Rebuying my movie collection for the eleventieth time...

[heavyharmonies]

I was too young to be buying Betamax when it was the rage, but I did rent/buy lots of movies as VHS (back when a movie purchase would cost you $75 so everyone rented them). Then there was the laserdisc phase. Then DVD. Then came HD-DVD (yes, I backed red in the format wars), then once that shook out, Blu-Ray.

 

And now here we are in 2016, with the next generation of "it's another new format so you're going to lay down the bux to re-buy movies you've bought numerous times before)...

 

Enter 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray. Panasonic came out with a player in Japan late last year that was crazy expensive, and there were no movie titles available. The first 4K movie titles officially drop on March 1, but several chains have already been selling them. Two weeks ago, the first affordable 4K Blu-Ray player, the Samsung UBD-K8500, dropped at $399.

 

NOTE: These are native 4K format discs, not to be confused with 1080P Blu-Rays that were mastered at 4K and players that upscale 1080P content to 4K. Different animal entirely.

 

4K Blu-Ray titles can be differentiated at a glance from regular Blu-Ray by looking at the case color, which is black rather than blue.

 

And so it begins...

 

[KarpetRydOFunk]

You have a 4K TV?

 

<did some Googling>

 

Damn, the prices have come down a fair bit since the last time I checked. Which was probably a long time ago, now that I think about it. I dunno, my 52" 1080p plasma is still good for me. And it's 7 years old, now.

[martinsane]

You have a 4K TV?

 

<did some Googling>

 

Damn, the prices have come down a fair bit since the last time I checked. Which was probably a long time ago, now that I think about it. I dunno, my 52" 1080p plasma is still good for me. And it's 7 years old, now.

Just after Christmas we picked up a 49" 4k LG at Costco for just under $500. It was an amazing one of sale and I have yet to see this TV poke up again at this price.

 

I am not an electronics geek, but my first foray into this arena and I like it.

[heavyharmonies]

You have a 4K TV?

Two, actually. A Sony XBR 65X900B in my computer room, and a Samsung 75HU8550 in the living room. The latter is what the 4K Blu-Ray is connected to.

 

Buying sets when they go on clearance the year after they come out, when the dealer has to make room for the new sets, can save you some serious coin. The 75" Samsung originally was well over $5,000. I got it for less than half that.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

 

You have a 4K TV?

Two, actually. A Sony XBR 65X900B in my computer room, and a Samsung 75HU8550 in the living room. The latter is what the 4K Blu-Ray is connected to.

 

Buying sets when they go on clearance the year after they come out, when the dealer has to make room for the new sets, can save you some serious coin. The 75" Samsung originally was well over $5,000. I got it for less than half that.

75"? Shit, that's way too big for my place. My 52" is probably the perfect size. I wouldn't want to go any smaller, and would possibly consider going up to 60", depending on the size of the trim around the screen.

 

Also, $2000 is still more than I'd want to pay.

[martinsane]

 

 

You have a 4K TV?

Two, actually. A Sony XBR 65X900B in my computer room, and a Samsung 75HU8550 in the living room. The latter is what the 4K Blu-Ray is connected to.

 

Buying sets when they go on clearance the year after they come out, when the dealer has to make room for the new sets, can save you some serious coin. The 75" Samsung originally was well over $5,000. I got it for less than half that.

75"? Shit, that's way too big for my place. My 52" is probably the perfect size. I wouldn't want to go any smaller, and would possibly consider going up to 60", depending on the size of the trim around the screen.

 

Also, $2000 is still more than I'd want to pay.

 

 

Funny regarding the size comment. I though 49" was going to be teeny, but it fits the room well. I initially wasn't entertaining anything under 52", but the sale price grabbed and me and the rest is history.

[Glen]

75 inch...holy shit you must have a big room Dan.

[heavyharmonies]

Nope. I sit about 8 feet from it. It's called having "an immersive experience".

[eaglesfan3000]

FUCK THAT, ever heard of Netflix.

[heavyharmonies]

Netflix's 4K selection is very small.

[eaglesfan3000]

My Samsung is only 3 years old, I don't want to buy another TV but that OLED looks pretty sweet.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Netflix's 4K selection is very small.

Holy shit. Think of the bandwidth needed to stream videos at 4K. Can you Americans even afford that? Your internet is already some of the worst in the developed world.

[eaglesfan3000]

 

Netflix's 4K selection is very small.

Holy shit. Think of the bandwidth needed to stream videos at 4K. Can you Americans even afford that? Your internet is already some of the worst in the developed world.

 

What the fuck are you talking about...your one of the reasons this site has turned to total shit...you have no idea WTF you are talking about. I think you are the one who said Savatage was POP metal fucking jackoff.

[Jacob M.]

There have been too many changes to Blu-ray over the years. The format is very fragmented. I won't invest in anything else. So if I can't play it on my Xbox I'm not going to buy it.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

 

 

Netflix's 4K selection is very small.

Holy shit. Think of the bandwidth needed to stream videos at 4K. Can you Americans even afford that? Your internet is already some of the worst in the developed world.

What the fuck are you talking about...your one of the reasons this site has turned to total shit...you have no idea WTF you are talking about. I think you are the one who said Savatage was POP metal fucking jackoff.

That escalated quickly.

[Stefan]

 

 

 

Netflix's 4K selection is very small.

Holy shit. Think of the bandwidth needed to stream videos at 4K. Can you Americans even afford that? Your internet is already some of the worst in the developed world.

