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Home Entertainment and Media: Past, Present and Future

Seven_Point_Six_FiveSeven_Point_Six_Five Southern California
in General Movies & TV Posts: 1,257
Let's discuss all things home entertainment and media.
VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, 4K, digital, etc.
What format of films do you watch? How big is your collection? What devices do you watch them on?

Comments

  • Seven_Point_Six_FiveSeven_Point_Six_Five Southern California
    edited February 2018 Posts: 1,257
    My Playstation 4 has been my primary source of media viewing. I would occasionally pop a Blu-ray into it but majority of the time I watch digital films using the Vudu app. As of now, I have about 320 digital films and TV shows in my collection.

    I recently added a Samsung UBD-M7500 4K Blu-ray player to my arsenal. It seems like a decent entry-level player, especially since I got it while on sale for under $100. I have yet to view a standard Blu-ray in it to see how well it upscales but I'm anxious to give it a shot.
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    edited February 2018 Posts: 25,176
    I have a LG 4K TV with web os 2, though some of the apps don't exploit the TV capabilities as is often the case with smart TV's. I have two Bluray players collecting dust and Xbox One Bluray player also, though recently bought an Xbox One X 4K HDR Bluray player which I use the most now. I have numerous streaming devices including Fire Stick, Fire TV Box, Roku, Roku 4K stick, PC and chromecast. I have basically got a similar set up in my lounge as I do my Gym room, so I can watch and listen to music and movies in either room. I have two tablets one I have on a arm in the kitchen so I can watch YouTube, Netflix etc whilst I am cooking.

    I have roughly bought 40 movies that are Ultraviolet digital copies to stream or download, and over 100 digital Instant videos on Amazon Prime to stream or download.

    I like having digital films on my devices though I still prefer hard copies, I have several hundred Dvd's mostly boxed up and hundreds of Blurays, well over 30 Bluray boxsets now which I see as ornaments which I display.

    Edited: I also have Bluetooth speakers in every room including kitchen in bathroom.
  • Seven_Point_Six_FiveSeven_Point_Six_Five Southern California
    Posts: 1,257
    Is the 4K player in the Xbox One X any good? I was extremely disappointed the PS4 Pro didn't include a 4K player.
  • ToTheRightToTheRight
    Posts: 16,169
    I just use my old school Blu-ray player which has done me nice for a few years now. No 4K for me, yet. I used to have a DVD player as a back up, and I'll probably eventually get a cheap one .
    In addition I also have a used VHS player. Sometimes I'm feeling nostalgic and want to watch certain films they way they looked when I was a kid so I'll pop in the old VHS versions.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,978
    Seven_Point_Six_Five wrote: »
    Is the 4K player in the Xbox One X any good? I was extremely disappointed the PS4 Pro didn't include a 4K player.

    I'm not sure about the X but I've heard the S has a pretty mediocre 4K player for films. If you're making the jump I'd suggest finding a proper one - can get a really good 4K player for $200 or less.

    I agree, it is a shame the Pro doesn't have one, would've been real handy. I'm still planning on getting one eventually, preferably on sale, for gaming.
  • RemingtonRemington I'll do anything for a woman with a knife.
    Posts: 1,534
    I have an Element 39 inch TV. HD great quality. I'm seated pretty close so it's perfect.

    The only Blu-Rays I have are all the Bonds, The Godfather Trilogy, Scarface, Miami Vice:the Complete Series, and Led Zeppelin:The Song Remains The Same. I have about 200 films and about 10 TV shows on DVD.

    I no longer have a VHS player although I have about 20 tapes.
    Two things I miss from my youth:VHS and Blockbuster.

    Overall I'm pretty happy. I wouldn't mind a home theater though lol.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,978
    I miss Blockbuster and movie rental stores in general. Going in there as a kid on a Friday night, renting a bunch of horror and action movies, getting a ton of snack food and spending the weekend doing nothing but watching them, fully focused, was so much fun.
  • ToTheRightToTheRight
    edited February 2018 Posts: 16,169
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I miss Blockbuster and movie rental stores in general. Going in there as a kid on a Friday night, renting a bunch of horror and action movies, getting a ton of snack food and spending the weekend doing nothing but watching them, fully focused, was so much fun.

    Today all one has is Walmart, Best Buy, and some Barnes and Noble branches sell movies. They all have minimal selections in movies, mainly just more recent stuff.
    Blockbuster had a comedy section, musical, drama, horror, cult, action, golden age classics and more.
    If you want to buy something cool, like say Out Of The Past with Robert Mitchum, you pretty much HAVE to order it online to find it.
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,814
    A little different, but the modern-day US equivalent to Blockbuster are the Redbox kiosks. More recent stuff, but some low budget titles as well. Some variety.

