Using Video Game Consoles as Blu-ray Players vs. Purchasing a Blu-ray Player - Blu-ray Forum

samadams12pack · 12-26-2018, 10:34 PM

So here's a question that has been on my mind for a while. I plan on eventually getting both the Xbox One and the PS4 for my home theater setup (I want the PS4 while my girlfriend wants the Xbox One) and I've wondered if it is even worth purchasing a Blu-ray player just by itself. I will only be purchasing Blu-ray and DVD titles that are region A and/or region-free and I am a film buff who loves to watch thousands of films. Should I not purchase a Blu-ray player in lieu of just playing my Blu-ray discs on either the Xbox One or PS4 or should I purchase a Blu-ray player by itself?

slimdude · 12-26-2018, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samadams12pack

So here's a question that has been on my mind for a while. I plan on eventually getting both the Xbox One and the PS4 for my home theater setup (I want the PS4 while my girlfriend wants the Xbox One) and I've wondered if it is even worth purchasing a Blu-ray player just by itself. I will only be purchasing Blu-ray and DVD titles that are region A and/or region-free and I am a film buff who loves to watch thousands of films. Should I not purchase a Blu-ray player in lieu of just playing my Blu-ray discs on either the Xbox One or PS4 or should I purchase a Blu-ray player by itself?

If you're not contemplating on upgrading to 4K in the near future, you can use the your game consoles as a blu-ray player. But if you do want 4K, then yes you would want a standalone Blu-ray player.

Rayjaymay · 12-26-2018, 11:14 PM

The Xbox One S is also a 4K Blu-ray player.

samadams12pack · 12-26-2018, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slimdude

If you're not contemplating on upgrading to 4K in the near future, you can use the your game consoles as a blu-ray player. But if you do want 4K, then yes you would want a standalone Blu-ray player.

Well my TV is a Samsung MU6070 58-inch LED 4K TV, but I have no interest in purchasing a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player to play those discs. Does putting a Blu-ray disc in either a Xbox One or PS4 affect the storage on the console?

albertbj · 12-26-2018, 11:31 PM

I have no experience with the Xbox One or PS4, but I used my PS3 as my primary Blu-ray player for several years, and it served me just fine. However, I eventually decided to get a stand-alone player because I didn't want to risk wearing out the BD drive in the PS3. So, that may be something to consider. As for storage, when I was using my PS3 to watch Blu-rays, there would sometimes be some data that would get stored on the hard drive, but the amount was usually negligible.

Chloenator · 12-27-2018, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rayjaymay

The Xbox One S is also a 4K Blu-ray player.

This is true. However, I did buy a standalone 4K player to play my 4K movies on. I wanted to use my Xbox One S for gaming and not wear out the laser playing 4K discs on it as well. I wanna get as much life out of my Xbox One S as possible.

slimdude · 12-27-2018, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samadams12pack

Well my TV is a Samsung MU6070 58-inch LED 4K TV, but I have no interest in purchasing a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player to play those discs.

But don't you want to get the optimum picture quality from your 4KTV that also features HDR and HDR10+? If you don't stream your movies and other 4K content, a 4K Blu-ray player is a must have, with your 4KTV.

Quote:

Originally Posted by samadams12pack

Does putting a Blu-ray disc in either a Xbox One or PS4 affect the storage on the console?

albertbj has answered this question for you.

dickdarlington · 01-02-2019, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chloenator

This is true. However, I did buy a standalone 4K player to play my 4K movies on. I wanted to use my Xbox One S for gaming and not wear out the laser playing 4K discs on it as well. I wanna get as much life out of my Xbox One S as possible.

I have both a Xbox One S and a Xbox One X and here’s how many times I’ve used the disc drive on it for gaming: 0.

Even if one didn’t download games digitally, the only time you’re using the drive is when it’s installing the game for the first time. Every time after that it’s just checking to see if the disc is in the drive to make sure you can open up the game. The use of the drive itself is miniscule. The same applies to Sony and the PS4.

This is why there have been rumblings that future consoles will ditch the disc drive because it’s become almost unnecessary. Microsoft adding 4K UHD support to the S and X is what gave them a competitive edge over Sony as the PS4 Pro opted to keep the standard Blu-ray disc drive.

SixSpeedSamurai · 01-03-2019, 02:52 PM

I use my X for movies and with the exception of one Transformers movie, it's played everything just fine (it was probably doing me a favor really LOL).

I play a lot of games, and I do prefer discs, but I have a good amount of digital from sales and Games of the Month.

steve_dave · 01-03-2019, 09:01 PM

My PS3 was my trusty Blu-ray for several years until I got the One S.

Now the One S is my primary player and while it does the job it has quirks:

The user interface is limited, you can’t access the color buttons without more button presses than necessary. This makes enjoying some special features difficult.

Audio is limited to either whatever the XBox is set to or if you use HDMI, it’ll send the audio over for the receiver to decode. But optical is limited to whatever the XBox is set to.

The DVD upscaler is horrible compared to my PS3. 1080 to 2160p upscaling is fine.

The controller is too big and sensitive to use for browsing media. You’ll want a remote.

4K discs are limited to HDR10, Dolby Vision is for Netflix only. (for now)

Mantis128 · 03-01-2019, 05:35 AM

One thing you might want to consider is wear and tear. A disc drive being used for both games and movies might wear out faster than if you used separate devices.

urrutiap · 03-01-2019, 10:06 PM

I use my Playstation 3 to play Playstation 3 games while I have a Sony blu ray player watch movies for blu ray and DVD.

Too bad they cant play the new 4K stuff since I bought Evil Dead II 4K blu ray last month or so but I only needed it for the regular blu ray disc for the old bonus features which is good enough for me

peep6543 · 03-02-2019, 02:17 AM

I've used the same One S for games, Blu, 4k UHD and the occasional DVD for a little over two years with zero issues. I think some people claim it's not a great 4k player but it looks fine to me.

mrveggieman · 03-06-2019, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samadams12pack

So here's a question that has been on my mind for a while. I plan on eventually getting both the Xbox One and the PS4 for my home theater setup (I want the PS4 while my girlfriend wants the Xbox One) and I've wondered if it is even worth purchasing a Blu-ray player just by itself. I will only be purchasing Blu-ray and DVD titles that are region A and/or region-free and I am a film buff who loves to watch thousands of films. Should I not purchase a Blu-ray player in lieu of just playing my Blu-ray discs on either the Xbox One or PS4 or should I purchase a Blu-ray player by itself?

I know I'm late to the party but I would never purchase a stand alone DVD or blu ray player. That makes no sense to me. Why would I pay the same if not more for something with less features?

stratford · 04-27-2019, 08:14 AM

mrveggieman the proper tools for any job make things easier. That is like saying I'll use my Golf buggy with a trailer to do the weekly shopping. It might save money but a Camaro would be easier and quicker.

stratford · 04-27-2019, 08:26 AM

People in general consoles are all well and good untill you suddenly find that a multi region solution is needed. Usually TV shows be it Friends or Top Gear comes to Disc first in the country where it is broadcast first. Also the multi media remote is an added expense. Some movies i.e. Fisherman's Friends come to Europe first

jtu128 · 04-27-2019, 11:15 AM

If you’ve waited this long you may as well hold off a bit longer. Both Sony and Microsoft are rumored to release their new systems within the next year.

stratford · 04-27-2019, 01:30 PM

jtu128 Yes the next gen consoles are a good idea if you don't want to play disc movies on them. Microsoft I believe all ready have a disc free console

jtu128 · 04-28-2019, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stratford

jtu128 Yes the next gen consoles are a good idea if you don't want to play disc movies on them. Microsoft I believe all ready have a disc free console

I don’t see Sony going that route. They already confirmed the new system will be backwards compatible. Also, Sony is pretty deep in physical media while Microsoft has no stakes.

J_0ne · 08-19-2019, 07:49 PM

I have a One X and yes it will play a 4k disc but picture quality is almost the same as streaming 4k content. If you want to get all the benefits from a 4k disc you will see a noticeable difference in quality by getting a dedicated 4k Player. Keep in mind, you will need a top quality display to get the best results. If all you have is a $600 4k TV from WalyWorld and upgrade the player you will not be impressed by the results and in such case I will suggest you stick with the gaming console.

12-26-2018, 10:34 PM	#1
samadams12pack Member Member since:Feb 2016 Blu-ray collection:4 Trading Score:1	Using Video Game Consoles as Blu-ray Players vs. Purchasing a Blu-ray Player So here's a question that has been on my mind for a while. I plan on eventually getting both the Xbox One and the PS4 for my home theater setup (I want the PS4 while my girlfriend wants the Xbox One) and I've wondered if it is even worth purchasing a Blu-ray player just by itself. I will only be purchasing Blu-ray and DVD titles that are region A and/or region-free and I am a film buff who loves to watch thousands of films. Should I not purchase a Blu-ray player in lieu of just playing my Blu-ray discs on either the Xbox One or PS4 or should I purchase a Blu-ray player by itself?

12-26-2018, 11:14 PM	#3
Rayjaymay Senior Member Member since:Dec 2012 4K collection:204 Blu-ray collection:752 DVD collection:3	The Xbox One S is also a 4K Blu-ray player.

