QOTW: Do you still buy physical media?

[AGTDenton]

Just received The Austin Powers BD collection and recently bought They Shall Not Grow Old. Yet to watch it, as I've failed to setup my TV still

There's a few albums I'd like to get at some point, possibly treat myself at Christmas.

A few years ago I had to get a German copy of the original Dexter, at the time I couldn't find it here at all new or at sensible prices on eBay.
Added New Blood to my tracker, didn't realise it was out yet.

[Jonj1611]

Thats funny as I just bought the German version of Blue Thunder

[ik9000]

My wife wanted the new Taylor Swift album. Her website store wanted £13 for the CD of the basic edition and £18 for the deluxe version. The 1990s called and want their CD prices back... (Needless to say we agreed she could wait to have it)

[Output]

I'm still buying physical media too, as everything I said in my post on the first page still applies.

It still continues to make too much sense not to, given the fragmented and fleeting nature of streaming/VOD services.

[Saracen999]

...

It still continues to make too much sense not to, given the fragmented and fleeting nature of streaming services.

....

I s'pose both streaming services and owning physical media make their own kind of logic. Personally, I do not want to be subscribing to any, let alone numerous, services on an on-going basis. So, owning my own media makes a lot of sense. I then pay once and have access pretty much however suits me, indefinitely.

However, even with a pretty large library of media, built up over several decades, it's still vastly less than the range any mainstream streaming service has available.

But while that range is a large positive, inherent in it is also a major negative, that being the 'here today, gone tomorrow' nature of much content, due to licensing deals and rights holders shirting stuff about.

So, right now, I do have both music and video streaming services, but also, my own physical media collection getting itself digitised, and NAS-ified. At some point, I'll stop the (paid for) streaming, though I guess some music and video remains as part of Amazon Prime. It does at least mean I can go see what Tayor Swift's new album is like.

[Output]

There's certainly a balance to be had, I'm sure.

Streaming/VOD also has the positive of potentially introducing you to something you may not have bothered watching/listening to if it wasn't already included in the subscription and perhaps a new physical media sale of it as a result if you like it enough (assuming it's not a streaming-only title with no physical media release).

Streaming subscriptions may be more useful in short bursts for some rather than ongoing, it all really just depends upon individual situations and preferences.

I do think that people who stick to streaming exclusively and have no physical media (sometimes even getting rid of it) whatsoever are probably shooting themselves in the foot a bit though, but perhaps they feel it is an acceptable trade-off.

[AGTDenton]

Thats funny as I just bought the German version of Blue Thunder

One I've never come across before, quite a cast actually - just found it on Netflix so I've added to the watch list.

There's certainly a balance to be had, I'm sure.

Streaming/VOD also has the positive of potentially introducing you to something you may not have bothered watching/listening to if it wasn't already included in the subscription and perhaps a new physical media sale of it as a result if you like it enough (assuming it's not a streaming-only title with no physical media release).

Streaming subscriptions may be more useful in short bursts for some rather than ongoing, it all really just depends upon individual situations and preferences.

I do think that people who stick to streaming exclusively and have no physical media (sometimes even getting rid of it) whatsoever are probably shooting themselves in the foot a bit though, but perhaps they feel it is an acceptable trade-off.

I would agree here! I am thinking of giving Jellyfin a go one day

[Jonj1611]

One I've never come across before, quite a cast actually - just found it on Netflix so I've added to the watch list.

Yeah it was sods law I was looking for it for ages, could only find it at a reasonable price for a German copy then a few days later it was on Netflix!

[Saracen999]

...I am thinking of giving Jellyfin a go one day

Thought about it. Ended up on Emby though.

