Press Release Wired Press Release: Blu-rays are back; Streaming Isn’t Everything (1 Viewer)

[OliverK]

O... K... Because I can see a very clear difference between a 4K Blu-ray and a 4K stream and you can't means MY equipment isn't up to snuff and yours is. Because, of course, that makes perfect sense.

Hi, there is a difference that can be seen for the movies that I compared but I do not think that with both options (UHD disc and streaming) being maxed out in quality you could call it a very clear difference by most people's standards, even on the best available equipment.

Let's hope that streaming will continue to get better and also include high rez sound and high quality 1080p and UHD download options in the future. Then at least we will not have any penalties in quality when we have to go the streaming route for more and more movies.

 

[David Weicker]

I watched the video, and the presenter appears to be blind. I can see a definite night and day difference between the two presentations. The UHD is definitely crisper and has more vibrant colors.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I watched the video, and the presenter appears to be blind. I can see a definite night and day difference between the two presentations. The UHD is definitely crisper and has more vibrant colors.

I watched the video, but I can't see a night and day difference so I must be blind too watching this on my computer screen.

 

[Tino]

Let's hope that streaming will continue to get better and also include high rez sound

It already does. Atmos and DD7.1.

 

[David Weicker]

I watched the video, but I can't see a night and day difference so I must be blind too watching this on my computer screen.

Look at Tyne Daly's scarf in the first comparison. Or Hopkins green lapel in the museum.

to me it was like the Blu-Ray vs. DVD comparisons when BR was introduced.

And he talked about the Apple version 'scrubbing away detail'. Isn't that a bad difference.

 

[OliverK]

It already does. Atmos and DD7.1.

That's not high rez (DTS HD MA / Dolby True HD up to 24 Bit 192 kHz) sound, it is "only" more channels. Obviously the best tradeoff with current bitrates.

 

[Robert Crawford]

That's not high rez (DTS HD MA / Dolby True HD up to 24 Bit 192 kHz) sound, it is "only" more channels. Obviously the best tradeoff with current bitrates.

When using your 4KATV if you turn off Dolby Atmos on your receiver it does play Dolby True HD.

 

[Edwin-S]

I don't get the big deal about this. If one wants to stream then stream. If one wants to buy discs then buy discs. If one wants to do both then do both. It is one's money. Spend it (or save it) the way one wants. It is not like one is going to take it with them in the end.

My biggest issue with streaming is losing access to a show or series that I may want to rewatch in the future. On the other hand, I doubt I could afford to buy an 860+ episode series such as One Piece and all of its various spin-off movies on BD or maybe even have the room to store it.

 

[Edwin-S]

It's not laziness nor apathy, it's profit margins that are driving disc releases down. IMO, people have no idea how low some sales figures are for many titles, particularly, catalog titles. The studio executives make their marketing decisions based on those sales figures. I just listened to a Warner Archive Podcast in which George Feltenstein is pleading for people to buy "The Sea Hawk" on Blu-ray so he can justify the release of other Errol Flynn titles onto Blu-ray.

Every time that a studio or small label announces a new title and people go “Yes! I want that! But I’ll wait for a sale” is basically another nail in the coffin. It’s not fair, but I think that’s the reality of it. I think we’ve been seeing more sales this year than in years prior because things aren’t selling anywhere near expected, and they’re just trying to cut their losses and at least break even. A lot of things that were once profitable no longer are.

The studios are at fault for the loss of sales of hard media due to their insane pricing. In Canada, a new 4K release is generally in the 30+ range before taxes. After tax is taken into account, the cost of a 4k disc is closer to 40. I have little desire to spend 40 bucks on any film nowadays. The people in charge of these studios still think this it is 1997 when it comes to hard media. They think they can introduce a new format and then gouge and gouge on pricing because collectors will run out and re-buy the same films over and over.

