dvd regions.

decky1

why are there different dvd regions? 2 for Europe for example, why are they not all the same ?

CinemaGuy45

decky1 wrote: »

why are there different dvd regions? 2 for Europe for example, why are they not all the same ?

demanufactured

Who still plays Dvd's?

Ubbquittious

A money-making scam by Hollywood studios so they can enforce differential pricing and different release dates by making everyones' DVD player pretend not to be able to play discs from the wrong region

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Plopsu

Distribution rights can be owned by different companies in different regions IIRC.

If it's an issue google your DVD player model and the phrase 'region free hack'. Many (if not most) players can be made region free.

Since you already own it, you're morally free to just download it.

troyzer

Who buys DVDs anymore?

Most 4k and new Blu Ray releases aren't region locked.

DVDs were made obsolete 12 years ago, it's amazing that people still buy them.

Pelvis

troyzer wrote: »

Who buys DVDs anymore?

Most 4k and new Blu Ray releases aren't region locked.

DVDs were made obsolete 12 years ago, it's amazing that people still buy them.

I'll probably be buying my mam a boxset or two for xmas. She doesn't have a computer and doesn't have the internet.

TomSweeney

troyzer wrote: »

Who buys DVDs anymore?

Most 4k and new Blu Ray releases aren't region locked.

DVDs were made obsolete 12 years ago, it's amazing that people still buy them.

BluRays and 4K BluRays too or at least soon with streaming.
(OK 4K streaming is not true 4K, but most people don't care)

murpho999

troyzer wrote: »

Who buys DVDs anymore?

Most 4k and new Blu Ray releases aren't region locked.

DVDs were made obsolete 12 years ago, it's amazing that people still buy them.

I'm also amazed that people still buy any physical media in this internet digital age.

Cue vision and audio purist who will insist that blu ray is better than anything you can get off the internet.

Pawwed Rig

Region 1 was US. Region 2 Europe. Region 3 was Asia I think and there may have been more.
It was a hopeless attempt by studios to rip people off. People were smarter. As far back as 2003 the region's were essentially obsolete due to multi region players.
Funnily enough the player I have is still locked to region 2. So if on the off chance I ever play a DVD again it may not work

troyzer

murpho999 wrote: »

I'm also amazed that people still buy any physical media in this internet digital age.

Cue vision and audio purist who will insist that blu ray is better than anything you can get off the internet.

Sit down and watch a movie like 2001 in 4k HDR both on disc and then streamed and you'll see the difference. It's night and day.

VinLieger

decky1 wrote: »

why are there different dvd regions? 2 for Europe for example, why are they not all the same ?

Money

Plopsu

murpho999 wrote: »

I'm also amazed that people still buy any physical media in this internet digital age.

Cue vision and audio purist who will insist that blu ray is better than anything you can get off the internet.

The last time I measured my broadband speed, it was something like 200k. Lots of people in that boat. Doesn't really lend itself to streaming (and certainly not at a quality to watch on a TV). I also like being able to just go to a shelf and pick a movie out to watch.



I'm also secretly preparing for after the apocalypse. If I can rig up a bicycle powered generator, I have enough entertainment to run constantly. It's going to be my niche.

TomSweeney

murpho999 wrote: »

I'm also amazed that people still buy any physical media in this internet digital age.

Cue vision and audio purist who will insist that blu ray is better than anything you can get off the internet.

Well there is a difference, but I get what you are saying ... most people don't care.


But there is a BIG difference ...

VinLieger

troyzer wrote: »

Sit down and watch a movie like 2001 in 4k HDR both on disc and then streamed and you'll see the difference. It's night and day.

From where did you stream 2001 in 4k may I ask?

jester77

VinLieger wrote: »

From where did you stream 2001 in 4k may I ask?

You can stream it in 8K right now if you live in Japan.

VinLieger

jester77 wrote: »

You can stream it in 8K right now if you live in Japan.

Thats a broadcast afaik not a stream

TomSweeney

VinLieger wrote: »

From where did you stream 2001 in 4k may I ask?

