Physical Media

[brisray]

"I've recently bought a cheap DVD player and started burning some of my favorite movies and TV shows on disks."

So long as you realize that anything on self-made optical media might not last forever. I've got 20 year old CDs that are barely readable and some can no longer be read at all.

Here's something I found really useful for video tape. If you are in the US (that used NTSC) or anywhere that does not use PAL but somehow have a load of PAL VHS tapes you want to digitize, then try and get yourself a medical recording tape recorder. I use a Mitsubishi MD3000 that came from an ultrasound machine, and use the RCA conposite connection output to either a video capture card or device like the Elgato Video Capture.

US medical devices used PAL because that had a better video quality than NTSC (625 lines vs 525). You're not going to get really good quality recordings from any VHS tape, but they can be cleaned up a little bit.

Shameless plug - pun intended because you are going to need different connectors to get this work properly - for my brief introductions to analog audio and video recording at https://brisray.com/computers/analog-video.htm and https://brisray.com/computers/analog-audio.htm

[Cobra!]

Plus, no buffering or ads! (Save for a couple at the beginning of a DVD or VHS, but they're so novel that I let it slide.)

I also think the difference is because of the nature of physical media, the ads and trailers you get on tape and DVD are time capsules. If you get a VHS tape from 1999, that’s when all of the ads were made.

Whereas streaming is probably more dynamic, and just show the latest ads they’ve been paid to shove at your face. (I say probably, because I never use them)

So long as you realize that anything on self-made optical media might not last forever. I've got 20 year old CDs that are barely readable and some can no longer be read at all.

I think it depends on how you store them. I have CDs from 30-40 years ago that still work perfectly fine today, and that includes CD-Rs with pirated games I got with some older consoles!

[Blondini]

I love physical media, i have my own collection of dvd's and VHS tapes, i've started to collect over a few months, something about buying it, taking it home and putting it in your player and watching the movie is just a great feeling, with all the special features and behind the scene things that are on the dvds it gives you more to watch then just watching it on netflix, also the menus of a lot of dvds are really intricate and well made, when you start up shrek 2 on netflix it just starts the movie but when you put in your shrek 2 dvd you have a whole menu, there are many special features and even games on some copies, i just love it.
CD and vinyls are also great, personally i have a problem with listening to a whole album, i'll only listen to one song from a album but with a cd or vinyl i listen to the whole album, also making your own cd mixtapes is easy as, but spotify is very useful and i do use that a lot over CD and vinyls just because of cost.
another reason i love physical media is because where i live doesnt have great internet and loading a movie takes forever but with dvds its instant, same with cd and vinyls, i always have issues with spotify not working, i also have this same opinion on bluetooth, i prefer wired over bluetooth as having to always charge my head and keyboard and the problem of them randomly disconnecting and my music starts blaring in the middle of class or something.
thats my opinion on physical media
 

[doubleincision]

"I've recently bought a cheap DVD player and started burning some of my favorite movies and TV shows on disks."

So long as you realize that anything on self-made optical media might not last forever. I've got 20 year old CDs that are barely readable and some can no longer be read at all.

Here's something I found really useful for video tape. If you are in the US (that used NTSC) or anywhere that does not use PAL but somehow have a load of PAL VHS tapes you want to digitize, then try and get yourself a medical recording tape recorder. I use a Mitsubishi MD3000 that came from an ultrasound machine, and use the RCA conposite connection output to either a video capture card or device like the Elgato Video Capture.

US medical devices used PAL because that had a better video quality than NTSC (625 lines vs 525). You're not going to get really good quality recordings from any VHS tape, but they can be cleaned up a little bit.

Shameless plug - pun intended because you are going to need different connectors to get this work properly - for my brief introductions to analog audio and video recording at https://brisray.com/computers/analog-video.htm and https://brisray.com/computers/analog-audio.htm

those pages on your site are a great resource! i've always been interested in digital preservation of some of the tapes in my collection, but it's hard to find a guide that explains everything in a way that i can understand. this is very informative and well-written

[bingus_baby]

CD and vinyls are also great, personally i have a problem with listening to a whole album, i'll only listen to one song from a album but with a cd or vinyl i listen to the whole album, also making your own cd mixtapes is easy as, but spotify is very useful and i do use that a lot over CD and vinyls just because of cost.
another reason i love physical media is because where i live doesnt have great internet and loading a movie takes forever but with dvds its instant, same with cd and vinyls, i always have issues with spotify not working, i also have this same opinion on bluetooth, i prefer wired over bluetooth as having to always charge my head and keyboard and the problem of them randomly disconnecting and my music starts blaring in the middle of class or something.
thats my opinion on physical media
 

I used to have the problem with bad internet all the time in school... My high school was an absolute brick, and half the school was a dead zone despite being close to a cell tower lmao (hurricane-proof, though!) Honestly it was the reason I started streaming so much, because I needed to download the songs before leaving the house. Because of that I'm a loyal Spotify Premium customer, and I always will be because of the need to download playlists before long drives into dead-zones, or into Targets. (Which always have horrible reception, for some reason...)

