4K stream vs Blu-Ray disc

[Krimreaper]

How does a good quality 4K stream, such as from Apple TV vs a Blu-ray Disc compare on average as far as compression and bit rate?

[solarrdadd]

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Krimreaper

How does a good quality 4K stream, such as from Apple TV vs a Blu-ray Disc compare on average as far as compression and bit rate?

Streaming has come a long way, but you have to try it for your self and see how it compares with your setup. The Average Bitrate for a BD is 20Mbps, and 4K Streams are 25Mbps, but iTunes have been recorded around 30Mbps. With my setup IMO HD Streaming compares to BD, with 4K Streaming looking better. You just have to try it out for yourself and see how it looks to you.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Streaming has come a long way, but you have to try it for your self and see how it compares with your setup. The Average Bitrate for a BD is 20Mbps, and 4K Streams are 25Mbps, but iTunes have been recorded around 30Mbps. With my setup IMO HD Streaming compares to BD, with 4K Streaming looking better. You just have to try it out for yourself and see how it looks to you.

Just as a FYI, HD SDR BD plays at a combined bitrate of 20 to 40 Mbps, while a 4K UHD BD plays usually 50 to a bit above 100 Mbps. This average streaming rate you have 4K streaming occur is the best it can do.

A 4K iTunes streaming at 25 Mbps or 30 Mbps is going to show artifacts in very dark or very bright scenes where a 4K UHD BD won’t. Even comparing HD streaming versus HD BD is quite a difference. Some might be happy enough with that.

I remember watching the Croods on Netflix in HD, then got the BD and wow the colors and contrast was so much better comparably.
Yeah animation is a good test. Watching Despicable 4K on ITunes, versus from ones UHD BD also shows the improvement.

But yeah saw this question and thought it’s a bit mismatched, but it’s best to do your own comparisons!

[JohnAV]

This might help also

Apple TV 4K iTunes Movies (Dolby Vision HDR) vs 4K Blu-ray - YouTube

[mdo7]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

This might help also

Apple TV 4K iTunes Movies (Dolby Vision HDR) vs 4K Blu-ray - YouTube

And I'm going to add these video(s) from film at home who explain in great detail about how 4K UHD blu-ray is superior to 4K streaming:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcC1Gj1wtls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVJtTBo00Ts

Disclaimer: I don't own or have any UHD TV or 4K UHD blu-rays.

But when it comes to viewing experience, I know that blu-ray outdo streaming when it comes to image and video quality.

[Comp625]

New poster here (but long-time lurker). This has been a very helpful thread so I appreciate everyone's input (especially the part about how audio bitrate is limited to accommodate ARC and Optical).

Going forward, if I care about video quality but not enough to splurge on the disc, I'll probably only redeem on a platform that links to MoviesAnywhere (or to purchase directly from them, if available).

Question: can you guys summarize the risk of VUDU, FandangoNow, Microsoft, etc. backing out of their linking agreements with MoviesAnywhere? Most of my library sits with VUDU, so I'd hate to see them one day back out.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Comp625

Question: can you guys summarize the risk of VUDU, FandangoNow, Microsoft, etc. backing out of their linking agreements with MoviesAnywhere? Most of my library sits with VUDU, so I'd hate to see them one day back out.

I would suggest that you read the TOS/EULA of the content owners and providers then make your own decision. Just be aware that most all of them state: This TOS/EULA can be changed at anytime, without notice and can be changed in whole or in part. If you want access to said content you have to agree to these terms.

I have several disc-to-streaming titles, some outright purchases and dozens of redeemed codes from my disc purchases. If one day they ask for more money to continue streaming any given title then I will decide if I want to ante up or let it go. I would only do this for disc-to-streaming or outright purchased titles. I never watch a streaming title if I have the same title on disc.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Comp625

Question: can you guys summarize the risk of VUDU, FandangoNow, Microsoft, etc. backing out of their linking agreements with MoviesAnywhere? Most of my library sits with VUDU, so I'd hate to see them one day back out.

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

I would suggest that you read the TOS/EULA of the content owners and providers then make your own decision. Just be aware that most all of them state: This TOS/EULA can be changed at anytime, without notice and can be changed in whole or in part. If you want access to said content you have to agree to these terms.

Don't let these guys scare you, these TOS also go for Discs. I have been with Vudu for many years my Collection there is 700+, never lost anything. Your Collection is in Vudu, the Linking only Ports to other Providers. If you purchase or redeem codes in Vudu, the Link doesn't affect those items.

Since the purchase of Vudu by Fandango the service has only gotten better. They have all the latest releases at good prices, and some great sales. I have bought $5 4K UHD Movies like Breakdown, Inception, and Like a Boss. Bought and watched Ford vs Ferrari for $10 in 4K UHD. What a great Movie!

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by mdo7

But when it comes to viewing experience, I know that blu-ray outdo streaming when it comes to image and video quality.

I would hope so. You're paying $15 to $20 for a single movie versus $7 to $15 for a whole month's worth of streaming content.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

I would hope so. You're paying $15 to $20 for a single movie versus $7 to $15 for a whole month's worth of streaming content.

Why are you comparing pay TV to ownership?

[BluLobsta]

I will stream stuff like Upload (Prime series) in 4K which I don't want to own but has nice PQ/AQ to watch something at night without too much investment. Blade Runner 2049, on the other hand, immediately went into my library. I want to own it. I want to touch it and caress it. Wait. Wait. I was thinking about Joi for a second. Anyway, I want the lossless audio and 58 Mbps bitrate video codec on a virtually instantaneous connection. Streaming is convenience. Ownership is passion.

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Why are you comparing pay TV to ownership?

