4K Blu-ray Player VS Amazon Prime Video... Pros vs Cons

[temps]

I was looking at one of my favorite movies today (I mean, looking at the technical specs on the Prime Video page), and it says it's a 4K HDR movie. But knowing that streaming videos are compressed, I take it this means the movie on Amazon isn't really a genuine 4K... it's "4K" and is presumably lower quality than the same 4K movie watched on a 4K HDR blu-ray player... right?

And if so, how much better do you think a 4K movie is watched on the blu-ray player vs compressed video "4K" streaming from a site like Amazon?

I take it watching a "4K" movie streamed from Amazon vs watching it on a blu-ray player is similar to the difference between playing one of our favorite modern video games at 4K vs playing that same game at 4K while running DLSS at ultra performance or something, right?

So even though Amazon labeled the movie "4K" ... it's compressed video with upscaling or something like that kinda like DLSS, and thus not a genuine 4K...?

And perhaps more importantly, I heard somewhere the colors in streamed movies aren't as good as colors from a 4K blu-ray disk.

How much difference do you think it makes?

Assume the viewer in all of these scenarios has a 4K OLED monitor to view the game/movie on.

[emoticorpse]

I haven't actually tested a 4k video on Amazon Prime yet but I basically asked the same question with 1080p/standard bluray quality video from Prime. Their quality really is impressive. Similar 1080p quality video is on MoviesAnywhere. They really look identicle actually at first glance.


I'll try checking out a 4k movie later on today if I get time, but basically I think the answer to your question is look at how much data is being downloaded from Amazon during streaming and I suppose you might as well call that the bitrate or whatever and compare it to the amount of bitrate on a 4k movie file and you can probably just do the math and say that's the percentage.

[Rod]

A 4k UHD has a bitrate up to 128mb per second as per the specsheet. The Audio also would be another 20mb? I am a UHD disc collector because theres no way anyone will host a 150mb a sec stream its heavily compressed. The only decent stream is Sony Bravia Core a 100mb stream for 4k but exclusive to ownera of the Sony Bravia TV line and for Rings of Power in 8k.


I prefer to own them on disc mostly i buy at £10 a disc, Two for £24 from HMV or £20. There are some exceptions this month i bought Dredd on import and the Italian Job. And preorderd the Rocky collection thats due out in feburary.

[CursedPanther]

True 4K Blurays can deliver a maximum of 128Mbps of data. I doubt any streaming service in existence has reached that bitrate as of today. Measuring the real-time download speed to your home isn't entirely accurate as streaming service will feature a buffer pool so the speed won't be consistent. In terms of raw performance a 4K Bluray disc is still the top.

Having that said, one thing that should always be considered is the cost you're paying for it. A 4K Bluray disc usually costs you more than a month of the subscription service fee you're targeting and that's just for one movie or show, which in comparison to 24/7 of non-stop entertainment of near same quality being offered.

Is the compressed data quality from streaming really lose you that much in a realistic sense? Highly skeptical. Unless you have two UHD OLED TVs of the same model with the same settings next to each other and professional color calibrators to analyze both sources on a frame by frame basis, you won't obtain a solid answer. A normal person sure as hell shouldn't be able to tell the difference with the naked eyes.

[_I_]

bd is ~25g each layer, max is 10 layers iirc

if you watch enough movies prime or streaming services are worth it, if its a movie you like enough, buy the digital copy

[UserNotFound]

I dunno, I watch NF on both my 65" UHD TV as well as on my brother's 85" UHD TV as I do now since I'm in Canada. With streaming, when viewed as normal from, say, 8-10 feet away, 4K movies and series on NF look and sound pretty good.

But, when I look more closely at the screen at, say, a couple of feet away, I do notice some roughness in the picture, now whether this is due to signal strength (or lack thereof) resulting in poorer picture quality, I can't say. I do know my net bandwidth, speed, and strength is pretty damn good, so I mostly discount those factors.

I'm also something of a videophile (NOT a card carrying member though) and I do have a Sony 4K player, and a collection of mostly FHD Blu rays, and a burgeoning collection of 4K discs (just bought Shazam, only because it still has Henry Cavill's last appearance as Superman). And one thing I have noted, the picture quality isn't so rough as with NF, and there's some sonic difference as well.

Do bear in mind that my observations are purely anecdotal, no measurements or anything scientific is involved.

[emoticorpse]

Also, very important to not cherry pick frames or scenes. Very quick way to find out is to go compare a scene/movie with a lot of action and details moving around and stuff flying all over the place. That's where the test will go. I am assuming both will be vbr and at low bitrate scenes high internet speeds these days will not have much of an issue but with much heavier scenes it will expose the quality. Sometimes I hate doing that because I don't like the idea of being disappointed with the results.

[Rod]

Publicado originalmente por CursedPanther:

True 4K Blurays can deliver a maximum of 128Mbps of data. I doubt any streaming service in existence has reached that bitrate as of today. Measuring the real-time download speed to your home isn't entirely accurate as streaming service will feature a buffer pool so the speed won't be consistent. In terms of raw performance a 4K Bluray disc is still the top.

