The bitrate difference between streaming and hard media is huge. So much so, I've gone back to buying 4K blurays and now own a dedicated Sony bluray player.
Just sad that not everybody releases on blu ray anymore. HBO has been good and I’ve bought several tv series and what not in 4k, but then Disney , u can’t get the mandalorian on 4k blu ray. :(
@@rudypj30 From what I know, and I could be wrong, they're just going to stop selling physical media "in store". Meaning that, while you won't be able to just walk in to a store and buy the movie/game, you'll still be able to buy it online. At least, for the foreseeable future.
I always rented my Blu-Rays and played them in my PS3. The rental stores are gone, there's a Red Box machine at the supermarket but I can't make a commitment to return the disc in time, so I'm streaming now. My stereo system is so last century, it will be impossible to upgrade. I'm using the Aux-out cable on my TV.
@@rudypj30dumb take, there are so, so many independent shops online that do well selling physical media. Even with BB gone the avid buyer doesn’t care because you never get anything in perfect condition from places like BB and AMZN. All my steel books from those places came screwed up.
If you buy the 4K blu-ray of a film you can look for the 4K, Blu-ray and digital all in one and save a lot of money while owning all formats. To me that's a huge win.
@stonesfan285 Not all physical media are equal. Some publishers don't care to deliver high quality. And if they do, they can't achieve the high quality because of not being able to find a proper source. Some films haven't been preserved well. So you will always need to do some research before purchasing certain discs. There are definitely ones out there that will astound you.
@stonesfan285 So far except for latest movie releases, any restored oldies have looked the same on both 4k and 1080p media without any noticeable difference. Sometimes the 4k artificial HDR has looked worse than SDR 1080p disk.
@@Sas-wk9lj what older films are you watching? I’ve found the difference overwhelming for older (particularly pre-CG) film, far more than anything heavily digital.
Physical Media is superior to streaming in a few ways. The drawbacks are that it's more expensive and less convenient. The benefits are that it looks better, it sounds better, you never have to worry about it being taken off a service or moving to another service and you never have to worry about it being edited for content. There are usually special features that you sometimes can't get anywhere else. Different cuts of the movie, deleted scenes, commentaries. I think it mostly comes down to how much you care about the movie. I get the movies I really enjoy on disc, I stream the ones I don't love.
The price is super annoying. Blurays were at least affordable. However 4k blurays cost £24-40 new and sometimes even used! Can’t justify that when iTunes movies are affordable and sound 90% as good in Dolby atmos. No going to lie though, I am a sucker for dts master audio!
Well, those aren't the only drawbacks. Another problem is that... many don't actually look noticably better than streaming. Sound can vary from sounding a little bit better to a lot better. A decent amount of movies that have Dolby Vision for streaming, do not have it for the 4K blu-ray (like most Sony and Disney 4K blu-rays). For me, I got a 4K blu-ray player mainly because I already had a great soundbar and TV, so I could make good use of it. And well, the main reason I got it is for nostalgic movies that I like and to get some eye candy in the best quality possible (I love how many CG movies look. And some of those modern monster movies are also great).
And a good benefit for having a 4k bluray disc is if you live somewhere that has internet connection issues and your wifi is down a lot, you have a disc that you can play whenever that happens. My internet went down for like 3 days once and my family watch movies and shows i had on disc since you had no other choice if you didnt want to be on your phone the whole time haha
It doesn't have to be more expensive. Every streaming platform is getting more expensive and if you want a good selection of channels you're looking at $100-$150 a month. Cancel streaming and use that money to build a collection, you can get 10-15 movies a month if you find sales or buy used.
@@hl236It's only expensive if you're after all the new releases. If you just wait a couple months they go on sale. 95% of my 4k blu ray purchases are sales or used off ebay.
Movies streamed on Apple TV 4k look and sound really great on my Sony OLED, but I still buy the 4k Blu-rays of my all time favorites to get the absolute best versions.
Picture quality is usually excellent on iTunes 4K but the sound quality difference I can definitely hear versus blu-ray discs. Especially LFE effects seem muted in streaming versions often. I also buy both discs and digital
Agreed. I was surprised when Caleb mentioned Movies Anywhere as from what I’ve seen Apple TV is superior (in picture quality) to the other major streaming services.
@@davidhogansrevenge4604 It is, Apple TV 4K has very impressive picture and sound. I have 2 of them hooked up to a Sony A80J OLED, and a Hisense H9F QLED, both set to BT2020 color gamut, and they look stunning. Sound is great too!
Best episode yet Caleb! Blu ray vs streaming is the most important topic for me, it blows my mind that someone who spends 1000 dollars on a tv doesn't use blu-ray
I was streaming Mad Max: Fury Road via Amazon (I think), and I felt like I had to crank up the volume to get the sound I was wanting. I then decided to throw in the blu-ray I have of the same movie and the difference in sound quality alone was startling. The disc had so much more volume and also clarity and it made my Sonos system come alive.
IMHO, every service that I use has a different sound level. In my instance, my Blu-Ray player has a relatively low sound level as compared to my other devices.
It’s not a lossy vs lossless thing; a lot of films are getting mixed more cautiously, so they’ll sound acceptable in stereo and at moderate volume, while the disc contains the full dynamic range for the cinema. Whether that’s actually a good thing for you will depend on your setup.
@@IainL7you’re just wrong, the bitrate for streaming for audio is absolutely pathetic compared to physical media. They know most people are just using TV speakers or shitty sound bars and they save a lot of bandwidth cutting out 90% of the audio. If you have a high end sound system, you just buy the physical media to make use of it. Any audio receiver can display the bitrate as you’re watching something. Streaming is a joke.
I went from a 60 inch Pioneer Kuro to a 85 inch Sony X950h. I have zero regrets the blacks are good enough and that big step up in size hits it out of the park.
Great to hear your thoughts on 4K Blu-ray vs 4K Streaming. I very recently upgraded my TV, AV Receiver and 4K Blu-ray player so everything is at the same Dolby certification standard and is all current generation. I also upgraded all my cabling to HDMI 2.1 48GBs (which did give a visually improved experience, even on normal HD TV). I have a high bandwidth internet connection and use an NVIDIA Shield Pro for streaming 4K, and overall I think the quality is pretty good. However, if I watch the same content on physical media on my 4K Blu-ray player, I am able to see a NOTICEABLE improvement in overall quality. For me personally, there is no question, the entire experience is better on 4K Blu-ray. I guess what I’m trying to say, is to anyone considering a high end TV, if you care about the visual experience and want to make sure you’re getting the maximum out of it, then you need to feed it with the best quality signal, which currently only comes from physical media. If you’re happy with 4K Streaming quality (and to be fair, as mentioned, it did look pretty good), then you may want to save some money and get a TV from a lower performance bracket 👍
It's not just 4k blu ray. Regular 1080p blu ray is just as good and in the cases of some good scans better than some 4k streams. And you get the benefit of better sound as well.
Excellent points, especially the real advantages of physical disc vs streaming. I owned my nice big screen 4k tv for three years before it finally dawned on me that I wasn't taking advantage of its inherent quality. I still stream but have gradually built up a nice little library of my favorite movies on 4k blu-rays and also hd blu-rays. Owning your favorite titles on physical discs is so satisfying.
4K hard Disk will ALWAYS ..ALWAYS BEST streaming hands down! picture and sound quality on the 4K can’t be beat!! People who know..KNOW! So many have no clue!! GREAT VIDEO! MAHALO!!
I'm not sure if you've already covered this in another video, but it would be great to get a comparison on the 4k blu ray quality experience for both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X to see what the actual differences are.
Sony X90J owner here, but still own the awesome Samsung F8500 Plasma. Actually, I find the X90J better for everything: SDR, HDR, HD, SD. The upscaling on the Sony in particular is quite well done. The TV manufacturers have done an excellent job improving on LCD TV tech in the past 10 years.
