Thank you all for watching and welcome new subscribers! I appreciate your kind words and feedback on the newest essay! I can see that the most common criticism on this video is my lack of information on the quality of streaming vs discs. I do agree that I didn’t go into much finer detail of the technical aspects. Though this could be a subject I can tackle for a video essay on its own. I think most of the topics I briefly covered could probably have their own separate video. I definitely could have worded the essay a tad better for this section to get my point across that discs are more superior in this realm. I appreciate the criticism nonetheless and will put that into practice for the next essay!
I have around 1,000 dvds, Blu-ray and 4K discs. One of the things I love about them is the feeling of watching ‘offline’: no algorithm is tracking me, I’m not going to get any ‘because you watched’ notifications boxing me in, nobody will ever know I watched that film at that time. Probably silly, but I appreciate that feeling!
@@kithu1231 I have a 80 inch Sony Bravia. If there is a 4k UHD version of a movie, I will pirate it. Such a night and day difference between a 4k UHD movie I downloaded, and the 4k streaming option that Netflix provides.
@@P-LOWN1997 True, I got a 4K streaming version of End Game just for the hell of it and instantly knew something was off. So I downloaded 1080p Bluray version and The Hulk actually looks green and not yellowish brown.
Something that I feel gets glossed over in this debate is preservation. If physical media disappears, you can kiss film preservation goodbye. There are so many great films and tv shows that aren’t even on any streaming platforms. What happens to them all if physical media goes away?
@@SillyOmega Yeah but from my point of view, just solely based on my personal preferences and what’s important to me, the cons of digital far outweigh the cons of physical.
Watching this, as a physical media collector and not having any subscription on any service, I just realised that subscription services are "almost" "like" renting stores. Entering a store full of movies, asking what they have and watching a movie we don't own. The problem is subscription services substituting physical media. We could chose if we wanted to rent a movie or buy it at a store. But now, at least in my country, we don't have a choice. Blurays and DVDs were taken off shelfs and I believe the some unsold were burnt. We can't watch a movie with portuguese subtitles or dub, unless is on cinema or subsceiption service. No DVDs or Blurays have Portugal's portuguese subtitles since 2021. We're sad. 😢 So, the problem is not digital movies existence, is physical media unexistence.
I'm so sorry about that, as a Brazilian-American learning portuguese. I find it frustrating that most American dvds don't have portuguese. But can't imagine having dvds in your first language being taken away. I hope things get better 🙏
One thing that I don’t think you understand very well is the difference in picture and sound quality (you are right looking at it on a cell phone it’s gonna look the same) but if you have a good TV like Sony Samsung or LG, The picture quality is going to be 10 times better. Even a standard 1080p Blu-ray looks better than any streaming services fake version of 4K. Also one of the benefits I like to owning physical movies is I buy it once and I never have to pay for it again. If you watch any movie twice on something like Netflix you might as well consider you purchased it twice so instead of paying $20 for it you paid 40.
@ i’ll let you in on a secret. It doesn’t work that way. The best streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ give you approximately 5mbps to 15Mbps in bandit and your TV has to uncompressed that. A standard Blu-ray is 40mbps and a 4K Blu-ray is 128mbps.
Most people who offloaded their physical media will regret that decision one day. I can buy, and own, five (or more) movies for the price of one month of streaming.
Ever since i was a kid, i've always hated digital stuff like Netflix just because they removed Batman the brave and the bold and an Ironman show from the 90's that i was almost done watching like on the last episode. So i've always tried getting physical versions of stuff and i still do
I've also gone as far as purchasing older VHS tapes to eventually rip them for my own collection, a lot of older titles are hard to find anymore online. You either have to buy it, or risk getting some internet aids trying to find it yourself.
Lots of physical media come with a digital code with them, so you can have both if the code is still good. Physical media has the same benefits of a physical book. You can see it on the shelf which has value in itself because it’s easier to visualize it that way over a streaming site.
I will proudly turn my house into a giant pile of DVDs if it means having ownership of every single title I like. And I’ll have absolutely no fear of censorship.
Something I love about physical media - despite all of the death knells being sounded for years - is that boutique labels keep putting out amazing restorations and special editions of movies that were considered lost, beyond repair, or sight unseen for decades. Many of these will never appear on streaming services. Companies like Kino Lorber, Vinegar Syndrome, Severin, Imprint, Umbrella, Radiator, CIP, etc are just delivering the goods like heroes. With my own collection once in a blue moon I've crossed paths with something that doesn't work any longer (Criterion's DVD edition of "A Night to Remember" springs to mind) but it's rare - and I've got movies on tapes still that have never made it past that analog format yet still play perfectly.
I like physical media too. I started a record store a couple years ago. I found out that my distributor also has DVDs and BluRays... and they way more affordable at cost!... I guess what I'm saying is make yourself a friend with a record store. I guess. LOL
My biggest issue with digital media is most tv shows are not remastered into full HD to 4k but streaming might have it remastered. Like Disney tv shows from 2000s are harder to get remastered
I never stopped buying DVDs and physical books, etc. I have a friend who got rid of his DVD collection and went to all streaming a few years ago. Recently, he bought himself a new DVD player and started buying discs again.
Great stuff. I have 2000+ pieces of physical media - I'm not going anywhere. The good news is that I'm an older dude and 90% of what I want is already available on DVD, Blu or 4k UHD. Sure, going forward there are catalog titles I want, but the boutiques are taking care of it. I'd say these days? Best time ever to be a physical media lover.
Yeah, I'm never giving up my physical media. I'm proud of my collection. Digital and streaming could never capture the anticipation i feel when holding a physical copy of something in my hands.
I have five cheap Blu-ray players that I’ve gotten at thrift stores. I connect them to a five port HDMI switcher. That way when I’m watching a tv show on Blu-ray I can load up an entire season and I don’t have to switch discs around. Those are for shows on Bluray, I also have two 5-disc DVD players for my shows on DVD. I can hit two buttons and it switches to the next disc.
The only digital purchases I have made so far concern PS4 games, given that I don't have physical stores in the area and I don't use Amazon much, but when it comes to films and books I will always continue to prefer the physical copy. There is also a form of personal challenge in searching for old editions at flea markets or comic fairs.
Having compared the 4k stream with the physical disc on many occasionz, I've often noticed a night and day difference with the disc. Then there's also th added fidelity with the sound.