I think Amazon prime video had it recently ... not 100% sure ..

troyzer

You can't. And that's half the reason I buy 4k, because most big new releases are available on the format and there are loads of reissues but the streaming options are still very limited.

dotsman

TomSweeney wrote: »

BluRays and 4K BluRays too or at least soon with streaming.
(OK 4K streaming is not true 4K, but most people don't care)

murpho999 wrote: »

I'm also amazed that people still buy any physical media in this internet digital age.

Cue vision and audio purist who will insist that blu ray is better than anything you can get off the internet.

It's not about being a purist. It's about actually wanting the quality you already paid for. Why bother with a 4K TV if you already have a HD TV? Why bother with a HD TV if you already have a digital SD TV, why bother with that if you already have a black white analogue TV etc?

If you're buying a HD TV, don't you want to watch movies in actual HD, and not a stripped down version? Likewise, if you have bought a 4K TV, don't you want to watch movies in all their glory rather than some stripped down streaming version?

For 4K, Netflix uses about 7GB an hour, (lets say 11GB for an average movie). 4K Bluray is 100GB. Just think about how much quality is stripped out jsut to compress it down to 11GB (a standard Blu-ray disk is 25GB - that will show you just how better Blu-ray is over streaming)?

Buying a HD/4K TV and just using it for broadcast/streaming TV is like buying a Ferrari and only ever using it to drive 30kmph down a country road. Or, maybe a better example is it is like building a 3-lane motorway for hundreds of kilometres and just have horse-and-carts use it.

Likewise, as pointed out above, there are far more titles available on disc than on streaming services. Finally, not everybody lives in a place with a decent broadband connection, so can't even stream in 4K etc

troyzer

dotsman wrote: »

TomSweeney wrote: »

BluRays and 4K BluRays too or at least soon with streaming.
(OK 4K streaming is not true 4K, but most people don't care)

murpho999 wrote: »

I'm also amazed that people still buy any physical media in this internet digital age.

Cue vision and audio purist who will insist that blu ray is better than anything you can get off the internet.

It's not about being a purist. It's about actually wanting the quality you already paid for. Why bother with a 4K TV if you already have a HD TV? Why bother with a HD TV if you already have a digital SD TV, why bother with that if you already have a black white analogue TV etc?

If you're buying a HD TV, don't you want to watch movies in actual HD, and not a stripped down version? Likewise, if you have bought a 4K TV, don't you want to watch movies in all their glory rather than some stripped down streaming version?

For 4K, Netflix uses about 7GB an hour, (lets say 11GB for an average movie). 4K Bluray is 100GB. Just think about how much quality is stripped out jsut to compress it down to 11GB (a standard Blu-ray disk is 25GB - that will show you just how better Blu-ray is over streaming)?

Buying a HD/4K TV and just using it for broadcast/streaming TV is like buying a Ferrari and only ever using it to drive 30kmph down a country road. Or, maybe a better example is it is like building a 3-lane motorway for hundreds of kilometres and just have horse-and-carts use it.

Likewise, as pointed out above, there are far more titles available on disc than on streaming services. Finally, not everybody lives in a place with a decent broadband connection, so can't even stream in 4K etc

This.^

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Although I fully accept that 4k is still largely a fringe format and the sort of person that cares about loss of fidelity in a compressed stream Vs a disc will always be a minority.

Ubbquittious

Plopsu wrote: »

The last time I measured my broadband speed, it was something like 200k. Lots of people in that boat. Doesn't really lend itself to streaming (and certainly not at a quality to watch on a TV). I also like being able to just go to a shelf and pick a movie out to watch.



I'm also secretly preparing for after the apocalypse. If I can rig up a bicycle powered generator, I have enough entertainment to run constantly. It's going to be my niche.

You'll have to spend all your time on getting food and otherwise staying alive. No time for entertainment

kneemos

Must say I kinda prefer the old standard def telly. Much easier on the eye.

murpho999

troyzer wrote: »

Sit down and watch a movie like 2001 in 4k HDR both on disc and then streamed and you'll see the difference. It's night and day.

Amazon Link

Pay about €35 plus for it and have to keep disc ("Open the disc door HAL") and case around, no thanks.

Could also try this.
Not sure how good it is but it's the way it's going to go.

murpho999

Plopsu wrote: »

The last time I measured my broadband speed, it was something like 200k. Lots of people in that boat. Doesn't really lend itself to streaming (and certainly not at a quality to watch on a TV). I also like being able to just go to a shelf and pick a movie out to watch.



