There are indeed a lot of people who completely dismiss good things because they’re not perfect.

But I‘d argue „hurdle to use“ goes a bit further.
UX is obviously a part of that. It’s the main reason you can’t make me touch gimp, for example.

But, on top of that, a lot of those foss programs require a more involved setup, especially if you want all features to work. Getting hardware de-/encoding to work in kdenlive, for example, isn’t necessarily something everyone can easily do but something that’s absolutely necessary for professional use.

And of course there’s the endless gamble, whether the foss community will happily aid you or curse you, when you’re asking for guidance.
Or if the tutorials and documentation need you to use the terminal for setup or certain features.
Most paid software has both a large community of users (forums, tutorials) and is polished to an extent that every idiot can install and start using it.

That’s what I mean with hurdle. I’m personally tech savvy enough, that I could deal with any problem that might occur, even if I‘m not willing to learn a developer designed UI, but lots of people I know would not.

That’s why, for example, for video editing software, I love to recommend DaVinci resolve. It’s closed source but it’s free, polished n powerful. (And in my humble opinion better that Adobe premiere in every single way). Good software doesn’t have to cost anything, but it also doesn’t always have to be foss either. There’s a middle ground.

I read it more as a critique on the self-satisfied recommendation for something that just isn’t the drop in replacement they’re making it out to be.

Don’t get me wrong, I love foss software. 3 out of 4 computers in my household run linux and I‘ve converted a handful of people already.

However, I couldn’t and wouldn’t replace photoshop with gimp/krita, premiere or davinci with kdenlive, etc. for the time being. Not because they’re bad but because I use them professionally and cannot take any risks. Adobe is shit but their software is a known quantity.

Privately, I would never pay for Adobe (not paying anyways, my boss does). And for personal use and maybe smaller (somewhat tech savvy) freelancers, I‘d absolutely recommend everyone at least try the FOSS alternatives.

But, I‘d never go „um akhtshually, foss program xy is just as good as adobe program xy“. Because while they might be as powerful in theory, that doesn’t help if they’re a hurdle to use.

The optimal viewing distance of a 65“ TV is somewhere between 1.98m and 2.69m for it to fill out 30-40° of our field of vision, as recommended by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), for an immersive „cinematic“ watching experience.

My TV is about 2.5m away from my couch and I’m quite happy with the size, although, if price didn’t play a role, I‘d have gone with another size up (77“). Although I admit, it’s not the most practical size and it’s not for everyone. It does take up a lot of space.

However with 42“ you’re definitely sacrificing quality. Or at least I would be at the 2.5m distance I sit from my TV. The vast majority of people (me included) could not discern any difference between a FullHD and a UHD image there. Our eyes simply do not have that resolution (measured at up to 94 pixels per degree). Even my 65“ at the aforementioned 2.5m distance has a higher resolution than my eyes.

So >=65“ is the only normal size for a normal home, if one actually wants a home cinema and actually not sacrifice on quality, detail and immersion.

People who watch movies or tv series a lot and who care about image quality? Couch gamers? I couldn’t get a decent 65“ monitor. But my TV has a very good image, supports 2160p with 144Hz, VRR, HDR, etc.
And at no point did my TV force me to go online. I can 100% just ignore the software. What more could I want?

How loud do you need it to be that a decent stereo system won’t manage?

I‘d prefer two large speakers over 7 small ones, unless I’m watching a movie with surround sound. And even then I‘d prefer 5 larger ones over 7 smaller ones.

Well apparently

Nop. Very real. There’s a LinusTechTips video about them from a few years ago. Some people just love to buy snakeoil

If all you do is listening to music then a decent stereo system is all anyone could ever need.
5.1 is surround sound, only really good for movies (although there, surround is worth a lot for immersiveness)

Yea, 4K BluRays are a minefield. I’m not getting anything before checking some picture quality reviews.

I‘d argue, that’s what one does when comparing equipment. But as soon as one has found the right equipment, the goal is still enjoying the music.

Exceptions are of course the kind of audiophile who constantly need newer and better equipment and especially the kind of audiophiles who buy „audiophile network switches“ so the bits of their tidal subscription come through „cleaner“.

Most of us just want to get the most out of our favourite songs.

Well you still need a decent pair of cans to properly hear the barf on the recording

Was one of the first movies we watched on my flatmates new sound system back in university. Had to shut off his subwoofer when our downstairs neighbour came knocking, screaming at us…

Uh, unironically my fav 3D animated Disney movie. Will definitely give it a try, thanks!

Noted. Thanks.

Oh yea, I‘ve heard about the terminator 2 uhd bluray disaster. Just makes me sad…

Thanks for the recommendations!

Oh yea. That one’s already on my list. Wanted to rewatch it regardless and after reading they made a pristine 4K rerelease based on an all new 8K scan of the original negatives, that plan was sealed.

Isn‘t the UHD release of Mad Max: Fury Road just an upscale of the 2K intermediate?

I actually knew about lotr being a 2K upscale. But at least it’s a decent one unlike many others.
But generally, all those upscaled 4K releases just make me sad.
Luckily there are some Studios that care enough to create new film scans, new intermediates and proper 4K releases.

For lotr I still love watching the DVDs. Their colours are just beautiful although the resolution will probably not do too well on my new 65“ TV.

Unsure, but after a quick web search, the Studiocanal 4K BluRay release supposedly is really good.
I’ll add it to my List. Wanted to watch Fifth Element anyways. Thanks.

Thanks, I do love me some documentaries and space-stuff, so I’ll definitely check those out!