Literally just picked up a vhs/dvd player at our local media shop. It was sold as is, untested. After we bought an a/v to hdmi converter, we turned it on and tried playing our fantasia vhs tape and it worked perfectly! We are still buying physical media and we will continue to do so. Who knows, we still have some laser discs, so we might look into a laser disc player as well.
Went into this expecting another “streaming bad, physical good” caveman argument that’s all over TH-cam right now. And got the most fair and balanced explanation of the actual pros and cons of each. For me it really comes down to cost and the ability to cheaply try things out. Physical media for shows and movies is just too expensive for what you get in return in my opinion. A video game I can respect the $60-70 price tag because you can get a very solid dollar per hour return on that investment. And video games far more reliably get to the $20 and below sale price and stay there. Shows are better than movies but still, both are not great. And particularly I think you lose the ability to trial a movie, yes you can digitally rent it but that’s an added cost on top of the physical copy and isn’t really in the spirit of the whole concept of physicality. But I agree that as streaming gets more and more fragmented and more and more costly, it may be simpler and potentially cheaper to just buy what you have a legitimate interest in and then only subscribe to a streaming service to try stuff out or see what’s available at the time and cancel immediately.
I have a collection of dvds, blurays and vhs. I love having a physical copy. With VHS, I love having the nostalgic experience of putting a cassette into the vcr. I miss the video store. I loved exploring the shelfs and finding the one video I wanted to watch. I don't need a million movies at my finger tips. I just want the ones I want to watch.
Here here! You make great points. I wanted to make one additional note about streaming quality. Video compression encoding is an ART, and not every film will look the same with standard compression parameters. Very dark films, for example, look better with different settings than films with different coloring biases. And then there's things like film grain and screen effects that are difficult to preserve, but absolutely can be done with reasonable file sizes if done intentionally and with the right understanding of codecs. But as far as I know all streaming services (TH-cam included, Vimeo/Criterion might be different idk) use the same compression settings across the board for a given quality setting, which means while you're usually getting a "pretty good" quality rendering, you're never getting the best possible rendering for the file size. DVD and Bluerays are probably not any different in that there are standard settings that publishers use across the board, but it is hard to tell because there is so much overhead in the bitrate that there are much less video compression artifacts to notice (although I find very dark films and high contrast films on occasion don't look very good). If you've ever seen what some of the better video encoders out there can achieve with a relatively small file size, it really puts the quality of streaming video to shame. Not that it's ever unwatchable or anything, but given how much money is being spent it really seems like a rip off, on top of all the other issues you mentioned here.
I think another thing to take note of is that with the right software you can make your own digital version that you do own. 0$ in subscriptions and archive your own collection.
I'll always be at least 98% physical (Only using digital for older games that I can't find after months of looking for or are free with PS+ to try out at least and for the free ones I usually buy it when finally seeing them for 15-20 dollars) As one of my favorite TV shows is not on any streaming service or on TV anymore. Still, last October I saw the full series in Wal-Mart and picked it up.
I’ve been collecting a lot of complete series on DVD because of this. I used to watch Dexter and It’s Always sunny on Netflix but they removed everything I loved. So buying dvd was safe sure way they can never take my favorite series from me
Great video.. I'm just getting into collecting physical media. I'm so sick of streaming services for all of the reasons you listed. It's nice to know I own it till the end of my time (unless some draconian laws come into effect in the future where authorities break into our homes and take all of our physical media/personal belongings LOL).
Great video!!! 👍 Very well put together man! My 600+ films and 30+ TV shows aren't going anywhere! And I do think physical media will make a comeback in years to come. Streaming is already expensive, but give it 10 years and streaming will be ridiculous in price!!
I have hundreds of films and TV shows on DVD, Blu-ray Disc and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc. I can watch certain films over and over again and a few once in a while. I go to Barnes and Noble for Criterion Blu-ray Discs and 4K, Movie Trading Company for DVDs, Blu-ray Discs and 4K, and occasionally stores like Goodwill and Savers. When I'm out of town, I also buy them from Rasputin Music and Video and Streetlight Records.
I probably rented Robocop 5 times before I got it on physical media. Now I am physical media all the way, i have over 300 movies. Better picture and sound, bonus features, and I like to hold it in my hand and look at the art. I also like when they come with a booklet. Movies are my favorite art form, so owning them is like having an art collection for me.
Am jumping back on the wagon! Was watching Harry potter with my family and the internet crapped out, luckily we had the dvd collection, so i dusted off the ol ps3 and we got a seamless experience, not even HD, but it still looked better than hbo.
This is a great video! I’ve started to make a collection of vhs and dvds and it’s super nice to be able to watch all of my favorite movies w/director’s commentary, it’s like a whole new way of watching the movie! Super cool
With physical media,its yours to proudly own! Today,you can buy a few DVDs for as much as it costs to pay for a streaming service. The Video Police wont be coming after you !
I have to agree with all you say on Physical media, nothing beats holding it in your hands and you also dont have to worry about the streaming giants taking it off. I also live in Canada and even though some members of my family think I'm crazy, I still buy physical media for the reasons I stated plus there is a lot of content in my library that isn't available on any streamer. (eg: Barney Miller, Becker, Columbo)
I'm very interested in stereoscopic movies, so the 3D Blu-ray format was a revelation for me. Almost nothing available on 3DBD is available to be streamed, except for on the apple vr headset which is obviously not a reasonable replacement. So for me streaming is a total non-starter
8:51 Literally found two out of the three of these specific editions of the Lord of the Rings movies at Savers for $2.99 a couple of days ago in just about perfect edition with all of their discs still in their cases, a very lucky thrift find that I'm glad that I came across and purchased.
Well I think you are a genius. Another good reason for me is when I am old and a bit doddery I'll enjoy rewatching all of my favourite movies. Streaming services may change often as years pass and you may no longer be able to watch what you once could. Technology changes rapidily and sometimes we are forced to accept that. Yet if you look after your dvd's there is no need to be frightened by changes in internet streaming/viewing. Lastly who trusts the big tech giants - I don't!
Well done. Great video. I live in Langley and frequently go to Willow Video. Massive pre-owned section and, just recently, they’ve started selling new Criterion, Arrow, and studio 4K titles. I grabbed a new 4K copy of Oppenheimer last month.