LCD Led TV’s really have gotten awesome especially in the last 5 years. I honestly enjoy a good mid or upper grade Led just as much as Oled if not more in a lot of situations just got to stay away from those low end cheap led LCD’s
I currently have a pioneer elite 1080p that cost $11500 when new and really is gorgeous still to this day and I also still own a Fujitsu plasma vision that cost around $10k when new that I do not use anymore but still have and my new Samsung QLed blows away both those televisions and the pioneer is a top of the line plasma bout the best u could buy. These new Qleds with dimming zones and great hdr peak brightness are seriously awesome and my new 85in Samsung only cost $3400 we are in good times for TV’s. I used to be on the Oled hype train for awhile and do really like the new qd Oleds but regular Oleds and even the best ever plasmas just don’t and didn’t get bright enough. QD technology is just awesome
Most people have a soundbar and Blu-Ray player and just don't have it set up right. A few years ago I set mine up the way he mentioned at 7:39 in the video. Then changed the audio settings on the Blu-Ray played to a high as it goes. I was blown away. It was like bringing the theater home with me. I would tell my dad all the time to do the same. Recently set it up for him and he was just as blown away by it.
Another plus for physical media is when the internet goes down for a few days, I can still watch something. Streaming can be good to avoid blind buys too.
I have a PS5 and it works great as a 4K blu-ray player but I decided for a Panasonic stand alone player to reduce energy costs and guess what, the video is better.
Good questions! I don't understand the resistance to having a dedicated Blue Ray player. I realize that streaming is easy and initially cheaper but being immersed in a movie is not done without a dedicated player. I have a Panasonic BDP 800 and it's stellar, way exceeding any streaming service I've seen. For serious movie watching Blue Ray is the best in my opinion.
There is no better answer than you give.I have also the Panasonic UB820 (Netherlands) and I still buy blu-ray's these days because it's the best way to watch a movie.
It depends on what service you are watching your movies through. I use iTunes Movies(which is probably the BEST) and it's fantastic. The physical stand along player will soon be Obsolete. It's coming. The money that you spend on a quality player(with only a 1 year warranty I may add) and then some quality cables all add up. The same people that were saying that streaming movies were not good vs physical disc...that physical disc is the better way to go..said the same about LP's vs CD's and CD's took over. They said the same about CD's vs streaming music..and now streaming music has taken over. The same will happen with movies. Why do you think a lot of movie theaters are closing their doors and not as many people go out to the movies anymore??? Think about it. Here's an example ...I purchased Fast X 4K brand NEW physical disc. I had to send it back to Amazon TWICE because it kept pausing. There were no fingerprints or nothing on the disc. That same movie I also have in my digital library through iTunes Movies gave me absolutely ZERO problems. Go figure.
Loved the last question! We ps5 movie lovers would like to know what our budget choices get us compared to the dedicated players and what not. Would love to buy a 4k player in the future just not in the cards right now. I’d still like to get a Dolby atmos setup too. Would love another budget video on sound set ups for this year.
I got a higher end TV when I got a PS5 and brought a bunch of 4k physical Media movies not knowing PS5 didn't support Dolby vision. I was so upset and pissed when I put in a movie and didn't see the dolby vision icon show up on the TV. Went to buy a 4k player that supports Dolby vision and couldn't believe the price.
This week's questions were all on my list of things to learn about! I have a Panasonic Plasma and always wonder what would be the best replacement option when the time comes. Also netflix sound quality is so inconsistent that I always thought it is a big downside of streaming movies.
Depends on what kind of content you play on your plasma TV. If 1080p movies, there is hardly any true replacement for the organic PQ of your plasma TV panel. If you are planning to watch lots of HDR 4k content then options are many (QD-OLED, mini Led) but none IMHO can beat the experience you get from your plasma watching SDR 1080p movies.
It is but most folks don’t care or don’t care enough to deal with buying, storing media etc. it’s not going to die tomorrow or anything but the long time horizon, it’ll be a niche product I think.
Recently bought an LG C2 and your videos have been brilliant help in terms of setup and understanding the options available. I'm slightly worried that I'll spend on more and more tech as a result of your compelling content but that's a me problem!
Switching from older 1080p plasma to modern OLED or the a LED variant the shift in color and brightness as your position around the room is going to be the biggest annoyance and most noticeable downside. Then throw in the black level and zone illumination. You’ll only be happy moving to a OLED. I tried the higher end LED option and after a year I replaced the set with a Sony OLED and moved the LED to a less used room.
That question from Germany is exactly my situation! Still using 50" plasma as it hasn't died and I don't like throwing out things that still work. And OLED is gorgeous but out of my price range sadly. But when it does die, I'm really hoping a good quality modern LED like the U7K or U8K will do the job nicely, and give me a nice size upgrade (thinking 65" for my room size). Thanks for the info!
Same situation...my pioneer kuro plasma is still a great picture imo, would be a shame to just get rid of it. I just want to watch some 4K sources and of course, it can't manage 4k so i'm on the fence.
Same situation...my pioneer kuro plasma is still a great picture imo, would be a shame to just get rid of it. I just want to watch some 4K sources and of course, it can't manage 4k so i'm on the fence.
Loved the questions this week, especially the "How do I best connect my system", and the "Replacement of my aging plasma TV" questions. I too wrestle with these questions, and am frozen into keeping my 64" Samsung from 2011vs. upgrading to a 75" OLED that I may or may not regret. We watch almost 100% DirectV content, and prefer a less "explosive" brilliant picture in my medium lit room. I don't want to end up with a picture that burns my retinas. Love everything you put out Caleb, you are the only person I trust 100%! Please keep up the great work!
Caleb- great questions! Keep up the fantastic work! I’ve watched you evolve over the past 8 or so years and it’s been amazing! You produce great content and add a personal flair that resonates well.
Great video Caleb , you are right about streaming I have a full theater not only streaming doesn't have lossless audio it also doesn't have super sampling like the disc does . The difference is night day .
Plasma is still sharper and more clear than OLED, at least in opinion. LG C3 vs Panasonic VT60. I am not sold on the C3 so far in my week of testing. TV brightness is so over sold. Especially using really dim "filmmaker" mode.
Iv'e begun converting some of my 4K Blu-ray remuxes to AV1 which is a pretty slow process when using your CPU but the PQ is virtually indistinguishable from the disc while saving quite a bit of space.
I agree with you about owning discs. However, I have encountered quite a few discs that develop skipping, freezing and total loss of digital signal. I have since saved most of my collection on a nas and thats when I started finding multiple defects in my collection.
I really like Movies Anywhere but the one caveat is that the movies have to be from studios that support Movies Anywhere. Paramount and Lionsgate being the two big studios that don’t support it so those movies will only be available in the service in which they were bought.
If I remember correctly, Paramount and Lionsgate were holdovers from the Ultraviolet website. When Movies Anywhere was created, those two companies refused to align and opted for their own services - which normally goes through Vudu and Apple.
I have a Sony HT-A9 system, and I chose it because I just can’t add ceiling speakers. I’m happy with the results, but don’t mind improving it if I could. What kind of panels would you recommend to improve the bounce effect of the up firing speakers?
To the guy looking to upgrade to a 4k TV I highly recommend the LG c series. I have a 65 cx and 77 c2 and absolutely love them. If they are within your budget really look into them. They a popular for good reason.
He is very right about the Hisense U8K here in Germany. The Hisense models here uses the VIDAA OS which is highly laggy and has small internal storage that is inadequate for 4k content. How laggy you may ask? You will feel that it removes some video caches in realtime that it has a 20 frame cut for every 2-3 seconds of video watch. I had enough and just attached a Chromecast 4k to my TV. Stay away from VIDAA software please. 😅
Great answers to questions about equip. set-up,hope 2 c more set-up tips for P.S.5 to L.G.t.v.,Denon recivers arc, e-arc soundbar set-ups.This channel has the BEST content around the web.🎉
I baught dune on 4k Blu-ray I watched it on my ps5 / LG A2. I was blown away by the improvement in quality over the Max stream. If you have a ps5 I would recommend buying a 4k blu-ray and seeing for yourself. It’s impressive
Movies Anywhere also tends to distribute purchases across your other linked services which is nice, but it only works with participating content/studios so if you like more niche movies you may get less out of it. But still, it's free to do so might as well
Atmos is worth it. I have a budget up fire system, true its not like having dedicated ceiling speakers, but like you said, you get something. Much more immersive
The audio quality is the biggest difference between streaming and 4K blue ray. Hoping lossless audio eventually comes to video streaming given it’s already available for music streaming.
