...challenging times...

[rogerailes]

Don't worry, I'm not going down the whiny path of "Anystream is dead", nor am I going to play the "I paid for a lifetime subscription"-song.

I'm not going to complain about the quality and responsiveness of support, nor am I going to insult anybody in this forum, though I must admit that, what I'd like to call "this-forum's-Chevron-like-fanboy-cult" I perceive to be a bit questionable too, just like someone else did a couple of days ago.

My point isn't "the monkey did it, why can't you?" either.

However, here comes my point:
it's been around five weeks since the content providers shut down Anystream, and though some functionality has come back, we will all agree easily that a 540p-resolution-stream that provides one quarter of the HD standard in terms of picture quality is simply not OK for a 2022 product.

If it takes so long to catch up with a change that the providers can repeat quickly whenever they like, then I wonder whether perhaps the Anystream development team is simply way too small, particularly when a couple of days off for holidays do bring progress to a halt, right in the middle of a catastrophic functionality breakdown.

Is it possible that right now only one or two developers are working on the code, when ten to fifteen should be an adequate team size?

Would you agree that adding a few heads to the team would be an appropriate step towards gaining back reputation?

 

[Ch3vr0n]

You're not going to insult anyone, yet the next part you say is pretty much a direct insult to me and the users that like their products. So that argument goes straight out the window.

It may not be OK by YOUR standards, but have you actually read the product page description before you bough it? Cause it's pretty clear. https://www.redfox.bz/en/anystream.html


Now as to the development team being small. Whether that's true or not, have you ever though about the fact that it's not very easy find skilled developers? Cause 1. Redfox isn't a company, they have no central office or bank account. So paying ppl isn't easy. Then there's the small thing about it doesn't exactly look good on one's resume "i help create products that circumvent digital copyright protections on physical and streaming media". Just because they might WANT to add more developers to the product, doesn't mean its easy to do. And the less ppl work on something, the less of a risk of things falling into the wrong hands, sensitive info leaking out to the wrong parties, the less code gets cluttered because each person has their own way of writing code.

"Gaining back reputation?" Please, RedFox's reputation is just fine.

 

[DigitalfreakNYC]

we will all agree easily that a 540p-resolution-stream that provides one quarter of the HD standard in terms of picture quality is simply not OK for a 2022 product.

540p is 1/4 of 1080p? Wanna....do that math....again?

 

[rogerailes]

You're not going to insult anyone, yet the next part you say is pretty much a direct insult to me

No, sorry, that's not the case. I believe there is a line between an insult and legitimate critizism, and I believe you're smart enough to see that line.
Your communicative behaviour creates the impression that your admiration towards Redfox makes you spend a lot of time of your life in this forum. Therefore the term "fanboy".
If that hurts your feelings, please accept my apologies and let's come to the core of the argument.

It may not be OK by YOUR standards, but have you actually read the product page description before you bough it?

That is entirely irrelevant.
The point is: the picture quality is bad.
DVD quality is 1995.

Now as to the development team being small. Whether that's true or not, have you ever though about the fact that it's not very easy find skilled developers?

Yes, believe me, I have.
I do make a living of software development, so I am very familiar with the job market.
However, this topic's an important problem that appears to be in need of a solution.

"Gaining back reputation?" Please, RedFox's reputation is just fine.

Well, that's an opinion, and you're free to say it.
However, there is a degradation in functionality and quality that people do observe.
And not having fixed these issues for so much time isn't actually helping to back up your opinion.

 

[ryley]

540p is 1/4 of 1080p? Wanna....do that math....again?

I'm not sure if I'd say 540p is half or a quarter the resolution of 1080p but it does have a quarter (960 * 540 = 518400) of the total pixel count of 1080p (1920 * 1080 = 2073600)

 

[rogerailes]

540p is 1/4 of 1080p? Wanna....do that math....again?

Yes, it's 1/2 in vertical and 1/2 in horizontal resolution.
1/2*1/2=1/4.

 

[Ch3vr0n]

That is entirely irrelevant.
The point is: the picture quality is bad.
DVD quality is 1995.

It's not irrelevant, it's an blatant fact. If DVD quality is so 1995, then why do studios still bring out productions on physical DVD media and not exclusively (UHD) BD? Right, not everyone has a blu-ray player, not everyone has (U)HD capable TV's. My very own dad still uses an old-school 32" CRT based TV, he's got no plans on replacing it until it breaks and it shows no signs of doing that. It may not be very well optimized screen resolution wise towards the HD streams coming from the cable provider but it does very well show them just fine.

Just because something's old, doesn't make it entirely obsolete.