I also went back to physical media. In my case though I buy the movies and then store then on my home server. I can watch any of my movies at any time that way and the disc stay quite safe. I have so many movies that are just not available on any streaming service anymore. I also have better quality. Fairly often a 1080P blu ray looks better than 4K streaming from netflix or amazon.
As I very much agree with most of what You said. I must admit though, really think You don't give the disks credit when I comes to quality. It is true that Apple (and only them, imo) are very close in therms of video to a 4K Blu-Ray. But the audio on HD and 4K disks (they are the same lossless format) blows anything streaming services have to offer out of the water. It's more or less the same codec but takes up about 5 times less space. And you don't need to have any massive equipment to hear the difference or in some cases feel it, since the bass is basically castrated on streaming because of the compression. You can get a new receiver based 5.1 bundle with an active subwoofer of less than 700 CAD and the difference will be really noticable on such a system. Don't recommend a soundbar for home theater purposes unless it has physical surround rear speakers and cost above 2K. ;) The quality is for me what trumps the convince of streaming. But in music for instance I'm using Tidal, that has a lot of Hi-Res music that is superior to a CD so I use that in stead of my over year old 300+ movie soundtrack collection od disks. From that I've seen in the video You are primeraly an HD Blu-Rat user with PS4 as a player? Try switching to a standalone player like the Panasonic 420 (or the 820, if the budget allows) and some 4K Blu-Rays. If Your TV isn't like 10 years old You probably already own a 4K TV. HDR is a real game changer! I touched on the sound before. In the space department, despite being in my early forties I'm a relatively modest collector then it comes to numbers because I have only about 150 titles. Since my aim is quality I also exchanged my collection twice already. Form DVD I upgraded to Blu-Ray and now my collection is very focused. I choose exclusively 4K Steelbooks with only a few exceptions (like Picard S3, that wasn't released on physical media in 4K but the audio on an HD Blu-Ray is still better then streaming). Getting around to making a Steelbook wall as my next renovation project 😅. BTW. I had the same LORT collection and I agree it's a master class on special features. I of course replaced it twice over by now. The golden 4K Steelbooks are... Golden 😊
Some great recent movies with sound effects I've discovered that most people do not mention: - Superman in 4k 5 disc collection - Amazing Spiderman 1 and 2 - Legend of Hercules - Legend of Tarzan - Life - Kong skull island - Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 - Ghost Rider / Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance - xXx: Return Of Xander Cage - Gladiator/Braveheart 2-Movie Collection (4K Ultra HD + Digital) - Bumblebee,Transformers - The Revenant Top Blu-Ray: - Grand Prix (starring James Garner) - House of Flying Daggers - Need for Speed - Wyatt Earp (1994) - John Carter ==== Best music streaming = Apple Music lossless
have a physical collection nearly as big as yours simply as not have all the apps to find every movie i have plus ripped them so can watch without find the disc
Great video , I have been collecting films since vhs days. Then DVDs and blu rays. I only buy physical movies and games due as like you I like to have access to movies and games when I want , without relying on subscriptions and dodgy internet. I also have a full atmos dedicated cinema room which I enjoy watching my movies in with my family .
I honestly get so frustrated when a movie I don’t have and was on my watchlist isn’t on a streaming platform. I end up just renting it… could this be the return of movie rental stores?
No, rental stores are too similar to streaming from the point of view of not owning the product. Those who care will buy physical, those who don't will watch whatever is available to stream. There is no market to support the return of rental stores.
For me, the division is clear: If the film is new to me, I stream it. If I am happy after one watch, that’s it. But if I REALLY like the film and want to see it again, I’ll buy the dvd. If it is used/is a multipack, it isn’t that expensive. So, I have a bunch of Hitchcock, Kubrick and Gilliam, the Prisoner, Monty Python, my favorite Bond films, Naked Gun with Leslie Nielsen, Terminator 1 and 2, Indiana Jones and some modern classics like Dark Knight (with Heath Ledger) in my shelf. You know, stuff you know is REALLY good. Fits in one big shelf.
This is the second video, today, on this very topic. It's almost as if Google has been listening to me...scary to think how true that could possibly be. Anyway, I've only just started the video and can guess why you choose physical media over digital, and I agree, hence going back to physical media myself. However, one thing I feel is often overlooked in these videos, and might be a niche reason, is the experience of physical media. The feel of opening the case and removing the disc, the whir of the player, and in the case of books, the feel of turning pages, the weight of the book in your hands, and after a time, the smell. These are things I miss as I get older, and am returning to them now. Things, as a child and teen int eh 80s, and older in the 90s, we took for granted. Even the joy and anticipation of going to the store to purchase your favourite movie, book, cassette,or CD, and taking off the plastic wrapping (or fighting to get it off) and holding that object in your hands, and object you earned and paid for yourself, and can still have in your home (I have a 35 year old copy of Belgarath the Sorcerer here, given to me by a wards man at the first hospital I worked at as a medical scientist, or my 22 year old box set of Stargate from my late step FIL, or all Bond movies in a metal briefcase as part of my late FIL's collection).
I have CDs from the 80s that I bought used that still work, and I've been able to even rip them to my PC. That whole argument is so absurd, it's like people don't know how to take care of their shit.
There's a certain irony in passionately advocating for the preservation of physical media while recognizing the inevitable reality that, as individuals, our time is finite. This juxtaposition highlights the absurdity of clinging to permanence in a world where everything, including ourselves, is transient. The argument for physical media underscores a desire to retain control, authenticity, and a tangible connection to culture and history. Yet, in the grand scheme, knowing that both the advocate and the artifacts will one day succumb to time can make the fervor seem almost existentially futile. It’s a reflection on the human impulse to seek meaning and legacy through tangible things, even in the face of life’s impermanence. The humor, then, arises from the paradox of fighting for something enduring when life itself is so fleeting.
5:22 Okay here is an obvious solution that basically was resolved in video games. I know for a fact when I had purchased games from the Wii virtual console it would save to the Wii's hard drive even though I downloaded it. As long as I didn't delete the file even after they took down the Wii shopping channel the game is still there because it's saved to the hard drive. For the sake of preservation and to prevent people from having to buy the same thing over and over and over although technically I guess he still do that with video game consoles because you're most likely going to play your switch and not your Wii and there you are using basically the equivalent of a streaming service with the online service which I actually enjoy although I wish they would add games more frequently, but anyways there needs to be some kind of law that forces these companies to realize oh crap we can't just delete it for our own convenience. When people purchase something from our streaming sites digitally they should be allowed to save it to a hard drive or save it somewhere that they own so that whatever they purchase doesn't get taken away from them.