[Unique]

Yes Minister is something I want to get. Seems more apt these days than ever.

i watched it all during lockdown, either on iplayer or britbox (free trial and then cheap sub in some deal so watched a bunch of old things like grange hill and the prisoner - which was in great quality for an old show). likewise i thought it was pretty apt. i think i watched the lot in a day

i still stream a lot and buy physical media. i usually rip it all to the pc and watch from there. buy records i don't play as i've got the same albums 5 times already, but as a collector can't resist another copy in another colour that i can't see as i don't take the shrinkwrap off. lately got a few tv boxsets cheap like blackadder and porridge and monty python for about £3 or £4 each. when i get round to watching i'll either stream them or rip the discs to watch

as for music streaming, i find having something like spotify on my phone to be great as i can play almost anything i can think off that's not a bootleg, depending on my mood at the minute, whether it's checking out the latest releases or something old i've remembered, or i heard something on a tv show and movie, can i can grab the phone and download it ready to play later. to me it's not a replacement for buying, but an additional service. with the tv streaming, i usually just want to watch once so no need to keep. any old great movie i've usually already got a physical copy. if you wait a while you can usually get copies cheap. lately i've bought many books at crazy cheap prices. haven't read any tho, i do prefer the ipad to read books and load it up with loads of books etc, but it's nice to have the paper copy on the shelf, and it's not getting pages bent if i'm reading the digital version, likewise the media i buy/collect and don't open

[DanceswithUnix]

We have too much physical media here. I have wanted to watch something that I know damn well we have on DVD or blueray somewhere in the house, but if I can watch it on a subscription service that I already have then it's faster to just search for it and watch online than start going through the shelves. Attempts in the past to order the films has failed, partly I think because others in the house would prefer a different order or they go looking for something and put stuff back in the wrong place. Either way, it degraded pretty fast. It also won't ever get digitised onto a NAS to make it searchable that way. Again, I've tried that in the past, and life's just too short.

The exception is 3D films. Yeah it's a gimmick, but some action films specially are better for it IMHO. But they don't get streamed, only the flat versions.

[Saracen999]

...

It also won't ever get digitised onto a NAS to make it searchable that way. Again, I've tried that in the past, and life's just too short.

...

I hear you. It is a LOOOOOOOOONG process, especially video. But here, it will (and is) getting digitised. Slowly. That, of course, is why I stuffed several pretty big drives in the NAS.

It's going to take a while, but I'mnearing the point where what is already NASifiied, and what's on free (broadcast) TV, etc, is enough to not need streaming. And the % complete will steadily climb. Then, all my DVDs/CDs etc can be boxed up and archived.

[Unique]

We have too much physical media here. I have wanted to watch something that I know damn well we have on DVD or blueray somewhere in the house, but if I can watch it on a subscription service that I already have then it's faster to just search for it and watch online than start going through the shelves. Attempts in the past to order the films has failed, partly I think because others in the house would prefer a different order or they go looking for something and put stuff back in the wrong place. Either way, it degraded pretty fast. It also won't ever get digitised onto a NAS to make it searchable that way. Again, I've tried that in the past, and life's just too short.

The exception is 3D films. Yeah it's a gimmick, but some action films specially are better for it IMHO. But they don't get streamed, only the flat versions.

the main reason i ripped everything is because of the large volume of media. it would take too long to find anything physically but easy to find on the HDD. i just use the streaming services if it's something i had on dvd not bluray and streaming is in HD or 4k. obviously it took time to rip everything, but stacking a pile of discs and ripping on one pc whilst doing something else on another was the way to do it, and then pack and store the discs once finished. i tended to rip stuff as i got them so it was only a limited amount of the collection i hadn't ripped, altho still maybe a couple of hundred discs but didn't take too long to get through them during lockdown

[Unique]

I hear you. It is a LOOOOOOOOONG process, especially video. But here, it will (and is) getting digitised. Slowly. That, of course, is why I stuffed several pretty big drives in the NAS.