I'm also secretly preparing for after the apocalypse. If I can rig up a bicycle powered generator, I have enough entertainment to run constantly. It's going to be my niche.

I'm grand. VM media 360mb for me.:D

jh79

I still buy blu rays and 4k because i want lossless audio.

Don't see the point of having a good tv and surround sound and and not getting the best out of them.

Seen people on twitter giving out that they lost their purchases on itunes because the distributer deal wasn't renewed.

murpho999

dotsman wrote: »

It's not about being a purist. It's about actually wanting the quality you already paid for. Why bother with a 4K TV if you already have a HD TV? Why bother with a HD TV if you already have a digital SD TV, why bother with that if you already have a black white analogue TV etc?

If you're buying a HD TV, don't you want to watch movies in actual HD, and not a stripped down version? Likewise, if you have bought a 4K TV, don't you want to watch movies in all their glory rather than some stripped down streaming version?

For 4K, Netflix uses about 7GB an hour, (lets say 11GB for an average movie). 4K Bluray is 100GB. Just think about how much quality is stripped out jsut to compress it down to 11GB (a standard Blu-ray disk is 25GB - that will show you just how better Blu-ray is over streaming)?

Buying a HD/4K TV and just using it for broadcast/streaming TV is like buying a Ferrari and only ever using it to drive 30kmph down a country road. Or, maybe a better example is it is like building a 3-lane motorway for hundreds of kilometres and just have horse-and-carts use it.

Likewise, as pointed out above, there are far more titles available on disc than on streaming services. Finally, not everybody lives in a place with a decent broadband connection, so can't even stream in 4K etc

I bought a 4k HDR TV last year to be future proof.

Also, I play Xbox 4k games.

People keep comparing to streaming but ignore the possibility of downloading it, which would be the same file size as the discs.

I like the idea of a digital library and quick switching. No interest in having discs all over the place.

We're at the start of 4k/8k and eventually the internet possibilities will get better and discs will die out. This is being been borne out by 15-20% decline in discs sales year on year.

I can live without this night and day difference that people go on about, there's only so much the eye can make out as well

murpho999

kneemos wrote: »

Must say I kinda prefer the old standard def telly. Much easier on the eye.

Now I definitely could not agree with that.

AllForIt

kneemos wrote: »

Must say I kinda prefer the old standard def telly. Much easier on the eye.

Yes you have a point. Not much good for wide screen movies though which is my single reason for having a large TV. I was just thinking last night as I watched a 80's remastered movie how wonderful it is that we can now watch older movies as they were meant to be seen, at home.

Not gotten into the 4k thing myself yet as I've still happy with my 1080p. I think there is a point of quality where you get diminishing returns the better the rez is. I still think size is more important than rez when it comes to movies. I'm sure in the future I'll upgrade to 4k and it will be a nice upgrade to look forward to. Only when 4k OLED is at the current price of standard 1080p TV's are now though.

WoollyRedHat

demanufactured wrote: »

Who still plays Dvd's?

Golden Discs and the likes still have a huge range of DVDs for sale.

troyzer

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

demanufactured wrote: »

Who still plays Dvd's?

Golden Discs and the likes still have a huge range of DVDs for sale.

Yeah and it's bizarre.

Why not VHS cassettes too? DVDs are literally two generations ago.

WoollyRedHat

troyzer wrote: »

Yeah and it's bizarre.

Why not VHS cassettes too? DVDs are literally two generations ago.

Is UHD Blu Ray considered the next generation after Blu Ray?

Capt'n Midnight

In Japan they are showing 2001 A Space Odyssey in 8K, filmed on 65mm so lots and lots of resolution.

I've recorded some old films in HD, some are better, others might as well be in SD.


It all depends on how it was made and transferred, you can't add quality that wasn't in the original.


Always found it funny giving a region to China you know the place where all the DVD players and DVD's are made

troyzer

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

Yeah and it's bizarre.

Why not VHS cassettes too? DVDs are literally two generations ago.

Is UHD Blu Ray considered the next generation after Blu Ray?

Yeah. It's still niche for now, much like any format.

