Do Bluray discs warrant their price tags?

[Fingolfin269]

Who is streaming x264 that comes close to BD?

good luck actually getting an answer on the drive by response.

 

[OOBradm]

Some people just don't give a shit. I grew up with 5 channels of B&W TV, all with varying amounts of static. Depending on the station, you might have to turn on the TV a half hour early to catch a show you wanted to watch. That would give you enough time to dick with the antenna so you could get the station in. I was pleased with VCR quality, and the convenience of using a DVD disc beats that. I couldn't care less about BD, and I don't see me ever getting one as long as the few things I watch are available on DVD or online.

I agree with this. I'm perfectly satisfied with DVD quality. No need for BR at all. And actually, I love netflix streaming. To me, convenience is waaaay more important than superior video quality. I want to enjoy watching movies, not quibble over image quality.

 

[Ichinisan]

BD matters to me...especially if I'm re-watching a movie I like.

 

[BoomerD]

I generally rent movies at the nearest Redbox. SOME movies are available in Blu-Ray, but most are still only available in DVD. When the movie I want is available in Blu-Ray, I'll get that, even though the rental fee is higher. ($1.50 as compared to $1.00 for DVD)
DVD movies still look good through my Panasonic player...it does a very good job "upconverting" them, but they're still not nearly as good as MOST Blu-Ray movies.

 

[rcpratt]

Who is streaming x264 that comes close to BD?

It's not that hard, but apparently even mentioning x264 or .mkv around here will get you an infraction. Even though it doesn't necessarily involve pirating.

 

[zinfamous]

BB is only a place where ignorant Blu-ray shoppers go. Try Amazon.

not at all. BB has plenty of rotating deals that are sometimes better than what you get at Amazon.

Informed shoppers look for deals wherever they pop up. Ignorant shoppers pigeon hole themselves into narrow-minded biases against names and logos, thus missing out on the wider range of bargains and products that are available.

 

[zinfamous]

So let's pretend you have a large BD movie library at your disposal, and you can pic out whatever movie you'd like at a moments notice. What would be the advantage of Netflix, cost not being a factor? How would I be better off using Netflix?

well, you have a much, much more extensive library at your disposal, for one.

You claim that you have this massive library at home to choose from. That's awesome. Now, I won't presume to invent your taste, but I'm willing to bit there are plenty of genres out there that you wouldn't waste a penny on, yet still would love to watch from time to time.

I love film. Too much, perhaps. Netflix grants me access to just about everything that has been put to DVD. Docs, minimally run indies, foreign stuff that you wouldn't easily find in most retail stores (Amazon is still great for this, of course) and tons and tons of TV series that I really can't see myself dumping money into.

I watch the films that I love over and over again. There are a few TV series that I absolutely love, yet I can't imagine watching a 12-20 episode season more than once. It's just insane, imm. The only one that I will watch repeatedly is probably BoB...which is why I own it. (purchased $35 NEW on BD, delivered to my door on day of release--for all you haters :awe

for this reason, I love their streaming service (content isn't spectacular, though)

 

[CZroe]

not at all. BB has plenty of rotating deals that are sometimes better than what you get at Amazon.

Informed shoppers look for deals wherever they pop up. Ignorant shoppers pigeon hole themselves into narrow-minded biases against names and logos, thus missing out on the wider range of bargains and products that are available.

This. I've gotten a lot of $7.xx BDs at Best Buy and a lot of them from Amazon.

 

[JackBurton]

It's not that hard, but apparently even mentioning x264 or .mkv around here will get you an infraction. Even though it doesn't necessarily involve pirating.

If it is a legitimate site, what's the problem?

 

[meltdown75]

yes

 

[JackBurton]

well, you have a much, much more extensive library at your disposal, for one.

You claim that you have this massive library at home to choose from. That's awesome. Now, I won't presume to invent your taste, but I'm willing to bit there are plenty of genres out there that you wouldn't waste a penny on, yet still would love to watch from time to time.

I love film. Too much, perhaps. Netflix grants me access to just about everything that has been put to DVD. Docs, minimally run indies, foreign stuff that you wouldn't easily find in most retail stores (Amazon is still great for this, of course) and tons and tons of TV series that I really can't see myself dumping money into.