12-26-2018, 11:31 PM	#5
albertbj Senior Member Member since:Oct 2014 4K collection:82 Blu-ray collection:734 DVD collection:416	I have no experience with the Xbox One or PS4, but I used my PS3 as my primary Blu-ray player for several years, and it served me just fine. However, I eventually decided to get a stand-alone player because I didn't want to risk wearing out the BD drive in the PS3. So, that may be something to consider. As for storage, when I was using my PS3 to watch Blu-rays, there would sometimes be some data that would get stored on the hard drive, but the amount was usually negligible.

01-03-2019, 02:52 PM	#9
SixSpeedSamurai Blu-ray Samurai Top contributor Member since:Apr 2010 Location:Bruce Wayne lives in my attic 4K collection:168 Blu-ray collection:667 DVD collection:33 MA collection:2 Digital collection:267 Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:33	I use my X for movies and with the exception of one Transformers movie, it's played everything just fine (it was probably doing me a favor really LOL). I play a lot of games, and I do prefer discs, but I have a good amount of digital from sales and Games of the Month.

01-03-2019, 09:01 PM	#10
steve_dave Blu-ray Duke Member since:Nov 2008 Trading Score:21	My PS3 was my trusty Blu-ray for several years until I got the One S. Now the One S is my primary player and while it does the job it has quirks: The user interface is limited, you can’t access the color buttons without more button presses than necessary. This makes enjoying some special features difficult. Audio is limited to either whatever the XBox is set to or if you use HDMI, it’ll send the audio over for the receiver to decode. But optical is limited to whatever the XBox is set to. The DVD upscaler is horrible compared to my PS3. 1080 to 2160p upscaling is fine. The controller is too big and sensitive to use for browsing media. You’ll want a remote. 4K discs are limited to HDR10, Dolby Vision is for Netflix only. (for now)

03-01-2019, 05:35 AM	#11
Mantis128 Member Member since:Feb 2016 Blu-ray collection:20 DVD collection:6	One thing you might want to consider is wear and tear. A disc drive being used for both games and movies might wear out faster than if you used separate devices.

03-01-2019, 10:06 PM	#12
urrutiap Banned Member since:Dec 2014 4K collection:1 Blu-ray collection:46 DVD collection:65	I use my Playstation 3 to play Playstation 3 games while I have a Sony blu ray player watch movies for blu ray and DVD. Too bad they cant play the new 4K stuff since I bought Evil Dead II 4K blu ray last month or so but I only needed it for the regular blu ray disc for the old bonus features which is good enough for me

03-02-2019, 02:17 AM	#13
peep6543 Expert Member Member since:Jun 2017 Location:Auburn, WA Home Theater Gallery:12 4K collection:124 Blu-ray collection:574 DVD collection:32 Digital collection:586 Trading Score:177	I've used the same One S for games, Blu, 4k UHD and the occasional DVD for a little over two years with zero issues. I think some people claim it's not a great 4k player but it looks fine to me.

04-27-2019, 08:14 AM	#15
stratford Banned Member since:Aug 2009 Trading Score:1	mrveggieman the proper tools for any job make things easier. That is like saying I'll use my Golf buggy with a trailer to do the weekly shopping. It might save money but a Camaro would be easier and quicker.

04-27-2019, 08:26 AM	#16
stratford Banned Member since:Aug 2009 Trading Score:1	People in general consoles are all well and good untill you suddenly find that a multi region solution is needed. Usually TV shows be it Friends or Top Gear comes to Disc first in the country where it is broadcast first. Also the multi media remote is an added expense. Some movies i.e. Fisherman's Friends come to Europe first

04-27-2019, 11:15 AM	#17
jtu128 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Jul 2010 4K collection:123 Blu-ray collection:685 DVD collection:105 Digital collection:11 iTunes collection:305 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:2	If you’ve waited this long you may as well hold off a bit longer. Both Sony and Microsoft are rumored to release their new systems within the next year.

04-27-2019, 01:30 PM	#18
stratford Banned Member since:Aug 2009 Trading Score:1	jtu128 Yes the next gen consoles are a good idea if you don't want to play disc movies on them. Microsoft I believe all ready have a disc free console

08-19-2019, 07:49 PM	#20
J_0ne Member Member since:Apr 2017	I have a One X and yes it will play a 4k disc but picture quality is almost the same as streaming 4k content. If you want to get all the benefits from a 4k disc you will see a noticeable difference in quality by getting a dedicated 4k Player. Keep in mind, you will need a top quality display to get the best results. If all you have is a $600 4k TV from WalyWorld and upgrade the player you will not be impressed by the results and in such case I will suggest you stick with the gaming console.

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