Is it still worth buying Blu-rays?

Duncan – exactly as I used to do regarding audio. However, at the house move earlier this year my (pretty substantial) vinyl collection – including a low number Beatles white album, went to a hospice shop – I can rebuy on line as CDs or loss-free download as the mood takes me. I spent a couple of dozen evenings a few years ago streaming my CD collection to MP3 format on a NAS – for local use (the drive whizzed up to an incredible speed – just as well they were in balance). I have all the CDs of course, but now in the loft – as proof of ownership lest the RAID5 gets a raid (sorry) – but NAS is more convenient for listening wherever given the plethora of CAT6 in the house. I do realise that now all the agencies in the world know my music tastes (remarkably similar to yours, with early stuff dominated by Bing, Ella and Ink Spots), but I don’t mind.

Of course that was a few years ago – and at a good bit rate. However, now I have a better hi fi – and the difference between what I thought was “perfect” MP3 and WMA is quite significant – so the exercise will be repeated, this time loss-free (the RAID array has been supplemented with an umpty terabvyte one so this will only take up a small corner).

Low number White Album Roger —very generous giving it to charity , mine is a bit further up the line, like you CAT 6 is my ideal cable ,all the way from the master socket – 1 foot from my router/PC to an external connection .
Never tried RAID but many like it (when it works perfectly ) –Ink Spots ? ,we certainly do have some musical tastes in common , very early R/R was mostly coloured singers from the 40,s to early 50,s many white singers made money out of their songs by losing some “down to earth words” and making them more acceptable to 50,s US conservative audiences — just look at “Big Boy ” Crudup – Thats Alright Mama – Elvis made his name from it and Pat Boone “pinched” many early songs .
I liked the early versions more down to earth.

Yes top end hi-fi is a world away from lower stuff but —it costs ! that’s what led me onto building my own minimalistic – DC connected top end active devices and passive components had to buy from the USA for some parts but I like purity in the musical reproduction so that it feels like you are listening to a live singer/band , no removing of any sibilance (unless unnatural ) just to make it “smoother ” or “dulling down ” as background “noise ” .

My mother used to like Pat Boone. My take – lovely songs (particularly the ballads – “I’ll be home, Friendly Persuasion, April Love..) but he couldn’t sing for toffee! Wavered, whispered… couldn’t sustain… A couple of his on vinyl were in the collection – Great, Great Great and Moonglow. Elvis on the other hand had not only a cracking repertoire of tunes, but an unwavering sustain capability and a damned good backing group. His up tempo/ R & R and ballads hit the spot all ways. His versions of American Trilogy and Unchained Melody particularly bring his capabilities to the fore.

Talking of “white singers making money out of black singers’ songs… I remember there was a company called “reditune” which used to supply tapes to pubs back in the 70s which contained barely passable covers for a lot of famous songs. There was a particularly poor rendition of Stardust playing as my father and I were enjoying a pint in our local. MY father’s immortal line to the landlord… “Has Nat King Cole turned white?”

So far St Helena has raised ~£350 (including the gift aid) from my collection – and I’m sure there are some left. They had one chap there who clearly knew the wheat from the chaff so the white album would have probably fetched about a hundred.

That deserves a “thumbs up ” Roger I really admire those who give unselfishly to charity .
Absolutely agree on Elvis,s American Trilogy it effects you deep down and makes you want to be a “Southerner ” and Nat King Cole had a voice to “die for ” its a pity his record label didn’t pay him what it paid big artist white singers.

Just for you Ian , get round the blocking install Handbrake along with –libdvdcss (library )
can be used on Windows /Mac/Linux , Arch pre-installed it , converts it to work on Android/iPad as well.
Full instructions –
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-rip-a-dvd-to-your-computer-5809765
Big US media might not like me posting this .

I think there was a time when UK law almost got changed so as to legalise copying your own discs. I think we discussed it on Which? back then.

My experience of libdvdcss is that is can only decode some DVDs – to play all DVDs you really need proprietary software.

That said, I’m a big fan of Handbrake and used to use it to back up the DVDs that it could read.
PS – I’ve seldom ever bought Bluray discs but do find they give superior audio.

Knew it was somewhere Derek -Pacman holds it -freeme2-strips wm-drm protection from wmv/asf/wma files as well as video/audio streams.
Pity its for Windows files.

On Windows, PowerDVD from the Cyberlink PowerDirector suite can be used for playing Blurays and DVDs. I have versions from Vista and Windows 7 days. The latter works on anything from XP to Windows 10. My copy came from a charity shop for £3.99.

Good buy Derek !