Get used to it. He hates physical media and doesn’t care about image quality or presentation. Just saying it like it is. He also doesn’t get that owning something isn’t the same as a glorified rental. And don’t forget the other positives of ownership. They can’t remove it, they can’t edit it, they can’t mess with it at all. It’s yours. Forever. Best quality presentation possible. Period. And the post above mine is yet another reason discs are great: some great content just isn’t available to be streamed and might never be. Then what?

Anyways, streaming overall is decent but you MUST have a crackin' internet connection and even then it still doesn’t measure up to discs. No way it can. Has streaming quality improved? Yes, but I also attribute that to our faster and faster internet connections as much as anything. The masses don’t care about quality so Netflix, Disney, whoever are only going to provide the bare minimum regarding presentation bandwidth. Most consumers won’t notice or just live with it. And remember, the average "Joe" has a middle-tier or worse LCD with bad picture quality anyways. Then they mount it over the fireplace and leave it on torch mode out of the box. You could watch VHS on that setup and won’t see any difference between that and 4K. Sorry, just being realistic.

[mdo7]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

I would hope so. You're paying $15 to $20 for a single movie versus $7 to $15 for a whole month's worth of streaming content.

Yeah well good luck finding One Missed Call on streaming (I can't find any of the 3 films on Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc...)

And how the hell am I supposed to watch Gatchaman if it's not available on Netflix, or Amazon Prime. And you expect me to pay $48 per year on HiDive just so I can watch Gatchaman, the one anime I adored so much.

Sorry, I'm not going to waste $48 per year since I already have a subscription for Disney+, and other stuff.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Krimreaper

How does a good quality 4K stream, such as from Apple TV vs a Blu-ray Disc compare on average as far as compression and bit rate?

This has been covered ad nauseam for video.

On the audio side both Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray offer high bit rate lossless (Dolby and DTS) on most titles and will average between 3 to 5 Mbps with peaks sometimes hitting 10 to 15 Mbps. Most streaming is done in lossy Dolby Digital + at 192 Kbps. Some streaming titles with Dolby Digital+ Atmos will have 384 or 448 Kbps.

3-D: Blu-ray use frame packed 3-D (full resolution both eyes) while streaming uses SbS or ToB (either ½ V resolution or ½ H resolution).

Ownership: Disc are cover by the First Sale Doctrine, streaming titles are not. Strongly suggest you read the TOS/EULA of each provider and each content owner (studios).

Apple 4K TV: If you watch anything other than 23.976 fps you may want to read thru this AVS thread.

From an email from Vudu to me this day:

This email is a Vudu service message.
Please note that all product prices and availability are subject to change.

[stonesfan129]

Compared to a standard Blu-ray? Well for one, 2160p vs 1080p. Compared to a 4K Blu-ray, the disc has much higher bitrate and lossless audio compared to the stream. If you care how it looks and sounds, get the disc. The real benefit to streaming isn't the quality, it's the convenience.

[pirateman1650]

Anything being streamed is going to be of lesser quality than physical media because of lower bitrates which means less color definition, and a softer image. So physical disc media will always look better. Although I have found a way to midigate some of the problems with streaming. I found a solution to enhancing my streams a bit. How? Let's start from what I stated in the beginning. A compressed image is going to be duller ,more washed out, and softer, right? So if we use some of the picture settings on our TV in the right way, we can fix some of these issues. So start with the color to 50 and slowly increase it until the image retains a little more vibrancy, while making sure skin tones still look natural. Remember, the image is washed out already so boosting the color slightly will not effect image quality as long as the colors aren't bleeding or overly saturated. I have mine set to 54 out of 100. Now we deal with the softness. Take the sharpness tool, starting from 0 and slowly increase it until the image is clean and crisp, but not overly sharpened (we don't want to add to many extra artifacts!). All we are trying to do is bring the sharpness up to the correct amount. For example mine is set to 3 out of 100. So if we keep the setting low we minimize extra artifacts. You may also use noise reduction set to low. So how do you test this. You compare it to the Blu-ray. You play both the stream and then the Blu-ray on the same scene, then adjust the picture accordingly until the stream looks as close to the bluray as possible. Make sure you use a different video mode other than cinema when adjusting the stream and Cinema mode when watching the bluray. When you like what you've done save and name the video mode. I named my Stream. You might be surprised by the results! It won't be exact, but it will look much better than before and be more pleasing to the eye.

[Mr. Joshua]

Well I'm about to debunk the myth of physical media 4K blu-ray is better than 4K streaming as everyone gets caught up in bitrates and compression... So just read this article...

https://hometheaterreview.com/home-c...future-is-now/

Now audio is a different story..,

[bhampton]

I use both like most people.

I only buy physical and the online version is often included free.

At home the quality and reliability of physical wins easily. Away from home I use the online version.

I don’t live alone and I don’t pay for very fast internet (bonded DSL 25Mbs.) When I watch a movie, I’m not hogging bandwidth that is shared with 4 other users. My kids use online learning and need the internet for that.

I don’t trust online movies at all so I only redeem them when they are free. I don’t care if they become unavailable in the future. I wouldn’t care if my online movies disappeared because I stopped buying them a while ago. Anything I have in iTunes or VUDU that I like I pick up the disc version.

-Brian.

[cgpublic]

Originally Posted by Krimreaper

How does a good quality 4K stream, such as from Apple TV vs a Blu-ray Disc compare on average as far as compression and bit rate?

Here's the thing. Not only is this question not about compression and bit rate, it's also not a question that can be answered by anyone else other than yourself because it's about how it looks on your specific set-up in your room. Anyone who tells you otherwise is confusing the issue and making the decision about themselves and their own personal biases other than your best interest.

Do you have eyes? Well, use them.