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

[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.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by amelibeli75

So I’ve started switching (multiple movies) from blu ray on my ps4 to streaming it in 4k on my tv through vudu. There is a significant quality difference between the two, with the blu ray through my ps4 looking much better. Just wondering why this isn’t the other way around if the movie is supposed to be in 4k through vudu.

I have just a regular ps4 not the pro and it’s connected with an audioqiest chocolate hdmi cable to my lg sk9000.

How is your PS4 connected to the Internet, and what ISP at what speeds? I think Hardwired with Ethernet is the best connection. You can also compare the Streaming Apps on your LG SK9000, also Hardwired will give you the best PQ.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by amelibeli75

So I’ve started switching (multiple movies) from blu ray on my ps4 to streaming it in 4k on my tv through vudu.

Take a look at the videos in the first post in this thread in this section.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Take a look at the videos in the first post in this thread in this section.

Bottom line is how does it look to you with the setup you have, I think it is all Subjective and dependent on your equipment. So make your own comparisons and decide for yourself!

[bhampton]

Your experience of your system is subjective.

The superiority of higher bandwidth video and lossless audio is simple math.

I voted, for UHD BD

[Eny-]

I must admit that streaming is starting to win me over.

No, I will never buy digital but I'm OK paying pennies for access to streaming platforms, compared with what I used to spend on physical media.

Audio-wise is clearly inferior, more-so since my OLED panel still doesn't do Atmos pass-through to my receiver, but image-wise? The difference is very subtle.

At this point, I'm OK in buying (or re-buying) my favorites in 4K and the occasional special boxset but not much more. Disney+ single-handedly killed off any desire to get any Disney/Marvel/Star Wars discs.

This leaves accessibility (or the lack of there of) as the strongest point of discussion, as in, Internet access or titles availability in said platform.

In MY personal case I don't have the available time to fully enjoy all the content I access through Netflix, HBO, Disney+ ... so I find myself not missing that Criterion gem that is sitting in my shelf for the last 10 years untouched.

[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.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Nothing has changed since the days of movies on video cassette. LaserDisc had superior audio and video compared to video cassette. The hardware also cost a lot more so it had a much smaller market than video cassette.

Same today, broadcast, traditional linear pay TV, SVOD and AVOD all have A/V quality that is acceptable to the masses so that is what most use. There is a small number of us that want the best that is available so we use disc, media servers, media players and/or Kaleidescape.

It is all about bit rates, high bit rates cost more money therefore will never have a large market share. Even if it was made available, I would wager no one here would pay $50 a month extra to a ISP service that could provide disc data rates and another $30 a month to a provider that could do the same.

FWIW, have accounts with the following:

• Amazon
• Apple iTunes (Roku)
• Disney+
• Fandango
• Flixster (defunct)
• Movies Anywhere
• Netflix
• Vudu
• YouTube

Mainly used for streaming:
Sony FMP-X10 ● $470 (sold for $120)
Sony BDP-S6700 ● $88.00
Sony UBP-X800/BM ● $268.00
Sony UBP-X1000ES ● $498.00

Streaming only:
Nvidia Shield Pro 2019 ● $199.99 + FLIRC Receiver $23 + Inteset IReTV USB IR Receiver $24
Roku Ultra 2019 ● $83
(2) Chromecast Audio ● $35.00 each

For a total of $1,603 for hardware.

Did some custom graphics for my MX-980 remote that looks like this:

[Show spoiler]

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by cgpublic

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.

Why are you answering a April 20, 2020 post? Is your name Rip Van Winkle?


Also attention guys amelibeli75 deleted his post so there is nothing here in this thread to respond to.

[Angry Virginian]

Here are pics of the bitrate of both 4K and HD titles that I have ripped into my personal Plex collection.

[cgpublic]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Why are you answering a April 20, 2020 post? Is your name Rip Van Winkle? Also attention guys amelibeli75 deleted his post so there is nothing here in this thread to respond to.

The question, and my reply, is as relevant today as when it was posted.

If and when the OP checks back, it will be waiting there, along for anyone else asking the question.