I watch the films that I love over and over again. There are a few TV series that I absolutely love, yet I can't imagine watching a 12-20 episode season more than once. It's just insane, imm. The only one that I will watch repeatedly is probably BoB...which is why I own it. (purchased $35 NEW on BD, delivered to my door on day of release--for all you haters :awe

for this reason, I love their streaming service (content isn't spectacular, though)

If I'm even interested in the movie, I'll buy it. I don't have to watch a movie/show multiple times to feel like I've gotten value out of my purchase. Hell, a lot of my purchases are blind buys. What I don't do though is buy DVDs. I have a great BD player that does a fantastic job of upconverting DVDs, but if isn't on BD, I'll wait for it to be released on BD. It's just a step backwards for me. I didn't dump an ass load of money in my A/V setup to run a crap source through it. If I wasn't concerned about the quality of the source, I would have stuck with my old SD CRT. I'm open to exceptions, but I haven't had to make one yet. To me, holding out for a beautifully remastered BD release of an old movie is definitely worth it. I just purchased "Seven Samurai" on BD and can't wait to watch it for the first time. The "Wizard of Oz" and James Bond's "Dr No" were also beautifully done.

But if you are the person that rents DVDs or is satisfied with streaming content, Netflix is a good place to get your movies. However, for BD, it offers nothing of value to me. The only negative to purchasing BD is cost. And to me, the advantages it offers over Netflix is well worth it.

To take all the guessing out of the discussion, I own approximately ~700 BDs. Now it is nowhere near Netflix's selection, but I don't like every movie Netflix stocks either. I just have a good enough selection for when I feel like watching a movie, I have a good assortment to choose from.

 

[JackBurton]

I don't see how cost can't be a factor there- 100's or 1000's of $$$$ for a movie library, vs. $7.99/month.

Other benefits:

1. - No media to get lost or damaged
2. - Lazy couch potatoes don't need to get off the couch to swap discs
3. - Available from any location- no discs to lug around

Cost is not a factor for the reasons I listed for why I choose to buy rather than rent. What I'm asking is, if both options were free to you, which one would choose?

So let me respond to your "benefits:"

1. - I don't have kids and I'm very anal about my movies. I keep them perfect, and put them away when they are used. So there is no real advantage here for me.

2. - We're talking BD here. If you want BD quality, you're getting up off the couch. Well, unless you have a Kaleidescape setup, but you wouldn't be renting in that situation either.

3. - Again, no BD streaming available. You want the quality, you're "lugging" discs around and swapping them out.

 

[CrystalBay]

Wizard of Oz on BD amazing... $10 at amazon.

 

[UberNeuman]

All this talk about Netflix, I decide to check out their website:

Which of these movies doesn't belong?

 

[lxskllr]

:^D

I see a fun thanksgiving movie for the kids.

 

[JackBurton]

All this talk about Netflix, I decide to check out their website:

Which of these movies doesn't belong?

lol

 

[Joseph Dubin]

lol

Was corresponding with someone who is a videophile and said that he prefers renting bluray discs rather than streaming them from Netflix because the picture quality suffers a bit. Is this true?

 

[JackBurton]

Was corresponding with someone who is a videophile and said that he prefers renting bluray discs rather than streaming them from Netflix because the picture quality suffers a bit. Is this true?

If you are asking is BD quality better than Netflix streaming, then yes. It is MUCH better. Not even close.

 

[Ichinisan]

Was corresponding with someone who is a videophile and said that he prefers renting bluray discs rather than streaming them from Netflix because the picture quality suffers a bit. Is this true?

Failtroll?

 

[JackBurton]

Failtroll?

I don't think he was trolling. He had similar questions in another thread and they seem genuine.

 

[Ichinisan]

I don't think he was trolling. He had similar questions in another thread and they seem genuine.

The way it's written, it seems to say that BD quality suffers compared to streaming. Also, why would anyone even feel the need to ask if BD is higher quality than Internet streaming?

Until you can stream a constant 50+mbps (and I think that's just for video, the audio will also need bandwidth), streaming video can't currently match BD for quality / bitrate.