In my home country, we have big problem about disc rotten, mostly on CD and DVD. With Blu-ray disc I also have some of that too even the import disc, for example "Tetro" from Liongate US released. For streaming actually it is very convenient if not needing for many streaming services then it should save so much money, and just buy the film we like on physical media. However I still want to support the local cinema. The worst in purchased digital content is the DRM. Oh and yes, I have learned the Idea / Technic of making film from special features 😇All the way for physical media! Ps. I'm really mad about Amazon Prime Video that you need to pay extra to avoid Ads during the film. Even you already paid for the prime subscription.
Great vidro I love my dvd and blue ray movies. Ive got some old ones that are still doing fine. Thats the way to go with movies. Just dont take them for granted.
Another thing you can do , this is what I do, I buy the film digitally and I transfer it over to DVD, and then label it etc, it looks very nice on the shelf when all the DVD cases are the same and uniform. I only really buy it straight from the store physically when I cant find it online, or it costs too much.
Watching a movie on a phone is way worse than piracy. You simply neglect any work that was done to the film, it's like trying to watch a new movie on a 60's TV. I grew up on piracy because at the time, in my country this was pretty much an only option (except for bootlegs). Now as an adult, I collect movies, I collect video games and music and ditched all streaming.
@@KD6-3.7.2 Unfortunately majority of people right now how their quality plank extremely low. It's like watching a movie on a phone, might as well not watch it since you not going to experience properly.
Now I get most of my movies from The Lake Chapala Society. There's a small video store there and a large shelf full of cheap DVDs (and occasional VHS) for sale. You can find a lot of great stuff in places like that. Unfortunately, I can't seek out exactly what I want to see and am pretty much dependent on what happens to show up (I can't buy online very often because I'm not a multi-billionare). Still, I've found a LOT of good stuff. And, if you're worried about space, you can always give away/sell what you don't want to keep.
I don't know if you a gamer, regardless of any gamers read this and you're a phycical singelplayer gamer like myself. HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST COMPLETE EDITION IS THE PERFECT BEST EXAMPLE- SELUTION TO buggy games in need of patches and updates! REPRINTED DISC ALL UPDATES, PATCHES AND DLC BURNING SHORE INCLUDED ON THE DISC WITHOUT HAVING TO CONNECT ONLINE ' PLAYSTATION 5 OFFLINE PLUG AND PLAY! ❤ JOY TO SUPPORT THIS! Hope more game developers takes noticed! Huge respect to the game developers behind HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST!
The ultra violet and flixter shutting down hits home i lost the Back to the future Trilogy digital copy for flixter thankfully the 1st film got transferred to youtube for free but the rest were gone
For console games in particular, even those that have flashcarts or are capable of being homebrewed, I like having the actual copies. As to the rest, however, I say do whatever you want cuz a pirate is free. Limewire and other P2P networks used to be much more instantaneous than torrenting where you have to rely on long lost seeders with only 0.0% leechers in the peerlist
11:34 to fix this problem just get a portable dvd player or blu ray one but theyre expensive, and get all the tapes beside you and u wont have to get up
My expectation is DVD to disappear, Blu Ray and 4K Collectors Editions to be released only. ❤ OPPENHEIMER 4K is the perfect example, High Demand from 'Adult Collectors' only, the 'average 2.4 children family' is NO-LONGER the target-consumer for Film-Discs IMHO.
Thank you all for watching and welcome new subscribers! I appreciate your kind words and feedback on the newest essay! I can see that the most common criticism on this video is my lack of information on the quality of streaming vs discs. I do agree that I didn’t go into much finer detail of the technical aspects. Though this could be a subject I can tackle for a video essay on its own. I think most of the topics I briefly covered could probably have their own separate video. I definitely could have worded the essay a tad better for this section to get my point across that discs are more superior in this realm. I appreciate the criticism nonetheless and will put that into practice for the next essay!
I have The Blu-Ray boxset of Lord of the Rings Extended Edition
Physical movies are a lot like headphone jacks: only "obsolete" because big companies told you so.
headphone jacks doesn't need improvement for well over 100 years now... it's already in it's perfect, timeless form
@@LizziesLukasagreed.
I still use wired headphone with type c headphone connecter with my pixel 6a.
I still use wired beats 😅
Headphone Jacks exists for 150 years, BluRay are quite recent and will have the same "rot" effect that DVD are experiencing
I have around 1,000 dvds, Blu-ray and 4K discs. One of the things I love about them is the feeling of watching ‘offline’: no algorithm is tracking me, I’m not going to get any ‘because you watched’ notifications boxing me in, nobody will ever know I watched that film at that time. Probably silly, but I appreciate that feeling!
Extremely cucky to be proud of paying tens of thousands of dollars for that
If you have a smart tv it tracks what you’re watching on your media player.
@@TheSteedMuffin Don't connect it the internet
No compression , true 1080p, 4k better audio quality..and yes more expensive
@@kithu1231 I have a 80 inch Sony Bravia. If there is a 4k UHD version of a movie, I will pirate it. Such a night and day difference between a 4k UHD movie I downloaded, and the 4k streaming option that Netflix provides.
I refuse to buy a digital copy of a movie because you don't own it thanks to sony
No only that but for the quality as well
@@P-LOWN1997I just pirate digital media 24/7
@@P-LOWN1997 True, I got a 4K streaming version of End Game just for the hell of it and instantly knew something was off. So I downloaded 1080p Bluray version and The Hulk actually looks green and not yellowish brown.
Yeah agreed
Yes you do
the only entertainment I like watching on digital now has to be youtube videos
I love TH-cam and I watch it much more than other digital. But I like and enjoy other digital too.
There are TH-cam videos I'd buy on blu-ray if I could tho😅
Something that I feel gets glossed over in this debate is preservation. If physical media disappears, you can kiss film preservation goodbye. There are so many great films and tv shows that aren’t even on any streaming platforms. What happens to them all if physical media goes away?
