dredd also has lossless sound. And there are not "several" studios that strip lossless sound from their blu-ray Netflix/Redbox rentals as posted by someone else.

Tarantino

I use my PS3 for Blu-Rays and I've never had one problem playing any disc. No updates, nothing. What are these problems you're babbling about?

Iron_Giant

***With 2 more days (Dec 30 and 31) to report, the final DVD/BR Totals below (Need to add a bit more to the totals for the extra days)

DVD 2012 Total = 5997.34 (About a 14% Decrease over 2011 totals)
BR 2-012 Total = 2178.84 (About a 7.5% increase over 2011 totals)
Total for both = 8176.18 (About a 9.0% Decrease over 2011 totals)


So, the numbers for both the BR increase in sales and the number for the DVD decrease in sales has slowed down considerably.

With the increase of Media download and the increase in the fees the studios are changing online services (plus other avenues of revenue), the entertainment industry is NOT hurting at all.


***Big DVD+BR winners as of Nov 25th 2012
(with 6 more weeks ahead, The Avengers should take over #1 as far as total dollar sales, but total unit might still be The Hunger Games***


The Hunger Games
DVD Unit Sales Totals = 6,650,543
BR Unit Sales Total = 3,092,672
DVD/BR Unit Sales Total = 9,743,215
DVD Dollar Sales Totals = $112,920,438
BR Dollar Sales Total = $62,160,074
DVD/BR Dollar Sales Total = $175,080,512

The Avengers
DVD Unit Sales Totals = 3,983,038
BR Unit Sales Total = 4,772,027
DVD/BR Unit Sales Total = 8,755,065
DVD Dollar Sales Totals = $72,671,206
BR Dollar Sales Total = $102,271,504
DVD/BR Dollar Sales Total = $174,942,710

Not bad, both could hit the "$200 Million Total" mark by the end of the 2012 year.

Iron_Giant

1st one of the new year...

Hokeyboy

Waiting for the Gizmo's first 2013 doomspin