I was in the same boat as Gerrit, until last year when I finally retired my Panny VT50 Plasma, and replaced it with a Samsung S95b. The year before I bought a cheap 4K lcd Hisense for my son and was surprised at how not terrible it was. It definitely shortened the fuse on my upgrade. I’m blown away with my S95b, it’s better in almost every way.
Great video thanks. Isn't a movie bought and pre-downloaded in Apple TV higher quality than streaming it? (I accept it still isn't the same as a UHD DVD).
Yes!!! I have been waiting for you to make this video!! As I have ALWAYS wanted to know if 4k Blu Rays are worth it versus streaming 4k via apps. Thank you!!!
Best plasma replacement to me is the S95C. The way it reflects lights in the rooms. The colors. The warmth and the way they look are natural. Turn on BFI when necessary, it also has that slight plasma flicker. The Sony A95L is a good alternative with better BFI, but that price tag. And I think the colors on the S95C is just closer to that of my VT30. It very much feels like I'm still watching on my plasma, just that it can get brighter if necessary. Don't get an LG based OLED, they don't look like plasmas. No DV isn't an issue with high end displays that exceed 100 nits, IMHO. Unless you do piracy and you download DV profile 5 content. In that case no DV is a dealbreaker. You can retrofit DV with something like a Shield and one of those HDFury devices though, which IMHO works very well.
@@garrettstrutz7421 Well, depends. With the 55 and 65" it's a gamble. With the 77", yes. Pretty much (though there are minor software differences? You need to go into the service menu?). You do get 48 Gbps rather than 40 Gbps, which for some is an advantage. For others the one connect box is an advantage. And then the price (here) is all over the place, so sometimes they are priced almost the same, sometimes the difference is big...
Maybe to expand a little: IMHO the TV that is closest to those glorious plasma days is the Samsung S95C / S90C, followed by the A95L/A95K. Getting the Shield (or Apple TV 4K etc.) to do the DV processing (LLDV) can be done with the HDFury Arcana (around $200 or so). There are cheaper splitters that can do the same (around $40), however they can't tell the TV to interpret the incoming signal as HDR, thus you'll end up with a washed out image. In any case the Arcana makes it easy: Set it to activate LLDV, and if you want adjust the nits that the TV is capable of. (Not sure how good that works. Caleb, maybe a topic for a video?). IMHO it is dumb of Samsung to not offer DV on their better models... I do think they really hurt the S95C and as a result need to sell it much cheaper than they could if it had DV. The DV license can't be as expensive as how much more they could charge. I was willing to spend $200 to retrofit DV for example, and I know enough folks who ended up buying the G3 only because the S95C doesn't have DV... even though the G3 is significantly more expensive (and not as good).
Two questions for you: 1. Why do Sony 4K Blu-ray players require Dolby Vision be turned on manually when other players (from Panasonic, for example) can detect it automatically? 2. You recommended Movies Anywhere for better performance, but all Sony movies on MA are limited to 5.1 audio and HDR10. Is there a reason for this?
I bought the Criterion Walle disc and played it initially on the PS5. Gorgeous looking disc transfer. If you are a fan of the movie, suggest picking it up.
For that question about passing DTS from the PS4 to the TV and out via eARC to the soundbar... I thought that would work? Can't eARC act as a passthrough for even stuff like DTS:X and TrueHD? Or am I wrong...
true true 4k physicals vs streaming i love movie too much so i get physical but ofc like streaming can watch anywhere easy but home on my 7.1 setup 4k physical anyday hands down
Please take my question :: Can I convert non Dolby atmosphere 5.1 speakers to Dolby atmosphere speakers by an Dolby atmosphere av receiver. And also I have Dolby atmos on my pc so can it convert my normal 5.1 surround to Dolby atmosphere Please answer because I want it
On Halloween night wife and I wanted to watch ghostbusters. Watched for a few minutes on streaming then we had a hiccup so I decided to bust out our blu ray disc. Both of us were astonished on how much crazy better the video quality was. Streaming has gotten a lot better but yep I agree the disc really is superior if you don’t mind spending extra money and the hassle of having to put in a disc.
“Streaming“ isn’t the same everywhere, Apple is very good at it. Nevertheless 95% of the population don’t see or know the difference between physical it streaming. Streaming is getting much closer with new codecs and I believe in a near future, discs have no future; the issue is when you want to watch a movie and it isn’t on any platform…
@@ricarmigThat's a misconception higher tranport efficiency doesn't mean higher quality it mostly means lower usage of bandwidth.. which is always the preferred route of media corporations. We witnessed when Netflix went from 10Mbps or so to 1.5Mbps with slightly lower quality in the last years. Of course they are keeping that ratio. They just need a couple of movies over 15Mbps to portray the idea of quality even if most content has extremely low bitrate.
@@absolutium you’re right on that but I mean, on BD the bitrate is high and the newest codecs don’t need as much. With AV1 for example, you can have very good quality at 15 Mbps. For most people and screens and sound systems, most streaming services are ok. My high end oled needs a little bit more but I honestly won’t buy physical media anymore or I have to buy a new house.
7:26 - I found out the other day when trying to play 4K blu rays that have DTS:X from my PS5 connected to LG C2, passing audio through eARC to a Samsung Q990C soundbar, LG C2 DOES NOT passthrough DTS! You need to plug into the soundbar first to get DTS passthrough, otherwise it gets converted to Multi Channel PCM. DTS, DTS-HD MA, and DTS:X is on a lot of blu rays so it's not as niche as you think! They included DTS passthrough in the C3/G3 which frustrates me that they didn't licence DTS on the C2/G2 and previous models like C1 and CX.
When my HTA9 works, it's absolutely incredible. The problem is, half the time, it doesn't. If I walk around the living room - signal drops. Certain shows cause it to have a fit and - signal drops Nearly £2k for poor wireless signals isn't good
I'm new to collecting 4k and normal blurays, I love the clarity in the video and sound I get from them vs streaming. However, the last 5 movies I watched froze and its very frustrating to have this problem with all brand new discs. Idk if its my player or I'm very unlucky at getting bluray duds. I have the Sony X700-2K/4K UHD multi region. I hope it's the player but when I tested the discs on my roommates Xbox Series X, I had the same issue on all of them. I want the physical discs instead of buying a right to a digital movie, but my experience has been more reliable with streaming. Anyone have recommendations?
Yep I have Maverick and the Nolan collection box set and the quality in the IMAX scenes are absolutely incredible. The early stuff like Batman Begins, Inception, etc. don't take advantage of it really but everything after that is amazing.
If i purchased the sonos arc/ surround system. Would it be worth it if i only streamed my movies and tv shows? The bitrate is so low i feel like it might not be worth investing in a sound system that i dont plan on using with a high fidelity source. Or do all these codec's and AI/software programs make up the difference?
Quick question for you. I heard that the optical sound cable isn't able to send atmos sound is this true? I have my hisense u8h hooked up via optical sound cable and hdmi via earc to my denon avr I get atmos etc but I have it connected in me u via hdmi but I was wondering about the fiber optic sound cable theory though
With that sloped cieling. Should you face the short end or the tall end? For the best sound? (My atmos speakers hang from rafters. No reflections. Not asking for them. More the overall sound. The front soundstage)
Hey Caleb. I live in a Geodesic dome. Do you have any experience setting up a surround sound system in a dome with 20 foot ceilings? My Rotel stereo system sounds amazing, but my Vizio TV sounds terrible.
Thanks for the video, very interesting as it’s all relevant to my current experience having just purchased an LGC3 77” OLED To replace my almost 12 year Panasonic Plasma which was the flagship model at the time, the Plasma is still going strong in my spare room btw, the new LG is on the wall in the lounge in its place, the Plasma was always a really natural picture that didn’t require any messing around, it was perfect straight out of the box, unfortunately the same can’t be said for the C3, it’s taken 3 months of making adjustments to get it right, even now I don’t believe it is much better than the Panasonic Plasma, it is better but certainly not by much, there are scenes where it is too bright, scenes where it is too dark, and sometimes the colours look forced and unnatural, but this mostly depends on the source material, when fed with a good source the picture is very good, it’s just more fussy than the plasma that made anything look good! With respect to Dolby vision I personally feel it’s a lot of hype about nothing, so far I have not seen anything in Dolby vision that impresses me, HDR10 looks better to me, Dolby vision from Apple TV is quite terrible and much too dark to watch, although I have seen a lot of people on the net complaining of the same issue, it’s not the TV or settings as other streaming apps are much brighter than Apple TV with Dolby vision, but totally agree about physical media, when I feed this TV with a 4K disc from my Oppo 205 the picture quality is noticeably better than any of the streaming services, plus the sound quality is better too. Again thank you for the video, as I said very relevant to my current experiences 👍
Im glad the blurray vs streamimg quesrion was asked because ive recently been shopping for a 4k bluray player agter a dispute with google over movies i "own" amd Caleb is right you dont avtually owm it wjen its digital because whatever platform its on has ultimaye control over it so im syarting to build be physical collection nefore they arw gone fureal.
