DVD or Bluray?

Okay, So I have an Xbox and a Sony Bluray Player.
I do like blurays, but I also like the fact that Xbox plays DVD's in HD.
I have a 15.99 rental subscription to Netflix for 3 dvds out at a time, to add bluray it's 20 bucks. Not really worth it.
But I will sometimes buy a movie I really want on Bluray like The Avengers. Other than that i either see them at the theater or rent the DVD off netflix.
So what do you guys like better? DVD or Blu-ray?

HD-DVD is where it's at.

I prefer my movies on vinyl. Hard to find and visual quality lacks, but.

IMAGE(http://assets.diylol.com/hfs/b95/065/c50/resized/hipster-kitty-meme-generator-i-buy-the-vinyl-i-want-but-i-guess-i-dont-call-it-collecting-its-the-same-thing-i-just-never-used-the-word-collect-09528a.jpg)

Unlike those two chuckleheads, I'll give you a serious answer:

Streaming.

Wait, that wasn't one of the options. Well, I tried.

Seth wrote:

I prefer my movies on vinyl. Hard to find and visual quality lacks, but.

IMAGE(http://assets.diylol.com/hfs/b95/065/c50/resized/hipster-kitty-meme-generator-i-buy-the-vinyl-i-want-but-i-guess-i-dont-call-it-collecting-its-the-same-thing-i-just-never-used-the-word-collect-09528a.jpg)

What's with the hobbit hat?

For movies where special effects and visuals are very important (like the Marvel or Pixar movies) my wife and I will usually spring for the Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack. For stuff where it reeeeeeally doesn't matter (looking at most comedies), then we'll just get DVD.

Redbuster12 wrote:

Okay, So I have an Xbox and a Sony Bluray Player.
I do like blurays, but I also like the fact that Xbox plays DVD's in HD.
I have a 15.99 rental subscription to Netflix for 3 dvds out at a time, to add bluray it's 20 bucks. Not really worth it.
But I will sometimes buy a movie I really want on Bluray like The Avengers. Other than that i either see them at the theater or rent the DVD off netflix.
So what do you guys like better? DVD or Blu-ray?

Nearly all hi-def format players (be they Blu-ray or the now dead HDDVD format) will upconvert regular DVD's to "sort of" HD. In the case of your Xbox360, it's only doing the conversion if you have it hooked up via VGA or HDMI cable. If you're using component cables, it's only upconverting to 480p.

You're Sony Blu-ray player should be doing the same upconversion of regular DVDs (and likely will do a better job of it) so there's really no need to play the DVDs in your Xbox.

Regarding which one is better, obviously Blu-ray is superior to regular DVDs as far as picture and sound go, but it really depends on your home setup. If you're watching movies on a standard size TV with stereo speakers then there's really no reason at all to bother with Blu-ray. You'll really only notice a difference on large screen TVs and proper 5.1/7.1 surround sound speakers.

I double post for Halloween!

If it's on Blu-Ray and something other than a TV comedy of some kind I get it on Blu-Ray.

Blu-Ray/HD-DVD spoiled me on regular DVD's pretty quickly. They look soft and kind of fuzzy picture-wise in comparison, and sound is a big plus for blu-ray. Uncompressed audio for the win.

I check http://www.blu-ray.com/ for reviews. If it has 4 or 5 stars for picture quality, I will generally get the blu-ray.

Also a helpful site for tracking sales on Amazon, and when things hit a new low price.

Stele wrote:

Also a helpful site for tracking sales on Amazon, and when things hit a new low price.

I always use (and god help me, I know it's a stupid name) Camelcamelcamel.com to track prices for me. I just set what I'm willing to pay for things and if I don't get an email from them saying "Hey, this is that cheap now" then I just never end up buying it.

But so far everything I've ever set a price for has ended up below my set threshold at one time or another

I still don't notice a difference on my TV between a Blu-Ray and a DVD. I've tried both with the same movie(s) and just don't have good enough eyesight/hearing I guess.

AnyDVD HD is a must whichever way you go though.

Eezy_Bordone wrote:

I still don't notice a difference on my TV between a Blu-Ray and a DVD. I've tried both with the same movie(s) and just don't have good enough eyesight/hearing I guess.

Be happy. DVD's are cheaper.

People still buy Packaged media? How quaint.

TheGameguru wrote:

People still buy Packaged media? How quaint.

Streaming is... well it's solid, but it's no substitute for a blu-ray.

Thin_J wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

People still buy Packaged media? How quaint.

Streaming is... well it's solid, but it's no substitute for a blu-ray.

Depends on the viewer. Netflix and iTunes stream 720p/5.1. Now that's exactly the set-up we have at home. (1080p/7.1 etc. isn't even a consideration given things like budget, living room space, and enthusiasm.) So that's not just solid but, for us, the perfect solution. And that's even without factoring in personal preferences like no more desire to own/collect.