EPAndlee

I still buy dvds, mainly because I like having a physical copy of something. I haven't the broadband quality to stream 4k

troyzer

EPAndlee wrote: »

I still buy dvds, mainly because I like having a physical copy of something. I haven't the broadband quality to stream 4k

Why don't you buy Blu Rays? Most DVD players nowadays are actually Blu Ray players which happen to play DVDs.

Pure DVD players are the exception rather than the rule now. Annoyingly, you do pay a small premium for DVDs. But the quality is night and day, especially if you've already paid for a good TV and are used to watching HD broadcasting.

I literally can't watch DVDs anymore unless they're animated and it doesn't really matter, the poor quality is such a distraction.

Alf Veedersane

If I've learned nothing else - and I haven't - it's that Blu Ray isn't just the Mini Disc for a later generation.

Pretty much assumed it was.

I have a bookcase of books and DVDs I could have downloaded for relatively little. But I like having books and DVDs.

Achasanai

The public libraries have a mix of DVDs/Blu Rays, so I'll get whichever format is readily available. I know I can get the same online, but usually comes with dodgy sound/picture or worse.

VinLieger

Cannot understand people still buying physical media, began using Plex in the last 2 years, basically having your own personalised netflix where you choose what gets put on it, now that's what I call night and day.

JackieChang

What's a DVD? Is it like those VHS things?

troyzer

JackieChang wrote: »

What's a DVD? Is it like those VHS things?

I think it's like Laser disc.

EPAndlee

troyzer wrote: »

Why don't you buy Blu Rays? Most DVD players nowadays are actually Blu Ray players which happen to play DVDs.

Pure DVD players are the exception rather than the rule now. Annoyingly, you do pay a small premium for DVDs. But the quality is night and day, especially if you've already paid for a good TV and are used to watching HD broadcasting.

I literally can't watch DVDs anymore unless they're animated and it doesn't really matter, the poor quality is such a distraction.

I meant I either buy blu ray or 4k. Was watching planet earth 2 in 4k over the weekend

coolisin

VinLieger wrote: »

Cannot understand people still buying physical media, began using Plex in the last 2 years, basically having your own personalised netflix where you choose what gets put on it, now that's what I call night and day.

I buy physical media for few reasons, one to always have a copy, two to support the industry in my own way.
Three don't have the internet to stream 4k at a consistent rate.
I have a 4kBluRay player and a 4k TV why not use them.
And lastly I find it so much easier to browse for what I want looking at the cases in my collection.
Netflix I spend hours looking for something to watch.
Same with the mini network media player I had setup, I could never decide what to watch.

At the same time kinda funny listening to people saying, pfft but internet is amazing everywhere when rural broadband schemes etc has being in the News for a couple years now!

Lotus Flower

coolisin wrote: »

I buy physical media for few reasons, one to always have a copy, two to support the industry in my own way.
Three don't have the internet to stream 4k at a consistent rate.
I have a 4kBluRay player and a 4k TV why not use them.
And lastly I find it so much easier to browse for what I want looking at the cases in my collection.
Netflix I spend hours looking for something to watch.
Same with the mini network media player I had setup, I could never decide what to watch.

At the same time kinda funny listening to people saying, pfft but internet is amazing everywhere when rural broadband schemes etc has being in the News for a couple years now!

Agree with this. Netflix is great but it doesn't have all that I want and like you, I spend more time dithering over what to watch.

One thing that strikes me about these kind of threads is that a lot of people are very either/or. Netflix has it's place but it can't replace DVDs/ bluray. I want both, it's not a question of having to pick one over the other

murpho999

coolisin wrote: »

I buy physical media for few reasons, one to always have a copy, two to support the industry in my own way.
Three don't have the internet to stream 4k at a consistent rate.
I have a 4kBluRay player and a 4k TV why not use them.
And lastly I find it so much easier to browse for what I want looking at the cases in my collection.
Netflix I spend hours looking for something to watch.
Same with the mini network media player I had setup, I could never decide what to watch.

At the same time kinda funny listening to people saying, pfft but internet is amazing everywhere when rural broadband schemes etc has being in the News for a couple years now!

Why is the perception out there that you need to have a plastic disc in order to own a copy? That disc can also get damaged and then it’s gone.