There are no Blu Ray or DVD titles I haven’t been able to decode. Macs are remarkably good at playing just about anything, in fact.

Ian, I think that ought to be the case for any software that has paid to licence the decoding algorithms – even on Linux.

If you were going to back-up DVD’s on Mac, what software might you use for that?

I think the problem with the freeware codecs is that, to avoid those fees, they are reverse engineered and so don’t quite manage all discs. In particular, I used to find that I could not use Handbrake on Linux to transcode all of the latest blockbusters. That said, Handbrake is still a useful tool for making compact and portable MP4 copies, e.g. for USB sticks playable on modern TV’s.

I’ve been using Handbrake for years, Derek; nothing comes close, frankly. Most commercial offerings are built on Handbrake’s engine and the handbrake guys won’t even accept donations.

Decoding the latest Blu Rays almost always requires reloading a library or two, and WinX HD Video Converter for Mac is also quite nippy, as it can deal with you tube and other streaming services but for the trickiest discs nothing beats MKV.

With MKV it extracts the relevant files,but they still have to be processed with Handbrake to make them AppleTV-friendly. Generally I find you need to use three or four different packages to get the final product. The last is iDentify, which looks up the film or series, downloads the artwork and other information and parcels it up for iTunes to display.

The studios claim they use anti-copying tech to combat piracy but that doesn’t really stand up any more. The crims will always find a way to copy the film,even if it means sitting with a video cam in the cinema, so the only people they end up punishing is us – the honest ones who’ve actually bought the darned thing.

Perhaps the above posts should be…hidden? I don’t think we want Which? to be held culpable for encouraging ripping.

Oh dear!

Of course I copied all mine in that tiny window of opportunity….

Joking apart, I think I comply with the new law, certainly in spirit if not also letter. I have indeed made a copy of my entire collection for my personal use, but at the same time I have to all intents and purposes put the originals out of reach, so no sharing and only one active copy accessible to me. What say others?

Roger Pittock said 26 November 2019

Oh dear! Of course I copied all mine in that tiny window of opportunity….

Darn those pesky time stamps 🙂

Xtree sorts out timestamps. We discussed that a while ago – and I really need to buy it (not for fraud I hasten to add, this simply reminding me of the fantastic suite on offer, document and hex file compare being the two principal ones I’d use).

Sadly, not available for Mac. Unixtree is the closest.

I expect most Unix (e.g. MacOS) and Linux systems have readily available utilities covering Xtree’s functions.

Linux does Derek I have many to choose from including “ytree ” but the main file manager I use is Thunar works like a charm on my system.

Duncan, does ytree do document and hex file compare? I’d usually use diff or kompare for the former and don’t ever do the latter.

Check it out Derek-
https://www.han.de/~werner/ytree.html

No Derek I don’t but its on Arch app store along with others but as the Thread was about time stamps then how about ?-
https://www.ztree.com/-
quote- copy,move,delete, rename , time -stamp one or 1000,s of files in a single operation.
Plenty of pictures on that website.

No bother – but, for Linux terminals find, touch and rsync probably already cover those tasks…

They’re no use unless you have access to a player…

If you have a player and a nice TV, then they do give better quality video and sound than DVDs.

The other point is that the standard of mastering – certainly in the early days – was rather variable. Not all Blu Rays are created equal…

I don’t doubt that they are better but I don’t get a great deal of enjoyment from sitting in front of a screen.

I’m currently working through a boxed set of BBT (Big Bang Theory) which certainly has it moments 🙂

We’ve just finished it – for the second time. It’s good, partly because some of the characters do remind me of people I met at Uni, but I think the writers did seem to make Sheldon less likeable in series 11 and 12.

We don’t even have any DVD’s now, although there is a DVD player lurking in a cupboard somewhere.

We always found it difficult to find films we wanted to see again on a small screen and even fewer we would wish to watch more than once at home. We do watch [and occasionally record] old films on Talking Pictures TV though.

Talking Pictures I love John its the quintessential English national expression -reserve- seriousness – intellectual conversation combined with a love of justice and uprightness , its a pity its been squashed flat in nearly 2020.
I love the eccentricity as I feel “at home ” in it rather than the brash egocentric , light, non realist films issued out of the USA now.
I can never love those 4 and 5 star American films rather the old B/W movies of English yesteryear now there were real characters and depth of acting and the beautiful shots of summer light clouds leaves swaying in the breeze or high up on a hill overlooking a vast countryside its a spirit of “belonging ” .
While Americans are number one in a newsroom/TV /propaganda situation they totally lack gravitas and real strength of character.

Agreed, Duncan . . . but some of the old British films are quite enjoyable when you ignore the awful sets, the stilted diction, the hammy acting, and the trite plots.