Is that bruised eye from a boxing tournament you won? Thats the vibe I’m feeling from the pfp
Theirs pros and cons to each. Physical media has some and digital has some.
@@SillyOmega
Yeah but from my point of view, just solely based on my personal preferences and what’s important to me, the cons of digital far outweigh the cons of physical.
Watching this, as a physical media collector and not having any subscription on any service, I just realised that subscription services are "almost" "like" renting stores. Entering a store full of movies, asking what they have and watching a movie we don't own. The problem is subscription services substituting physical media. We could chose if we wanted to rent a movie or buy it at a store. But now, at least in my country, we don't have a choice. Blurays and DVDs were taken off shelfs and I believe the some unsold were burnt. We can't watch a movie with portuguese subtitles or dub, unless is on cinema or subsceiption service. No DVDs or Blurays have Portugal's portuguese subtitles since 2021. We're sad. 😢 So, the problem is not digital movies existence, is physical media unexistence.
I'm so sorry about that, as a Brazilian-American learning portuguese. I find it frustrating that most American dvds don't have portuguese. But can't imagine having dvds in your first language being taken away. I hope things get better 🙏
One thing that I don’t think you understand very well is the difference in picture and sound quality (you are right looking at it on a cell phone it’s gonna look the same) but if you have a good TV like Sony Samsung or LG, The picture quality is going to be 10 times better. Even a standard 1080p Blu-ray looks better than any streaming services fake version of 4K. Also one of the benefits I like to owning physical movies is I buy it once and I never have to pay for it again. If you watch any movie twice on something like Netflix you might as well consider you purchased it twice so instead of paying $20 for it you paid 40.
i'll let you in on a secret you can get blu ray quality if you go the jack sparrow way
@ i’ll let you in on a secret. It doesn’t work that way. The best streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ give you approximately 5mbps to 15Mbps in bandit and your TV has to uncompressed that. A standard Blu-ray is 40mbps and a 4K Blu-ray is 128mbps.
Most people who offloaded their physical media will regret that decision one day. I can buy, and own, five (or more) movies for the price of one month of streaming.
Ever since i was a kid, i've always hated digital stuff like Netflix just because they removed Batman the brave and the bold and an Ironman show from the 90's that i was almost done watching like on the last episode. So i've always tried getting physical versions of stuff and i still do
Looks better, sounds better. That's all the justification you need.
I've also gone as far as purchasing older VHS tapes to eventually rip them for my own collection, a lot of older titles are hard to find anymore online. You either have to buy it, or risk getting some internet aids trying to find it yourself.
I use physical for movies. Streaming for shows, if the show becomes a favorite ill buy it physically for rewatching and in case the internet goes out
Lots of physical media come with a digital code with them, so you can have both if the code is still good.
Physical media has the same benefits of a physical book. You can see it on the shelf which has value in itself because it’s easier to visualize it that way over a streaming site.
I will proudly turn my house into a giant pile of DVDs if it means having ownership of every single title I like. And I’ll have absolutely no fear of censorship.
Same here.
Something I love about physical media - despite all of the death knells being sounded for years - is that boutique labels keep putting out amazing restorations and special editions of movies that were considered lost, beyond repair, or sight unseen for decades. Many of these will never appear on streaming services. Companies like Kino Lorber, Vinegar Syndrome, Severin, Imprint, Umbrella, Radiator, CIP, etc are just delivering the goods like heroes. With my own collection once in a blue moon I've crossed paths with something that doesn't work any longer (Criterion's DVD edition of "A Night to Remember" springs to mind) but it's rare - and I've got movies on tapes still that have never made it past that analog format yet still play perfectly.
I like physical media too. I started a record store a couple years ago. I found out that my distributor also has DVDs and BluRays... and they way more affordable at cost!... I guess what I'm saying is make yourself a friend with a record store. I guess. LOL
My biggest issue with digital media is most tv shows are not remastered into full HD to 4k but streaming might have it remastered. Like Disney tv shows from 2000s are harder to get remastered
Are you telling me the Canadian Expressionist was actually Canadian the whole time? What a twist!
I never stopped buying DVDs and physical books, etc. I have a friend who got rid of his DVD collection and went to all streaming a few years ago. Recently, he bought himself a new DVD player and started buying discs again.
Physical is the way. It's a better way to connect with art. I'm so happy I rediscovered they joy of actually owning media again.
Great stuff. I have 2000+ pieces of physical media - I'm not going anywhere. The good news is that I'm an older dude and 90% of what I want is already available on DVD, Blu or 4k UHD. Sure, going forward there are catalog titles I want, but the boutiques are taking care of it. I'd say these days? Best time ever to be a physical media lover.
Yeah, I'm never giving up my physical media. I'm proud of my collection. Digital and streaming could never capture the anticipation i feel when holding a physical copy of something in my hands.
As someone born during the mid 2000's, this video gave me a different perspective.
I have five cheap Blu-ray players that I’ve gotten at thrift stores. I connect them to a five port HDMI switcher. That way when I’m watching a tv show on Blu-ray I can load up an entire season and I don’t have to switch discs around. Those are for shows on Bluray, I also have two 5-disc DVD players for my shows on DVD. I can hit two buttons and it switches to the next disc.
The only digital purchases I have made so far concern PS4 games, given that I don't have physical stores in the area and I don't use Amazon much, but when it comes to films and books I will always continue to prefer the physical copy.
There is also a form of personal challenge in searching for old editions at flea markets or comic fairs.
That's fair.
Having compared the 4k stream with the physical disc on many occasionz, I've often noticed a night and day difference with the disc. Then there's also th added fidelity with the sound.
I love physical media. I rebranded my channel to reflect that. I’m happy it’s in the rise again. Let’s go!!
Literally just picked up a vhs/dvd player at our local media shop. It was sold as is, untested. After we bought an a/v to hdmi converter, we turned it on and tried playing our fantasia vhs tape and it worked perfectly! We are still buying physical media and we will continue to do so. Who knows, we still have some laser discs, so we might look into a laser disc player as well.
Went into this expecting another “streaming bad, physical good” caveman argument that’s all over TH-cam right now. And got the most fair and balanced explanation of the actual pros and cons of each.