Really enjoyable technical content and suggestions thank you -- subscribed. It seems the consensus is that films you enjoy and would watch again, that have a good quality 4K Blu-ray and/or Blu-ray physical media transfer are worth ownership. Streaming is a good way to determine this at a relatively low cost, albeit not likely at its best. Owning the 4K physical media after (often with bonus features & memorabilia like an album cover) will likely ensure a more pleasurable viewing the next time, and something you can look forward to, with no risk of the film being pulled or censored. Ultimately, see it in a cinema (like IMAX) in all it's glory first...
Hey Caleb can you explain FRC or (8 bit +FRC)? The only online answer is you wont notice the difference but i dont know if i beleive that. I've been trying to pick a new tv between the Sony x85k, the Hisense u7k, and the tcl q7 and noticed that only the tcl has a 10 bit panel. Any clarity would be awesome thanks
Hello Caleb I want to know if there is a difference if I transfer the original 4k uhd movie to the hard drive with the original purchased 4k uhd movie and watch it on TV? is there a loss in video and audio quality? sorry for my english greetings from Tony
I have a Blu-ray player and I've been thinking about getting a 4k Blu-ray player to upgrade . Just got a Hisense 75u8k and have a nice 7.1 surround system. I recognize the superiority of a 4k disc but i find I rarely pop one in to watch the same movie over and over again.
That’s why apps like Plex, Jellyfin and Infuse are amazing. Can just burn all your disks to a hard drive then be able to watch them all. Instead of having to put a disk in every time to watch something lol
7:08 - I have a Roku 4K 2022 stick on my Hisense 65" from 2019. It does pass the DD+ through the TV to the ARC into my receiver. Not the best, I grant you, but bitstream passthrough does vary by TV and is likely to work most of the time in 2024. I would ONLY do this on devices where it is very tiny (Chromecast, Roku Stick, Fire Stick, etc.) since the back of the receiver can get hotter than the back of a TV, plus the receiver does not really sit right in a closed-back cabinet with sticks on the back. For a soundbar, I'd get a switcher and a power strip close to the switcher for USB power to put the stick upstream from the bar and before it goes onto a TV.
Caleb, I am a long time viewer and first time reaching out. I have the XBR-75X940D tv. I also have the following connected to the DRAGON, PS5 and a Roku. For the most part, when I buy a 4K dvd I rip it to my nas and stream through Plex. You were talking buying a standalone player in this video, which model would you recommend? I do have a budget of about $500 at most. Thank you and keep doing what you do, it is very educational.
Before this question had occurred to me, I bought a couple of 4k movies on Amazon Prime because it was convenient. It wasn't until offline view downloading that I made the realization: the file size was usually less than 5GB. 4k Blu Ray movies are in the realm of 50-100GB. I'll be buying physical in the future.
Help me choose. LG G3 65inch at $3495 ($2275 US inc tax) Or LG C3 77 inch at $4688 (3052 US inc tax) Still renting so can’t wall mount. Will have to get a stand for the g3 and room size might vary. Thanks!
Hey Caleb, your suggestion to pass DTS from the PS5 to Soundbar to LG OLED would still be rejected by the TV. LG no longer licenses DTS on their TVs, so the only way to get it (and yes, it is extremely important to those who collect physical media) is to pass the DTS signal from a AUDIO ONLY HDMI port to your soundbar’s HDMI IN port, then eARC to LG. The problem is that the PS5, to my knowledge, doesn’t have an AUDIO OUT HDMI port, therefore to pass DTS audio, one would need an HDMI splitter or a 4K blu-ray player. Not every film has a Dolby Atmos track. The default track to a vast majority of blu-rays is DTS-HD Master Audio. When the LG rejects the DTS source, it plays the Dolby lossy audio track instead, i.e. compressed audio.
ps5 to soundbar to lg oled would work as the dts sound comes from the soundbar before the video is passed through to the tv. It wouldn't work going ps5 to lg oled to soundbar. The downside is the lg soundbar (that i have) doesn't pass through 120 hz video.
Hi Caleb, I’ve noticed in many comparisons between LG G3 and Samsung S95c that the G3 displays a greenest tint across the entire screen . I only saw the the two tvs on UA-cam.,Is that something caused by the way camera sensors read the wrgb oled or a real issue? There is a lot talking about the supposed issue in the web forums, could you share your experience? Thanks
Caleb, regarding your answer to the question about not including Samsung because of their lack of Dolby Vision support, is HDR10 as prevalent in the media on offer? I see Dolby Vision being marked on most of the streamed content we watch, but cannot recall HDR10 even bing mentioned as being used by the content creator.
The bitrate difference between streaming and hard media is huge. So much so, I've gone back to buying 4K blurays and now own a dedicated Sony bluray player.
then you better hurry up and buy as many 4k movies as you can because alot of places are gonna stop selling them starting next year
Just sad that not everybody releases on blu ray anymore. HBO has been good and I’ve bought several tv series and what not in 4k, but then Disney , u can’t get the mandalorian on 4k blu ray. :(
@@rudypj30 From what I know, and I could be wrong, they're just going to stop selling physical media "in store".
Meaning that, while you won't be able to just walk in to a store and buy the movie/game, you'll still be able to buy it online.
At least, for the foreseeable future.
I always rented my Blu-Rays and played them in my PS3. The rental stores are gone, there's a Red Box machine at the supermarket but I can't make a commitment to return the disc in time, so I'm streaming now. My stereo system is so last century, it will be impossible to upgrade. I'm using the Aux-out cable on my TV.
@@rudypj30dumb take, there are so, so many independent shops online that do well selling physical media. Even with BB gone the avid buyer doesn’t care because you never get anything in perfect condition from places like BB and AMZN. All my steel books from those places came screwed up.
If you buy the 4K blu-ray of a film you can look for the 4K, Blu-ray and digital all in one and save a lot of money while owning all formats. To me that's a huge win.
Great minds think alike. That's one of the biggest reason I still buy DVDs
@stonesfan285 Not all physical media are equal. Some publishers don't care to deliver high quality. And if they do, they can't achieve the high quality because of not being able to find a proper source. Some films haven't been preserved well. So you will always need to do some research before purchasing certain discs. There are definitely ones out there that will astound you.
You don't have to look for such combo pack as they make it a forced buy for you to include all formats.
@stonesfan285 So far except for latest movie releases, any restored oldies have looked the same on both 4k and 1080p media without any noticeable difference. Sometimes the 4k artificial HDR has looked worse than SDR 1080p disk.
@@Sas-wk9lj what older films are you watching? I’ve found the difference overwhelming for older (particularly pre-CG) film, far more than anything heavily digital.
Physical Media is superior to streaming in a few ways. The drawbacks are that it's more expensive and less convenient. The benefits are that it looks better, it sounds better, you never have to worry about it being taken off a service or moving to another service and you never have to worry about it being edited for content. There are usually special features that you sometimes can't get anywhere else. Different cuts of the movie, deleted scenes, commentaries. I think it mostly comes down to how much you care about the movie. I get the movies I really enjoy on disc, I stream the ones I don't love.
The price is super annoying. Blurays were at least affordable. However 4k blurays cost £24-40 new and sometimes even used! Can’t justify that when iTunes movies are affordable and sound 90% as good in Dolby atmos. No going to lie though, I am a sucker for dts master audio!
Well, those aren't the only drawbacks. Another problem is that... many don't actually look noticably better than streaming. Sound can vary from sounding a little bit better to a lot better. A decent amount of movies that have Dolby Vision for streaming, do not have it for the 4K blu-ray (like most Sony and Disney 4K blu-rays).
