Do Bluray discs warrant their price tags?

[vi edit]

Who needs such high quality? 720p looks almost as good unless your TV is 46" or bigger. I can stream 720p video with 5.1 audio with a push of a button.

Streaming will make blu-ray obsolete, along with all physical media. That is my point.

Streaming is at least a decade out, if not longer before it becomes even remotely accepted. And you are still going to have struggles getting two select groups from ever accepting:

1) Purists/enthusiasts that want the absolute best and accept no compromises. This includes, audio, video, fair rights (at least I can take a disk over to a friends house and watch it) and the simple fact that they have a physical disk/case to put on the wall. If you think anti-piracy policy is big right now, when you move to pure digital you are in for a nightmare. You'll never own anything. You'll simply rent it.

2) Everyday consumer/non technical people that simply don't want to dick around with downloading either because they simply don't want to, or they don't have a device near the TV or a network access around it to download the media. Plus they can't take a download and easily take it in the car with them like they are used to without burning it to disk which defeats the whole concept of digital in the first place.

As it is right now, the only people that seam to embrace streaming are people that are tied to the hip at their PC and are comfortable with watching lower quality products, which they are charged the same/similar amount for over a physical media, and have none of the advantages.

Streaming for movies is a joke at this current time and only a benefit to people that have no concern in quality or usability.

 

[Modelworks]

Streaming cannot work in the USA to replace bluray quality right now. There isn't a single service that delivers bluray quality to the home. No, not even netflix and its 1080P PS3 news bite. It is 1080P, but that is just a resolution not a bitrate. Bluray is 35Mbit , the best netflix offers with their 1080P to PS3 is 6-8Mbit. Huge difference.

 

[KeithTalent]

Streaming is at least a decade out, if not longer before it becomes even remotely accepted. And you are still going to have struggles getting two select groups from ever accepting:

1) Purists/enthusiasts that want the absolute best and accept no compromises. This includes, audio, video, fair rights (at least I can take a disk over to a friends house and watch it) and the simple fact that they have a physical disk/case to put on the wall. If you think anti-piracy policy is big right now, when you move to pure digital you are in for a nightmare. You'll never own anything. You'll simply rent it.

2) Everyday consumer/non technical people that simply don't want to dick around with downloading either because they simply don't want to, or they don't have a device near the TV or a network access around it to download the media. Plus they can't take a download and easily take it in the car with them like they are used to without burning it to disk which defeats the whole concept of digital in the first place.

As it is right now, the only people that seam to embrace streaming are people that are tied to the hip at their PC and are comfortable with watching lower quality products, which they are charged the same/similar amount for over a physical media, and have none of the advantages.

Streaming for movies is a joke at this current time and only a benefit to people that have no concern in quality or usability.

Yep, agree with all of this. Streaming is fine for some people that do not care about all of that stuff, but it's not for me.

KT

 

[zinfamous]

yes, they are fine.

I've paid ~$17 per disc. I have 20+ BDs. maybe more?

they cost the same as DVD, roughly. THough I haven't purchased one in almost a year...I think. Not as much interest.

No, I don't steal movies, either.

 

[mb]

Who needs such high quality? 720p looks almost as good unless your TV is 46" or bigger. I can stream 720p video with 5.1 audio with a push of a button.

Streaming will make blu-ray obsolete, along with all physical media. That is my point.

Even the HD movies on FIOS are compressed and have visible jaggies in fast moving scenes. Better than Comcrap for sure, but no where near blu ray quality.

 

[zinfamous]

Do you ever remember DVD reaching $35 for just a movie? (Even adjusted for inflation).

lol, yes. I think I have plenty of Criterion DVDs that were ~$30-40 new.

you know what I also remember? paying $35 for an Apocalypse Now VHS.

it was letterboxed. ...Most letterboxed VHS were priced this way.

 

[zinfamous]

Dvds and blu-ray cost nearly the same to manufacturer. It's price gouging at its best.

I'm sure BluRay media still costs more than DVD media.

