But in the meantime other people do want to buy for what they enjoy, so I don't think it's really your place to insult them for keeping the industry going whilst you freeload.
I don't understand the point of 4k
- Thread starter PiKe
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But in the meantime other people do want to buy for what they enjoy, so I don't think it's really your place to insult them for keeping the industry going whilst you freeload.
It most certainly is my place to voice an opinion, but sure, people can spend their money on whatever they want. I prefer to spend mine in other areas.
An opinion is fine, it was your somewhat rude and arrogant tone that I took issue with.
Blu-ray (and DVD) will be around for some time yet; the very fact that the service you're dreaming of doesn't exist - and won't for many more years - will see to their longevity. Physical media is still a huge seller.
Blu-ray (and DVD) will be around for some time yet; the very fact that the service you're dreaming of doesn't exist - and won't for many more years - will see to their longevity. Physical media is still a huge seller.
There are some common areas of agreement between us which I'll go in to shortly, but also some areas where we are poles apart; so it may be that we agree to differ in our views.
Where we agree is the with the idea that paid-for digital downloads shouldn't be at similar prices to physical media. The cost of sales model is vastly different for both, and I think making customers pay close to physical media prices (Apple music, are you listening?) is unsustainable. However, there are already plenty of other channels with far more reasonable costs. Movie downloads are available for £3.49 per title from Google Play. Netflix offers access to their library for a paltry sum. If the idea of owning physical media is anathema then surely the same applies to hoarding digital content?
I also agree that some of the strategies employed by the film distribution companies such as taking discs out of production or trying to segment the world in order to stagger film release and marketing efforts creates a situation where some users are forces to go to "other" sources to find content. Where I disagree is that these policies are a result of an industry driven by greed. There are always a lot of very fine film makers struggling to get projects off the ground. Have a look at the box office grosses too and you'll find that a lot of films fail to break even. Yes, the studios look for big hits, and yes that does lead to some rather formulaic film making. But in my view that's the surface of the industry. Go deeper and you'll find it's a different story. When films such as Harry Brown still get made and yet fail to return a profit then does that seem like a greedy industry to you? These are the films that need the lifeline of their video release.
You've mentioned that there needs to be some kind of "all access" digital platform. Wasn't that the promise of UltraViolet? Netflix allows three devices to be registered. Sky Go exists. The structures are already there. Just how much more access is needed?
I hear (or read) people expressing the opinion that things should be cheaper. What I see though is that when they are cheaper that there's still the same call... Cheaper.. cheaper... cheaper. The craving is never satisfied; until it is free that is. Then it's worthless. So really where's the benefit? The fact is that you can't make much of a dent in film production terms for less than $10,000,000, and that films regularly exceed $100,000,000. Yet the output is available to own in Hi-Def for £15 or to rent amongst a stable of equally expensive productions accessible for less than £6 per month. How is that not already cheap enough? No, I think the issue is one of greed, but less from the film companies and more from the consumers for whom any price no matter how small is too much. I haven't heard any argument so far in all the conversations I have had on this topic that convinces me that sharing something someone else stole and dressing it up as some kind of fight for consumer justice is anything more than an excuse for theft.
Not at all, but I'm not going to waste time arguing this part as you kind of repeat it lower down.
I said I wanted a way of downloading high bit rate copies at will... Netflix is great, but it's not very high quality as it caters to the lower internet connections in the world. Neither is Sky Go. What I want is a system where high quality movies can be accessed for those with fat connections, an online library that will be available without needing to waste space on physical media that has an end life date from the moment it is created.
Money is not a concern when it comes to media, I have a decent disposable income. If I thought a movie was worth purchasing then I genuinely would do, but no way will I invest in dead physical media. It makes zero logical or financial sense to me.
If you think a Blue Ray is already "cheap" then you are entitled to your opinion, and we can just agree to disagree. Either way, nothing you say will change my mind as it has been discussed and considered ad infinitum for a long while now and my views are deeply entrenched.
