Alas, my local video store that I could walk to, suddenly decided to close this week - how sad. So I bought a bunch of their used BDs & DVDs yesterday for $3 each; however, I felt like I was a vulture picking on a carcass.
The 2 stores left in my area are now a considerable drive. Who knows how long they'll last?
I've never used any streaming service; however, my experience with VOD from Shaw Cable has been less than satisfactory - their HD movies don't look nor sound like full HD to me, unlike the fine quality of rental BDs or upscaled DVDs. Besides, their prices are about $3 higher per view than they should be. One advantage of VOD though, it doesn't impact on my monthly net download quota.
I think that there is a parallel with the situation of the initial poor quality of MP3 audio that was convenient, but didn't sound very good, especially on big systems. The same thing is happening with streaming overly compressed video/audio that the average consumer seems to be embracing. Adequate bandwith for full HD streaming will always be a problem.
I don't like it, but what to do??
TAM