Having that said, one thing that should always be considered is the cost you're paying for it. A 4K Bluray disc usually costs you more than a month of the subscription service fee you're targeting and that's just for one movie or show, which in comparison to 24/7 of non-stop entertainment of near same quality being offered.

Is the compressed data quality from streaming really lose you that much in a realistic sense? Highly skeptical. Unless you have two UHD OLED TVs of the same model with the same settings next to each other and professional color calibrators to analyze both sources on a frame by frame basis, you won't obtain a solid answer. A normal person sure as hell shouldn't be able to tell the difference with the naked eyes.

Its costs more as you own it forever. Thrse rental sites have secret agreements with movie studios. Look at Sony telling its users in Germany who bought online movies sorry but the license expired and we are removing access to the movies you bought! This could be common and in 5yrs 10yrs and you want to rewatch movies like i watch home alone and gremlins every christmas the movies are gone.


I own my discs forever, And in time most work out at £10 each. Thats worth it to me, I can resell my collection. Infact i can remove the 4k disc and sell the box and bluray copy included.

[CursedPanther]

Publicado originalmente por Rodders:

Publicado originalmente por CursedPanther:

True 4K Blurays can deliver a maximum of 128Mbps of data. I doubt any streaming service in existence has reached that bitrate as of today. Measuring the real-time download speed to your home isn't entirely accurate as streaming service will feature a buffer pool so the speed won't be consistent. In terms of raw performance a 4K Bluray disc is still the top.

Having that said, one thing that should always be considered is the cost you're paying for it. A 4K Bluray disc usually costs you more than a month of the subscription service fee you're targeting and that's just for one movie or show, which in comparison to 24/7 of non-stop entertainment of near same quality being offered.

Is the compressed data quality from streaming really lose you that much in a realistic sense? Highly skeptical. Unless you have two UHD OLED TVs of the same model with the same settings next to each other and professional color calibrators to analyze both sources on a frame by frame basis, you won't obtain a solid answer. A normal person sure as hell shouldn't be able to tell the difference with the naked eyes.

Its costs more as you own it forever. Thrse rental sites have secret agreements with movie studios. Look at Sony telling its users in Germany who bought online movies sorry but the license expired and we are removing access to the movies you bought! This could be common and in 5yrs 10yrs and you want to rewatch movies like i watch home alone and gremlins every christmas the movies are gone.


I own my discs forever, And in time most work out at £10 each. Thats worth it to me, I can resell my collection. Infact i can remove the 4k disc and sell the box and bluray copy included.

Naturally when you're a hardcore fan of a certain movie or show, there's always incentive to keep a physical copy.

[emoticorpse]

Publicado originalmente por Rodders:

Publicado originalmente por CursedPanther:

True 4K Blurays can deliver a maximum of 128Mbps of data. I doubt any streaming service in existence has reached that bitrate as of today. Measuring the real-time download speed to your home isn't entirely accurate as streaming service will feature a buffer pool so the speed won't be consistent. In terms of raw performance a 4K Bluray disc is still the top.

Having that said, one thing that should always be considered is the cost you're paying for it. A 4K Bluray disc usually costs you more than a month of the subscription service fee you're targeting and that's just for one movie or show, which in comparison to 24/7 of non-stop entertainment of near same quality being offered.

Is the compressed data quality from streaming really lose you that much in a realistic sense? Highly skeptical. Unless you have two UHD OLED TVs of the same model with the same settings next to each other and professional color calibrators to analyze both sources on a frame by frame basis, you won't obtain a solid answer. A normal person sure as hell shouldn't be able to tell the difference with the naked eyes.

Its costs more as you own it forever. Thrse rental sites have secret agreements with movie studios. Look at Sony telling its users in Germany who bought online movies sorry but the license expired and we are removing access to the movies you bought! This could be common and in 5yrs 10yrs and you want to rewatch movies like i watch home alone and gremlins every christmas the movies are gone.


I own my discs forever, And in time most work out at £10 each. Thats worth it to me, I can resell my collection. Infact i can remove the 4k disc and sell the box and bluray copy included.

Technically you only own it as long as your alive, after that you don't own anything. But your point on length of ownership/accessibility is valid.

[emoticorpse]

I also personally think studios (or whoever is in charge of manufacturing movie discs) purposely screw over video quality by softening it too much. If you enable a sharpening filter and apply it to any 1080p video (especially 1080p blurays) it looks a lot better/crisper. The difference is like 720p vs 1080p. If you do that then 1080p will look like very crisp high detail high resolution video. But without that you play a regular bluray movie and it looks like movie theater. I suspect if you were to see the true 1080p crisp quality by sharpening it they may not have much of a reason to give you 4k because that's what 4k is supposed to be giving you.

