Buying video content (TV & Movies)

[Julian]

I’m very familiar with buying music downloads. In the bad old days there was DRM copy protection but that is (completely?) gone now so if I buy an AAC file from iTunes or a FLAC or higher quality file from Tidal or Quobuz or similar it is an un-copy-protected file that I can add to any music server’s library that I am using rather than being tied into iTunes or a competitor - a “transportable purchase”. There are a few favourite movies and TV shows that I would quite like to buy however and this is an unknown world to me. I did some googling about Google Movies & Shows store, Amazon Video Store and also iTunes video content and from what I can see openness hasn’t come to video in the same way as it has to music in that all, as far as I can tell, will mean that if I purchase from a particular source I will be locked into playing them on whatever vendor’s ecosystem I made the purchase on.

Am I right on the lock-ins? Is there anywhere that offers a more open environment where I would get transportable un-copy-protected video files as opposed to being locked it to a particular vendor to play them back?

People might be able to infer from the above that I am way more familiar with purchasing music online than video contact, in fact until today I had never really looked at the video side of things. I would like to add that I am NOT looking for illegal downloads, by definition anything I purchased outright would be stuff I value highly and am happy to put a few pennies into the pockets of those involved, but I really would like to avoid vendor lock-in if possible.

- Julian

[gryffron]

Here you go https://www.lifewire.com/where-to-buy-d ... es-4137638

Looks like the answer basically is that you are correct. All current video providers are tied to their app/platform.

It seems unlikely this will change. Music is moving away from "owning" and towards subscription streaming services like Spotify. Highly likely video will go the same way.

Gryff

[Redmires]

Easier to buy the DVD and rip it to disk. Copy protection may be an issue but a google may help.

And then you'll own stuff rather than renting it. Or give them to charity shops if you want to avoid clutter.

[Infrasonic]

The wider implications of DRM are worth considering too...

https://www.wired.com/story/microsoft-e ... lypse-drm/

Microsoft made the announcement in April that it would shutter the Microsoft Store’s books section for good. The company had made its foray into ebooks in 2017, as part of a Windows 10 Creators Update that sought to round out the software available to its Surface line. Relegated to Microsoft’s Edge browser, the digital bookstore never took off. As of April 2, it halted all ebook sales. And starting as soon as this week, it’s going to remove all purchased books from the libraries of those who bought them.

[UncleEbenezer]

The wider implications of DRM are worth considering too...

https://www.wired.com/story/microsoft-e ... lypse-drm/

Microsoft made the announcement in April that it would shutter the Microsoft Store’s books section for good. The company had made its foray into ebooks in 2017, as part of a Windows 10 Creators Update that sought to round out the software available to its Surface line. Relegated to Microsoft’s Edge browser, the digital bookstore never took off. As of April 2, it halted all ebook sales. And starting as soon as this week, it’s going to remove all purchased books from the libraries of those who bought them.

It's a full decade ago Amazon deleted books from users who had bought them in good faith. Among them, a supremely appropriate title!

[Itsallaguess]

I would like to add that I am NOT looking for illegal downloads, by definition anything I purchased outright would be stuff I value highly and am happy to put a few pennies into the pockets of those involved, but I really would like to avoid vendor lock-in if possible.

An option might be to purchase a DVD or Blu-Ray and then rip it to MKV format using MakeMKV - https://www.makemkv.com/

MakeMKV doesn't carry out any compression, so you rip the movies as you'd watch them via the discs, which is a benefit on picture quality but obviously comes at a cost of storage-space. Other options are available that will allow some user-defined compression, for a trade off between size and quality, such as HandBrake etc...

The MKV format is unlikely to go out of fashion any time soon, and the vast majority of software and hardware media players can play the MKV format, including the ubiquitous VLC player. NAS drives (Network attached storage) can be useful for storing media like this, as you'll often get back-up options as well as being able to see the media files anywhere on your home-network. Many modern-day SMART TV's can play MKV format files natively too...

If you're interested in trying this route, then it's also worth bookmarking the BETA-KEY thread here - https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1053

It's been free as long as I can remember and the key is updated regularly....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess