MovieChat Forums > Longstreet (1971) Discussion > YouTube versus DVD

YouTube versus DVD

posted 2 years ago by CarolTheDabbler (518)
5 replies | jump to latest

It's convenient to watch episodes on YouTube (which currently has the Longstreet pilot plus all 23 eps, at least one copy apiece), but is it the same as playing a DVD? Here are my thoughts, would love to hear yours.

Video quality: I've never done an A/B comparison, but my impression is the DVD has better resolution.

Sound quality: No idea. I can generally understand both. Presumably the DVD is at least as good as YouTube!

Subtitles: The DVD that I have (the one whose cover is shown on the main page here) has no subtitles whatsoever. YouTube has subtitles, but they're computer generated, meaning that although most of the dialog is accurate, quite a few bits are ludicrously wrong. They would presumably be useful for someone whose hearing is worse than mine, or who needs to watch with the sound turned off, but I generally find them distracting, so I turn them off, using the "CC" (closed caption) button.

Completeness: It just occurred to me that many (probably most) of the YouTube videos appear to have been recorded from television broadcasts, and it's possible that the broadcasts had been edited. So I added up all the time lengths shown on a YouTube play list (plus one episode that's not in that list) and compared the total to the time shown on the DVD back cover. (Note: YouTube has multiple versions of some episodes, and my figures reflect only one of each.)

The YouTube total is 55 minutes shorter*, which sounds pretty bad -- but that's only two or three minutes per episode on average, which could simply mean that they're missing a bit from the beginning of the opening credits and the end of the closing credits -- and/or that the time reported on the DVD includes a bit of leader and trailer -- and/or, yes, it could mean that some actual scenes were trimmed.

Bottom line: If you want to be reasonably sure of seeing every single bit of an episode, the DVD is presumably your best bet. If you need subtitles or just want to relax at your computer, YouTube might suit you just fine.

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*The playlist that I used includes episodes posted by three different people, and the very shortest was the only one posted by that person -- but the other two posted a mix of shorts and longs. The YouTube times vary between 46:35 and 49:21, with the great majority (15) being in the short stretch between 48:03 and 48:22, four between 46:35 and 46:56, another four between 49:00 and 49:21 and absolutely none between 46:57 and 48:02 (quite a gap!) or between 48:21 and 48:59. It's possible that most of the episodes were actually filmed to be 48 minutes long, but a few were filmed to be only 47, and another few to be 49, perhaps reflecting changes in network requirements or FCC regulations.

[–] Owlwise (1490) 2 years ago

Thanks for posting this! I prefer tangible media like DVDs whenever possible, but of course it's not always possible. After all, you never know when something will be taken down from YouTube or any other streaming service.

[–] Kowalski (58011) 2 years ago

I AGREE WITH OWLWISE...I AM PHYSICAL MEDIA ALL THE WAY...SOMETIMES IT JUST ISN'T AN OPTION THOUGH.

[–] CarolTheDabbler (518) 2 years ago

Thanks for your input! I agree with both of you, especially as regards things disappearing from streaming sources. They do sometimes come back again -- in fact some things seem to pop right back up shortly after being taken down -- but that's a bit iffy.

Having the DVD on my shelf doesn't mean I can't watch the same thing on YouTube, though -- sometimes it's just handier.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 2 years ago

Carol, streaming video is compressed. Even in Standard Definition, so-called “rich media”
take up enormous bandwidth. Hard media—optical discs—are uncompressed. A compressed data stream needs to be uncompressed when delivered to the end user. This Compression/Decompression (CODEC) results in inevitable data loss and degradation.

Streaming is convenient. Hard media deliver much higher fidelity.

Mea culpa: I use both! Sue me. I’m human, hence, imperfect.

[–] CarolTheDabbler (518) 2 years ago

Thanks for that info, R_Kane. Our internet service is barely adequate for streaming, so we just watch the occasional Amazon Prime video and mostly buy DVDs. I had always wondered how they could transmit stuff over the internet in real time, though -- should have guessed it was some sort of compression algorithm, but somehow that never occurred to me.

I do wish we had access to cable, though -- not so much for watching TV, mostly for faster internet service!