What the fuck are you talking about...your one of the reasons this site has turned to total shit...you have no idea WTF you are talking about. I think you are the one who said Savatage was POP metal fucking jackoff.

That escalated quickly.

 

 

Oh boy, you're in trouble now Karpetrider.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

 

 

 

 

Netflix's 4K selection is very small.

Holy shit. Think of the bandwidth needed to stream videos at 4K. Can you Americans even afford that? Your internet is already some of the worst in the developed world.

What the fuck are you talking about...your one of the reasons this site has turned to total shit...you have no idea WTF you are talking about. I think you are the one who said Savatage was POP metal fucking jackoff.

That escalated quickly.

Oh boy, you're in trouble now Karpetrider.

When am I not in trouble?

[heavyharmonies]

What the fuck are you talking about...your one of the reasons this site has turned to total shit...you have no idea WTF you are talking about. I think you are the one who said Savatage was POP metal fucking jackoff.

??? Totally uncalled for. He's right. Our Internet infrastructure in the U.S., on average, is some of the worst in the developed world, and streaming video standards and usage have a major impact on performance.

 

Why so angry about a freaking home theater discussion? We all have different aesthetic choices and what aspects of audio and video we deem important. Not everyone is going to perceive higher resolution video, higher quality audio, physical media vs. streaming, screen sizes, the same way.

 

Hardly something to get in a twist about...

[Geoff]

Oh lol. That was hilarious. I do like seeing Karpetface get pwned, but yeah, that was pretty unexpected. lol, I'm still giggling like a child.

 

Anyway, he's a twat; but a harmless twat... this ol' Karpetface of ours.

 

As for this thread... Dan, get some cats, man. Or a turtle. Seems an awful lot of effort (and a hell of a lot more to the point, money) to put into upgrading movies. Out of curiosity, would 99% of the population not even really notice these differences you speak of?

[heavyharmonies]

Well, if you're not a home theater aficionado, no amount of persuading or explaining will make it logical in your eyes. Some are content watching movies on an iPhone or a computer monitor. I am not.

 

The leap from VHS to DVD was not only qualitative, but more importantly the format: no rewinding, instant chapter access, no tapes getting eaten or degrading over time.

 

The jump from DVD to HD-DVD and Blu-Ray was one of quality, both in video (480p to 1080P) and audio, with lossless audio for the first time.

 

The improvement from 1080P Blu-Ray to 4K Blu-Ray is 4x the screen resolution, but more importantly the improvement in color gamut and black levels. Depending on how large your screen is and how close you sit, yes you CAN most definitely tell the difference between 4K Blu-Ray and Blu-Ray.

 

If you are watching on a 32-50" TV, likely not.

[Geoff]

Yeah, I think our TV is just under 50" - maybe 48" or something? I'm not even really that sure. And to be honest, I'd be lying if I said I really noticed the difference between a Blu-ray and a DVD upscaled on the Blu-ray player. I mean, I guess I can slightly notice it... but yeah, when you start talking about the cost of upgrading all this stuff you've lost me completely.

 

Anyway, good luck with it. I hope for your sake they don't come up with something new in a couple of months.

[DaHun72]

Funny but sometimes I wish vhs still existed so I could get to the movie. BluRay is painfully slow to actually get to the movies and its as annoying as fuck!

When it comes to movies I'm all for digital format which is my opposite take on music...even tho I buy everything I like.

[Glen]

Yeah, I think our TV is just under 50" - maybe 48" or something? I'm not even really that sure. And to be honest, I'd be lying if I said I really noticed the difference between a Blu-ray and a DVD upscaled on the Blu-ray player. I mean, I guess I can slightly notice it... but yeah, when you start talking about the cost of upgrading all this stuff you've lost me completely.

 

Anyway, good luck with it. I hope for your sake they don't come up with something new in a couple of months.

 

Must your player cos there is quite a big difference between upscaled and real Bluray.

 

I mean upscaling is good but blu-ray is just pin sharp.

 

Having said that I was looking at TVs the other day and the difference between normal HD and SUHD was mind blowing imo. no comparison whatsoever. SUHD looks nothing short of STUNNING.

 

And I was one of those saying there was no point in anything better than HD when they started talking about 4K - how wrong was I.

 

To be honest the difference was as stark as the jump from video to DVD. No joke.

[Dark]

I agree 4k is a noticeable improvement picture wise. What i don't know is whether there are any audible benefits.

[Fat Freddy]

It's funny how things change so quickly. Lord knows I love movies (my constant entries in the "Last Movie You Watched" thread here should be ample proof) but I have never been as fanatical about collecting them as I am with CDs. I guess cuz aside from certain personal favorite films I've never been in the habit of watching the same movies over and over again. Even with those personal faves I can often go several years between repeat viewings. 99 times out of 100 I'd rather watch something that I've never seen before.

 

That said, I used to buy a shit ton of bargain-bin DVDs just like everybody else... but in late 2013 we upgraded our living room set to a "smart" TV and joined Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming. Last year we upgraded our bedroom set to a "smart" TV too, which had Roku access built in... that gave us another bunch of movie choices (of varying degrees of quality) on the Roku streaming channels...plus there are plenty of full length bizarre/obscure/forgotten movies on YouTube that I can watch thru my TVs. Between all of those options, I now have a "watch list" so long that I'll never get to see every movie on it before I die. I haven't bought a movie on DVD or Blu Ray in a couple of years now!