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Blu ray audio is like smack, it just sounds so lush compared to any digital media. Maybe people need better speakers
Blu ray audio is like all digital audio\video it is noughts and ones stored on a disc format.
Put that exact same data on to another format for example a hard drive and even theoretically streamed with enough bandwidth and it will sound exactly the same.
The reason none of the streaming services currently are better than Blu Ray is that the bit rate is not really even close but ...
it could be as long as you have a good enough internet connection it absolutely is possible to stream Blu ray and even true 4k quality with full DTS type sound.
Sadly for now we have Blu rays either as Physical media or ripped and streamed as the best quality with 4k streaming not far behind.
What we are going to see though in the near future is fully mastered 4k movies appearing on new hardware and if you are really a movie buff they will simply look better in 4k than 1080 (assuming a quality TV).
At that point I do not know about you lot but I will upgrade my favourite movies collection to 4K.
Yes it is taking a while but it is coming.
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For me the primary concern was about quality and value for money.
I am 44 years old, and started my audio and movie hobbies when most kids were still with their mothers, I ran a 57" Mitsubishi front projection tv with VHS and Laserdisc in my teens, and chose NTSC imports back then due quite simply to them being better media quality.
Original Starwars, only ever available on VHS and Laserdisc, Dogs of War I missed on Bluray for £17 and peeved at that, because nowhere else can I get a proper 1080p format of that with decent stereo sound, Prince Of Darkness etc. Thing is, when I had my film library, I had access to plenty more films than the local video store had, it was a social event, friends and family loved it and the house always had guests and movies planned, ful weekend with a handfull of rentals etc.
You just do not get that with Sky, Virgin, Netflix, Amazon Prime etc. What you get is an average quality poor sound variable.
I use Virgin, canceled Amazon, and use Netflix too, had a few others I forget, and still use DVD and Bluray, I also have an HTPC, I built my 1st for watching Bluray then just used a basic Bluray player as it was a more consistent and convenient manner to play movies.
I have had various set ups, surround sound from pro logic up to running Class Audio power amps for all channels, Kef Reference 107 and 105.4 in a quad arangment with phantom mid, even budget systems such as a Pioneer 900 series AV amd and Kef 2001 surrounds in 6.1, projectors, projection TV's CRT, plasma, LCD, for a while the house had movie streaming from the main PC in three rooms including the bedroom projector, as I used MyMovies on the main PC and also home networked the database.
Though as much as I like surround my main love was music and stereo.
Till this day, streaming online content, and downloading pirate copies of movies no matter how good, has never been as good quality as physical media.
And I still have some VHS becaus emany films are still not available anywhere else, same with some LD and some DVD's too, I had thousands of movies through the VHS years and a good few hundred LD's, same with DVD's. But only a mediocre collection of Bluray.
The majority of films I have done to death, the majority of new releases are simply not worth owning, so I either rent it on Virgin movies HD, or wait until it is on Sky or Netflix. I did the movie buff thing, now I am a father of three I want everything easier and tidier, but HTPC just lacked.
For a few years I watched each worthwile blockbuster before UK release via US import, via Bluray on a 1080p projector with a 7.2 set up which is currently processed by a Denon DN-500 AV processor into a bank of five Yamaha stereo power amps, two of which are ran parallel, one for the subs, one for the two center speakers, room is around 80ft odd. It's a small cinema that started out as a beer budget project when a workmate movie buff friend of mine and I decided we just could not run our manly home cinema set ups and manly action movies at volume 11 due to having families and cross wifes. My friend puts a lot of effort and time into his movies, he still loves them and makes time to go to the cinema as well as getting rarities and such for us to enjoy. One thing th einternet has been good for, making trailers of old B movies and finding rarities in far off retailers.
Maybe one day, every movie past and present, every TV series, will be available online to stream at a reasonable cost, just being available would be nice, but what I really look forward to is actual quality, and it just ain't happening in the near future.
My 9 year old loves movies too, and even he prefers HD, requesting a Bluray over any streaming etc.
