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Commentary, behind-the-scenes features, bloopers: What did we lose when we said goodbye to DVDs?
(english.elpais.com)
this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2024
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Technology
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I am disappointed it feels like physical media is slowly going away though. It's not only nice to have a physical collection in my opinion, but it directly supports the stuff you like, and you don't have to deal with the bs that comes with digital "ownership" or the ever changing mess that are streaming services.
Check out bandcamp. It's for music, but you can stream tracks to give them a listen, and then buying them nets you a straight up file download in an audio format of your choice.
A world where you can both support the creator online, and receive something you get to keep in return, is possible.
I hope we'll get there for movies one day.
I just want to legally buy a DRM-free movie file containing multiple audio tracks and subtitles that I can slap in my Plex server and call it a day.
For the moment I'm doing it myself using my own Blu-Ray discs ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Good news! You can pirate high quality blueray rips from the internet and since you already own a license to the content it’s not even a crime ;-)
Finding a MKV with the audio tracks (english and french) as well as embedded subtitles for the languages I want is often more work than just ripping it myself.
It’s definitely nice to have exactly the copy you want. Plus (and decidedly more on topic) you can rip any extras you want… although the naming scheme is a bit of a headache, that’s the part that really delights me.
That's all well and good, but physical media is selling less and less as the average person moves to streaming.
Sooner or later, there will be a tipping point where media industry execs just stop selling physical media altogether to deny pirates a source, as the profits no longer outweigh the "downsides".
Webripping is unlikely to stop for as long as streaming options exist, but then we'll be stuck with low quality bitrates as enshittification ensures every penny is pinched when it comes to bandwidth.
High quality drm-free file downloads, available online, officially, would be ideal.
Considering the movie industry is currently at a point where it's even punishing paying customers with low-quality 720p for daring to use the "wrong" browser, I don't think the industry will figure out that there's a market out there for high quality drm-free media anytime soon.
There's something like Plex, but for rich people and with DRM.
You buy some kind of stupid expensive home theater appliance that's basically just a NAS, and it downloads movie releases that the company licenses. I think it was a subscription service that includes basically all theatrical releases you might want to watch, even before blu-ray releases are out.
But you have to use their box, and it costs "fuck you" money.
So the general idea for high quality media that gets downloaded onto local hardware is out there, but not exactly peddled to middle class consumers or with open DRM.
Edit: Found it, it's called Kaleidoscape
I’m not even sure how long MQA took, but the audio world came around and developed a ~~lossless~~ format that runs on ~~commodity~~ hardware and features a ~~wide~~ selection of popular… sound.
Yeah, we’re boned.
The return of the Disney vaults… I admit I’m concerned, but I’ve watched so much soulless bullshit at quality levels that do nothing but make the flaws easier to see… it’s not as much of a concern as it used to be. We’re whitnessing a spasm, it’ll pass. Good content comes from people that give actual fucks about what they are creating. They will always want you to experience the best version you can.