jawa asks... Films... discs... TV resolution... how do you do this?

[quote="jawa_"]

Films... discs... TV resolution... how do you do this?

After quite a few years of owning a small 720p TV screen I was able to update to a larger 4K set. I've recently got into watching Blu Ray discs (1080p) and the odd 4K UHD disc (2160p).

How do you enjoy watching your films? Please select the voting options that are the closest match to your opinions and then maybe consider writing words as well.

I watched Tenet on UHD disc and thought the picture was great. I'm re-watching the Blu Ray version and I don't think it's quite as good; decent but perhaps not as crisp or vibrant. Then again, maybe I'm talking myself into thinking the 4K version is better? Tbh I don't think the additional cost for UHD discs is really worth it as Blu Ray can give excellent results. I would go for the UHD version if it were cheaper, though!

I try and purchase the 4K Blu Ray copy and sell them off, and if that isn't possible I'll purchase it on iTunes (like the games available on Mac, there can be very heavy discounting, but it's never widely advertised so easily missed on the App Store).

A lot of the streamed 4K is a bit of a con. It's more like 1080p Blu Ray with HDR. Which is fine, but they're promoting it as something it usually isn't. Like digital TV channels (have you seen the state of Freeview recently?!), the picture quality has been getting worse. I remember how Sky intentionally dropped the quality of standard definition to make their HD channel look more impressive.

I "just" have a HD TV and I'm happy enough with that. I don't really watch tv or play games enough to justify (or even want really) upgrading to a 4K TV.

I mostly stream these days, mainly because I realised I don't actually go back and watch most things I've bought very often. When I do buy it's blu-ray but I'm happy enough watching DVD.

When it comes to games I buy physical media (as an aside I also buy physical media for music. In 2022. Shocker!). If I ever get a 4K console I'd consider the upgrade to a 4K TV but there's no rush there.

- - - - -

I only stream nowadays on the various (legal) services, mainly because I don't have a home laptop anymore so can't be downloading torrents and the like. Haven't bought a physical disc film for many years.

Streaming is good enough for me, I'm not worried about getting the absolute best picture quality and I don't feel the need to have a physical media collection these days.

Garth wrote:Streaming is good enough for me, I'm not worried about getting the absolute best picture quality and I don't feel the need to have a physical media collection these days.

This.

I like having a good picture quality, but I'm not fussed enough to go back to physical media.

Depends on the film or show. Good animation especially benefits from being at least HD, but really anything that is about the visual spectacle I want to watch in high quality. On the other hand I'm probably not going to be bothered if it's a sitcom.

Generally 1080p is absolutely fine for for most media, anything higher is nice yet non-essential.

I buy 4K movies that I love for my Apple TV once they drop to around £3.99 or so.

Garth wrote:Streaming is good enough for me, I'm not worried about getting the absolute best picture quality and I don't feel the need to have a physical media collection these days.

This, although I'll always stream at the highest resolution possible, unless this costs me money. I pay for Netflix in HD but not 4K.

I miss the days of waiting 12 months after release to rent a film on Betamax.

I have the Ultra HD package with Sky which means I get the full Netflix package too and while I do enjoy the higher resolution it doesn't really feel worth it given how much actually has it.

I cancelled Sky recently and think I'll just go to the standard HD Netflix package.

Like all things it depends on the set up that you have.

Right now my main method of movies is through my 4K projector onto a 120" screen, hooked up through a Yamaha home theatre surround system. Only finally got it finished of this year as it's been something I've wanted for as long as I can remember and frankly it's been game changing for me.

I already had a couple of 4K TVs but they always topped out around the 50"-60" range and to be honest I was never that impressed by 4K. But at 120" you can very clearly see the difference between 4K and 1080p.

It's pushed me back to physical media because a lot of streaming services come up short when shown at that size, simply due to the amount of compression they use in their video. 4K UHD Blurays have a far higher bit-rate and can look substantially better.

