I mostly prefer standard Blu-ray because Ultra-HD Blu-ray (or 4K Blu-Ray) is very expensive. I now have about 700+ Blu-Rays in my physical media collection.
Nice video, straight to the point, clear, kind of declares a winner while acknowledging that it's kind of subjective. You deserve more views! I only have Blu-rays but was thinking about whether I should get 4K. I think I'll try one or two that aren't too expensive and see how noticeable it is. Also, I tend to buy less physical media now that streaming services are pretty cheap and have a lot of stuff.
I personally prefer Blu-ray. I know that sometimes 4K movies are noticeably better picture quality but most of the time, I don't see that much of a difference. Of course, there are always exceptions. I've also had issues with 4k. They tend to skip and freeze and they scratch more easily. I've been able to play a Blu-ray with a light scratch with no problems. However, if a 4k has a scratch it rarely ever works for me. I will upgrade to 4K for movies I love like Scream, Halloween, The Changeling and some others. However, I will always keep my Blu-ray copy (if one isn't included) as a backup just in case
Totally agree with you. 4k do skip alot and freeze. Blurays have that scratch resistance coating on them too. They still have a great picture and they are durable to last a life time. I would pick up the 4k if it came with the bluraybin a bundle, sucks that not every release does that anymore. Now it's usually one or the other unless it's a steelbook.
Great video, buddy. I'm a 4k collector, so I always choose that option, however, even I know sometimes there isn't a big enough difference to warrant the price difference.
As a collector with 3,000+ 95% of my collection is Blu Ray, with the others 10% being between DVD and 4k. Me thinking have to replace all those movies again, makes my head want to explode. Thankfully my 4k player upscales them so you hardly notice the difference.
I'll get 4k for some of my all-time favorite movies like Connan. A lot of movies on Blu-ray are fine, especially if it's a boutique release. A lot of B 90s and 2000s movies only need a DVD. Some movies I wouldn't mind a widescreen release. I've upgraded about 1% of scream factory movies because the releases are so great and I'm not going to spend another $30 just for a 4K disc with nothing new.
Some 4k's are really exceptional in terms of picture quality and those are the ones I am really interested in, like Aliens for example that movie looks so good in 4k, its almost unreal. Why can't all 4k's look as good, not really sure.
Honestly the thing that I go by is how many special features/extras there are. And are there specific ones that specifically interest me. This sometimes helps me determine the format. I have 4k on my PS5 BUT I don't have a 4k TV yet, so I'm only starting on that front until we upgrade.
I was buying a lot of movies on 4K when I got my 4K player and TV but have really cut back and it's been 99% now of regular Blu Ray's (and most of them are used)
I own an oled TV and seeing 4k movies on it I was amazed and I have never looked back now you need to make sure it's native 4k so like Zodiac I was going to buy it on 4k even though I have it on blu ray but it was a 2k upscale fake 4k and no new bonus features I'm sticking with the blu ray and save the money for native 4k.
I don't have a 4K player because I don't have the screen for it. Hypothetically, I'd probably re-buy a few of my favourite movies on 4K for features not on the regular Blu-Ray versions (i.e. i.e. Wayne Campbell playing the first four notes of "Stairway to Heaven" where the 4K is the first home video version to have the unaltered audio from the theatrical release) but I think I'd only want to buy 4Ks that are straight transfers of film sources to avoid AI hallucinations as seen in some digitally-enhanced 4K transfers like True Lies and Aliens.
So far that's just Cameron. You can use an Xbox One s or x you want as a 4K player for standard HDR. (Also the PlayStation 5 and Xbox series X but they're more expensive if you don't game much) Now if you have a TV that's capable of Dolby Vision which is on only some discs.. then there's one by Panasonic that's about 300. To me the real benefit of a 4K is atmos audio tracks but some Blu-rays have it too. I don't have the money to get the set up. My TV has digitally simulated Atmos. My surround system is 5.1. I don't have a couple thousand to upgrade. Atmos has 9.2 speakers usually. With high channels for overhead sound. A lot of people overlook the audio advancements for each format. But Blu-ray what's a huge jump. The audio on the Conan movies on Blu-ray is leaps ahead of the DVDs.
I think that the biggest problem with 4k UHD is the poor transfers. Many of them just use the 1080p blu ray as the source, AI upscale it to 4k, creating lots of weird and distorted artifacts that weren't originally there on film. The result is smooth, waxy faces and zombie background people. This also happens on some Blu Rays such as Predator 1987 Ultimate Hunter Editition. Proper transfers that include film grain from older movies can be superior quality, look at Lawrence of Arabia as an example of a perfect 4k UHD transfer of an older movie. Look at True Lies or Jaws 3 as examples of bad UHD transfers.
@HunterBoldingVideo I really wish that movies have a quality assurance sticker that the movie is from rescanned negatives of the original film with original colour grading and minimal DNR. It would save me so much time and tell me that a movie has been remastered properly.
I like Blu-ray, it is the sweet spot between price and quality.
I mostly prefer standard Blu-ray because Ultra-HD Blu-ray (or 4K Blu-Ray) is very expensive. I now have about 700+ Blu-Rays in my physical media collection.
Nice video, straight to the point, clear, kind of declares a winner while acknowledging that it's kind of subjective. You deserve more views!