For me, I got a 4K blu-ray player mainly because I already had a great soundbar and TV, so I could make good use of it. And well, the main reason I got it is for nostalgic movies that I like and to get some eye candy in the best quality possible (I love how many CG movies look. And some of those modern monster movies are also great).
And a good benefit for having a 4k bluray disc is if you live somewhere that has internet connection issues and your wifi is down a lot, you have a disc that you can play whenever that happens. My internet went down for like 3 days once and my family watch movies and shows i had on disc since you had no other choice if you didnt want to be on your phone the whole time haha
It doesn't have to be more expensive. Every streaming platform is getting more expensive and if you want a good selection of channels you're looking at $100-$150 a month. Cancel streaming and use that money to build a collection, you can get 10-15 movies a month if you find sales or buy used.
@@hl236It's only expensive if you're after all the new releases. If you just wait a couple months they go on sale. 95% of my 4k blu ray purchases are sales or used off ebay.
Movies streamed on Apple TV 4k look and sound really great on my Sony OLED, but I still buy the 4k Blu-rays of my all time favorites to get the absolute best versions.
Exactly the same here. About 90% Apple, 10% discs.
Picture quality is usually excellent on iTunes 4K but the sound quality difference I can definitely hear versus blu-ray discs. Especially LFE effects seem muted in streaming versions often. I also buy both discs and digital
Agreed. I was surprised when Caleb mentioned Movies Anywhere as from what I’ve seen Apple TV is superior (in picture quality) to the other major streaming services.
@@davidhogansrevenge4604 It is, Apple TV 4K has very impressive picture and sound. I have 2 of them hooked up to a Sony A80J OLED, and a Hisense H9F QLED, both set to BT2020 color gamut, and they look stunning. Sound is great too!
This is the way
Best episode yet Caleb! Blu ray vs streaming is the most important topic for me, it blows my mind that someone who spends 1000 dollars on a tv doesn't use blu-ray
...because they don't want to spend another 1000 dollars?
@@aafawfawfawf6272 who said a bluray player was 1000 dollars, you can get one for $100. 4k, will cost a bit more around $200-$400.
I've commented in favour of BluRay disks many times before. Good that folks here're finally realising the potential of it vs streaming content.
@@aafawfawfawf6272not every 4K blu-ray player is $1,000 lmao
@@miloa.2684 you clearly don't know much about the topic if my comment brought so much amusement to you
These "You Asked" videos are terrific. Keep up the great work Caleb.
I was streaming Mad Max: Fury Road via Amazon (I think), and I felt like I had to crank up the volume to get the sound I was wanting. I then decided to throw in the blu-ray I have of the same movie and the difference in sound quality alone was startling. The disc had so much more volume and also clarity and it made my Sonos system come alive.
IMHO, every service that I use has a different sound level. In my instance, my Blu-Ray player has a relatively low sound level as compared to my other devices.
It’s not a lossy vs lossless thing; a lot of films are getting mixed more cautiously, so they’ll sound acceptable in stereo and at moderate volume, while the disc contains the full dynamic range for the cinema. Whether that’s actually a good thing for you will depend on your setup.
@@NachturnalOne I truly can't recognize much if any difference.
@@IainL7That happened to Top Gun Maverick.
@@IainL7you’re just wrong, the bitrate for streaming for audio is absolutely pathetic compared to physical media. They know most people are just using TV speakers or shitty sound bars and they save a lot of bandwidth cutting out 90% of the audio. If you have a high end sound system, you just buy the physical media to make use of it. Any audio receiver can display the bitrate as you’re watching something. Streaming is a joke.
I went from a 60 inch Pioneer Kuro to a 85 inch Sony X950h. I have zero regrets the blacks are good enough and that big step up in size hits it out of the park.
Size is always the best and biggest improvement one can make
+1 to the physical copy crowd. Maybe someday streaming will be there, but for now. The disk ain’t dead! Lol. Thanks for the q&a
Great to hear your thoughts on 4K Blu-ray vs 4K Streaming. I very recently upgraded my TV, AV Receiver and 4K Blu-ray player so everything is at the same Dolby certification standard and is all current generation. I also upgraded all my cabling to HDMI 2.1 48GBs (which did give a visually improved experience, even on normal HD TV). I have a high bandwidth internet connection and use an NVIDIA Shield Pro for streaming 4K, and overall I think the quality is pretty good. However, if I watch the same content on physical media on my 4K Blu-ray player, I am able to see a NOTICEABLE improvement in overall quality. For me personally, there is no question, the entire experience is better on 4K Blu-ray. I guess what I’m trying to say, is to anyone considering a high end TV, if you care about the visual experience and want to make sure you’re getting the maximum out of it, then you need to feed it with the best quality signal, which currently only comes from physical media. If you’re happy with 4K Streaming quality (and to be fair, as mentioned, it did look pretty good), then you may want to save some money and get a TV from a lower performance bracket 👍
It's not just 4k blu ray. Regular 1080p blu ray is just as good and in the cases of some good scans better than some 4k streams. And you get the benefit of better sound as well.
I changed to an optical HDMI cables and WOW what a difference. Using a Sony 85K OLED and Panasonic UB 4K Blu-Ray and Apple tv+ 2023
Excellent points, especially the real advantages of physical disc vs streaming. I owned my nice big screen 4k tv for three years before it finally dawned on me that I wasn't taking advantage of its inherent quality. I still stream but have gradually built up a nice little library of my favorite movies on 4k blu-rays and also hd blu-rays. Owning your favorite titles on physical discs is so satisfying.
Yo same it feels good to have physical copies 😊
4K hard Disk will ALWAYS ..ALWAYS BEST streaming hands down! picture and sound quality on the 4K can’t be beat!! People who know..KNOW! So many have no clue!! GREAT VIDEO! MAHALO!!
Indeed.
I'm not sure if you've already covered this in another video, but it would be great to get a comparison on the 4k blu ray quality experience for both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X to see what the actual differences are.
Sony X90J owner here, but still own the awesome Samsung F8500 Plasma. Actually, I find the X90J better for everything: SDR, HDR, HD, SD. The upscaling on the Sony in particular is quite well done. The TV manufacturers have done an excellent job improving on LCD TV tech in the past 10 years.
LCD Led TV’s really have gotten awesome especially in the last 5 years. I honestly enjoy a good mid or upper grade Led just as much as Oled if not more in a lot of situations just got to stay away from those low end cheap led LCD’s
I think that's a matter of taste. I haven't seen any LCD I'd get over a plasma. OLED there are 3 models worth considering, the rest, IMHO, not.
I currently have a pioneer elite 1080p that cost $11500 when new and really is gorgeous still to this day and I also still own a Fujitsu plasma vision that cost around $10k when new that I do not use anymore but still have and my new Samsung QLed blows away both those televisions and the pioneer is a top of the line plasma bout the best u could buy. These new Qleds with dimming zones and great hdr peak brightness are seriously awesome and my new 85in Samsung only cost $3400 we are in good times for TV’s. I used to be on the Oled hype train for awhile and do really like the new qd Oleds but regular Oleds and even the best ever plasmas just don’t and didn’t get bright enough. QD technology is just awesome
Most people have a soundbar and Blu-Ray player and just don't have it set up right. A few years ago I set mine up the way he mentioned at 7:39 in the video. Then changed the audio settings on the Blu-Ray played to a high as it goes. I was blown away. It was like bringing the theater home with me. I would tell my dad all the time to do the same. Recently set it up for him and he was just as blown away by it.
Another plus for physical media is when the internet goes down for a few days, I can still watch something.
Streaming can be good to avoid blind buys too.
I have a PS5 and it works great as a 4K blu-ray player but I decided for a Panasonic stand alone player to reduce energy costs and guess what, the video is better.
agreed. Just bought the newest sony 4k player and even the 1080 blue rays were so much better
Thinking of doing the same. Which model of Panasonic stand alone 4k BR player did you get?
Same same same. I have xsx and ps5 but saw a big upgrade with my panasonic for ultra 4k
@@trevhibDP-UB420P for me
@@trevhibGo for the UB820. It plays everything, has stellar quality, and does not experience disc read errors.
