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We all took the DVD boom era for granted

filmstories.co.uk

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Re: We all took the DVD boom era for granted

#61

Post by goosedragons »

vouaobrasil wrote: post #57

I wish there were a way to just pay for a movie on a site and download it as an mp4 in 1080P or 4K. I hate streaming because I only want to watch 1-2 movies per month and they are very specific (like a specific martial arts movie or action movie). Streaming interfaces often have DRM and horrible interfaces and I don't want to pay a monthly fee for something I'll rarely use. Don't understand the DRM because pirates ge…

There are places that still let you download movies like iTunes. They are of course riddled in DRM so it's not much help...

Re: We all took the DVD boom era for granted

#62

Post by vouaobrasil »

goosedragons wrote: post #61
vouaobrasil wrote: post #57

I wish there were a way to just pay for a movie on a site and download it as an mp4 in 1080P or 4K. I hate streaming because I only want to watch 1-2 movies per month and they are very specific (like a specific martial arts movie or action movie). Streaming interfaces often have DRM and horrible interfaces and I don't want to pay a monthly fee for something I'll rarely use. Don't understand the DRM because pirates ge…

There are places that still let you download movies like iTunes. They are of course riddled in DRM so it's not much help...

yeah...I just want to pay for a DRM-free copy so I can play it and own it forever. That's it. No streaming accoounts, no tracking, no plastic packaging, just the file in exchange for money. I paid for Sublime text that way and it's a great model.

Re: We all took the DVD boom era for granted

#63

Post by everfrustrated »

smolder wrote: post #33
Ekaros wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well yes, on other hand there is also hardware acceleration case which make lot of sense when you are manufacturing devices at scale. And with codec. What code it is in? For what architecture or operating system? What is system constraints it has to operate in? Do you have some specification? Do you need to due something beyond it for new codec. And from security viewpoint running some arbitrary code from disk sounds…

The solution of the day would have been to put a .jar on each disc and it would have been a nightmare, I think.

Pretty sure bluray did something like this - some sort of java app definition that gets executed to display menus and the like.

Re: We all took the DVD boom era for granted

#64

Post by michaelt »

DoctorOetker wrote: post #52
Ekaros wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is perfectly sensible to consider data and medium to be single product when you cannot update the software running on products that read it. It was not great sell to tell people to go get new player each time new codec was released. Or tell that these new movies do not work anymore. Have to remember that DVD was released in pre-always-connected world.

could have been accommodated by putting executable codec files ON the DVD. A good brand would buffer compute and memory capacity by a decent factor at time of sale in order to support future codecs needs...

> A good brand would buffer compute and memory capacity by a decent factor at time of sale in order to support future codecs needs...

The problem is a physical media format absolutely cannot afford to gain a reputation for not playing.

You see, if stores accept returns for opened DVDs? People can buy a DVD movie, watch it, then return it for a refund.

But if stores don't accept returns for opened DVDs? If I paid two hours' wages for that DVD, it doesn't play, and they won't give me a refund? I'm going to be mad about being ripped off, and I'm going to complain a lot.

Re: We all took the DVD boom era for granted

#65

Post by goosedragons »

DoctorOetker wrote: post #52
Ekaros wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is perfectly sensible to consider data and medium to be single product when you cannot update the software running on products that read it. It was not great sell to tell people to go get new player each time new codec was released. Or tell that these new movies do not work anymore. Have to remember that DVD was released in pre-always-connected world.

could have been accommodated by putting executable codec files ON the DVD. A good brand would buffer compute and memory capacity by a decent factor at time of sale in order to support future codecs needs...

How would that work? DVDs are playable on hundreds of devices with different architectures and capabilities. You could play a DVD on your MIPS based PS2, x86 based Xbox, PowerPC based Mac etc. And early on a hardware card was necessary for many devices because they weren't fast enough to decode in software.

Re: We all took the DVD boom era for granted

#66

Post by jasode »

eru wrote: post #26
Ekaros wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is perfectly sensible to consider data and medium to be single product when you cannot update the software running on products that read it. It was not great sell to tell people to go get new player each time new codec was released. Or tell that these new movies do not work anymore. Have to remember that DVD was released in pre-always-connected world.

You could stick the codec on the DVD itself? They are relatively small programs.

>You could stick the codec on the DVD itself? They are relatively small programs.

Consumer DVD players have (cheaper) ASICs for hardware-decoding of MPEG. The algorithm to decode is literally burned into the chip. It wouldn't have made economic sense for manufacturers to pay extra for general-purpose CPUs such as x86/ARM/MIPS to enable future scenarios of loading & executing arbitrary code from discs.

Re: We all took the DVD boom era for granted

#67

Post by liontwist »

soulofmischief wrote: post #20
p0w3n3d wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, DVD is still a standard in medical imaging, which baffles me, because many people do not own drives anymore, but I think this is as close to "owning your own test results" as possible. I cannot imagine someone saying "sorry, you have not extended your subscription to our health-cloud and your results are gone"

When I was 15 I discovered that my local doctor lost all of my medical records. Poof, all gone. Whoops, next patient please. My last doctor no longer had a copy of my files, either. I had to receive all of my vaccinations again over two sessions before attending public school.

Now instead of losing a yellow folder, a system will lose 1 million people’s records all at once.

Aren’t school vaccines registered with the state? Given how many parents cannot keep records, I am surprised the solution would be “get them again”.

Re: We all took the DVD boom era for granted

#68

Post by liontwist »

dzonga wrote: post #40

hope physical media makes a comeback. one thing with dvd era - it allowed small scale / budget movies to made. movies that were not blockbusters but allowed art exploration.

That opportunity was a result of unmet demand for cheap entertainment, and only slightly by the medium. I’m sure that’s filled by YouTube, etc.

Re: We all took the DVD boom era for granted

#69

Post by liontwist »

23B1 wrote: post #31

Not to mention streaming/digital media is going to kill off actually good movies and content. This isn't the technology's fault mind you, but the streamers' business model, but you could rely upon residuals via DVD sales for movies back in the day and that money is gone, which eliminates the safety margin required to take risks. It's why I can't stand the 'information wants to be free' argument. Where the hell do you…

The market for low budget DVDs would still be smaller without streaming because the entertainment market is more competitive.

Re: We all took the DVD boom era for granted

#70

Post by billfruit »

vouaobrasil wrote: post #57

I wish there were a way to just pay for a movie on a site and download it as an mp4 in 1080P or 4K. I hate streaming because I only want to watch 1-2 movies per month and they are very specific (like a specific martial arts movie or action movie). Streaming interfaces often have DRM and horrible interfaces and I don't want to pay a monthly fee for something I'll rarely use. Don't understand the DRM because pirates ge…

YouTube does still allow to "buy"/rent movies one apiece.
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