It's going to take a while, but I'mnearing the point where what is already NASifiied, and what's on free (broadcast) TV, etc, is enough to not need streaming. And the % complete will steadily climb. Then, all my DVDs/CDs etc can be boxed up and archived.

the trick with video is just rip the full disc as an iso or VOB folder and not encode. it's much faster to rip, and you get the full fat disc so when watching it's the same as watching the disc. when you encode it takes much longer. it might save space, it just depends on the time/space/cost/hassle factor. the smaller the collection the less time to rip. with cds i rip to FLAC as it doesn't take long to rip and encode

[Saracen999]

the main reason i ripped everything is because of the large volume of media. it would take too long to find anything physically but easy to find on the HDD. i just use the streaming services if it's something i had on dvd not bluray and streaming is in HD or 4k. obviously it took time to rip everything, but stacking a pile of discs and ripping on one pc whilst doing something else on another was the way to do it, and then pack and store the discs once finished. i tended to rip stuff as i got them so it was only a limited amount of the collection i hadn't ripped, altho still maybe a couple of hundred discs but didn't take too long to get through them during lockdown

Yup. I have, dunno, just a few hundred CDs, maybe three. Plus another couple of hundred LPs. And some tapes, which is a sore point because I HAD the LPs/CDs and converted to tape for the car. Then, in a few cases (some CDs too) lent them to a 'friend' (except LPs) and never saw them again. Or him, for that matter. He moved. Life lesson learned there.

Anyway, for LPs/tapes I either digitised through a capture box, or for the 'lent' ones with no capture, well, I might have streamed them.

But the real pain is DVDs. Those I have, again dunno, but north of 2000. And it's SLOW going, working through that.

I was going through MakeMKV to get, well, MKV files, then Handbrake to MP4 them, while carefully following Series/Episode naming conventions. By judicious use of copy/past/edit on on filenames, I can simplify the process a bit, but it's still long and slow. The payback is that, if I do it carefully and right, Emby successfully interrogates the IMDB / TVDB resources and populates all the images, cast details, etc. It also nearly always means that Emby picks up the correct (relevant) database IDs automatically, but occasionally and with 'Specials' I've had to get and enter the ID manually. Then, Emby populates the background stuff.

I was looking for a better (if paid) piece of software to simplify this process, and don't mind buying it provided it works, is slick to use and critically, gives decent quality. Oh, and supports hardware encoding with the 3080. And, the 'price' isn't extortionate. I did find one briefly appealing package 'til I noticed the full version price (probably overkill for me anyway) was some £800. When I got out of hospital, having recovered from the combined stroke and heart attack that caused (just kidding), I decided to stick with MakeMKV and Handbrake, until a better solution crops up.

Ripping the whole DVD in one go is interesting and I'll try it, but it feels counter-intuitive given that I want individual files per episode, for the emby lookup to work correctly.

Without trying it, I suspect it depends exactly how you want to treat your digitised media collection.

If, as you do, the point of the exercise is a digitised version of the whole disc, to save storing physical discs on display then finding/loading it, then sure, that works great.

If, as i do, I'm after a .... if you like, personal and local Netflix-type result, picking programs, episodes with all the info, tracking of media played, and the bells and whistles, then having ripped the disc, I'd still have to use something to break it down file by file, to label/store. The process of ripping into files directy seems to cut out one step and runs pretty much at the DVD drive's full speed anyway. To what extent this process is hardware-dependent on time taken I'm not sure, beyond saying this current machine (laptop) is FAR faster than doing the same thing with my older MS Surface Pro (gen 4, IIRC). But then, this one is a 5900X with RTX-3080, so it should be quicker. It still takes an appreciable length of time per disc though, and the somewhat disheartening thing, is the comparative sizes of the 'done' and 'to-do' piles of discs. Good job I'm retired, and relatiely time rich, especially this time of year. And the heat from the 3080 in Handbrake saves on using the central heating too, so that's a plus!

[Unique]

Yup. I have, dunno, just a few hundred CDs, maybe three. Plus another couple of hundred LPs. And some tapes, which is a sore point because I HAD the LPs/CDs and converted to tape for the car. Then, in a few cases (some CDs too) lent them to a 'friend' (except LPs) and never saw them again. Or him, for that matter. He moved. Life lesson learned there.