Good questions! I don't understand the resistance to having a dedicated Blue Ray player. I realize that streaming is easy and initially cheaper but being immersed in a movie is not done without a dedicated player. I have a Panasonic BDP 800 and it's stellar, way exceeding any streaming service I've seen. For serious movie watching Blue Ray is the best in my opinion.
There is no better answer than you give.I have also the Panasonic UB820 (Netherlands) and I still buy blu-ray's these days because it's the best way to watch a movie.
It depends on what service you are watching your movies through. I use iTunes Movies(which is probably the BEST) and it's fantastic. The physical stand along player will soon be Obsolete. It's coming. The money that you spend on a quality player(with only a 1 year warranty I may add) and then some quality cables all add up. The same people that were saying that streaming movies were not good vs physical disc...that physical disc is the better way to go..said the same about LP's vs CD's and CD's took over. They said the same about CD's vs streaming music..and now streaming music has taken over. The same will happen with movies. Why do you think a lot of movie theaters are closing their doors and not as many people go out to the movies anymore??? Think about it. Here's an example ...I purchased Fast X 4K brand NEW physical disc. I had to send it back to Amazon TWICE because it kept pausing. There were no fingerprints or nothing on the disc. That same movie I also have in my digital library through iTunes Movies gave me absolutely ZERO problems. Go figure.
@@ratpat8474 I also have the UB820, bought it back in 2019 (I had the Samsung M8500 which had terrible performance) and never looked back.
Absolutely agree with your 4K answer. Noticable picture quality and sound with my LG blue ray player over streaming.
Loved the last question! We ps5 movie lovers would like to know what our budget choices get us compared to the dedicated players and what not. Would love to buy a 4k player in the future just not in the cards right now. I’d still like to get a Dolby atmos setup too. Would love another budget video on sound set ups for this year.
I got a higher end TV when I got a PS5 and brought a bunch of 4k physical Media movies not knowing PS5 didn't support Dolby vision. I was so upset and pissed when I put in a movie and didn't see the dolby vision icon show up on the TV. Went to buy a 4k player that supports Dolby vision and couldn't believe the price.
This week's questions were all on my list of things to learn about! I have a Panasonic Plasma and always wonder what would be the best replacement option when the time comes. Also netflix sound quality is so inconsistent that I always thought it is a big downside of streaming movies.
Depends on what kind of content you play on your plasma TV. If 1080p movies, there is hardly any true replacement for the organic PQ of your plasma TV panel. If you are planning to watch lots of HDR 4k content then options are many (QD-OLED, mini Led) but none IMHO can beat the experience you get from your plasma watching SDR 1080p movies.
Plasma at the 600 refresh rate is hard to beat for sports. I freak the day my Panasonic plasma dies too..
I had so many of my own questions answered through this video. Kudos to you, Caleb and team!
Really enjoyed the conversation around 4K Blu Ray vs Streaming.
Physical media is king. It may not be as convenient. But its just superior
My Magnetar UDP900 would agree
It is but most folks don’t care or don’t care enough to deal with buying, storing media etc. it’s not going to die tomorrow or anything but the long time horizon, it’ll be a niche product I think.
I mean it is more convenient then thing not on streaming services.
True
Thank you for giving a few significant pros for still owning DVD Blu-Rays. I’ve heard far too much disc dissing these days! 😅
Recently bought an LG C2 and your videos have been brilliant help in terms of setup and understanding the options available. I'm slightly worried that I'll spend on more and more tech as a result of your compelling content but that's a me problem!
Switching from older 1080p plasma to modern OLED or the a LED variant the shift in color and brightness as your position around the room is going to be the biggest annoyance and most noticeable downside. Then throw in the black level and zone illumination. You’ll only be happy moving to a OLED. I tried the higher end LED option and after a year I replaced the set with a Sony OLED and moved the LED to a less used room.
That question from Germany is exactly my situation! Still using 50" plasma as it hasn't died and I don't like throwing out things that still work. And OLED is gorgeous but out of my price range sadly. But when it does die, I'm really hoping a good quality modern LED like the U7K or U8K will do the job nicely, and give me a nice size upgrade (thinking 65" for my room size).
Thanks for the info!
Same situation...my pioneer kuro plasma is still a great picture imo, would be a shame to just get rid of it. I just want to watch some 4K sources and of course, it can't manage 4k so i'm on the fence.
Same situation...my pioneer kuro plasma is still a great picture imo, would be a shame to just get rid of it. I just want to watch some 4K sources and of course, it can't manage 4k so i'm on the fence.
Great selection of questions and very informative answers. Thanks for the great job!
Thanks for answering my question! I really appreciate it. Only recently started following you and this channel, but I’ve been really enjoying it!
Loved the questions this week, especially the "How do I best connect my system", and the "Replacement of my aging plasma TV" questions. I too wrestle with these questions, and am frozen into keeping my 64" Samsung from 2011vs. upgrading to a 75" OLED that I may or may not regret. We watch almost 100% DirectV content, and prefer a less "explosive" brilliant picture in my medium lit room. I don't want to end up with a picture that burns my retinas.
Love everything you put out Caleb, you are the only person I trust 100%! Please keep up the great work!
You can always lower the brightness...
Personally, I find my LG C2 too dim unless all of the lights are off, but that is uncomfortable at night.
All great questions! Especially the slanted ceiling as I have the same issue.
Caleb- great questions! Keep up the fantastic work! I’ve watched you evolve over the past 8 or so years and it’s been amazing! You produce great content and add a personal flair that resonates well.
Not close, disc much better streaming more convenient . New LED getting better and better with black levels.
Great video Caleb , you are right about streaming I have a full theater not only streaming doesn't have lossless audio it also doesn't have super sampling like the disc does . The difference is night day .
My price point on 4K physical discs is $10. Black Friday is a great time to get them.
Plasma is still sharper and more clear than OLED, at least in opinion. LG C3 vs Panasonic VT60. I am not sold on the C3 so far in my week of testing. TV brightness is so over sold. Especially using really dim "filmmaker" mode.
Iv'e begun converting some of my 4K Blu-ray remuxes to AV1 which is a pretty slow process when using your CPU but the PQ is virtually indistinguishable from the disc while saving quite a bit of space.
I agree with you about owning discs. However, I have encountered quite a few discs that develop skipping, freezing and total loss of digital signal. I have since saved most of my collection on a nas and thats when I started finding multiple defects in my collection.
I really like Movies Anywhere but the one caveat is that the movies have to be from studios that support Movies Anywhere. Paramount and Lionsgate being the two big studios that don’t support it so those movies will only be available in the service in which they were bought.
If I remember correctly, Paramount and Lionsgate were holdovers from the Ultraviolet website. When Movies Anywhere was created, those two companies refused to align and opted for their own services - which normally goes through Vudu and Apple.
I have a Sony HT-A9 system, and I chose it because I just can’t add ceiling speakers. I’m happy with the results, but don’t mind improving it if I could.
What kind of panels would you recommend to improve the bounce effect of the up firing speakers?
Excellent range of questions! Thanks Caleb!
To the guy looking to upgrade to a 4k TV I highly recommend the LG c series. I have a 65 cx and 77 c2 and absolutely love them. If they are within your budget really look into them. They a popular for good reason.
I have a LG CX also.. best TV I have ever owned!
He is very right about the Hisense U8K here in Germany. The Hisense models here uses the VIDAA OS which is highly laggy and has small internal storage that is inadequate for 4k content. How laggy you may ask? You will feel that it removes some video caches in realtime that it has a 20 frame cut for every 2-3 seconds of video watch. I had enough and just attached a Chromecast 4k to my TV. Stay away from VIDAA software please. 😅
Great video thank you. Please tell me, what compression or format the blue ray discs use?
Caleb covering any and all topics - love it
Great answers to questions about equip. set-up,hope 2 c more set-up tips for P.S.5 to L.G.t.v.,Denon recivers arc, e-arc soundbar set-ups.This channel has the BEST content around the web.🎉
I baught dune on 4k Blu-ray I watched it on my ps5 / LG A2. I was blown away by the improvement in quality over the Max stream. If you have a ps5 I would recommend buying a 4k blu-ray and seeing for yourself. It’s impressive
ps5 has no dolby vision
Movies Anywhere also tends to distribute purchases across your other linked services which is nice, but it only works with participating content/studios so if you like more niche movies you may get less out of it. But still, it's free to do so might as well
Atmos is worth it. I have a budget up fire system, true its not like having dedicated ceiling speakers, but like you said, you get something. Much more immersive
The audio quality is the biggest difference between streaming and 4K blue ray. Hoping lossless audio eventually comes to video streaming given it’s already available for music streaming.
