Have you ever just reached a point in your Blu-ray collecting where you wonder, "What's left"? - Page 3

Thank you for that -- looks like I can always be exposed to some new area of AVS. I admit to being surprised there is any knowledge of THE DEVILS as I've never seen a home video version in ANY format, and of course it is such a unique creation of many decades ago no less. You seem to be quite the film connoisseur! -- I read your blurb with great interest.

I gave up the desire to collect hundreds of BDs long before I got all of those that I would like. Their cost being one issue and the quality of some of the transfers being another.

Some films I will snap up, like Peter Pan - which is released today - but some I will just pass on or pick up on ebay for cheap.

Seggers

As a quality enthusiast, though, only Bluray will do for the time being: streaming is still Bluray-Lite. However, the majority will be perfectly happy with streaming quality.

As others have mentioned, collecting is essential if one is concerned about losing access to the material. However I am worried about rotting of discs over extended periods of time: my "The Thing" DVD became unplayable after a few years, so I question the value of owning a collection without the concurrent right to make a backup.

It's also great to be able to peruse a collection and choose one that takes your fancy at that time, knowing that you will see the best quality available without any additional effort.

Despite not considering 4K a likely attractive prospect, I have no doubt that I will succomb for those few titles that may be afforded a better transfer in 4K than they are in 1080p (purely because they might be re-scanned for 4K). I wouldn't bother with anything upscaled to 4K or with any DNR, so I expect the collection is going to be quite small.

I haven't explored 3D yet, so there is potential for that to trigger a collection mini-revival, but once again, the number of releases worthy of buying will likely be limited.

My problems with 4K stem mostly from the industry's handling of catalog Blu-ray (as well as what will be "catalog" when 4K arrives). First, the market has amassed a large library of 2K DIs, 2K scans, and native 2K digital content to satisfy workflows and bean counters, which will diminish the availability of 4K content. Second, many catalog Blu-rays have been afflicted with DNR/EE to satisfy the mainstream's hatred of grain, you can bet that all the upscales will be slathered with filtering. With those realities, I don't see how 4K will be able to survive the demands of enthusiasts. The industry will have to get serious about 4K+ transfers and filter-free masters before I even consider dipping my toe. (Do they even care what I think, though?)

We'll get a Ben-Hur or LoA once in a while, all the Pixar films, and anything that has currently been graced with a modern high res scan, but I have serious doubts that we'll see much in the way of true 4K content - let alone content not afflicted with filtering. I'm sure I'll end up with some 4K content, but only true 4K content, and I'm thinking it will be a very small collection. And by then, 8K displays will be affordable.

I'm feeling really pessimistic this morning. And yes, I've had my coffee.

I don't care about 4K. 1080p can look jaw dropping and that's enough for me.

Well, clearly you have middling standards if you're satisfied with jaw-dropping.

Indeed. I want my jaw to be blown off with my teeth embedded in the walls in a radial pattern around the room. This is a good start:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2WcBi9mu6A

You've said nothing wrong. I'm betting we get 4K BD but it will be essentially new releases only. Perhaps a few as you've noted like Lawrence but catalog getting the money to make it 4K worthy is a pipe dream.

Art

I think you're spot on which is also why so many catalog titles on Blu-ray will be the best the movie will ever look at home - whether or not they are mediocre transfers/encodes.

Perhaps to put a positive spin on my previous comment, a new delivery system would at least allow us to get all those 2K versions in all their pristine glory. Higher resolution, greater color depth, reduced compression, etc. So, there's that.

actually thats a good point - if movies are not coming from a 4k master, it may not matter anyways.

I here alot about more efforts towards color reproduction and less compression. need to read up more about 10 bit color, true color, deep color etc.

It's pretty simple to grasp if you apply some math. The only caveats come down to loose technical definitions and marketing hype. Hopefully I can avoid both:

In additive RGB color (combining primary color channels to create white light), red, green, and blue channels are used to create all other colors rendered by each and every pixel on the screen. Bits are represented as 1s and 0s and with 8 bits you can have up to 256 (2^8) variations ("00000000", "01010101", "11111111", etc.). 3 additive primary color channels, 8 bits per additive primary color channel, 24 total bits to be expressed per pixel (24bpp). Thus, each pixel can display up to 16.7 million (2^24) color variations. This is the conventional 24-bit "true color" environment.

Deep Color simply moves beyond the 8-bit color channel to include 10-bit, 12-bit, and 16-bit color channels. The move to 10-bit color channels would allow for 1024 (2^10) variations per additive primary color channel, resulting in 30bpp, which amounts to just over 1 billion (2^30) color variations. 12-bit and 16-bit color channels would result in 36bpp and 48bpp, respectively. Allowing for 68 billion and 281 trillion colors, respectively. You can see how adding just 2 extra bits per color channel allows for insane gains in color reproduction.

The problem right now is that the industry plays things really fast and loose with the terminology. Deep Color stickers are slapped onto everything. No Blu-ray comes with anything more than 8-bit color channels. Most HDTVs, monitors, projectors, phones, and laptop screens are 6-bit or 8-bit displays. 10-bit displays are available, but carry a premium.

*When you select 32-bit color on your computer, it is a misnomer. This is actually still 24bpp color, but adds another 8-bit "alpha" channel for opacity or translucency flags to be composite processing. It doesn't add more colors. These alpha channels can be added to any color space, allowing up to 64bpp processing when applied to a 16-bit/channel 48bpp color scheme. However, if you have a 10-bit display and the necessary hardware on your computer, then you can enable 10-bit (30bpp) color for games or graphic design, etc.

there are still so many titles un-released.
I wait for special editions and wait for a decent price.
New titles I Buy from Amazon and sell back if I know I'll never watch it again.

