For those who can't, or won't, stream. http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2015/05/13/ultra-hd-blu-ray/1
Are we talking bigger disks or lower bit-rates here? The main reason I still have and buy Blu-rays is that while the resolution may be the same they still look substantially better (to my eye anyway) than low bit-rate streams.
Last I heard, it was a combination of bigger-capacity discs (BDXL, basically) and a more efficient codec (HEVC). I can't swear to either, though, 'cos as the article says the BDA hasn't bothered to update its website since 2010 and there's no publicly-available definition of the finalised specification.
100GB disks combined with HEVC reducing equivalent bit-rates by about a 1/3 would be a worthwhile for 4K blu-ray I think, over streaming. They need to get them to the market soon though. The longer the only 4K content you can get is streaming the more chance physical 4k media is going to be DOA, or at least very niche (a la SACD/DVD-A).
I think the demand has outpaced UHD while broadband speed has also let UHD streaming down. I think I read somewhere, alot of big international events are bypassing 4K coverage and instead planning for 8K broadcasts in 4-5 years time. I think the Tokyo Olympics announced that?
I don't like streaming. Not because of the bandwidth, but because I don't get as good an experience. I watched Interstellar with my system the other day, and my system doesn't cost more than 1.5k, and it is incredible. Sound is ace, picture perfect. Rather watch it at home than in the cinema tbh. Stream a movie, and it is never as good. And in the back of my mind I'm wondering, how much has it buffered? And I have FTTC, pretty quick. Sometimes, I want to watch a movie more than once also. I'm, in effect, paying for it twice with my broadband connection. Physical is better. Data is data though, and I'm not saying it would be any different if they could deliver it to me.
Interesting to see they have gone for this resolution over the other competing standards, wonder if this will have a knock on effect on the resolution supprted by 4K TV's
This is the resolution supported by 4K TV's. What they don't support however is the Rec. 2020 color gamut that these new blurays offer which is a step up on standard rgb. Hence it's another reason to wait before buying a 4K TV as none of the current ones will be able to display these new blurays in their full glory. They will also support the next Dolby Atmos and DTS:X sound formats so if hifi is your thing then that's another step up, although imo current sound formats are already so good it's pretty minor. As for streaming - well no one is streaming at the sort of bit rates a 4K bluray will use, and no one is streaming with the latest colour and sound formats so physical disks still have a place for those that really care about picture/sound quality.
Isn't it the case that none of the existing 4K TVs have the required combination of HDCP 2.2 and HDMI 2.0 @ 18 Gbps which is required for full colour depth U-HD Blu-Ray?