And thats where it ends, you simply cannot get the audio and video quality via pirate downloads or streaming, even with Sky and Virgin HD rentals it mediocre and bit rate is dropped when it is removed from the rental menu and made free to watch. Netflix, yawn.
True movie buffs buy movies, they enjoy QUALITY over epeen pub chat about the latest rip or download, they have eyes and ears, they enjoy reading the content included in boxed specials, watching the extra's etc, and even when copying all your best movies lossless onto a media PC, it still does not touch an average bluray player for quality and convenience. Don't get me wrong, I loved using MyMovies with it's synopsis etc with Windows Media Player, but it has no actual funcionality and convenience like a simple Bluray player does, it detracts from the experience.
I am 44 years old, and started my audio and movie hobbies when most kids were still with their mothers, I ran a 57" Mitsubishi front projection tv with VHS and Laserdisc in my teens, and chose NTSC imports back then due quite simply to them being better media quality.
Original Starwars, only ever available on VHS and Laserdisc, Dogs of War I missed on Bluray for £17 and peeved at that, because nowhere else can I get a proper 1080p format of that with decent stereo sound, Prince Of Darkness etc. Thing is, when I had my film library, I had access to plenty more films than the local video store had, it was a social event, friends and family loved it and the house always had guests and movies planned, ful weekend with a handfull of rentals etc.
You just do not get that with Sky, Virgin, Netflix, Amazon Prime etc. What you get is an average quality poor sound variable.
I use Virgin, canceled Amazon, and use Netflix too, had a few others I forget, and still use DVD and Bluray, I also have an HTPC, I built my 1st for watching Bluray then just used a basic Bluray player as it was a more consistent and convenient manner to play movies.
I have had various set ups, surround sound from pro logic up to running Class Audio power amps for all channels, Kef Reference 107 and 105.4 in a quad arangment with phantom mid, even budget systems such as a Pioneer 900 series AV amd and Kef 2001 surrounds in 6.1, projectors, projection TV's CRT, plasma, LCD, for a while the house had movie streaming from the main PC in three rooms including the bedroom projector, as I used MyMovies on the main PC and also home networked the database.
Though as much as I like surround my main love was music and stereo.
Till this day, streaming online content, and downloading pirate copies of movies no matter how good, has never been as good quality as physical media.
And I still have some VHS becaus emany films are still not available anywhere else, same with some LD and some DVD's too, I had thousands of movies through the VHS years and a good few hundred LD's, same with DVD's. But only a mediocre collection of Bluray.
The majority of films I have done to death, the majority of new releases are simply not worth owning, so I either rent it on Virgin movies HD, or wait until it is on Sky or Netflix. I did the movie buff thing, now I am a father of three I want everything easier and tidier, but HTPC just lacked.
For a few years I watched each worthwile blockbuster before UK release via US import, via Bluray on a 1080p projector with a 7.2 set up which is currently processed by a Denon DN-500 AV processor into a bank of five Yamaha stereo power amps, two of which are ran parallel, one for the subs, one for the two center speakers, room is around 80ft odd. It's a small cinema that started out as a beer budget project when a workmate movie buff friend of mine and I decided we just could not run our manly home cinema set ups and manly action movies at volume 11 due to having families and cross wifes. My friend puts a lot of effort and time into his movies, he still loves them and makes time to go to the cinema as well as getting rarities and such for us to enjoy. One thing th einternet has been good for, making trailers of old B movies and finding rarities in far off retailers.
Maybe one day, every movie past and present, every TV series, will be available online to stream at a reasonable cost, just being available would be nice, but what I really look forward to is actual quality, and it just ain't happening in the near future.
My 9 year old loves movies too, and even he prefers HD, requesting a Bluray over any streaming etc.
And thats where it ends, you simply cannot get the audio and video quality via pirate downloads or streaming, even with Sky and Virgin HD rentals it mediocre and bit rate is dropped when it is removed from the rental menu and made free to watch. Netflix, yawn.