I say "can" because a lot of the time it comes down to how the 4K disc has been mastered and some are better than others. Christoper Nolan movies tend to look amazing on it, especially the IMAX scenes which use up the whole screen and look so sharp you could cut yourself. The Star Trek 4Ks on the other hand have so much film-grain that I doubt it looked much better than the 1080p Bluray versions.

It also means that when I'm getting movies and TV from "alternative sources" I have to be a lot pickier about the ones I download. Lower file sizes tend to have far more compression and look strawberry floating horrendous on a big screen. So I tend to go for the bigger sizes.

Oh and games look strawberry floating amazing on it.

If you have the room and the money to spare (And an understanding partner) I really recommend looking into this.

Blu ray is my go to format for watching stuff, i don't have a 4K TV so there's no need to get 4K discs, and i don't stream because i prefer physical media.

Physical when I have to is either new blue rays or second hand DVD when I'm watching horror from between 1930 to 1995 I don't think your going to get that much of a benefit for going over dvd.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:...4K UHD Blurays have a far higher bit-rate and can look substantially better.

I say "can" because a lot of the time it comes down to how the 4K disc has been mastered and some are better than others. Christoper Nolan movies tend to look amazing on it, especially the IMAX scenes which use up the whole screen and look so sharp you could cut yourself. The Star Trek 4Ks on the other hand have so much film-grain that I doubt it looked much better than the 1080p Bluray versions...

I noticed this when watching Tenet the other night. I had heard about the screen shifts (widescreen/IMAX) and had kinda thought it'd be annoying... but, no, the film looked terrific!

jawa_ wrote:
Cheeky Devlin wrote:...4K UHD Blurays have a far higher bit-rate and can look substantially better.

I say "can" because a lot of the time it comes down to how the 4K disc has been mastered and some are better than others. Christoper Nolan movies tend to look amazing on it, especially the IMAX scenes which use up the whole screen and look so sharp you could cut yourself. The Star Trek 4Ks on the other hand have so much film-grain that I doubt it looked much better than the 1080p Bluray versions...

I noticed this when watching Tenet the other night. I had heard about the screen shifts (widescreen/IMAX) and had kinda thought it'd be annoying... but, no, the film looked terrific!

Shame the story was confusing bollocks though.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Like all things it depends on the set up that you have.

Right now my main method of movies is through my 4K projector onto a 120" screen, hooked up through a Yamaha home theatre surround system. Only finally got it finished of this year as it's been something I've wanted for as long as I can remember and frankly it's been game changing for me.

I already had a couple of 4K TVs but they always topped out around the 50"-60" range and to be honest I was never that impressed by 4K. But at 120" you can very clearly see the difference between 4K and 1080p.

It's pushed me back to physical media because a lot of streaming services come up short when shown at that size, simply due to the amount of compression they use in their video. 4K UHD Blurays have a far higher bit-rate and can look substantially better.

I say "can" because a lot of the time it comes down to how the 4K disc has been mastered and some are better than others. Christoper Nolan movies tend to look amazing on it, especially the IMAX scenes which use up the whole screen and look so sharp you could cut yourself. The Star Trek 4Ks on the other hand have so much film-grain that I doubt it looked much better than the 1080p Bluray versions.

It also means that when I'm getting movies and TV from "alternative sources" I have to be a lot pickier about the ones I download. Lower file sizes tend to have far more compression and look strawberry floating horrendous on a big screen. So I tend to go for the bigger sizes.

Oh and games look strawberry floating amazing on it.

If you have the room and the money to spare (And an understanding partner) I really recommend looking into this.

Lovely setup :datass:

And regarding the bolded, I couldnt agree more. I've got some UHD bluray that look so meh they could be DVD upscaled, and then some like planet earth 2 and endgame/infinity war/spiderverse that look jaw dropping.

jawa asks... Films... discs... TV resolution... how do you do this?

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