Thin_J wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

People still buy Packaged media? How quaint.

Streaming is... well it's solid, but it's no substitute for a blu-ray.

Meh...I used to live in the world of 5%. These days HD downloads from iTunes or the Xbox Store look plenty good to me. Maybe if I could afford a dedicated Theatre room like some of my work colleagues have with their $30K projectors I wouldn't mind dropping the other $250K to do it justice as well as not have to swap discs every time I wanted to watch a movie.

I'm glad streamed stuff looks great to so many people.

But I notice all the macroblocking and background detail loss constantly. It's a nice looking picture particularly at the top end of their bitrate limits, but it's just simply not as good as a blu-ray.

Also, Netflix actually streams 1080p on a fair number of their HD titles, not 720p. It does noticeable 1080p through the PS3 app.

I wish, very much actually, that I couldn't see the issues. I really do. I'd save some money and things would be simpler. But once I notice it once I find myself seeing it for the duration of whatever I'm watching. Every little thing pops out more and more and it takes me out of the movie or show. I end up looking more at the picture instead of paying full attention to what's going on.

Thin_J wrote:

I'm glad streamed stuff looks great to so many people. Really.

But I notice all the macroblocking and background detail loss constantly. It's a nice looking picture particularly at the top end of their bitrate limits, but it's just simply not as good as a blu-ray.

Also, Netflix actually streams 1080p on a fair number of their HD titles, not 720p. It does noticeable 1080p through the PS3 app.

I wish, very much actually, that I couldn't see the issues. I really do. I'd save some money and things would be simpler.

Um...why do you assume people don't notice them..I notice the difference..I just don't care. Most movies just aren't that "awesome" for me to go through the trouble of packaged media. I care far more about video games than movies...I rarely even focus soley on a movie anymore..they just aren't that engaging to me..that being said I sure as hell bought the Bluray box of Lord of the Rings and T2. Some movies are worth it...oh and North by Northwest is a fantastic Bluray..but then I love that movie..

TheGameguru wrote:

Um...why do you assume people don't notice them..I notice the difference..I just don't care.

I don't know. Stuff like that drives me crazy. I forget that a lot of people don't care. Sorry?

Whether it's that you don't care about all the downsides of streaming or don't notice them, you win either way. Your entire setup is simplified, you don't have physical media taking up space, and on from there. I'll never argue otherwise.

But for some of us streaming still just isn't where it needs to be to replace physical media. And likely won't be for years because the internet in most places isn't consistent enough, or even fast enough to start with, to replicate the experience of physical media.

And as a person who loves film in general and focuses on it a fair bit... that's important.

Never said it's the same for everyone else.

Heh, I don't notice.

I appreciate that Blu-ray is substantially better quality, but it'd be wasted on me and my 40" 720p TV that I sit 10' from. I'm not trying to insinuate that what's good enough for me should be good enough for everyone. I really do mean it's a personal preference. I did collect DVDs for years since they were new, but movies have since become less important to me. So between that and the inflated cost of BD films, when all my friends were buying PS3s, I chucked in my lot with streaming. I won't pretend any of this extends to anyone else. Thin_J has made a good case that absolutely none of this applies to him.

Thin_J wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

Um...why do you assume people don't notice them..I notice the difference..I just don't care.

I don't know. Stuff like that drives me crazy. I forget that a lot of people don't care. Sorry?

Whether it's that you don't care about all the downsides of streaming or don't notice them, you win either way. Your entire setup is simplified, you don't have physical media taking up space, and on from there. I'll never argue otherwise.

But for some of us streaming still just isn't where it needs to be to replace physical media. And likely won't be for years because the internet in most places isn't consistent enough, or even fast enough to start with, to replicate the experience of physical media.

And as a person who loves film in general and focuses on it a fair bit... that's important.

Never said it's the same for everyone else.

your aren't limited to streaming..you can download HD quality movies from most of the big names.

TheGameguru wrote:

your aren't limited to streaming..you can download HD quality movies from most of the big names.

Those never look so hot either from what I've seen. Plus I can't get past the pricing combined with the complete inability to play them wherever. I still take movies to friend's houses to watch at least occasionally. If I buy a movie on my PS3 or from Amazon or wherever that does me no good when I walk into my buddy's apartment.

blu-ray

I too prefer Blu-ray, but the convenience of streaming Netflix has been winning me over lately.

Blu-ray does look better than any downloadable copy, except maybe those illegal torrents I've heard about... it might not be such a big difference on modern movies, but if you're watching anything that was made with a film camera and has film grain, I think you're going to lose that fine detail on anything other than Blu-ray. Definitely worth having around for those, if nothing else. This might all change when the new H.265 compression standard comes out though.