 

[Nebor]

2. - We're talking BD here. If you want BD quality, you're getting up off the couch. Well, unless you have a Kaleidescape setup, but you wouldn't be renting in that situation either.

Not necessarily true. I have a large number of BDs ripped to hard drive uncompressed. They run between 20-80gb per disc, and stream fine over a gigabit network. And I don't have to get up to change the discs.

 

[irishScott]

Not necessarily true. I have a large number of BDs ripped to hard drive uncompressed. They run between 20-80gb per disc, and stream fine over a gigabit network. And I don't have to get up to change the discs.

If you've got the time and money to get the hard drive space necessary to do that, great. By my math I'd need hundreds of $$ worth of HDDs to make it work, not to mention hundreds if not 1000+ hours of ripping. Plus shelves stocked with movies is something you can show off.

 

[Nebor]

Plus shelves stocked with movies is something you can show off.

So is a NAS farm the size of a car.

 

[darkswordsman17]

So let's pretend you have a large BD movie library at your disposal, and you can pic out whatever movie you'd like at a moments notice. What would be the advantage of Netflix, cost not being a factor? How would I be better off using Netflix?

Well if we're ignoring cost, then why not just buy the original films and own an IMAX theater. You can host even more people, have an even bigger display.

Of course, what are you going to do when they start releasing another format to support 2K/4K/8K?

well, you have a much, much more extensive library at your disposal, for one.

You claim that you have this massive library at home to choose from. That's awesome. Now, I won't presume to invent your taste, but I'm willing to bit there are plenty of genres out there that you wouldn't waste a penny on, yet still would love to watch from time to time.

I love film. Too much, perhaps. Netflix grants me access to just about everything that has been put to DVD. Docs, minimally run indies, foreign stuff that you wouldn't easily find in most retail stores (Amazon is still great for this, of course) and tons and tons of TV series that I really can't see myself dumping money into.

I watch the films that I love over and over again. There are a few TV series that I absolutely love, yet I can't imagine watching a 12-20 episode season more than once. It's just insane, imm. The only one that I will watch repeatedly is probably BoB...which is why I own it. (purchased $35 NEW on BD, delivered to my door on day of release--for all you haters :awe

for this reason, I love their streaming service (content isn't spectacular, though)

This.

The info alone would make a Netflix subscription worth it for me. There's been so many movies/shows that I wouldn't have even heard about were it not for Netflix.

If I'm even interested in the movie, I'll buy it. I don't have to watch a movie/show multiple times to feel like I've gotten value out of my purchase. Hell, a lot of my purchases are blind buys. What I don't do though is buy DVDs. I have a great BD player that does a fantastic job of upconverting DVDs, but if isn't on BD, I'll wait for it to be released on BD. It's just a step backwards for me. I didn't dump an ass load of money in my A/V setup to run a crap source through it. If I wasn't concerned about the quality of the source, I would have stuck with my old SD CRT. I'm open to exceptions, but I haven't had to make one yet. To me, holding out for a beautifully remastered BD release of an old movie is definitely worth it. I just purchased "Seven Samurai" on BD and can't wait to watch it for the first time. The "Wizard of Oz" and James Bond's "Dr No" were also beautifully done.

But if you are the person that rents DVDs or is satisfied with streaming content, Netflix is a good place to get your movies. However, for BD, it offers nothing of value to me. The only negative to purchasing BD is cost. And to me, the advantages it offers over Netflix is well worth it.

To take all the guessing out of the discussion, I own approximately ~700 BDs. Now it is nowhere near Netflix's selection, but I don't like every movie Netflix stocks either. I just have a good enough selection for when I feel like watching a movie, I have a good assortment to choose from.

You do know there will be things beyond Blu-Ray quality, right? You're going to end up like the people that bought tons of DVDs acting like they were oblivious to the fact quality can still be improved. You'll have spent so much money on one format that you can't justify it on the next one, and your current format will become practically worthless, and you'll sit there like a bitter person saying "it really isn't that much better quality" while people roll their eyes.

Have you ever actually used Netflix? I've heard similar protestations as yours from people that never used it. Then, they finally do, and fall in love, and realize that yeah, they had been wasting money by buying so many movies as they realized they had been buying movies they didn't like and/or watched once.

You sound like you might should go on this show: http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/index.jsp