I agree. The other biggest difference is the visible superior picture quality.
yeah, hopefully soon.
I was in the same boat as Gerrit, until last year when I finally retired my Panny VT50 Plasma, and replaced it with a Samsung S95b. The year before I bought a cheap 4K lcd Hisense for my son and was surprised at how not terrible it was. It definitely shortened the fuse on my upgrade. I’m blown away with my S95b, it’s better in almost every way.
Great video thanks. Isn't a movie bought and pre-downloaded in Apple TV higher quality than streaming it? (I accept it still isn't the same as a UHD DVD).
Perfect timing for me this episode!
Love your work, here in Italy we don’t have similar channels
Yes!!! I have been waiting for you to make this video!! As I have ALWAYS wanted to know if 4k Blu Rays are worth it versus streaming 4k via apps. Thank you!!!
Best plasma replacement to me is the S95C. The way it reflects lights in the rooms. The colors. The warmth and the way they look are natural. Turn on BFI when necessary, it also has that slight plasma flicker. The Sony A95L is a good alternative with better BFI, but that price tag. And I think the colors on the S95C is just closer to that of my VT30. It very much feels like I'm still watching on my plasma, just that it can get brighter if necessary. Don't get an LG based OLED, they don't look like plasmas.
No DV isn't an issue with high end displays that exceed 100 nits, IMHO. Unless you do piracy and you download DV profile 5 content. In that case no DV is a dealbreaker. You can retrofit DV with something like a Shield and one of those HDFury devices though, which IMHO works very well.
Absolutely. My S95B is great and the next implementation is even better
I way prefer the s90c over the s95c with the separate connecting box. Think you get just as good a tv for less money
@@garrettstrutz7421 Well, depends. With the 55 and 65" it's a gamble. With the 77", yes. Pretty much (though there are minor software differences? You need to go into the service menu?). You do get 48 Gbps rather than 40 Gbps, which for some is an advantage. For others the one connect box is an advantage. And then the price (here) is all over the place, so sometimes they are priced almost the same, sometimes the difference is big...
Maybe to expand a little: IMHO the TV that is closest to those glorious plasma days is the Samsung S95C / S90C, followed by the A95L/A95K.
Getting the Shield (or Apple TV 4K etc.) to do the DV processing (LLDV) can be done with the HDFury Arcana (around $200 or so). There are cheaper splitters that can do the same (around $40), however they can't tell the TV to interpret the incoming signal as HDR, thus you'll end up with a washed out image. In any case the Arcana makes it easy: Set it to activate LLDV, and if you want adjust the nits that the TV is capable of. (Not sure how good that works. Caleb, maybe a topic for a video?).
IMHO it is dumb of Samsung to not offer DV on their better models... I do think they really hurt the S95C and as a result need to sell it much cheaper than they could if it had DV. The DV license can't be as expensive as how much more they could charge. I was willing to spend $200 to retrofit DV for example, and I know enough folks who ended up buying the G3 only because the S95C doesn't have DV... even though the G3 is significantly more expensive (and not as good).
Sony has better colour accuracy than Samsung and there are no problems with LG oleds.
Two questions for you:
1. Why do Sony 4K Blu-ray players require Dolby Vision be turned on manually when other players (from Panasonic, for example) can detect it automatically?
2. You recommended Movies Anywhere for better performance, but all Sony movies on MA are limited to 5.1 audio and HDR10. Is there a reason for this?
You set the HDR to 'Auto' and Dolby Vision to 'On', It'll automatically detect DV media henceforth.
@@Sas-wk9lj Nope. It will play everything, including non-HDR content, in Dolby Vision.
I bought the Criterion Walle disc and played it initially on the PS5. Gorgeous looking disc transfer. If you are a fan of the movie, suggest picking it up.
Love that movie. Ill check it out. Thanks
Wall-E is an exceptionally great movie. Didn't know it came with Criterion release.
For that question about passing DTS from the PS4 to the TV and out via eARC to the soundbar... I thought that would work? Can't eARC act as a passthrough for even stuff like DTS:X and TrueHD? Or am I wrong...
true true 4k physicals vs streaming i love movie too much so i get physical but ofc like streaming can watch anywhere easy but home on my 7.1 setup 4k physical anyday hands down
Please take my question :: Can I convert non Dolby atmosphere 5.1 speakers to Dolby atmosphere speakers by an Dolby atmosphere av receiver. And also I have Dolby atmos on my pc so can it convert my normal 5.1 surround to Dolby atmosphere
Please answer because I want it
This is my first question and answer video. Really liked it.
On Halloween night wife and I wanted to watch ghostbusters. Watched for a few minutes on streaming then we had a hiccup so I decided to bust out our blu ray disc. Both of us were astonished on how much crazy better the video quality was. Streaming has gotten a lot better but yep I agree the disc really is superior if you don’t mind spending extra money and the hassle of having to put in a disc.
"The hassle of having to put in a disk"......lol.
“Streaming“ isn’t the same everywhere, Apple is very good at it. Nevertheless 95% of the population don’t see or know the difference between physical it streaming. Streaming is getting much closer with new codecs and I believe in a near future, discs have no future; the issue is when you want to watch a movie and it isn’t on any platform…
@@ricarmigThat's a misconception higher tranport efficiency doesn't mean higher quality it mostly means lower usage of bandwidth.. which is always the preferred route of media corporations. We witnessed when Netflix went from 10Mbps or so to 1.5Mbps with slightly lower quality in the last years.
Of course they are keeping that ratio. They just need a couple of movies over 15Mbps to portray the idea of quality even if most content has extremely low bitrate.
@@absolutium you’re right on that but I mean, on BD the bitrate is high and the newest codecs don’t need as much. With AV1 for example, you can have very good quality at 15 Mbps. For most people and screens and sound systems, most streaming services are ok. My high end oled needs a little bit more but I honestly won’t buy physical media anymore or I have to buy a new house.
7:26 - I found out the other day when trying to play 4K blu rays that have DTS:X from my PS5 connected to LG C2, passing audio through eARC to a Samsung Q990C soundbar, LG C2 DOES NOT passthrough DTS! You need to plug into the soundbar first to get DTS passthrough, otherwise it gets converted to Multi Channel PCM.
DTS, DTS-HD MA, and DTS:X is on a lot of blu rays so it's not as niche as you think!
They included DTS passthrough in the C3/G3 which frustrates me that they didn't licence DTS on the C2/G2 and previous models like C1 and CX.
When my HTA9 works, it's absolutely incredible.
The problem is, half the time, it doesn't. If I walk around the living room - signal drops.
Certain shows cause it to have a fit and - signal drops
Nearly £2k for poor wireless signals isn't good
Was wondering about a couple of these topics. I appreciate the video!
I'm new to collecting 4k and normal blurays, I love the clarity in the video and sound I get from them vs streaming. However, the last 5 movies I watched froze and its very frustrating to have this problem with all brand new discs. Idk if its my player or I'm very unlucky at getting bluray duds. I have the Sony X700-2K/4K UHD multi region. I hope it's the player but when I tested the discs on my roommates Xbox Series X, I had the same issue on all of them. I want the physical discs instead of buying a right to a digital movie, but my experience has been more reliable with streaming. Anyone have recommendations?
The Panasonic players have been the most reliable on playback.
@@DrakonR Good to know! Thank you!
Whoa, you're so to the point!! Great answers.
Excellent information! Thank you.
Yep I have Maverick and the Nolan collection box set and the quality in the IMAX scenes are absolutely incredible. The early stuff like Batman Begins, Inception, etc. don't take advantage of it really but everything after that is amazing.
What am I missing? Maverick for me played back in HDR only and it did not include the IMAX shots on the disc
@@sinan_3384 On my ub820 it played the IMAX shots. Do you have the 4k version or regular Blu ray? Not sure if it does on the Blu ray.
The bit rate on Netflix for 4k HDR is about 17Mb/s. This is less than a STANDRAD Blu ray, never mind 4k. Enough said.