Chairman_Mao wrote:

I too prefer Blu-ray, but the convenience of streaming Netflix has been winning me over lately.

Blu-ray does look better than any downloadable copy, except maybe those illegal torrents I've heard about... it might not be such a big difference on modern movies, but if you're watching anything that was made with a film camera and has film grain, I think you're going to lose that fine detail on anything other than Blu-ray. Definitely worth having around for those, if nothing else. This might all change when the new H.265 compression standard comes out though.

How big are Bluray movies if you pull them out uncompressed? I ask because the 1080P stuff that iTunes and Xbox download are like ~4GB

TheGameguru wrote:

How big are Bluray movies if you pull them out uncompressed? I ask because the 1080P stuff that iTunes and Xbox download are like ~4GB

A two pass re-encode of a blu-ray to MKV will usually come in around 8gb, but I've never really tried straight uncompressed. It's just going to be way too much space. I don't have the storage (or the money to get the storage) to make that kind of thing make sense.

I can tell you the bitrate difference between any downloaded version (very, VERY likely to be encoded with x264) and the blu-ray itself being played is huge.

About 3-5 Mb/s is pretty standard for a re-encoded HD download. Blu-Ray discs often hit 35 Mb/s when just played straight, and that's just the video. Now after a point, somewhere in there, that bitrate likely isn't making a ton of difference. I'm sure there is indeed a middle ground in there that will look just as good to my eyes, but I don't know where it is. I just know that nobody seems to have found it yet. I know that even if it's 15 Mb/s or down at 10 Mb/s, it's still too large a file to make storing as many of them as I would need to make replacing my blu-ray collection a feasible option. I'd have to win the lottery to afford all the hard drives

I won't buy DVDs anymore, since blu-ray looks so much better. However, I certainly haven't bought as many blu-rays as I have DVDs. I just don't watch movies again and again for many titles. Moonrise Kingdom was a great movie, but I don't think I'll want to watch it a bunch of times. If the disc is cheap and has a bunch of special features, then I'm usually more interested. Disney titles are probably the exception: blu-ray + DVD FTW.

TheGameguru wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:

I too prefer Blu-ray, but the convenience of streaming Netflix has been winning me over lately.

Blu-ray does look better than any downloadable copy, except maybe those illegal torrents I've heard about... it might not be such a big difference on modern movies, but if you're watching anything that was made with a film camera and has film grain, I think you're going to lose that fine detail on anything other than Blu-ray. Definitely worth having around for those, if nothing else. This might all change when the new H.265 compression standard comes out though.

How big are Bluray movies if you pull them out uncompressed? I ask because the 1080P stuff that iTunes and Xbox download are like ~4GB

Thin_J has it right, but to elaborate and clarify:

Blu-rays are compressed as well, so it wouldn't make any sense to copy to an uncompressed format. Different codecs are used, either VC-1 or MPEG-4, which is based on the H.264 codec. How much compression and how well the film is encoded actually uses is up to the publisher--Avatar, for example, was encoded to use an entire double-density Blu-ray disc, about 50GB. For a 3+ hour movie, that's 16GB an hour, which is pretty insane but resulted in some amazing picture quality. Most Blu-rays actually don't fill the entire disc, and might only be 12-15GB or less. Those illegal torrents I've heard of typically encode at 4GB an hour for 1080p, and 2GB an hour for 720p. Netflix maxes out at 2GB an hour, according to its settings menu, so presumably there would not be much advantage in watching 1080p rather than 720p content on Netflix, unless they've developed their own amazing codec. For any video you watch on a PS3 you can see the current bit rate by pressing select (Netflix on PS3 does this too, but only gives a rough description of the quality, e.g. "very high").

I more or less gave my PS3 to my brother. If a film is both good and designed to be visually stunning say Inception or The Avengers, I am seeing it in the theater. I would love to have that quality at home. But 90% of what I watch are cartoons, and documentaries. HD streaming is good, and getting ever better. By and large any difference someone sees is something they are looking very hard for. Kinda like 2/10 Would Not Bang photos.

I just sit back and watch South Park. And If I want to see the extravaganze blockbuster, nothing most people can get at home, even the "I am totally not compensating for anything" 100 Inch LCDs is no substitute for the big screen, and that superb sound.

I used to rent DVD and continue to buy Blu-Ray. If I'm renting something it's because I want to see it once and the difference in quality isn't worth the extra money. If I'm buying something, it's because I want to watch it multiple times and am willing to pay more to make sure I've got the best version. Now I have Netflix instant streaming which is typically DVD-quality or worse. To give you an idea of my viewing habits, I'll usually stream about a dozen movies or shows a week but I'll buy maybe a half-dozen discs a year.