They had better wake up and realize that price gouging people for a format, new or old, is a practice that is over when people have so many cheaper alternatives to turn to.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The studios are at fault for the loss of sales of hard media due to their insane pricing. In Canada, a new 4K release is generally in the 30+ range before taxes. After tax is taken into account, the cost of a 4k disc is closer to 40. I have little desire to spend 40 bucks on any film nowadays. The people in charge of these studios still think this it is 1997 when it comes to hard media. They think they can introduce a new format and then gouge and gouge on pricing because collectors will run out and re-buy the same films over and over.

They had better wake up and realize that price gouging people for a format, new or old, is a practice that is over when people have so many cheaper alternatives to turn to.

Well I can’t answer to what is going on in Canada and other foreign markets so I won’t attempt to debate your comments. I’m just not knowledgeable enough to make any type of argument except to say that the 4K market is a niche market and the studios are treating it as such.

 

[OliverK]

When using your 4KATV if you turn off Dolby Atmos on your receiver it does play Dolby True HD.

Apple is sending Dolby Atmos via a special version of PCM called Dolby MAT 2.0 so if your receiver shows it as Dolby TrueHD this is very strange as it is still the same stream being delivered to your receiver. Does this happen with every Atmos stream?
I have a few movies on itunes with atmos, maybe I will check them later, they always used to show up as DD+.

 

[OliverK]

Well I can’t answer to what is going on in Canada and other foreign markets so I won’t attempt to debate your comments. I’m just not knowledgeable enough to make any type of argument except to say that the 4K market is a niche market and the studios are treating it as such.

Definitely a niche market and it is hard to say how many more discs could be sold with lower prices.

It may not be desirable to lower prices to for example make the same amount of money by selling let's say twice as many discs or perhaps even less money with a turnover that only increases by 50%.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Apple is sending Dolby Atmos via a special version of PCM called Dolby MAT 2.0 so if your receiver shows it as Dolby TrueHD this is very strange as it is still the same stream being delivered to your receiver. Does this happen with every Atmos stream?
I have a few movies on itunes with atmos, maybe I will check them later, they always used to show up as DD+.

That is what Vudu is showing with their Dolby Atmos titles. As to iTunes, I have hundreds with Dolby Atmos tracks so I'm not going to check every title, but I did check several of them recently and Dolby True HD does display before switching over to Dolby Atmos.

 

[Tino]

That is what Vudu is showing with their Dolby Atmos titles. As to iTunes, I have hundreds with Dolby Atmos tracks so I'm not going to check every title, but I did check several of them recently and Dolby True HD does display before switching over to Dolby Atmos.

Yup Same with my setup.

 

[dana martin]

just thought i would share snapshot image sorry it had to be reduced to show a point, if physical media is dead then tell me why 11 or more catalog titles up for pre-order on the first page, it's a great time to be a fan,

 

[Tino]

View attachment 55050

just thought i would share snapshot image sorry it had to be reduced to show a point, if physical media is dead then tell me why 11 or more catalog titles up for pre-order on the first page, it's a great time to be a fan,

Has anyone in this thread said physical media is dead??

 

[JQuintana]

Correct, not dead, just dying, slowly.

 

[Worth]

I don't think it's dying, but it is shifting away from the mainstream into much more of a niche market. Same as laserdisc was.

 

[JQuintana]

How long after the debut of DVD did laserdiscs hang on at stores, meaning you could readily buy them at several local stores? (since there was no Amazon or similar at the time to order from of course..)

 

[Worth]

How long after the debut of DVD did laserdiscs hang on at stores, meaning you could readily buy them at several local stores? (since there was no Amazon or similar at the time to order from of course..)

I don't think that's an apt comparison, though. Aside from packaging, and arguably sound quality, laserdisc had no advantages over DVD. Pretty much everyone who bought or rented laserdiscs was perfectly happy to switch to DVD instead.

You can't say the same about streaming. Even some of those who would like to shift away from discs and towards streaming can't do so because the availability of high-speed internet is limited.