And on listening to the whole album, CDs are so good for that! Tbh I usually only buy CDs of albums where I already like most of the songs, but there's a few songs where I genuinely can perfectly time the space between songs ;v; Proof I've listened to those albums a bit too much!! But it's nice to just throw the CD in the player and not worry about queuing up songs. It's too bad the CD player in my car his slowly starting to go ;;;; It's having trouble accepting CDs these days.

[Tiffany]

I try to have more digital media than physical because I am kind of a hoarder (thanks mom), so not having a lot of physical things is good for me personally. However, I still get physical copies of stuff, especially my workout dvds, a dvd collection, and an older music cd collection. I'm more likely to have books and dvds than audio cds though, since I don't always like the whole CD anymore. But there is also more artist only doing small releases or just singles these days anyways, so I don't want a single cd.

[lulu]

I don't love the doomeresque connotations, but "you will own nothing and be happy" kinda sticks to me. I have this whole doomsday scenario in my head where, for whatever reason, nobody has the internet anymore and the folks with physical media end up.. idk becoming super popular and making a bunch of friends. (The melonland "news ticker" just told me that art will save the world. So who knows maybe in this completely unrealistic scenario, the media hoarders would save the world)

(*just to be safe with the no acronym rule, YA = young adult, basically books for teens)

I also think the difference is because of the nature of physical media, the ads and trailers you get on tape and DVD are time capsules. If you get a VHS tape from 1999, that’s when all of the ads were made.

Whereas streaming is probably more dynamic, and just show the latest ads they’ve been paid to shove at your face. (I say probably, because I never use them)

"Coming soon to own on videocassette.. The Little Mermaid!" Watching old Disney movies on VHS vs Disney+ are totally different experiences because of the trailers and ads. (also, the smell of those clamshell cases unlocks some major nostalgia. Anyone else?)

I think about all the TV broadcasts and ephemera we have from the VHS era, like we literally only have those ad compilations because somebody thought to record their TV at that exact moment. old commercials are super important, for what they can tell us about their time. Likewise, I think modern ads will be important (or entertaining) to the future. But our relationship with commercials is different. Unless you're watching TV, they're just something to skip on YouTube. I get annoyed by the ads trying reaaaallly hard to seem cool and hip! But that's why I think they'll be interesting in the future, when they're super dated. But is anyone recording them? I don't know.

sorry for the ramble!

[Cobra!]

I don't love the doomeresque connotations, but "you will own nothing and be happy" kinda sticks to me. I have this whole doomsday scenario in my head where, for whatever reason, nobody has the internet anymore and the folks with physical media end up.. idk becoming super popular and making a bunch of friends. (The melonland "news ticker" just told me that art will save the world. So who knows maybe in this completely unrealistic scenario, the media hoarders would save the world)

That’s how I’m seeing it as well. I get DVDs or VHS tapes of shows that was readily available on Youtube, just to have an offline copy to watch in the event I can’t access them on Youtube, or have no internet at all.

That said, my tapes and Laserdiscs will probably rot before we get into a scenario where we have no internet, if that ever happens. Hopefully neither happens for a long long time, but still. ^^”

I think about all the TV broadcasts and ephemera we have from the VHS era, like we literally only have those ad compilations because somebody thought to record their TV at that exact moment. old commercials are super important, for what they can tell us about their time.

Nostalgia Nerd actually covered this topic a while back. I imagine VHS is the reason we have as much archived as we do.

Likewise, I think modern ads will be important (or entertaining) to the future. But our relationship with commercials is different. Unless you're watching TV, they're just something to skip on YouTube. I get annoyed by the ads trying reaaaallly hard to seem cool and hip! But that's why I think they'll be interesting in the future, when they're super dated. But is anyone recording them? I don't know.

Huh, never thought of it like that before. If I ever decide to record anything straight from Youtube onto VHS, maybe I’ll record any ads I get as well, just to be the one to have them recorded.

But then in the age of the internet, everyone saves everything and reuploads them, or the companies themselves leave them up online for anyone to see if they want to, so maybe there’s no need.

[Cobra!]

I’m gonna necropost this thread, but I’ve been hearing about stores in the US saying they won’t stock physical movies or CDs any more, and people are saying physical media as a whole is going to die off.

Physical media is honestly one of the few things that brings me joy in life, so a world without that sounds like a boring dystopia to me, if not a personal hell.