True movie buffs buy movies, they enjoy QUALITY over epeen pub chat about the latest rip or download, they have eyes and ears, they enjoy reading the content included in boxed specials, watching the extra's etc, and even when copying all your best movies lossless onto a media PC, it still does not touch an average bluray player for quality and convenience. Don't get me wrong, I loved using MyMovies with it's synopsis etc with Windows Media Player, but it has no actual funcionality and convenience like a simple Bluray player does, it detracts from the experience.
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Playback quality... it's similar with playing back mounter blu-rays.
It's close... but it still doesn't match the quality and smoothness of a standalone blu-ray player.
You just made the same mistake again.
That comment is simply not true a ripped Blu Ray can be lossless in exactly the same way as a Music CD.
It is digital, noughts and ones you CAN get a 100% conversion and yes it will look and sound exactly the same !
When 4K discs come out they will also be digital noughts and ones and again you will be able to rip them 100%.
Plenty of people buy physical media audio or video and rip it on to a home server as I do. (this is even common with high end audiophiles).
Really strange that people do not get this on a computer forum.
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I don't own 1000+ blu-rays... lol
I have about 50-60... I think... I only buy the ones that are worth buying... generally the ones that I would go to the cinema to see. Or if I've downloaded one and it was good, then I'll happily pay the movie makers who made it.
I somewhat object to paying money for terrible crap... you can't easily return movies or get your cash back at a cinema.
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And yet... it does not... while the source content may be the same, the playback is not.
And don't give me the computer issue crap... been through multiple iterations of hardware, software, operating systems and I'm a computer engineer who specialises in digital signage.
Even a simple ticker text message is juddery from computer playback!!!
Over the last few years, the playback quality has improved substantially... but... PC playback is still behind standalone blu-ray playback... even using the same disk!
90% of my movies are remux... all 15TB of them.
WHAT ?!
that is just rubbish.
If you are finding that you are doing something wrong.
It is of course hardware dependant but again it is digital ! it is exactly the same thing.
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No. I did not make the same mistake again, you simply cannot read what you quoted. And I highlighted your own text.
And thats where it ends, you simply cannot get the audio and video quality via pirate downloads or streaming.
Most of us use a bluray player and HTPC, and I still remember when ripping movies I owned from DVD and Bluray, I did straight full quality rips but still had hiccups and had to configure some settings in Catalyst to get it right, especially with DVD and blacks, and audio on Bluray though that later improved, apsect ratio too if I remember correct, never did any sub menu content or 3D though, with a purpose built HTPC initially built for watching Bluray instead of buying a Bluray player, with a Poworcolor SCS HD-5750 passive feeding a 50" plasma. HDD space was not an issue and I had no interest in compression. Hell I even did without Flac stupidly for a huge amount of recordings simply sticking with WAV as I had the space and portable players that played WAV files not flac.
That an £80 Bluray player ended up getting used instead says enough. Though it had some issues too. These days I am happy enough to use anything that plays a Bluray, two of my PC's have Bluray drives, I have a basic Bluray player, and do not mind using a games console.
I did the high end kit in my youth, even with £3k and £4k DVD transports of all bloody things.
But remember, we are not talking about purchased geniune copies of movies on Bluray, which I would rather watch and listen to played back by the likes of an Oppo or similar player anyway if the choice was there. Placebo or not, I prefer a player to an HTPC, convenience, no fuss, and the handling of media.
Read what you quoted. The quoted context regards pirated free downloads and streaming services.
As for highend audio, well I was into that once, it's what got me into computers as years ago, before even SSD and DVD drives existed I was interested in using computers for digital media.
The last build I had planned was years ago with a Lynx AES16 soundcard, but I gave up as I did not want an actual PC operating system. Though later Server 2012 was configured well for the purposes by someone who decided to charge £80 to share the details and preconfigured versions.
In the early days switched mode power supplies could have detrimental effects on audio quality too.
There was a lot more going on in a PC than a digital CD/dvd/bluray transport, and in the past not all digital outputs were as perfect as all would think, it's what led users to asio bit perfect, what got DAC manufacturers into making the dacs they do, including USB inputs etc.
Though I should revisit it all maybe, if I can get back into hifi, as I would quite like to try USB dac direct from NAS, with a more up to date modern DAC.
