@therealjrn I also watched that one on LD in college. It was well past the LD format’s lifespan for people who weren’t collectors like myself, and the professor had no idea how to get the audio to work. Most of the other students were flabbergasted by the giant DVD, but I’d been through so many players the thing made perfect sense to me. Good memories.
@wmbarr My brother discovered he could rip HD-DVDs by plugging the drive from his Xbox 360 into a computer, so he bought a bunch of really cheap movies off eBay and expanded his Plex collection.
@narfcake@wmbarr I remember those! I thought it was a neat idea, but never bought one… To be fair, I mainly went to video rental places to get SNES games and used movies cheaply.
edit: wait no, nvm. Wasn’t there something that worked in a regular DVD player but was made to degrade in a few days after being exposed to air or something along those lines? Maybe it was DIVX and I misunderstood it…
@narfcake@Seeds@wmbarr DIVX was a digital expiration, not physical degradation. The players had to phone home to authorize the discs. It lasted about a year on the market before it was killed.
@Seeds You’re probably thinking of Flexplay — the optical bits of these were red to start off with and degraded to black (and unusable) within a couple of days. There was also DVD-D, but I don’t think that had the popularity of Flexplay. And… Flexplay didn’t exactly have popularity (though Disney had their own version which was hot enough by virtue of being Disney).
@hchavers Umm. I’ll go with: all of the people who think it’s hilarious that your vinyl collection has become priceless because an EMP pulse hit? Let me know if I win.
@blaineg@hchavers I’m guessing it’s more in the playback vector… A motor and a pickup glorified by a precious gem is a wee bit simpler than a series of ICs. Hell, the motor is unimportant, the LP can be spun manually if one is desperately seeking music post-apocalypse. Amplification is another matter, but it’s extremely easy to build an RIAA-EQed amplifier.
My amplifier is completely driven by capacitors, so I imagine an EMP situation might just blow my whole apartment up.
@dannybeans I’m kind of having that same problem with 4K Ultra HD movies. Blu-ray have a superior picture to DVD, but ‘Kee-ripes!’ When is enough, enough? Pretty soon going to have to have the actors perform live in our living rooms!!
@ELUNO Eh. I’ve seen enough movies on Blu-Ray at friends’ houses to know that the quality isn’t enough better for me to care. I imagine I’ll make the switch when I no longer have the choice - just like I did when VHS finally kicked it.
I still have my definitive edition set of the Star Wars trilogy on laserdisc.
I also have a copy of Let’s Bowl! by Dick Weber. -Laserdisc is the best version available for that I believe.
DVD was such a leap over VHS. Every physical media format since has seemed marginal. We have a Blu-Ray player, but I can’t remember the last time we used a disc to watch anything.
I often find myself wondering what is the point of all these constantly changing/improving display formats and their associated hardware when the quality of the content seems to decline every year?
I have the original Star Wars trilogy on VHS but, because of that pain-in-the-arse called “progress,” I have nothing on which to play them! I have to buy 3 movies I already own again so my son can watch them! Maybe I’ll just hunt garage sales and pawn shops for a VCR so he too will know the joy of the tracking button!!!
@jelliott04 I, too, have the trilogy on VHS. I held onto a Stereo VCR and I’ve even used it to convert stuff to digital by using a video capture card. I’m sure the Star Wars tapes are divx protected or whatever it was…
The marginal improvement of the base viewing experience of DVD over VHS was very significant. It also led to much more freedom because it was digital, meaning anyone who could do a little research could pull the contents, move it freely across devices, re-encode for specific purposes, make backups in case the disc was damaged, etc. That’s the biggest legacy of DVD.
@moondrake I only did the binder thing for a short time. I quickly went all digital: went around with a small backpack that contained a WDTV Live Plus with remote, external hard drives, and cables for pretty much any setup (composite, component, HDMI, S/PDIF, etc.).
That was a pretty fun setup before streaming was a thing.
My uncle had been collecting movies for decades, so as a kid I taught him about computers and now his home had transitioned from being filled with vhs to DVD to hard drives. I’m pretty sure at this point he has more video than any human could watch in a lifetime. Clearly the external HDD is the superior format!
Does anyone else remember a series of educational laser disks that showed a dystopian future and taught how the dewey decimal system works?
It still has life left due to “backwards compatibility”
I’ve seen exactly one movie on laserdisc, it did look pretty awesome compared to VHS. 12 Angry Men
It was in a management class, I think we were studying groupthink. Fucking awesome movie.
@therealjrn I also watched that one on LD in college. It was well past the LD format’s lifespan for people who weren’t collectors like myself, and the professor had no idea how to get the audio to work. Most of the other students were flabbergasted by the giant DVD, but I’d been through so many players the thing made perfect sense to me. Good memories.
@brhfl
:snort: lol
Is this Meh’s way of alluding to the fact that they will sell HD DVD players tomorrow?
@wmbarr My brother discovered he could rip HD-DVDs by plugging the drive from his Xbox 360 into a computer, so he bought a bunch of really cheap movies off eBay and expanded his Plex collection.
@wmbarr Worse. DIVX.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIVX
@narfcake @wmbarr That reminds me; I need to dust off my Deep Impact DIVX disc and… awwww.