I still plan to release anything I make physically, even if I’m the last person to do it, and have to burn/print them off myself.

It just really sucks people are moving away from it, and what we have after the dust settles are scalpers taking advantage of people like us by hiking prices of things we want…

Feels like we can’t ever win…

[bingus_baby]

’m gonna necropost this thread, but I’ve been hearing about stores in the US saying they won’t stock physical movies or CDs any more, and people are saying physical media as a whole is going to die off.

Physical media is honestly one of the few things that brings me joy in life, so a world without that sounds like a boring dystopia to me, if not a personal hell.

(Funny cat reaction GIF below)

Spoiler

[close]

Your post was the last thing I needed today!!!!! My honest reaction to that information!!!

In all seriousness, about 60% of the time I go to Walmart I go out of my way to look at the physical media aisles, even if I have no intent to buy something. (Though I certainly do on occasion!) And after I got my library card and started renting DVDs, I've felt shreds of my humanity returning. I'm seriously at my limit these days and am desperately looking for ways to disconnect from The Wired and become more mindful and self care, etc. etc.

I get it profit margins. Lack of interest. Tik Tok. But I DO NOT CARE!! I want the shiny disks!!!! My only saving grace is that I'm at the height of my weeb renaissance, and the CD market in Japan is still going strong. My Ensemble Stars CDs are safe for the time being. And the same site I buy from also stocks a hell of a lot of other countries' stuff, not just the US. (Even obscure/indie stuff!) But that doesn't change that the tides of media consumption as a whole is changing, and there's nothing that can be done. I can't even think of something insightful to say,  this just SUCKS!!!!! ugh

[DiffydaDude]

(Funny cat reaction GIF below)

Spoiler

[close]

Your post was the last thing I needed today!!!!! My honest reaction to that information!!!

In all seriousness, about 60% of the time I go to Walmart I go out of my way to look at the physical media aisles, even if I have no intent to buy something. (Though I certainly do on occasion!) And after I got my library card and started renting DVDs, I've felt shreds of my humanity returning. I'm seriously at my limit these days and am desperately looking for ways to disconnect from The Wired and become more mindful and self care, etc. etc.

I get it profit margins. Lack of interest. Tik Tok. But I DO NOT CARE!! I want the shiny disks!!!! My only saving grace is that I'm at the height of my weeb renaissance, and the CD market in Japan is still going strong. My Ensemble Stars CDs are safe for the time being. And the same site I buy from also stocks a hell of a lot of other countries' stuff, not just the US. (Even obscure/indie stuff!) But that doesn't change that the tides of media consumption as a whole is changing, and there's nothing that can be done. I can't even think of something insightful to say,  this just SUCKS!!!!! ugh

I havent actually seen a lot of stores around my place say they wont do that, at least around my place. I think it would probably just be some stores dont have enough need to keep up supply for something that wont sell well, which is what specialist stores are for; places for those looking for a specific service. Unfortunately, the record store in the nearest city closed down a few years ago, so i'd have to go farther, but at least thrift stores are a great option for those without the option to visit a record store

[Cobra!]

MoistCrit1kal just released a video that I feel is worth sharing here.

He says this at the very start, but he says that he used to be a huge promoter of digital media, but all the temporary-nature and lack of ownership with digital media has made him completely change his opinion on the matter.

Crit1kal is a very influencial guy, so him changing his opinion could have knock on effects in general and the shift towards going back to physical media may accelerate a bit.

I still think it will stay a niche, as I imagine companies love the control they have with digital, but I hope at least we see a big enough niche that won’t go anywhere in our lifetimes.

[xero333]

Love physical media still. I still buy the odd CD so I can listen to them in my car. I have a vinyl player and a small collection of records. I recently went to a HMV store in the UK and was blown away at how large their vinyl collection is. It's made a comeback in a huge way over the last few years.

Some of my favourite movies i've got on blu-ray like the LOTR trilogy, some Tarantino movies, etc.

Even tape cassettes are making a slow comeback currently. I'm all for actually owning the media instead of essentially paying for access to it, which could be taken away whenever the streaming site feels like it.

I do however still use Spotify as I have such a huge collection of playlists and tracks on there, I couldn't even imagine going out and buying all those albums physically!

[pencilz]

I'm trying to responsibly save my money (because at the moment I don't have a full time job), but I plan on collecting physical copies of all my favorite media when I can afford it! The thought of streaming being the ONLY option for everything is gross to be honest... also it's fun having a personalized, physical collection of your favorite movies and music!

[wetnoodle]

I've been collecting vinyl for a few years now and I'm so happy with my collection so far!! I definitely want to get into physical movies/shows and games too, though pc games are very non-physical most of the time now