For me it really comes down to cost and the ability to cheaply try things out. Physical media for shows and movies is just too expensive for what you get in return in my opinion. A video game I can respect the $60-70 price tag because you can get a very solid dollar per hour return on that investment. And video games far more reliably get to the $20 and below sale price and stay there. Shows are better than movies but still, both are not great. And particularly I think you lose the ability to trial a movie, yes you can digitally rent it but that’s an added cost on top of the physical copy and isn’t really in the spirit of the whole concept of physicality. But I agree that as streaming gets more and more fragmented and more and more costly, it may be simpler and potentially cheaper to just buy what you have a legitimate interest in and then only subscribe to a streaming service to try stuff out or see what’s available at the time and cancel immediately.
I have a collection of dvds, blurays and vhs. I love having a physical copy. With VHS, I love having the nostalgic experience of putting a cassette into the vcr. I miss the video store. I loved exploring the shelfs and finding the one video I wanted to watch. I don't need a million movies at my finger tips. I just want the ones I want to watch.
I built up an atmos / 4k Oled tv setup during covid and now I’m an avid 4k movie collector
It makes a big difference on a good tv
Here here! You make great points.
I wanted to make one additional note about streaming quality. Video compression encoding is an ART, and not every film will look the same with standard compression parameters. Very dark films, for example, look better with different settings than films with different coloring biases. And then there's things like film grain and screen effects that are difficult to preserve, but absolutely can be done with reasonable file sizes if done intentionally and with the right understanding of codecs. But as far as I know all streaming services (TH-cam included, Vimeo/Criterion might be different idk) use the same compression settings across the board for a given quality setting, which means while you're usually getting a "pretty good" quality rendering, you're never getting the best possible rendering for the file size. DVD and Bluerays are probably not any different in that there are standard settings that publishers use across the board, but it is hard to tell because there is so much overhead in the bitrate that there are much less video compression artifacts to notice (although I find very dark films and high contrast films on occasion don't look very good).
If you've ever seen what some of the better video encoders out there can achieve with a relatively small file size, it really puts the quality of streaming video to shame. Not that it's ever unwatchable or anything, but given how much money is being spent it really seems like a rip off, on top of all the other issues you mentioned here.
I think another thing to take note of is that with the right software you can make your own digital version that you do own. 0$ in subscriptions and archive your own collection.
I'll always be at least 98% physical (Only using digital for older games that I can't find after months of looking for or are free with PS+ to try out at least and for the free ones I usually buy it when finally seeing them for 15-20 dollars) As one of my favorite TV shows is not on any streaming service or on TV anymore. Still, last October I saw the full series in Wal-Mart and picked it up.
As if CDs and DVDs aren't digital themselves. All of the benefits of digital playback with none of the compromises of streaming.
I’ve been collecting a lot of complete series on DVD because of this. I used to watch Dexter and It’s Always sunny on Netflix but they removed everything I loved. So buying dvd was safe sure way they can never take my favorite series from me
Great video.. I'm just getting into collecting physical media. I'm so sick of streaming services for all of the reasons you listed. It's nice to know I own it till the end of my time (unless some draconian laws come into effect in the future where authorities break into our homes and take all of our physical media/personal belongings LOL).
Physical Media always rules today.
One of the big reasons i havent swithced to pc gaming wise is cus the feeling of having a physical case in your hand will never be beaten
Great video!!! 👍 Very well put together man!
My 600+ films and 30+ TV shows aren't going anywhere! And I do think physical media will make a comeback in years to come. Streaming is already expensive, but give it 10 years and streaming will be ridiculous in price!!
600? Those are rookie numbers in this racket.
I have hundreds of films and TV shows on DVD, Blu-ray Disc and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc. I can watch certain films over and over again and a few once in a while. I go to Barnes and Noble for Criterion Blu-ray Discs and 4K, Movie Trading Company for DVDs, Blu-ray Discs and 4K, and occasionally stores like Goodwill and Savers. When I'm out of town, I also buy them from Rasputin Music and Video and Streetlight Records.
Great video, you've just got yourself a new sub...
One of the best things about dvds is that you can get them extremely cheap 2nd hand
Spot on 💯
Thrift shops are the best
Today I purchased Stars Wars complete saga 2011 version blu-ray with book
It cost me $2.
And they may have scratches on them
For now, in a few years that won't be the case....get em now while the getting is good.
@@Scifi4lifegrow up.
@@kurtrussell5228BS. Physical media sales up up year over year. Get a life, and get over yourself.
We need physical copies. Corproations can do whatever the hell they want to do. That's what most people just don't understand.
I probably rented Robocop 5 times before I got it on physical media. Now I am physical media all the way, i have over 300 movies. Better picture and sound, bonus features, and I like to hold it in my hand and look at the art. I also like when they come with a booklet. Movies are my favorite art form, so owning them is like having an art collection for me.
Am jumping back on the wagon! Was watching Harry potter with my family and the internet crapped out, luckily we had the dvd collection, so i dusted off the ol ps3 and we got a seamless experience, not even HD, but it still looked better than hbo.
3:05 And Max doesn’t give you the specific date so they can just easily yoink that movie from the streaming service.
This is a great video! I’ve started to make a collection of vhs and dvds and it’s super nice to be able to watch all of my favorite movies w/director’s commentary, it’s like a whole new way of watching the movie! Super cool
I love physical way better picture+ sounds 4k uhd its wet dream of movie lovers
With physical media,its yours to proudly own! Today,you can buy a few DVDs for as much as it costs to pay for a streaming service. The Video Police wont be coming after you !
Yeah agreed I like the bonus features for movies/tv shows
I have to agree with all you say on Physical media, nothing beats holding it in your hands and you also dont have to worry about the streaming giants taking it off. I also live in Canada and even though some members of my family think I'm crazy, I still buy physical media for the reasons I stated plus there is a lot of content in my library that isn't available on any streamer. (eg: Barney Miller, Becker, Columbo)
I'm very interested in stereoscopic movies, so the 3D Blu-ray format was a revelation for me. Almost nothing available on 3DBD is available to be streamed, except for on the apple vr headset which is obviously not a reasonable replacement. So for me streaming is a total non-starter
I love my physical collection❤
8:51 Literally found two out of the three of these specific editions of the Lord of the Rings movies at Savers for $2.99 a couple of days ago in just about perfect edition with all of their discs still in their cases, a very lucky thrift find that I'm glad that I came across and purchased.