I only have Blu-rays but was thinking about whether I should get 4K. I think I'll try one or two that aren't too expensive and see how noticeable it is. Also, I tend to buy less physical media now that streaming services are pretty cheap and have a lot of stuff.
Thanks for the kind words!
I personally prefer Blu-ray. I know that sometimes 4K movies are noticeably better picture quality but most of the time, I don't see that much of a difference. Of course, there are always exceptions. I've also had issues with 4k. They tend to skip and freeze and they scratch more easily. I've been able to play a Blu-ray with a light scratch with no problems. However, if a 4k has a scratch it rarely ever works for me. I will upgrade to 4K for movies I love like Scream, Halloween, The Changeling and some others. However, I will always keep my Blu-ray copy (if one isn't included) as a backup just in case
Totally agree with you. 4k do skip alot and freeze. Blurays have that scratch resistance coating on them too. They still have a great picture and they are durable to last a life time. I would pick up the 4k if it came with the bluraybin a bundle, sucks that not every release does that anymore. Now it's usually one or the other unless it's a steelbook.
Great video, buddy. I'm a 4k collector, so I always choose that option, however, even I know sometimes there isn't a big enough difference to warrant the price difference.
Thanks for the kind words! 4K does have those snazzy-ass black cases, which are always nice.
As a collector with 3,000+ 95% of my collection is Blu Ray, with the others 10% being between DVD and 4k. Me thinking have to replace all those movies again, makes my head want to explode. Thankfully my 4k player upscales them so you hardly notice the difference.
I didn't even consider upscaling! That is a nice perk!
I'll get 4k for some of my all-time favorite movies like Connan. A lot of movies on Blu-ray are fine, especially if it's a boutique release.
A lot of B 90s and 2000s movies only need a DVD. Some movies I wouldn't mind a widescreen release.
I've upgraded about 1% of scream factory movies because the releases are so great and I'm not going to spend another $30 just for a 4K disc with nothing new.
Some 4k's are really exceptional in terms of picture quality and those are the ones I am really interested in, like Aliens for example that movie looks so good in 4k, its almost unreal. Why can't all 4k's look as good, not really sure.
That movie is so crisp it's unreal
But some people have an issue with that because I use AI. Because of that I'll keep the Blu-ray collection too.
Honestly the thing that I go by is how many special features/extras there are. And are there specific ones that specifically interest me. This sometimes helps me determine the format. I have 4k on my PS5 BUT I don't have a 4k TV yet, so I'm only starting on that front until we upgrade.
the main difference for me with 4K is the Dolby Vision or HDR/HDR 10 and the Atmos soundtrack
I was buying a lot of movies on 4K when I got my 4K player and TV but have really cut back and it's been 99% now of regular Blu Ray's (and most of them are used)
I own an oled TV and seeing 4k movies on it I was amazed and I have never looked back now you need to make sure it's native 4k so like Zodiac I was going to buy it on 4k even though I have it on blu ray but it was a 2k upscale fake 4k and no new bonus features I'm sticking with the blu ray and save the money for native 4k.
I don't have a 4K player because I don't have the screen for it. Hypothetically, I'd probably re-buy a few of my favourite movies on 4K for features not on the regular Blu-Ray versions (i.e. i.e. Wayne Campbell playing the first four notes of "Stairway to Heaven" where the 4K is the first home video version to have the unaltered audio from the theatrical release) but I think I'd only want to buy 4Ks that are straight transfers of film sources to avoid AI hallucinations as seen in some digitally-enhanced 4K transfers like True Lies and Aliens.
So far that's just Cameron.
You can use an Xbox One s or x you want as a 4K player for standard HDR.
(Also the PlayStation 5 and Xbox series X but they're more expensive if you don't game much)
Now if you have a TV that's capable of Dolby Vision which is on only some discs.. then there's one by Panasonic that's about 300. To me the real benefit of a 4K is atmos audio tracks but some Blu-rays have it too. I don't have the money to get the set up. My TV has digitally simulated Atmos. My surround system is 5.1. I don't have a couple thousand to upgrade.
Atmos has 9.2 speakers usually. With high channels for overhead sound.
A lot of people overlook the audio advancements for each format.
But Blu-ray what's a huge jump.
The audio on the Conan movies on Blu-ray is leaps ahead of the DVDs.
Blu-ray because of price. I only get 4k for movies that are my favorites!
I think that the biggest problem with 4k UHD is the poor transfers.
Many of them just use the 1080p blu ray as the source, AI upscale it to 4k, creating lots of weird and distorted artifacts that weren't originally there on film. The result is smooth, waxy faces and zombie background people.
This also happens on some Blu Rays such as Predator 1987 Ultimate Hunter Editition.
Proper transfers that include film grain from older movies can be superior quality, look at Lawrence of Arabia as an example of a perfect 4k UHD transfer of an older movie.
Look at True Lies or Jaws 3 as examples of bad UHD transfers.
AI upscaling is the bane of my existence, it's why I haven't made a video or bought the True Lies, Aliens, or The Abyss 4Ks.
@HunterBoldingVideo I really wish that movies have a quality assurance sticker that the movie is from rescanned negatives of the original film with original colour grading and minimal DNR. It would save me so much time and tell me that a movie has been remastered properly.