(Topic ID: 288116)

Physical Movie Media Enthusiasts - DVD, Blu-Ray, LaserDisc, VHS, etc

By ForceFlow

3 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 120 posts
  • 39 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 7 months ago by Crash
  • Topic is favorited by 9 Pinsiders

You

Topic poll

“What physical movie media do you have?”

  • Film Reels 9 votes
    2%
  • Cassettes 29 votes
    8%
  • VHS 60 votes
    16%
  • Betamax 5 votes
    1%
  • DVD 85 votes
    23%
  • LaserDisc 27 votes
    7%
  • CED 4 votes
    1%
  • HD DVD 23 votes
    6%
  • Blu-Ray 79 votes
    22%
  • 4k UHD 35 votes
    10%
  • Other 11 votes
    3%

(Multiple choice - 367 votes by 93 Pinsiders)

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#35 3 years ago

I enjoy physical media and have a ton of DVD's and Blu Ray's. An uncle of mine got me into film, especially foreign films, and after he passed away my aunt gave me his collection of Criterion DVD's, probably 150 + films. I have those proudly being displayed on a shelf and will never get rid of them.

With that being said for 4K and beyond I'm going digital through Apple Movies. I never thought I would say that as I've been a die hard physical media forever guy for years but the quality, convenience, and price of digital movies on Apple Movies won me over. Apples bitrate is highest in the industry and their compression technology is probably the best. Apple is offering a peak bit rate of around 30Mb/s for movies and 40Mb/s for Apple TV + shows while Amazon Prime peaks around 15 Mb/s and about the same with Netflix which is disappointing. Disney + isn't much better, around 15 Mb/s but I've read some reports of it being a bit higher.

I just can't stomach buying the same movies on yet another physical format, I mean how many copies of Back to the Future can one own? lol. Bought it on VHS, then DVD, and finally Blu Ray. I passed on the physical 4K versions and bought them on Apple Movies in 4K for $15 during a sale. Pricing on Apple Movies, especially during sales as mentioned, is really good. I picked up the entire Lord of the Rings and Hobbit extended 4K trilogies for $50 this past Christmas. The 4k Blu Ray's would have been over $200 at the time, even $160 now on sale. I just can't do it.

The video below is a professional comparison between 4K Ultra Blu Ray vs streaming on Apple TV 4K. The results are surprisingly close. The 4K Ultra Blu Ray looks slightly better in some parts but its not very noticeable, not enough personally to sway me. For my setup I have an Apple TV 4K wired to my router with a 500Mbps internet connection and movies (plus Apple TV + shows which run at an even higher bit rate) look amazing.

#42 3 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Totally anecdotal, but I bought the original Star Wars on 4K and realized we didn't have a 4k player (thought the kid's PS4 Pro would handle it. nope), so we streamed over Disney+. Later when I got a proper 4k bluray player, and did a comparison - again, it's anectodal, but I could not tell the difference if you put a gun to my head. Black levels same (we have an LG OLED tv so I'm real sensitive to proper black levels), no crushing, colors popped, no compression issues, colors look same, even when measured with my SpyderX. Pretty damn impressive. I'm surprised to read that the bitrates are so much lower than AppleTv.

That's really impressive to hear, wow. Sounds like Disney + is using some great compression tech. For under $10 a month it's hard to beat and it's also nice that Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos are supported.

#46 3 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Just noticed you mentioned the LOTR 4ks - worth it? I think they have a bigger box coming out later this year. I was holding off, but for $50 I will get over buying it twice!

I think the 4K digital editions of Lord of the Rings and Hobbit extended trilogies are worth the upgrade over the Blu Ray's. The picture does look sharper versus the Blu Ray's but does lose some of the film grain look, almost as if digital noise reduction was applied. The color palette has also changed which I think makes the LOTR films look more vivid and not as washed out in some scenes. The big upgrade I like over the Blu Ray's is the additional of Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos. I recently setup a Dolby Atmos 5.2.1 setup in my basement and have been very impressed by it. It's also nice to never have to swap disks for the second half of the films and special features. The Lord of the Rings 4K trilogy was $25 on sale from Apple Movies and same with the Hobbit trilogy this past Christmas.

#56 3 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

So does anyone have a recommendation for a 4k player ? I’ve got one that’s “fine” but loading times are getting on my nerves.
I’m also in the market for a new CD player - thinking going Oppo but wanted to see what else is out there

It's a bummer that Oppo stopped making physical media players last year. Many of their players are now selling for 2-3x their original price on Ebay. I have an Oppp 103-D Blu Ray player and it's been great, wish I had bought the Ultra HD version when it was still available at $550 versus $1k+ on the secondary market.

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