Well, the sets have improved; still not too sure about the trite plots. But the same can be applied to films from the US. A Wonderful Life is a prime example. Regularly feted as the ‘best’ film of its genre, it’s beset by the technical limitations of its day.

Generally, I think both TV and cinema output have stayed about the same quality here and in the US, while the Australians, who were late starters, have made impressive strides.

The equipment needed to make a film or TV programme has plummeted in price and leapt in quality over the past 15 years. What’s not really changed is the abilities of those who produce them, as opposed to those who direct them.

Making a quality show is dependent on a really good director, excellent actors and superb writers. If any one of those three is lacking then it won’t be good.

Like John, I’m not keen on watching films more than once, so it’s not worth buying DVDs. On the other hand I have listened to the same CDs many times.

As with good books there are films that are worth seeing again. I don’t subscribe to streaming services so rely on a small collection of DVDs (and tapes) with an eye on the tv schedule.

One attraction of some old films (usually British B&W) on Talking Pictures” (channel 81) is the location shots showing life as it used to be; people, transport, buildings, industry………

Generally, I see films as something to watch when there is nothing more constructive to do. At the moment the sun is out (unexpectedly) so I’m about to build a cold frame in readiness for the next growing season.

Aaah! “…..old school…” reminds me of end of term. My school used to show a film all the inmates before release, usually something semi-educational like “The living desert”. But one year they chose “The Belles of St. Trinians” which went down particularly well with the audience. I still enjoy it on the very rare occasions it reappears.

We got Henry V…

I do enjoy watching some things again: Sci Fi space operas, such as Star Wars, the Alien Franchise (1 and 2, anyway) reward repeat viewing, if only to spot continuity errors or SFX missed the first time around.

Classic comedy also rewards: The Good Life, M*A*S*H. BBT, Drop the Dead Donkey and several others are still funny, even years after they were made. Python also endures, although not Fawlty Towers.

“The Plank” was a shortish film that bears repeat watching, for casual amusement, from time to time. I prefer the original with Eric Sykes and Tommy Cooper to the remake with Arthur Lowe

My vote for the best sitcom series ever goes to One Foot in the Grave. It was consistently funny [agonisingly so at times], had fairly unpredictable plots, was blessed with great characters and actors, and was garnished with the most exquisite dramatic irony in the story lines.

I liked The Plank. Another in that vein – The Picnic….

Still working as a smart TV after 6 years Sophie ? I think the British public deserve to know the make and model of that TV as all the websites I have visited on that line give a “longest app life ever ” of about 5 years , yours at 6 years qualifies as the “Golden App Award ” and a visit to the Cannes Film Festival.

It’s a Samsung, Model UE40F6320AK.

Thanks Sophie on checking your right an independent source confirms that Samsung smart TV,s are automatically updated and here is the UK,s ITV giving update instructions on doing it manually –
manually update the ITV Hub app on Samsung Smart TVs 2014 and later:

Switch on the TV
Navigate to the Samsung Smart Hub
Navigate to the Apps area
Press and hold the select button on the ITV Hub app and a sub-menu will appear
Select “Update apps” and if an update for ITV Hub is available, select it
Choose “Update” – this might take a few minutes

To manually update the ITV Hub app on 2012-2013 Samsung Smart devices:

Switch on the TV
Navigate to the Samsung Smart Hub
Navigate to the Apps area
Navigate to “More apps” at the bottom of the screen
Select “Apps to update” from the top centre of the screen
If an update for ITV Hub is available, select it
Choose “Update” – this might take a few minutes

Most “smart TV,s ” don’t continually update their apps but after a few years (or less ) don’t pay the software engineers to update them so they can sell new ones .

Not having a smart TV, I either plug the TV into a laptop, which Sophie mentioned, or just watch iPlayer on the laptop.

I do not have a smart tv either and go online by my smartphone or pc. Sometime I link an iPad to the tv through Apple tv. However, surely if a tv loses some of the apps that were originally present you don’t just replace it; you get one of the plug-in devices that makes it smarter?

Indeed.

Thanks, Duncan. I had to double check because it was a while ago, but I did set up the updates to be made automatically. Bizarrely, however, there were some apps to be updated in the Settings area, but not the STV Player.

I tried pressing and holding the select button on the app a few times, but it just opened the app each time.

I checked the version of the STV Player app I’ve got and it’s the same as the one you can download from Samsung’s list. I deleted the old app and installed the new one to see if it works. I haven’t tried yet, but I suspect it’s just the app that’s rubbish. If this “new” app doesn’t work I’ll just carry on with plugging in the laptop.