That, and you blissfully ignore the labor that goes into rendering negatives into 1080p files, + all of the work done to the audio. You don't get this type of work on a DVD release.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Ehh I think they tend to be priced a bit higher than they should be, but I have found quite a few for $12 or less that I "had to have."

That said, I think I've only got about 20 or so Blurays (compared to around 750 DVDs.)

Of course I netflix a lot of stuff these days too.... so I'm not in any hurry to build up a Bluray collection....

 

[SphinxnihpS]

standard DVD is still the better deal. Some BD look like crap. Others are just OK. Many people can't tell the difference.

I have yet to see any BD look like crap. Expose the flaws of the source, yes, but you have to expect that with older movies, movies shot on garbage, and from studios that didn't store the film well. This does nothing to take away from movies that do indeed look brilliant and vivid on BD.

People who can't tell the differnce are lying, blind or the equipment/setup was bad. I do not even really want to watch anything lesser.

 

[spacejamz]

Who needs such high quality? 720p looks almost as good unless your TV is 46" or bigger. I can stream 720p video with 5.1 audio with a push of a button.

Streaming will make blu-ray obsolete, along with all physical media. That is my point.

I am wondering what percentage of the 'average' American (i.e., not anyone on this board) actually have a lan drop next to their primary TV? I seriously doubt they will stream blu ray quality high def video on 802.11b/g signal..

 

[waggy]

streaming is great. though not for everything. I use netflix streaming for TV shows and kids movies. stuff where it really does not matter.

For movies i want to watch i get the BR or dvd. it is far better then streaming is.

but i give it another 20 years before streaming is mainstream for 90% of teh country.

 

[fleshconsumed]

There is reasonable protection and then their is crazy wacko insane paranoia type protections. This is the latter. They could use a simple key check and that would be enough to do what the same DRM they have is doing now. Instead they go over board to the point that when you press FFWD on your remote, the players go through a DRM check. When it plays back a disc it runs multiple routines to make sure you haven't hot swapped the disc, tapped into the data bus or are sniffing the output to get the data out before HDCP.

It is like someone protecting their car from theft by removing the battery and tires every time they park.

Somewhat flawed analogy because it's much harder to steal a car without battery and tires than it is to torrent bluray rip... Therein lies the great irony, which is lost upon all who argue for even more DRM protection, all those content protection schemes do is make legitimate content more expensive for legit buyer, and do nothing to stop the pirates...

 

[vi edit]

Somewhat flawed analogy because it's much harder to steal a car without battery and tires than it is to torrent bluray rip... Therein lies the great irony, which is lost upon all who argue for even more DRM protection, all those content protection schemes do is make legitimate content more expensive for legit buyer, and do nothing to stop the pirates...

And not just more expensive, but a massive pain in the ass. All those HDMI handshake issues? Yeh I'm sure that's largely due to the DRM complexity. How about music CD's that can't be played in a computer because they put some sort of block on there that the CDROM can't read it.

Bleh.

 

[CZroe]

Who needs such high quality? 720p looks almost as good unless your TV is 46" or bigger. I can stream 720p video with 5.1 audio with a push of a button.

Streaming will make blu-ray obsolete, along with all physical media. That is my point.

FAIL because many TVs ARE 46" and bigger and your point is lost. I'm running a 52" and a 65"

Just because everyone doesn't have a large TV doesn't mean most people don't intend to get larger TVs when the prices fall enough.

 

[AMDZen]

I am wondering what percentage of the 'average' American (i.e., not anyone on this board) actually have a lan drop next to their primary TV? I seriously doubt they will stream blu ray quality high def video on 802.11b/g signal..

How is that even relevant with "N" as the standard now any way, and yes - you can.

You guys keep spending ridiculous sums on blu-ray. The thread was, Do Bluray discs warrant their price tags? and the answer is simply NO

 

[KeithTalent]

You guys keep spending ridiculous sums on blu-ray. The thread was, Do Bluray discs warrant their price tags? and the answer is simply NO

Incorrect, the answer is very often yes, depending on the disc and what you paid for it.