I have Netflix- but the compressed quality- when A/B'd with blu Ray- is very poor. (look at the noise in the blacks)
Renting from Apple itunes is tough due to 24hr window. I like the option to shut the film off if I'm tired and come back to it in a few days or a few weeks later.

So - no.
Never "What's left"?
It's, "What's Next"?

I sympathize. It seems like most of the big catalog titles have already come out in the five years I have been collecting BDs (HItchcocks, Disneys, Bonds, Spielbergs, Kubricks). I promised myself I wasn't going to simply replace my DVD collection (~400) all over again, so I try to stick to good new releases or Criterions I don't already own for Blu Ray, and resist mediocre transfers, and so far have kept my BD collection down to around 100 titles.

Still, when Taxi Driver or Lawrence or Jaws arrive looking as good as they do, or when the CC Third Man suddenly goes out of print, even though I practically have them memorized, I find myself dipping in the wallet to buy them again for the third time. Right now I am trying to resist buying the Universal Monsters, Citizen Kane, Adventures of Robin Hood, Notorious, etc. again.

I am not an obsessive collector, but I am an owner, and prefer physcial media to renting or streaming, which I don't trust and so far looks lousy anyway.

So, in a way, I feel duty-bound to pick up the Universal Monsters, Citizen Kane, Adventures of Robin Hood, Notorious, etc., just on principle.

I have 600+ titles and have watched them all. I watch one a night and it takes me over 2+ years ( also adding movies I rent or buy )to go through all of them again which I do. Its why I decided to spend some money on my Home Theatre.

I keep a list of my 100 favourite films over at the UK AVForums, which I update when titles are announced, or come out on Blu-ray Disc. I used to have to do this quite regularly - most months, in fact.

But I have to say, recently it's not been looking good.

On the plus side, I think I now have 79 of my 100 favourites, with one more (A Matter of Life and Death) pre-announced for release in France (hopefully not burned in subs, or 1080i/50).

On the downside, since the start of July last year there's been almost no movement. Strangers on a Train and Vertigo were down as announced, and they've arrived. AMOLAD, as I've noticed, looks like it's coming. But that's it. Two films arriving which had been announced and one new pre-announcement with no firm date, and possibly a less-than-stellar disc is not very promising for a 6 month period.

The 20 'missing' films are:

Asylum
Conspiracy
Crimes and Misdemeanours
Cyrano de Bergerac[ (1990)
Dead of Night (1945)
Fail-Safe
Fury (1936)
Gun Crazy (1950)
I Know Where I’m Going
Key Largo
A Matter of Life and Death
Melody (a.k.a. S.W.A.L.K.)
Rollerball[ (1975)
Seven Days in May
The Seventh Victim
The Swimmer
Swimming Pool
Vault of Horror
Wait Until Dark
Witness
Z

Steve W
Edited by Pecker - 2/12/13 at 4:02am

Yes!

Also, how about a proper release of:

The Fugitive

Some of mine...

Tootsie
On a Clear day
Milagro Beanfield War
Waterloo (Bondarchuk version)
Flashdance
The Blue Max
Gallipoli
Giant (James Dean Version)
Three Musketeers and Four Musketeers (Written by George MacDonald Fraser).

There's plenty more.

Tootsie and Witness are so obvious you'd think they'd be in the first batch to hit the street. I wonder if there's a back story to either, some legal conflict blah, blah.

I've got the Criterion DVD of IKWIG, seems like they'd have the BD by now.

Perhaps should be in a wish list thread but where are the films of George Pal ?

Destination Moon
When Worlds Collide
The War of the Worlds
Conquest of Space
The Time Machine
Atlantis the Lost Continent

disneys robin hood.

Flesh and blood from Paul verhoeven.

2 Days in the Valley

I would like to see 1941 on Blu-ray. It's available on DVD, but I'll wait to get it on blu. I haven't seen it in years.

I think Spielberg prefers it that way...

I think you're right.

Let me add Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome as well to my list of wants.

My problem is not a lack of titles being released. My problem is finding them actually stocked in the stores. The selection at local retailers is getting smaller and smaller. I have to go to amazon for pretty much everything I want.

For me, my lifestyle has changed dramatically since the early days of DVD when I used to buy pretty much everything. Now, I only purchase 'must have' titles which are my lifelong favorites (e.g. Shawshank, Star Wars, etc.) or major new release titles which I know I'll want to have in my library (e.g. Skyfall). Much of my current limited viewing is now done via RedBox rentals - I simply cannot justify paying $15.00 - $20.00 for a blu-ray movie I know I won't watch more than once. I'm also the same way about games now as well. I'd rather have fewer titles I know I'll play often vs. trying to get in everything.

Perhaps should be in a wish list thread but where are the films of George Pal ?

Hear, hear. Only... TCM showed a different print of The Time Machine recently. It was unspeakably awful, with everything shifting towards BROWN. Let's hope they haven't lost decent source for the Metrocolor Pal films.

I used to buy 2-3 titles per week when I worked at Best Buy. I didn't believe in renting, I mean most new release DVD's were only 15-20 bucks so I figured why rent?? I started doing the same thing with BluRay. I had over 1500 dvd's...I finally just got rid of them by donation/selling/trading. I upgraded some to bluray and kept some special editions. I've finally reached that point of, "Maybe I don't need to buy it on release date". Now I have patience and am downloading more titles. If I like it, I'll buy it to watch again.

Same here