[Rod]

Publicado originalmente por emoticorpse:

I also personally think studios (or whoever is in charge of manufacturing movie discs) purposely screw over video quality by softening it too much. If you enable a sharpening filter and apply it to any 1080p video (especially 1080p blurays) it looks a lot better/crisper. The difference is like 720p vs 1080p. If you do that then 1080p will look like very crisp high detail high resolution video. But without that you play a regular bluray movie and it looks like movie theater. I suspect if you were to see the true 1080p crisp quality by sharpening it they may not have much of a reason to give you 4k because that's what 4k is supposed to be giving you.

They screw you over in many ways and should be fined. Heres a few ways they screw customers. First of all most movies are upscaled from the Bluray we call this 2k DI or digital intermediate. They only add HDR and Atmos and sell it. Disney and Marvel movies are the worst for this they will plan in future an 8k rescan i guess and demand again we pay for these discs again. On these discs they will reuse the HDR and Atmos and simply change the bitrate.


They are also mostly guilty of forced overselling. Its very rare you can buy a single 4k disc. You must buy the Bluray that is included who wants bluray when you just bought 4k!? They get away with this i guess as the entire USA and UK Goverments are bought by donations.

[Kobs]

They are also mostly guilty of forced overselling. Its very rare you can buy a single 4k disc. You must buy the Bluray that is included who wants bluray when you just bought 4k!? They get away with this i guess as the entire USA and UK Goverments are bought by donations

I agree, it costs them nearly nothing to make them so it gives them an excuse to jack up the price of 4K disks even if 90% of the bluray end up not being used at all. (Unless you have a family member wanting a copy)

[temps]

So it sounds like the consensus so far is that 4K blu-ray run through a blu-ray player is substantially better than streamed "4K".

Publicado originalmente por UserNotFound:

I dunno, I watch NF on both my 65" UHD TV as well as on my brother's 85" UHD TV as I do now since I'm in Canada. With streaming, when viewed as normal from, say, 8-10 feet away, 4K movies and series on NF look and sound pretty good.

But, when I look more closely at the screen at, say, a couple of feet away, I do notice some roughness in the picture, now whether this is due to signal strength (or lack thereof) resulting in poorer picture quality,

Well, I have a 48" OLED 4K computer monitor. And it's a computer monitor, not a TV, so I generally sit a lot closer than you probably do to your HDTV. I sit maybe 2 or 3 feet away tops, not like I watch from across the room or something.

So it sounds like for my use-case, having an actual blu-ray player is substantially better..?

Man, the price though.. with some Amazon shipping credits I have the price of the movie I want is $5 on their streaming service. But the 4K blu-ray disc is ~$20, and a blu-ray disc player appears to be about ~$170 lol.

But I am really wanting to relive the joys of the original Star Wars trilogy from my childhood in the highest possible quality, so maybe it's worth it?

Does anyone happen to know if they did a great job putting those movies in 4K for blu-ray? (Maybe not, seeing as someone earlier was complaining about Disney...)

[Rod]

Publicado originalmente por temps:

So it sounds like the consensus so far is that 4K blu-ray run through a blu-ray player is substantially better than streamed "4K".

Publicado originalmente por UserNotFound:

I dunno, I watch NF on both my 65" UHD TV as well as on my brother's 85" UHD TV as I do now since I'm in Canada. With streaming, when viewed as normal from, say, 8-10 feet away, 4K movies and series on NF look and sound pretty good.

But, when I look more closely at the screen at, say, a couple of feet away, I do notice some roughness in the picture, now whether this is due to signal strength (or lack thereof) resulting in poorer picture quality,

Well, I have a 48" OLED 4K computer monitor. And it's a computer monitor, not a TV, so I generally sit a lot closer than you probably do to your HDTV. I sit maybe 2 or 3 feet away tops, not like I watch from across the room or something.

So it sounds like for my use-case, having an actual blu-ray player is substantially better..?

Man, the price though.. with some Amazon shipping credits I have the price of the movie I want is $5 on their streaming service. But the 4K blu-ray disc is ~$20, and a blu-ray disc player appears to be about ~$170 lol.

But I am really wanting to relive the joys of the original Star Wars trilogy from my childhood in the highest possible quality, so maybe it's worth it?

Does anyone happen to know if they did a great job putting those movies in 4K for blu-ray? (Maybe not, seeing as someone earlier was complaining about Disney...)

Im willing to bet Amazon remove access to your movie eventually. Why promote theft buy the 3 pack disc set. Dont buy seperates generally the prices are not that bad. Look at the Rocky set due in feb. 1-4 Rockys for 59.99? Thats like buy 3 get one free. Now you remove the 4k disc and sell the rest as new. You now likely got 4 movies for 40 bucks if you did this. The boxes are overrated i prefer a big case logic disc wallet than all these boxes. Also the Star Wars 4k discs have good reviews as well.

[Electric Cupcake]

Streaming services are all worthless scams.

Physical media will never die. Studios that don't release on DVD or BR have only themselves to blame for sailing the high seas.