And yeah i admire their products, i've used a ton of different ones in the past including that lousy monkey, and none of them even come close to RedFox/Elaborate Bytes.

 

[RedFox 1]

Don't worry, I'm not going down the whiny path of "Anystream is dead", nor am I going to play the "I paid for a lifetime subscription"-song.

I'm not going to complain about the quality and responsiveness of support, nor am I going to insult anybody in this forum, though I must admit that, what I'd like to call "this-forum's-Chevron-like-fanboy-cult" I perceive to be a bit questionable too, just like someone else did a couple of days ago.

My point isn't "the monkey did it, why can't you?" either.

By pointing out all these, you have achieved what you said you didn't want to but said it anyway and that's fine. Everyone who has a lifetime subscription to the program still has it. Now I am going to ignore your posts because I thought the whole post was obvious and rude. If you want to talk about the monkey please do it in the third party forum.

 

[powederburned]

I've been watching people complain about how "unacceptable" the timeline has been for what is essentially breaking encryption algorithms for a while now.

Do you all think that you bought a copy of MS Office or something?

The argument has been made that RedFox isn't a company, sorry, I'm not buying that. They charge money for a product that requires registration keys that the product calls home to validate and the developers are compensated by the sales. It's a company - kind of.

That said, anyone who believes that RedFox is a traditional company with the ability to operate independently in a market is also kidding themselves. Their "products" are entirely dependent on being able to circumvent copy protections. These are "backup" tools made to back up something that the content creators work hard to prevent backups. How long do you think this model can last?

I remember Slysoft as I would assume you all do too. You act like that isn't going to happen to RedFox too? Come on!

Give the developers a break! Have a bit of patience. However, there will come a time when this project/company may not be able to provide what you are demanding. So, enjoy it while you can.

 

[DigitalfreakNYC]

Yes, it's 1/2 in vertical and 1/2 in horizontal resolution.
1/2*1/2=1/4.

That's very interesting math

 

[rogerailes]

That's very interesting math

No, that's straightforward. Four SD frames fit losslessly into one HD frame.
An upscaled SD stream might be just what Chevron's dad loves watching, for most others it's a 75% degradation in picture quality from HD.

 

[0x0x0x0x0]

That maths is fine: resolution is two-dimensional, not one-dimensional, it's the same difference as a relation between a metre and a foot, and a square metre and a square foot: while 1m is 3.28 feet, 1 sq. m. is 10.76 sq. ft.

Having said that, RF did exactly the same the previous time when Prime DRM changed and then switched to Full HD, so this release is hardly surprising given how things were done in the past...

 

[Ch3vr0n]

An upscaled SD stream might be just what Chevron's dad loves watching, for most others it's a 75% degradation in picture quality from HD.

It's not that he "loves" watching that, it's just that he's from the principle that, if it aint broken then why replace it? He's retired, so there's not sense in replacing a fully functional device just for the sake of replacing and getting HD image. That's all. Can't blame him.

 

[coltracer]

I understand the frustration of many people with anystream not working perfectly at the moment....but sometimes I think people are just plain greedy. I've paid 159EUR for a lifetime subscription and have already downloaded movies and series worth much more in total (comparing the price of physical media). So I've already gotten a damn good deal. Even if redfox were to vanish suddenly, I couldn't say I was ripped off. Come on people. Do you think you own the right to mirror all of APs, NFs, and Disneys content and get pissed, if there are problems? Do you understand that what you are doing is in violation with the terms of use of the streaming providers? Jeez, be happy with what you got for once and give the guys a break. I'm sure that it will work again soon.

 

[Steve55]

540p is 1/4 of 1080p? Wanna....do that math....again?

Well, in round numbers, yes it is actually! 540p is 960x540 and 1080p is 1920x1080 so the factor is 1/4, except for the buffer region and stuff

 

[Calleo]

I understand the frustration of many people with anystream not working perfectly at the moment....but sometimes I think people are just plain greedy. I've paid 159EUR for a lifetime subscription and have already downloaded movies and series worth much more in total (comparing the price of physical media). So I've already gotten a damn good deal. Even if redfox were to vanish suddenly, I couldn't say I was ripped off. Come on people. Do you think you own the right to mirror all of APs, NFs, and Disneys content and get pissed, if there are problems? Do you understand that what you are doing is in violation with the terms of use of the streaming providers? Jeez, be happy with what you got for once and give the guys a break. I'm sure that it will work again soon.

Ditto for me; well said. Get a life, folks.

 

[Pegasus]

Don't worry, I'm not going down the whiny path of "Anystream is dead", nor am I going to play the "I paid for a lifetime subscription"-song.

Actually you did
You just did it in a "reverse psychology" way, but yes....you did