Anyway, for LPs/tapes I either digitised through a capture box, or for the 'lent' ones with no capture, well, I might have streamed them.

But the real pain is DVDs. Those I have, again dunno, but north of 2000. And it's SLOW going, working through that.

I was going through MakeMKV to get, well, MKV files, then Handbrake to MP4 them, while carefully following Series/Episode naming conventions. By judicious use of copy/past/edit on on filenames, I can simplify the process a bit, but it's still long and slow. The payback is that, if I do it carefully and right, Emby successfully interrogates the IMDB / TVDB resources and populates all the images, cast details, etc. It also nearly always means that Emby picks up the correct (relevant) database IDs automatically, but occasionally and with 'Specials' I've had to get and enter the ID manually. Then, Emby populates the background stuff.

I was looking for a better (if paid) piece of software to simplify this process, and don't mind buying it provided it works, is slick to use and critically, gives decent quality. Oh, and supports hardware encoding with the 3080. And, the 'price' isn't extortionate. I did find one briefly appealing package 'til I noticed the full version price (probably overkill for me anyway) was some £800. When I got out of hospital, having recovered from the combined stroke and heart attack that caused (just kidding), I decided to stick with MakeMKV and Handbrake, until a better solution crops up.

Ripping the whole DVD in one go is interesting and I'll try it, but it feels counter-intuitive given that I want individual files per episode, for the emby lookup to work correctly.

Without trying it, I suspect it depends exactly how you want to treat your digitised media collection.

If, as you do, the point of the exercise is a digitised version of the whole disc, to save storing physical discs on display then finding/loading it, then sure, that works great.

If, as i do, I'm after a .... if you like, personal and local Netflix-type result, picking programs, episodes with all the info, tracking of media played, and the bells and whistles, then having ripped the disc, I'd still have to use something to break it down file by file, to label/store. The process of ripping into files directy seems to cut out one step and runs pretty much at the DVD drive's full speed anyway. To what extent this process is hardware-dependent on time taken I'm not sure, beyond saying this current machine (laptop) is FAR faster than doing the same thing with my older MS Surface Pro (gen 4, IIRC). But then, this one is a 5900X with RTX-3080, so it should be quicker. It still takes an appreciable length of time per disc though, and the somewhat disheartening thing, is the comparative sizes of the 'done' and 'to-do' piles of discs. Good job I'm retired, and relatiely time rich, especially this time of year. And the heat from the 3080 in Handbrake saves on using the central heating too, so that's a plus!

i used dvdshrink to rip my dvds. with tv stuff i tend to watch a whole season in a day, and binge like that, and watch the next season the next day, or if i don't finish then i know where i am as it was just the day before, so having Ep's as seperate files wasn't an issue for me. most of what i ripped dvd wise was music videos/concerts but a few tv show things for nostaligia too. r having ripped discs since the early days i know it takes ages to rip and convert at the same time, whilst ripping a disc to HDD just takes a few mins. one option would be to just rip all the discs to HDD first, then once / if you want to convert then you can convert from HDD and possibly batch a bunch of discs to convert overnight. it does look nice when you have the netflix style menu as i had a similar thing with a previous media player and still use the software to catalogue, but it used to create HMTL files you could look at in your browser and the media player did too, and it had media info and IMDB type stuff. now it catalogues but doesn't display properly, but at least there's a cache file that just gives a single txt type file that tells me everything, which is handy to refery to if i'm wondering if i have a certain movie in HD or just dvd so i don't buy it for the firth time (as no doubt i'll have the original 1dvd then the deluxe, then the better one, etc etc). if you just rip the discs and play like that and find it's no problem then you may just skip the encoding. i get the file dvd menu so it tells me the details. you can opt to omit extras and foreign languages to save a bit space if you want to and as it's not encoding it doesn't take much extra time