People also seem to think that streaming is the only alternative when it’s not.

You can download films and own a legal high quality film from places like Google, Amazon, Apple iTunes, Sky TV etc. and it’s only going to get bigger.

You own the file, it can never get lost or damaged as the it’s registered to your account so you can always download it. You're also still supporting the industry.

Lotus Flower wrote: »

Agree with this. Netflix is great but it doesn't have all that I want and like you, I spend more time dithering over what to watch.

One thing that strikes me about these kind of threads is that a lot of people are very either/or. Netflix has it's place but it can't replace DVDs/ bluray. I want both, it's not a question of having to pick one over the other

Netflix combined with something like Sky Cinema (as an example) can.

Studios will be offering streaming and downloads soon. Sources as quoted above can also offer alternatives.

I really don’t see the need for physical media and cases being all over the house.

Much prefer a nice digital library that can be accessed quickly, and easily.

Many agree as disc sales are declining 15-20% year on year as shown here.

dotsman

murpho999 wrote: »

I bought a 4k HDR TV last year to be future proof.

Also, I play Xbox 4k games.

People keep comparing to streaming but ignore the possibility of downloading it, which would be the same file size as the discs.

I like the idea of a digital library and quick switching. No interest in having discs all over the place.

We're at the start of 4k/8k and eventually the internet possibilities will get better and discs will die out. This is being been borne out by 15-20% decline in discs sales year on year.

I can live without this night and day difference that people go on about, there's only so much the eye can make out as well

Where are you getting 100GB movies from? Would certainly be interested, but usually only ever see compressed versions. The challenge then is where to play them (see below)

VinLieger wrote: »

Cannot understand people still buying physical media, began using Plex in the last 2 years, basically having your own personalised netflix where you choose what gets put on it, now that's what I call night and day.

I've been using plex for years. Even have a dedicated media server for it. It's great for TV (which is usally only standard def, 720p or 1080i) or downloading compressed movies that were never going to be great quality anyway (i.e. 80's/90's B movies that studios just do a quick and cheap conversion to blu-ray).

However, despite my media server being great and everything, it still struggles to transcode 4K, which means I have to spend a lot of time and energy converting it etc before watching. Given that most 4K movies that I see available for download are heavily compressed, it's just not worth it for me, and I prefer the full version if it's a great movie.

Right now, I have about 15 UHD blu-ray, ~300 blu-ray, ~100 DVD (which I will digitize some day when I get around to it), about 30 movies on Plex as well as Netflix (as well as Saorview and Freesat, but never really watch them except for news/sports).

Am happy to migrate more to digital when top quality sources become available and I upgrade my media server, but I don't see that happening for another few years at least.

TL;DR - Digital for TV and poor quality movies, blu-ray (UHD) for top quality movies.

demanufactured

demanufactured wrote: »

Who still plays Dvd's?

Dvd is what we used to call a double vodka and a diet coke

super_furry

Deleted User wrote: »

Dvd is what we used to call a double vodka and a diet coke

Make it Absolut vodka and you've got yourself a DVDA. That's a real party starter.

dublinman1990

DVDs have been going over for 20 years. It has been here for very long in the world's home video market.

But VHS have been in the world for far longer lasting a length of 40 years.

The great thing is that some Blu-rays can be bought for really cheap from Dealz for between €1.50 & €2. I heard from other people online that the Blu-rays sold from Dealz are brand new factory pressed discs from various replicator lines. Although the UK's main parent company Poundworld sells them brand new for £1 each. They also have a better selection there but it varies between each store in the UK. The level of selection for Blu-rays from Dealz here is not great though. It nearly has had the same selection for almost a year.

For any movie that I buy in store or online for the past 4 years; it is bought on Blu-ray nearly every time with DVDs being the main purchase if no Blu-ray releases are available at all. I usually wait for the price to come down for a while before I buy the Blu-rays though.

I also cannot primarily rely on most streaming or download services which update their computer video requirements at this time because my graphics card on my laptop has been out of date for some time. Just earlier; I tried to watch some shows on the beta version of the new RTÉ Player tonight. The player's software failed which made my laptop go into a BSOD (blue screen of death) and restarted from the beginning to log into to the computer again.