This is the main reason I keep postponing buying blu-rays. Nowadays, I buy second-hand DVDs to keep my library "legal". I refuse to buy them new. I'll eventually start buying second-hand blu-rays when prices drop and/or Blu-ray support in Linux (manly in Kodi) improves.
I know many people might use "creative" methods for getting their content, but if you are buying DVDs to be "fair" or "legal", then I hope what you have on your media computer is 480p content. I've gotten most of my blu-ray collection used or via sales, and I've spent less than $10 per blu-ray. About a decade ago I switched from buying DVDs to downloading because I thought the digital revolution was around the corner, that downloadable movies were coming, with cross-compatibility between different playback software, etc. But no, we've come some way, but the savings of digital distribution certainly hasn't been passed on to us. I've spent a lot of money getting back in "good terms" because the digital distribution revolution never really came. In the U.S. we have "digital copy" advertised with a lot of blu-ray/DVD sets. I hate this for a lot of reasons. #1: There is no communication what "digital copy" you are getting. There are all these crappy streaming services, and you are often locked to just one, or picking between two that both suck. The best is when it's just a $10-15 credit added to your Amazon digital credit so you can buy that movie or any other, but because they don't say, it's a crap shoot what you are going to get. #2: The codes for these digital copies expire. It makes no freaking sense to me. The box has huge advertising saying "Digital Copy!" but when you buy the set it turns out that you missed your chance. The code stopped working months ago. This has class-action lawsuit written all over it. #3: Many of these crappy streaming services that manage your library have fine print that says something like, "we may charge you at some point to maintain this library" or the obvious "we may cease to exist and you will lose everything" clause. This is pretty crappy.
If the powers that be would accept that format shifting is a legitimate activity and stop restricting digital copies then we could all be happy. But they are still trying to limit the potential for digital copies to proliferate and facilitate piracy. I don't know how they will change that but rental/lease, closed shop stream sources, failure to clearly define their position on digital legacy are all very real reasons why I dont use the 'legitimate' digital sources.... Compared to that, the time investment for me to buy and format shift a DVD or BluRay is one I will accept all day long. I know that once I have done it, I am responsible for the file. It can't be suddenly gone due to a change in policy or the demise of a closed shop provider. I don't get why anyone is buying something that they don't then own and have control of. Would like to be able to watch a bluray straight away once in a while though so some windows compatible software would be nice - but I can't bring myself to buy and fund the protectionist practises that frustrate me so much.
It is 480p, because I rip the DVDs. I don't notice a lot of difference on the TV and the HDD space is a lot less. However, I must say I prefer to have DVDs from movies made before 2008, because I know those, for the most part, aren't worth buying in Blu-Ray (because the movies get upscaled). Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I don't feel the need to have recent Hollywood blockbusters in my library. My reasoning behind buying second hand is that it doesn't count as a sale for them.
Makes sense, I still buy newish but usually wait and pick up in sales. Even if the big studios would consider protecting for 3-5 years then take the locks off that would help.
They'll never do that. The only way to make them do that would be to stop giving them money. The truth is, no one cares about it.
Films made before then, and even decades before the idea of "HD", were captured on film. While film doesn't have pixels or resolution, when scanned to a digital format the effective resolution is typically greater than 1080p (often far greater). The upshot of this is that good HD Blu-Ray transfers of films made long before the format or digital HD was conceived can look just as good and be just as "HD" as something released last week. I've seen a number of films on Blu-Ray that are 40-50 years old and look absolutely beautiful (and certainly not simply upscaled). A lot of good quality analogue film should even keep revealing more detail at 4K. The real problem is actually early digital captured filmed, which used native 1080p, and moreover very rapidly dated CGI *COUGHGeorge Lucas*
I completely agree. Film will still look old, have film grain, etc., but is still amazing when restored and scanned properly. The Criterion Collection is a company that specializes in making sure movies have been restored properly before being released. Some google searching or reading of Amazon reviews will reveal why certain blu-ray releases of loved classic movies get a lot of crappy reviews. http://www.criterion.com/ There's also the Star Wars: Despecialized Edition, which has been put together by a group of fans who love the movies as they were released in theaters, and dislike what George Lucas has done to them. This is sadly the best quality you can get of the theatrical version of the original trilogy . So much work has gone into making these, but you'll have to put on your hook and eyepatch to get them. Then there's IMAX 15/70. 70mm film on the horizontal for an even larger picture. Standard 35mm film, while not in pixels, is roughly the equivalent of a 6K image. So yeah, I'm still waiting for 8k TVs and projectors to be a common thing. 15/70mm is roughly 18K horizontal lines. It matters. Old movies on 35mm film or 70mm film look amazing when scanned for blu-ray. Everything looks like crap if your starting point was 640x480 and you scaled it up to 1080p.
I didn't think of that, I have to rethink my purchase strategy. Although I never buy second hand DVDs for more than 2€ these days, maybe 5€ if it is a special edition. I don't feel very comfortable buying blu-rays I'll never play, even if they are second-hand.
If you aren't a big film buff then justifying the mark up for blu-ray can be tough. But I remember watching Spirited Away on DVD on my 13" TV and thinking, "this was okay. I'm not sure what all the fuss was about." Then, just last year they finally released the blu-ray version and I watched it again on my 100", 1080p home theater. It was incredible. What an awesome experience and definitely a movie with enough detail to justify the resolution boost.
I tend to watch films on either a streaming service (Amazon Prime at the mo) or cheap DVDs added to my own personal streaming service (my Plex server). Blu-rays are generally reserved for films I really like that I value having in the best quality possible and want to add to my collection. That said Blu-rays are definitely starting to get more affordable, especially if you wait for deals. Regarding formats greater than 35mm, I saw The Master on Blu-ray and it was absolutely stunning looking. But it was shot entirely in 65mm I would have loved to see one of the 70mm cinema screenings, but hopefully when they come up with decent 4k distribution it will blow me away once more. And 8k for that matter, probably even 16k This is assuming that digital distribution and cramming 4k onto existing formats won't mean that bit-rates suck for ever more.
Yeah, we have some hurdles to jump before we see that. H.265 should bring very good 4k streaming. There's also a lot to say about human physiology that suggests that 4k is really going to be the upper limit for what we can discern in visual fidelity. That said, 8k would probably be a good margin of safety. But I don't see any need for anything beyond 8k outside of huge screens that you are very close to (like IMAX).
OK, I'm tempted... Are there any region-free Blu-ray players in the market? I might considering getting one to play gems like that.
I used a PS3 before I started ripping everything to my PC. Still one of the best Blu-ray players available and you get the added benefit of games, although the only PS3 game I'd really be interested in is Ni no Kuni.
Arise thread long since dead etc.. DVDFab's DVD and BluRay player software is free at the moment. linkage