Excellent video, this gives me hope for physical media
I support physical media i always buy DVD's
People actually criticize you for owning a physical copy?!
This must be coming from the people who were eating tide pods.
Well I think you are a genius. Another good reason for me is when I am old and a bit doddery I'll enjoy rewatching all of my favourite movies. Streaming services may change often as years pass and you may no longer be able to watch what you once could. Technology changes rapidily and sometimes we are forced to accept that. Yet if you look after your dvd's there is no need to be frightened by changes in internet streaming/viewing. Lastly who trusts the big tech giants - I don't!
As a fellow Vancouverite, I was sad when Black Dog video closed down.
I love buying movies. Sometimes I just sit there and stare at my collection
So do I. I'm proud of my collection.
If you buy something you buy it. Im not buying streaming movies, I want them forever.
Well done. Great video. I live in Langley and frequently go to Willow Video. Massive pre-owned section and, just recently, they’ve started selling new Criterion, Arrow, and studio 4K titles. I grabbed a new 4K copy of Oppenheimer last month.
I also went back to physical media. In my case though I buy the movies and then store then on my home server. I can watch any of my movies at any time that way and the disc stay quite safe. I have so many movies that are just not available on any streaming service anymore. I also have better quality. Fairly often a 1080P blu ray looks better than 4K streaming from netflix or amazon.
As I very much agree with most of what You said. I must admit though, really think You don't give the disks credit when I comes to quality. It is true that Apple (and only them, imo) are very close in therms of video to a 4K Blu-Ray. But the audio on HD and 4K disks (they are the same lossless format) blows anything streaming services have to offer out of the water. It's more or less the same codec but takes up about 5 times less space. And you don't need to have any massive equipment to hear the difference or in some cases feel it, since the bass is basically castrated on streaming because of the compression. You can get a new receiver based 5.1 bundle with an active subwoofer of less than 700 CAD and the difference will be really noticable on such a system. Don't recommend a soundbar for home theater purposes unless it has physical surround rear speakers and cost above 2K. ;)
The quality is for me what trumps the convince of streaming. But in music for instance I'm using Tidal, that has a lot of Hi-Res music that is superior to a CD so I use that in stead of my over year old 300+ movie soundtrack collection od disks.
From that I've seen in the video You are primeraly an HD Blu-Rat user with PS4 as a player? Try switching to a standalone player like the Panasonic 420 (or the 820, if the budget allows) and some 4K Blu-Rays. If Your TV isn't like 10 years old You probably already own a 4K TV. HDR is a real game changer! I touched on the sound before.
In the space department, despite being in my early forties I'm a relatively modest collector then it comes to numbers because I have only about 150 titles. Since my aim is quality I also exchanged my collection twice already. Form DVD I upgraded to Blu-Ray and now my collection is very focused. I choose exclusively 4K Steelbooks with only a few exceptions (like Picard S3, that wasn't released on physical media in 4K but the audio on an HD Blu-Ray is still better then streaming). Getting around to making a Steelbook wall as my next renovation project 😅.
BTW. I had the same LORT collection and I agree it's a master class on special features. I of course replaced it twice over by now. The golden 4K Steelbooks are... Golden 😊
Great video!!
I own the physical copies and then rip them onto a NAS running a Plex server, which helps with the convenience.
I enjoyed your video!
Some great recent movies with sound effects I've discovered that most people do not mention:
- Superman in 4k 5 disc collection
- Amazing Spiderman 1 and 2
- Legend of Hercules
- Legend of Tarzan
- Life
- Kong skull island
- Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2
- Ghost Rider / Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance
- xXx: Return Of Xander Cage
- Gladiator/Braveheart 2-Movie Collection (4K Ultra HD + Digital)
- Bumblebee,Transformers
- The Revenant
Top Blu-Ray:
- Grand Prix (starring James Garner)
- House of Flying Daggers
- Need for Speed
- Wyatt Earp (1994)
- John Carter
====
Best music streaming = Apple Music lossless
6:47 I realized immediately that this was The Dark Knight, because just earlier today, I was watching it as a 4k blu ray 😂
have a physical collection nearly as big as yours simply as not have all the apps to find every movie i have plus ripped them so can watch without find the disc
Great video , I have been collecting films since vhs days.
Then DVDs and blu rays.
I only buy physical movies and games due as like you I like to have access to movies and games when I want , without relying on subscriptions and dodgy internet.
I also have a full atmos dedicated cinema room which I enjoy watching my movies in with my family .
I honestly get so frustrated when a movie I don’t have and was on my watchlist isn’t on a streaming platform. I end up just renting it… could this be the return of movie rental stores?
Are you suggesting we burned down the Blockbusters of the world too soon?? (And I don't disagree with you!)
No, rental stores are too similar to streaming from the point of view of not owning the product. Those who care will buy physical, those who don't will watch whatever is available to stream. There is no market to support the return of rental stores.
Lol, video rental stores making a resurgence. You're too funny 😁
@@Scifi4lifeget a life. It's no wonder you have no friends.
@@thiscorrosion3843 you're a moron too if you think family video is coming back.
For me, the division is clear:
If the film is new to me, I stream it.
If I am happy after one watch, that’s it.
But if I REALLY like the film and want to see it again, I’ll buy the dvd. If it is used/is a multipack, it isn’t that expensive.
So, I have a bunch of Hitchcock, Kubrick and Gilliam, the Prisoner, Monty Python, my favorite Bond films, Naked Gun with Leslie Nielsen, Terminator 1 and 2, Indiana Jones and some modern classics like Dark Knight (with Heath Ledger) in my shelf. You know, stuff you know is REALLY good. Fits in one big shelf.
This is the second video, today, on this very topic. It's almost as if Google has been listening to me...scary to think how true that could possibly be. Anyway, I've only just started the video and can guess why you choose physical media over digital, and I agree, hence going back to physical media myself. However, one thing I feel is often overlooked in these videos, and might be a niche reason, is the experience of physical media. The feel of opening the case and removing the disc, the whir of the player, and in the case of books, the feel of turning pages, the weight of the book in your hands, and after a time, the smell. These are things I miss as I get older, and am returning to them now. Things, as a child and teen int eh 80s, and older in the 90s, we took for granted. Even the joy and anticipation of going to the store to purchase your favourite movie, book, cassette,or CD, and taking off the plastic wrapping (or fighting to get it off) and holding that object in your hands, and object you earned and paid for yourself, and can still have in your home (I have a 35 year old copy of Belgarath the Sorcerer here, given to me by a wards man at the first hospital I worked at as a medical scientist, or my 22 year old box set of Stargate from my late step FIL, or all Bond movies in a metal briefcase as part of my late FIL's collection).