I am 44 and was into serious music listening and hifi at a young age, I still have in storage a couple of systems I used in the late 90's into early 2000's, Theta, EAD, Krell, Classe, Sonic Frontiers, Michell, EAR, Genesis. Just don't have the disposable income I did in my youth, or the time and space.
But again, to quote me,
For me the primary concern was about quality and value for money.
Till this day, streaming online content, and downloading pirate copies of movies no matter how good, has never been as good quality as physical media.
And thats where it ends, you simply cannot get the audio and video quality via pirate downloads or streaming, even with Sky and Virgin HD rentals it mediocre and bit rate is dropped when it is removed from the rental menu and made free to watch. Netflix, yawn.
It still does not touch an average bluray player for quality and convenience. Don't get me wrong, I loved using MyMovies with it's synopsis etc with Windows Media Player, but (I should have said for me) it has no actual funcionality and convenience like a simple Bluray player does, it detracts from the experience.
Maybe I should rebuild an HTPC, but it offers nothing but a storage convenience countered by inconvenience elsewhere not conjusive to a good couch session, therefor does not beat a good old fashioned player. Nothing beats fingering through a movie or music collection and a choice popping into your head of a movie not seen in years.
That said, there is of course the ability to run software like XBMX and configure a low overhead mini build that can be left on to just stream movies from the NAS via a phone app, though it does no better than a player and needs hands on to configure, maintain, and optimize, its a better solution to a gaming PC or tower wasting away it's overspecced power to run a film that a player costing beer money could do just as well.
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You buy Blu and then rip them... that's even more amusing than some of the previous replies. I'll stick to downloads, thanks.
Phew, you do seem to have a habit of writing near-impenetrable walls of badly spaced text.
No-one said streaming was as high quality as Blu-Ray, it is mind-numbingly obvious that it is not, but the upturned noses when it is mentioned make me laugh... it DOES have it's place and Netflix is an awesome platform that has given me many, many hours of hassle-free enjoyment for TV series and documentaries. If I want to watch my favourite movies or BBC Wildlife then I watch the high quality, high bitrate copies that I have on my PC... and no, the difference between them and a regular Blu-Ray on a 50" TV would be pretty negligible.
A Blu-Ray player is not "convenient" in any real sense of the word, it requires more time and effort to buy and insert than a download.
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Well you have to remember, it's all digital noughts and ones. Yet, all over the world there are Bluray players from under £100 to over £1000 with specific models getting more merit than others over picture quality.
A PC is not usually optimised for simply watching bluray, regardless of digital, usually requiring you to go into your graphics menu and switch various features off such as colour correction, edge enhancement, etc. Some users have to tweak settings to sort out the judder created by a 60hz signal coping with the 3.2 pulldown for a 24hz frame rate too, though I even notice this on some budget players. There is also colour spacing, PC's do not always have the output set correct, with PC output being full RGB 0-255 but most TV's and Bluray players being 16-235.
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-get-better-picture-quality-from-your-home-theate-1700412363
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/139-display-calibration/948496-avs-hd-709-blu-ray-mp4-calibration.html
Various ways to cut the process, but it's not simply like buying a Bluray player, plugging the HDMI cable and slapping a disc in the machine and pressing play.
There are plenty of issues involved with HTPC. But thats not what I am complaining about here, it's the issue with others slandering people who actually buy physical media because it offers a better experience than online streaming or pirated downloads to that end user!
I have three kids, when a movie comes out, how many times does a kid want to watch such a movie? When I was in my twenties did I watch a movie once or on various occasions, £4.99 to rent an HD release on Virgin media for one viewing, for a movie available on Bluray that can be available from £5 to £17 depending on title that can sit in a walk in cupboard and be viewed again in a month, year, 10 years?