If i purchased the sonos arc/ surround system. Would it be worth it if i only streamed my movies and tv shows? The bitrate is so low i feel like it might not be worth investing in a sound system that i dont plan on using with a high fidelity source. Or do all these codec's and AI/software programs make up the difference?
Quick question for you. I heard that the optical sound cable isn't able to send atmos sound is this true? I have my hisense u8h hooked up via optical sound cable and hdmi via earc to my denon avr I get atmos etc but I have it connected in me u via hdmi but I was wondering about the fiber optic sound cable theory though
With that sloped cieling. Should you face the short end or the tall end? For the best sound? (My atmos speakers hang from rafters. No reflections. Not asking for them. More the overall sound. The front soundstage)
Hey Caleb. I live in a Geodesic dome. Do you have any experience setting up a surround sound system in a dome with 20 foot ceilings? My Rotel stereo system sounds amazing, but my Vizio TV sounds terrible.
Thanks for the video, very interesting as it’s all relevant to my current experience having just purchased an LGC3 77” OLED To replace my almost 12 year Panasonic Plasma which was the flagship model at the time, the Plasma is still going strong in my spare room btw, the new LG is on the wall in the lounge in its place, the Plasma was always a really natural picture that didn’t require any messing around, it was perfect straight out of the box, unfortunately the same can’t be said for the C3, it’s taken 3 months of making adjustments to get it right, even now I don’t believe it is much better than the Panasonic Plasma, it is better but certainly not by much, there are scenes where it is too bright, scenes where it is too dark, and sometimes the colours look forced and unnatural, but this mostly depends on the source material, when fed with a good source the picture is very good, it’s just more fussy than the plasma that made anything look good!
With respect to Dolby vision I personally feel it’s a lot of hype about nothing, so far I have not seen anything in Dolby vision that impresses me, HDR10 looks better to me, Dolby vision from Apple TV is quite terrible and much too dark to watch, although I have seen a lot of people on the net complaining of the same issue, it’s not the TV or settings as other streaming apps are much brighter than Apple TV with Dolby vision, but totally agree about physical media, when I feed this TV with a 4K disc from my Oppo 205 the picture quality is noticeably better than any of the streaming services, plus the sound quality is better too.
Again thank you for the video, as I said very relevant to my current experiences 👍
Very informative video Caleb.
Glad to see you have great taste in music, Herbie Hancock's "Mr. Hands" was peaking out on your shelf, great album.
Good information that was clear, precise and to the point.
Thanks for the great info on TV and streaming vs blurays helped a lot.
Im glad the blurray vs streamimg quesrion was asked because ive recently been shopping for a 4k bluray player agter a dispute with google over movies i "own" amd Caleb is right you dont avtually owm it wjen its digital because whatever platform its on has ultimaye control over it so im syarting to build be physical collection nefore they arw gone fureal.
Been on my Panasonic plasma TV since 2010 and don’t plan to upgrade until an amazing OLED comes out. I can wait 😅
Really enjoyable technical content and suggestions thank you -- subscribed.
It seems the consensus is that films you enjoy and would watch again, that have a good quality 4K Blu-ray and/or Blu-ray physical media transfer are worth ownership. Streaming is a good way to determine this at a relatively low cost, albeit not likely at its best. Owning the 4K physical media after (often with bonus features & memorabilia like an album cover) will likely ensure a more pleasurable viewing the next time, and something you can look forward to, with no risk of the film being pulled or censored. Ultimately, see it in a cinema (like IMAX) in all it's glory first...
Good and helpful response on 4k blue ray vs Streaming.
Herbie Hancock Mr. Hands album @12:21. Great music taste Caleb!
Hi Caleb how much difference would it notice going from the Hisense u8h to a top of the line oled. What do you think
Hey Caleb can you explain FRC or (8 bit +FRC)? The only online answer is you wont notice the difference but i dont know if i beleive that. I've been trying to pick a new tv between the Sony x85k, the Hisense u7k, and the tcl q7 and noticed that only the tcl has a 10 bit panel. Any clarity would be awesome thanks
ATV4K and the lack of Atmos Passthru makes the Shield Pro 2019 still my best go-to device for playing back my local media
Hello Caleb
I want to know if there is a difference if I transfer the original 4k uhd movie to the hard drive with the original purchased 4k uhd movie and watch it on TV? is there a loss in video and audio quality?
sorry for my english
greetings from Tony
Helpful and informative - and genuine !
I have a Blu-ray player and I've been thinking about getting a 4k Blu-ray player to upgrade . Just got a Hisense 75u8k and have a nice 7.1 surround system. I recognize the superiority of a 4k disc but i find I rarely pop one in to watch the same movie over and over again.
That’s why apps like Plex, Jellyfin and Infuse are amazing. Can just burn all your disks to a hard drive then be able to watch them all. Instead of having to put a disk in every time to watch something lol
7:08 - I have a Roku 4K 2022 stick on my Hisense 65" from 2019. It does pass the DD+ through the TV to the ARC into my receiver. Not the best, I grant you, but bitstream passthrough does vary by TV and is likely to work most of the time in 2024. I would ONLY do this on devices where it is very tiny (Chromecast, Roku Stick, Fire Stick, etc.) since the back of the receiver can get hotter than the back of a TV, plus the receiver does not really sit right in a closed-back cabinet with sticks on the back. For a soundbar, I'd get a switcher and a power strip close to the switcher for USB power to put the stick upstream from the bar and before it goes onto a TV.
Caleb, I am a long time viewer and first time reaching out. I have the XBR-75X940D tv. I also have the following connected to the DRAGON, PS5 and a Roku. For the most part, when I buy a 4K dvd I rip it to my nas and stream through Plex. You were talking buying a standalone player in this video, which model would you recommend? I do have a budget of about $500 at most. Thank you and keep doing what you do, it is very educational.
For the gentleman in Germany I’d recommend looking into a Panasonic OLED (we don’t get those in North America), or the for LED the Sony X95L.
Going from ps5 to the sound bar to tv, would that affect VRR?
Before this question had occurred to me, I bought a couple of 4k movies on Amazon Prime because it was convenient. It wasn't until offline view downloading that I made the realization: the file size was usually less than 5GB. 4k Blu Ray movies are in the realm of 50-100GB.
I'll be buying physical in the future.
Gotta qn85a Samsung the 2.1 hdmi port is for ps5. Will my other 3 ports get 4k resolution on an apple tv 4k?
Help me choose.
LG G3 65inch at $3495 ($2275 US inc tax)
Or
LG C3 77 inch at $4688 (3052 US inc tax)
Still renting so can’t wall mount. Will have to get a stand for the g3 and room size might vary.
Thanks!
Hey Caleb, your suggestion to pass DTS from the PS5 to Soundbar to LG OLED would still be rejected by the TV. LG no longer licenses DTS on their TVs, so the only way to get it (and yes, it is extremely important to those who collect physical media) is to pass the DTS signal from a AUDIO ONLY HDMI port to your soundbar’s HDMI IN port, then eARC to LG.
The problem is that the PS5, to my knowledge, doesn’t have an AUDIO OUT HDMI port, therefore to pass DTS audio, one would need an HDMI splitter or a 4K blu-ray player.
Not every film has a Dolby Atmos track. The default track to a vast majority of blu-rays is DTS-HD Master Audio. When the LG rejects the DTS source, it plays the Dolby lossy audio track instead, i.e. compressed audio.
ps5 to soundbar to lg oled would work as the dts sound comes from the soundbar before the video is passed through to the tv. It wouldn't work going ps5 to lg oled to soundbar. The downside is the lg soundbar (that i have) doesn't pass through 120 hz video.
Hi Caleb, I’ve noticed in many comparisons between LG G3 and Samsung S95c that the G3 displays a greenest tint across the entire screen . I only saw the the two tvs on UA-cam.,Is that something caused by the way camera sensors read the wrgb oled or a real issue? There is a lot talking about the supposed issue in the web forums, could you share your experience? Thanks
Caleb, regarding your answer to the question about not including Samsung because of their lack of Dolby Vision support, is HDR10 as prevalent in the media on offer? I see Dolby Vision being marked on most of the streamed content we watch, but cannot recall HDR10 even bing mentioned as being used by the content creator.