I have CDs from the 80s that I bought used that still work, and I've been able to even rip them to my PC. That whole argument is so absurd, it's like people don't know how to take care of their shit.
There's a certain irony in passionately advocating for the preservation of physical media while recognizing the inevitable reality that, as individuals, our time is finite. This juxtaposition highlights the absurdity of clinging to permanence in a world where everything, including ourselves, is transient. The argument for physical media underscores a desire to retain control, authenticity, and a tangible connection to culture and history. Yet, in the grand scheme, knowing that both the advocate and the artifacts will one day succumb to time can make the fervor seem almost existentially futile. It’s a reflection on the human impulse to seek meaning and legacy through tangible things, even in the face of life’s impermanence. The humor, then, arises from the paradox of fighting for something enduring when life itself is so fleeting.
5:22 Okay here is an obvious solution that basically was resolved in video games. I know for a fact when I had purchased games from the Wii virtual console it would save to the Wii's hard drive even though I downloaded it. As long as I didn't delete the file even after they took down the Wii shopping channel the game is still there because it's saved to the hard drive. For the sake of preservation and to prevent people from having to buy the same thing over and over and over although technically I guess he still do that with video game consoles because you're most likely going to play your switch and not your Wii and there you are using basically the equivalent of a streaming service with the online service which I actually enjoy although I wish they would add games more frequently, but anyways there needs to be some kind of law that forces these companies to realize oh crap we can't just delete it for our own convenience. When people purchase something from our streaming sites digitally they should be allowed to save it to a hard drive or save it somewhere that they own so that whatever they purchase doesn't get taken away from them.
Great job with this Nate!
In my home country, we have big problem about disc rotten, mostly on CD and DVD. With Blu-ray disc I also have some of that too even the import disc, for example "Tetro" from Liongate US released. For streaming actually it is very convenient if not needing for many streaming services then it should save so much money, and just buy the film we like on physical media. However I still want to support the local cinema. The worst in purchased digital content is the DRM. Oh and yes, I have learned the Idea / Technic of making film from special features 😇All the way for physical media!
Ps. I'm really mad about Amazon Prime Video that you need to pay extra to avoid Ads during the film. Even you already paid for the prime subscription.
Great vidro
I love my dvd and blue ray movies. Ive got some old ones that are still doing fine. Thats the way to go with movies. Just dont take them for granted.
Another thing you can do , this is what I do, I buy the film digitally and I transfer it over to DVD, and then label it etc, it looks very nice on the shelf when all the DVD cases are the same and uniform.
I only really buy it straight from the store physically when I cant find it online, or it costs too much.
Watching a movie on a phone is way worse than piracy. You simply neglect any work that was done to the film, it's like trying to watch a new movie on a 60's TV. I grew up on piracy because at the time, in my country this was pretty much an only option (except for bootlegs). Now as an adult, I collect movies, I collect video games and music and ditched all streaming.
On a phone yes. On a 13 inch tablet? It’s like holding a TV in my hands
@@KD6-3.7.2 Unfortunately majority of people right now how their quality plank extremely low. It's like watching a movie on a phone, might as well not watch it since you not going to experience properly.
The space my vhs tapes occupy laughs at your neat and tidy dvd collection
Now I get most of my movies from The Lake Chapala Society. There's a small video store there and a large shelf full of cheap DVDs (and occasional VHS) for sale. You can find a lot of great stuff in places like that. Unfortunately, I can't seek out exactly what I want to see and am pretty much dependent on what happens to show up (I can't buy online very often because I'm not a multi-billionare). Still, I've found a LOT of good stuff.
And, if you're worried about space, you can always give away/sell what you don't want to keep.
I don’t give up on owning physical media.
I don't know if you a gamer, regardless of any gamers read this and you're a phycical singelplayer gamer like myself.
HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST COMPLETE EDITION IS THE PERFECT BEST EXAMPLE- SELUTION TO buggy games in need of patches and updates!
REPRINTED DISC
ALL UPDATES, PATCHES AND DLC BURNING SHORE INCLUDED ON THE DISC WITHOUT HAVING TO CONNECT ONLINE '
PLAYSTATION 5 OFFLINE PLUG AND PLAY! ❤
JOY TO SUPPORT THIS!
Hope more game developers takes noticed!
Huge respect to the game developers behind HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST!
The ultra violet and flixter shutting down hits home i lost the Back to the future Trilogy digital copy for flixter thankfully the 1st film got transferred to youtube for free but the rest were gone
Vinyl is a better experience than streaming.
Absolutely!
Loved the video keep up the absolute cinema
I do too! Why pay for a monthly fee when you can just buy the movie on DVD and be done with it?
12:21 my jaw dropped when I realized the blurays got removed at best buy. I have to go to walmart to even get blurays now.
because you respect the art of cinema and haven't sold your soul to streaming that is directly responsible for the devaluation of cinema
Great Essay, BIG Well done 🎉 yes, Another serious collector here, with 4000+ BD/4K ...NEVER used a Digital Code in my life, couldn't see the point!?
Digital is the future.
"Digital WAS the Future" 🧐
@@ginarae5739 still is
For console games in particular, even those that have flashcarts or are capable of being homebrewed, I like having the actual copies. As to the rest, however, I say do whatever you want cuz a pirate is free. Limewire and other P2P networks used to be much more instantaneous than torrenting where you have to rely on long lost seeders with only 0.0% leechers in the peerlist
11:34 to fix this problem just get a portable dvd player or blu ray one but theyre expensive, and get all the tapes beside you and u wont have to get up
I go to the local flea market and buy them every week! Last week I got 10 for 2€ 😏
You should do a physical media collection
My expectation is DVD to disappear, Blu Ray and 4K Collectors Editions to be released only. ❤
OPPENHEIMER 4K is the perfect example, High Demand from 'Adult Collectors' only, the 'average 2.4 children family' is NO-LONGER the target-consumer for Film-Discs IMHO.