When I built my home network, there were three PC's and a Mac here, I wanted the ability to stream movies from the network collection to any room in the house, I copied movies from my bought Bluray and DVD's, I bought digital downloads, I slowly built the collection within my storage, used MyMovies over WMC on networked Windows 7 PC's in various locations in home with a projector upstairs, the kids room TV, and a 50" plasma with the dedicated HTPC. The kids grew distant from it, prefering to use streaming and with their favorite movies asking for Bluray discs, even for movies where I had DVD, Bluray and on the home network, they simply would put the Blueray on instead of the HTPC. Virgin and Netflix are used most in this home, with the family prefering to buy favorite movies on Bluray.
It can take ages to browse Netflix, Sky movies, Virgin movies to find something to watch something new, sometimes it is easier to look through square meters of films on a shelf and pick something, but off the shelf is usually not the norm.
Now, where can I stream a good quality copy of these examples of the top of my head, how much is a Bluray copy of 1978 Dawn Of The Dead on Blu Ray and Dogs Of War?
The Dogs Of War?
The Hunchback Hairball of LA?
Taking care Of JoJo?
The original unadulterated Star Wars Trilogy?
The Wild Life?
The last Movie?
The Keep?
Phantasm?
Bubba Ho-Tep?
The Hitcher?
Critters quadrilogy?
There were plenty of movies released on VHS that never reached DVD, there will be many DVD that never reach Bluray, and there will be many Bluray too that wont be re issued or remastered. Not everything is available to stream or download, and not even every retail edition of a movie is the best, with the likes of even the Die hard movies having an appaling history of appaling video quality releases on all formats.
Not everthing will ever be remastered in HD or higher formats, and I sure as hell would have loved to have kept all my VHS and the players for nostalgia reasons, especially the B movie rarities and such.
So what is a true movie buff, someone who streams or downloads only what is available online, usually limited? Or someone who through a love of movies builds a collection of various formats that can be cherished and revisited anytime, with movies quality improved upon if a better quality copy is released on an alternative format?
I use Virgin Media.
I use Sky.
My wife, children, and I have used Netflix for years on various devices.
I use various formats including VHS, LD, DVD, Bluray, HTPC, streaming, downloading, with itunes too, and even freeview and Roku, Flixter/ultraviolet etc. I am not upturning my nose to any of it or saying it has no place.
And you do not?
Did no one state that in this thread?
What is neglidgable to do with the same?
What is hassle free about the majority of manners in which a PC is used to watch content readily available to stream on a smart TV anyway?
How is switching on an HTPC, clicking on software, and selecting a movie from a menu any less hassle than pulling a disc of a shelf, inserting, and pressing play? Or even selecting a movie from the Nas on a Bluray player and streaming that way? WHat about building, set up, configuration, and the time searching and downloading, is it really any different to using a player, or buying a physical movie online.
Upturned noses? In comparison to slandering someone who loves the physical media and stating your just as big a fan with digital downloads? Then stating an opinion on matter not even in stated within the original quote?
So for us here not in the know, where are you actually downloading these full uncompressed movie files from? How much are they costing per title? And did you calibrate your PC in any manner, what are the PC specifications of your current PC, case and all.
A PC is not usually optimised for simply watching bluray, regardless of digital, usually requiring you to go into your graphics menu and switch various features off such as colour correction, edge enhancement, etc. Some users have to tweak settings to sort out the judder created by a 60hz signal coping with the 3.2 pulldown for a 24hz frame rate too, though I even notice this on some budget players. There is also colour spacing, PC's do not always have the output set correct, with PC output being full RGB 0-255 but most TV's and Bluray players being 16-235.
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-get-better-picture-quality-from-your-home-theate-1700412363
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/139-display-calibration/948496-avs-hd-709-blu-ray-mp4-calibration.html
Various ways to cut the process, but it's not simply like buying a Bluray player, plugging the HDMI cable and slapping a disc in the machine and pressing play.
There are plenty of issues involved with HTPC. But thats not what I am complaining about here, it's the issue with others slandering people who actually buy physical media because it offers a better experience than online streaming or pirated downloads to that end user!