    Not normally my thing, but very handy when I was on vacation in Upstate New York last year.
  • Seven_Point_Six_FiveSeven_Point_Six_Five Southern California
    edited February 2018 Posts: 1,257
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I miss Blockbuster and movie rental stores in general. Going in there as a kid on a Friday night, renting a bunch of horror and action movies, getting a ton of snack food and spending the weekend doing nothing but watching them, fully focused, was so much fun.

    Oh man, those were days!

    Now days, the best way to rent films is digitally through streaming services like iTunes or Vudu. You’ll get a much larger selection than Redbox or even Blockbuster could ever off. Only downside is not everyone has a streaming device or strong connection for streaming, but it's definitely the future of media viewing.
  • StrogStrog
    edited February 2018 Posts: 684
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I miss Blockbuster and movie rental stores in general. Going in there as a kid on a Friday night, renting a bunch of horror and action movies, getting a ton of snack food and spending the weekend doing nothing but watching them, fully focused, was so much fun.

    Today all one has is Walmart, Best Buy, and some Barnes and Noble branches sell movies. They all have minimal selections in movies, mainly just more recent stuff.
    Blockbuster had a comedy section, musical, drama, horror, cult, action, golden age classics and more.
    If you want to buy something cool, like say Out Of The Past with Robert Mitchum, you pretty much HAVE to order it online to find it.
    RichardTheBruce wrote: »
    A little different, but the modern-day US equivalent to Blockbuster are the Redbox kiosks. More recent stuff, but some low budget titles as well. Some variety.

    Not normally my thing, but very handy when I was on vacation in Upstate New York last year.

    It's so sad. Even the rental places in the metro areas (where you'd think there would be demand) are closing. There was one with 30,000+ titles that closed near me about four years ago.

    Improbably, the area I grew up in still has one in business. Not a huge selection. The classics and the new releases. When I'm visiting the area, I enjoy going in and making a night/weekend of it from time to time.

    Even Netflix (the DVD rental side) which used to have everything is losing titles. Within the last year I've tried to rent films like THE ELEPHANT MAN, CHUNGKING EXPRESS, and AVANTI!, but each is listed as 'Availability: Unknown.'

    Redbox is popular enough that I really do think there is still a demand for physical media rental stores, and I could see it catching on again at some point, but it's terrible now.
  • RemingtonRemington I'll do anything for a woman with a knife.
    Posts: 1,534
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I miss Blockbuster and movie rental stores in general. Going in there as a kid on a Friday night, renting a bunch of horror and action movies, getting a ton of snack food and spending the weekend doing nothing but watching them, fully focused, was so much fun.

    Same here. Good times.
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    edited July 2019 Posts: 17,759
    Bumping this thread as I guess it's the best place to write this.

    I've been thinking about physical media lately. Although I find myself using iTunes and Google Play more and more – mostly to save space and the advantage of having titles ready to play on any device - I still buy films and TV shows on physical formats regularly. As I've never been too fuzzy about image and sound quality, the majority of my collection is still DVD's – and I usually opt for DVD releases if I can save some money.

    Some of those DVD titles (especially older films) aren't necessary the best transfers though, and upgrading them with a better quality release is very tempting. Blu-ray seems the way to go, but then there's 4K releases. In contrast to Blu-ray, making the step up to 4K will require a big step up in terms of equipment; new TV (I only have a ten years old or so HDTV), 4K player etc. But is it worth it?
  • Seven_Point_Six_FiveSeven_Point_Six_Five Southern California
    Posts: 1,257
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    In contrast to Blu-ray, making the step up to 4K will require a big step up in terms of equipment; new TV (I only have a ten years old or so HDTV), 4K player etc. But is it worth it?

    Some 4K TVs are pretty affordable now days, especially when considering many of them already have Smart TV hubs already built in. You can stream 4K content with the TV alone.

    With that said, I don't believe the benefits of 4K Blu-ray outweigh the costs as of yet. Both the 4K players and the 4K Blu-rays themselves can be costly compared to their standard 1080p counterparts.
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    edited July 2019 Posts: 17,759
    That's the issue, I'm yet to see an affordable 4K TV; most of them seem to be $800/£650 or more + an additional $250/£200 for a 4K player. Hopefully those prices will drop eventually.

    I see that a lot of newer releases which are heavy on CGI won't provide much difference in 4K as the effects are rendered in 2K. I guess older movies – and movies shot on film is a different matter; The Hateful Eight, for example, which is shot on 70mm film. I'm not big on the technical stuff, so I might be wrong about this.

    I also wonder if a lot of those older titles will get the 4K treatment.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    I have a bluray player where I view both blurays and dvds. Also have a vhs player, but seldom watch anything from that collection.

    In the 70s, the upstarting video and tv game industry was referred to as the "tv cassette market".
  • 007Blofeld007Blofeld In the freedom of the West.
    Posts: 3,126
    im glad someone made a thread on this I wish we would get Bond Special feature treatment like old days.
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