@narfcake @wmbarr I remember those! I thought it was a neat idea, but never bought one… To be fair, I mainly went to video rental places to get SNES games and used movies cheaply.
edit: wait no, nvm. Wasn’t there something that worked in a regular DVD player but was made to degrade in a few days after being exposed to air or something along those lines? Maybe it was DIVX and I misunderstood it…
@narfcake @Seeds @wmbarr DIVX was a digital expiration, not physical degradation. The players had to phone home to authorize the discs. It lasted about a year on the market before it was killed.
@Seeds You’re probably thinking of Flexplay — the optical bits of these were red to start off with and degraded to black (and unusable) within a couple of days. There was also DVD-D, but I don’t think that had the popularity of Flexplay. And… Flexplay didn’t exactly have popularity (though Disney had their own version which was hot enough by virtue of being Disney).
@brhfl yup, that’s what I was thinking of.
When the EMP pulse hits, my vinyl collection will be priceless. Then who will be laughing?
@hchavers Umm. I’ll go with: all of the people who think it’s hilarious that your vinyl collection has become priceless because an EMP pulse hit? Let me know if I win.
@hchavers You own a cranked Gramophone? F-that! Wax cylinders FTW!!!
@hchavers What exactly do you think an EMP will do to a DVD?
@blaineg @hchavers I’m guessing it’s more in the playback vector… A motor and a pickup glorified by a precious gem is a wee bit simpler than a series of ICs. Hell, the motor is unimportant, the LP can be spun manually if one is desperately seeking music post-apocalypse. Amplification is another matter, but it’s extremely easy to build an RIAA-EQed amplifier.
My amplifier is completely driven by capacitors, so I imagine an EMP situation might just blow my whole apartment up.
@JoetatoChip going to Youtube to search for Witch Planet Soccer just to disappoint myself.
@JoetatoChip Update: My level of disappointment did not disappoint.
@JoetatoChip @wickhameh Nevermind that, I want a cyberdisc.
After going through LPs, 8 tracks, cassettes, CDs, what else would you expect?
@texmarc No love for 4 track?
@blaineg @texmarc or reel-to-reel and razorblade edits.
Honestly, as long as movies are being released on DVD for a lower price, I see no need to move to Blu-Ray.
@dannybeans I’m kind of having that same problem with 4K Ultra HD movies. Blu-ray have a superior picture to DVD, but ‘Kee-ripes!’ When is enough, enough? Pretty soon going to have to have the actors perform live in our living rooms!!
@dannybeans If you have a nice home theater setup, Blu-Ray is definitely better. Otherwise, meh. 4K even meher.
@ELUNO Eh. I’ve seen enough movies on Blu-Ray at friends’ houses to know that the quality isn’t enough better for me to care. I imagine I’ll make the switch when I no longer have the choice - just like I did when VHS finally kicked it.
@dannybeans Likewise with Amazon streaming purchases… The fuck would I pay for HD when I’m watching it on a 4" screen anyway…
I still have my definitive edition set of the Star Wars trilogy on laserdisc.
I also have a copy of Let’s Bowl! by Dick Weber. -Laserdisc is the best version available for that I believe.
DVD was such a leap over VHS. Every physical media format since has seemed marginal. We have a Blu-Ray player, but I can’t remember the last time we used a disc to watch anything.
@zachdecker I still have my Star Wars LDs as well. LD was an inconvenient format (especially CAV discs), but worth the trouble.
I often find myself wondering what is the point of all these constantly changing/improving display formats and their associated hardware when the quality of the content seems to decline every year?
@macromeh Have you seen Disney’s stock price?
The point is to sell you the same shit on a different day.
I have the original Star Wars trilogy on VHS but, because of that pain-in-the-arse called “progress,” I have nothing on which to play them! I have to buy 3 movies I already own again so my son can watch them! Maybe I’ll just hunt garage sales and pawn shops for a VCR so he too will know the joy of the tracking button!!!
@jelliott04 I, too, have the trilogy on VHS. I held onto a Stereo VCR and I’ve even used it to convert stuff to digital by using a video capture card. I’m sure the Star Wars tapes are divx protected or whatever it was…
The marginal improvement of the base viewing experience of DVD over VHS was very significant. It also led to much more freedom because it was digital, meaning anyone who could do a little research could pull the contents, move it freely across devices, re-encode for specific purposes, make backups in case the disc was damaged, etc. That’s the biggest legacy of DVD.
@Kabn Plus the ability to store 300 movies in one fat binder.
@moondrake I only did the binder thing for a short time. I quickly went all digital: went around with a small backpack that contained a WDTV Live Plus with remote, external hard drives, and cables for pretty much any setup (composite, component, HDMI, S/PDIF, etc.).
That was a pretty fun setup before streaming was a thing.
Where can I get a good deal on a DVD rewinder?
@support Well there is a woot-off going on. You might want to start your search there…
My uncle had been collecting movies for decades, so as a kid I taught him about computers and now his home had transitioned from being filled with vhs to DVD to hard drives. I’m pretty sure at this point he has more video than any human could watch in a lifetime. Clearly the external HDD is the superior format!