I have three kids, when a movie comes out, how many times does a kid want to watch such a movie? When I was in my twenties did I watch a movie once or on various occasions, £4.99 to rent an HD release on Virgin media for one viewing, for a movie available on Bluray that can be available from £5 to £17 depending on title that can sit in a walk in cupboard and be viewed again in a month, year, 10 years?
When I built my home network, there were three PC's and a Mac here, I wanted the ability to stream movies from the network collection to any room in the house, I copied movies from my bought Bluray and DVD's, I bought digital downloads, I slowly built the collection within my storage, used MyMovies over WMC on networked Windows 7 PC's in various locations in home with a projector upstairs, the kids room TV, and a 50" plasma with the dedicated HTPC. The kids grew distant from it, prefering to use streaming and with their favorite movies asking for Bluray discs, even for movies where I had DVD, Bluray and on the home network, they simply would put the Blueray on instead of the HTPC. Virgin and Netflix are used most in this home, with the family prefering to buy favorite movies on Bluray.
It can take ages to browse Netflix, Sky movies, Virgin movies to find something to watch something new, sometimes it is easier to look through square meters of films on a shelf and pick something, but off the shelf is usually not the norm.
Now, where can I stream a good quality copy of these examples of the top of my head, how much is a Bluray copy of 1978 Dawn Of The Dead on Blu Ray and Dogs Of War?
The Dogs Of War?
The Hunchback Hairball of LA?
Taking care Of JoJo?
The original unadulterated Star Wars Trilogy?
The Wild Life?
The last Movie?
The Keep?
Phantasm?
Bubba Ho-Tep?
The Hitcher?
Critters quadrilogy?
There were plenty of movies released on VHS that never reached DVD, there will be many DVD that never reach Bluray, and there will be many Bluray too that wont be re issued or remastered. Not everything is available to stream or download, and not even every retail edition of a movie is the best, with the likes of even the Die hard movies having an appaling history of appaling video quality releases on all formats.
Not everthing will ever be remastered in HD or higher formats, and I sure as hell would have loved to have kept all my VHS and the players for nostalgia reasons, especially the B movie rarities and such.
So what is a true movie buff, someone who streams or downloads only what is available online, usually limited? Or someone who through a love of movies builds a collection of various formats that can be cherished and revisited anytime, with movies quality improved upon if a better quality copy is released on an alternative format?
I use Virgin Media.
I use Sky.
My wife, children, and I have used Netflix for years on various devices.
I use various formats including VHS, LD, DVD, Bluray, HTPC, streaming, downloading, with itunes too, and even freeview and Roku, Flixter/ultraviolet etc. I am not upturning my nose to any of it or saying it has no place.
Phew, you do seem to have a habit of writing near-impenetrable walls of badly spaced text.
No-one said streaming was as high quality as Blu-Ray, it is mind-numbingly obvious that it is not, but the upturned noses when it is mentioned make me laugh... it DOES have it's place and Netflix is an awesome platform that has given me many, many hours of hassle-free enjoyment for TV series and documentaries. If I want to watch my favourite movies or BBC Wildlife then I watch the high quality, high bitrate copies that I have on my PC... and no, the difference between them and a regular Blu-Ray on a 50" TV would be pretty negligible.
A Blu-Ray player is not "convenient" in any real sense of the word, it requires more time and effort to buy and insert than a download.
And you do not?
Did no one state that in this thread?
What is neglidgable to do with the same?
What is hassle free about the majority of manners in which a PC is used to watch content readily available to stream on a smart TV anyway?
How is switching on an HTPC, clicking on software, and selecting a movie from a menu any less hassle than pulling a disc of a shelf, inserting, and pressing play? Or even selecting a movie from the Nas on a Bluray player and streaming that way? WHat about building, set up, configuration, and the time searching and downloading, is it really any different to using a player, or buying a physical movie online.
Upturned noses? In comparison to slandering someone who loves the physical media and stating your just as big a fan with digital downloads? Then stating an opinion on matter not even in stated within the original quote?
So for us here not in the know, where are you actually downloading these full uncompressed movie files from? How much are they costing per title? And did you calibrate your PC in any manner, what are the PC specifications of your current PC, case and all.
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