Besides, you obviously do not care about quality or actually owning a disc, so of course it is not going to be worth it for you, but for me, spending $20 on a great 1080P transfer, with 5.1 DTS, replete with special features in a nice package is very definitely worth it.

KT

 

[vi edit]

How is that even relevant with "N" as the standard now any way, and yes - you can.

You guys keep spending ridiculous sums on blu-ray. The thread was, Do Bluray discs warrant their price tags? and the answer is simply NO

Like I said, I rarely spend more than $15 on a disk, with $8-15 being the typical price after sale/coupons. Being that streaming currently costs around $5-$7 for a "high def" virtual copy of a movie, then the $3-$8 premium for the physical content isn't a bad deal at all. And with many of the movies I buy, they have both the DVD and BR disks in them, doubling their value to me. The BR goes in the theatre room and the DVD goes in the play room, car, or Grandmas.

Who's really getting ripped off?

 

[AMDZen]

Incorrect, the answer is very often yes, depending on the disc and what you paid for it.

Besides, you obviously do not care about quality or actually owning a disc, so of course it is not going to be worth it for you, but for me, spending $20 on a great 1080P transfer, with 5.1 DTS, replete with special features in a nice package is very definitely worth it.

KT

No I don't need a physical copy because I have everything on my hard drive, 2 clicks away. If I could buy all my movies digitally, I would.

The quality of the movies vary, but my TV is only 40" and 720p and its more then good enough. Never understood why people think 1080 is so much better, its not - even on my friends 55" its only very slightly better. Nothing like going from CRT and DVD to 720p.

 

[Fingolfin269]

How is that even relevant with "N" as the standard now any way, and yes - you can.

You guys keep spending ridiculous sums on blu-ray. The thread was, Do Bluray discs warrant their price tags? and the answer is simply NO

You were the one that derailed the conversation and now you want to get back on topic? Nice.

 

[roguerower]

Amazon. I buy used and usually pay 1/2 of what they're costing new. I bought the entire BSG show plus all the minisodes and movies for $140. That's worth it to me since the series is that good. Most movies that I buy I've watched quite a few times and like them.

I'm only gonna buy what I enjoy. For the rest, there's DVD Shrink + Netflix.

 

[AMDZen]

You were the one that derailed the conversation and now you want to get back on topic? Nice.

Actually you derailed it by asking me why it was outdated.

Which it is, for me any way.

I would never go back to physical media, whether thats viable for you guys or for common consumers isn't relevant to me.

 

[Fingolfin269]

No I don't need a physical copy because I have everything on my hard drive, 2 clicks away. If I could buy all my movies digitally, I would.

The quality of the movies vary, but my TV is only 40" and 720p and its more then good enough. Never understood why people think 1080 is so much better, its not - even on my friends 55" its only very slightly better. Nothing like going from CRT and DVD to 720p.

All of the things you wrote in this post refute your assertion that streaming is better. It's not currently better nor will it be in the near future in terms of picture and sound quality.

 

[KeithTalent]

All of the things you wrote in this post refute your assertion that streaming is better. It's not currently better nor will it be in the near future in terms of picture and sound quality.

Lol, exactly.

KT

 

[AMDZen]

All of the things you wrote in this post refute your assertion that streaming is better. It's not currently better nor will it be in the near future in terms of picture and sound quality.

How is it not better to have everything at your fingertips? What if you want to watch a movie on a whim that you don't own? Go to Best Buy, buy it - come home blah blah blah. I just click click and I'm watching it. That is better.

 

[spacejamz]

How is that even relevant with "N" as the standard now any way, and yes - you can.

You guys keep spending ridiculous sums on blu-ray. The thread was, Do Bluray discs warrant their price tags? and the answer is simply NO

Who cares what the standard is? how many average consumers have swapped out their b/g routers for an 'N' one?

The standard now are the i3/i5/i7 and AMD equivalents..do you think most people in America have PC's with these processors???

or swapped out their 10/100 lan ports for gigabit ones?

are you still mad that your HD DVD collection isnt growing? Personally, my A2 and A3 players are doing okay...