Whatever Happened To Blu-ray?

Maybe it's just some kind of obsessive collector things but I like my Blu rays all nice and pretty on the shelf.
 
Only when I play a game on the PS3 do I ever use Blu-Ray and I rarely game on the consoles anymore. Hell, the optical drive on my main PC is still using an IDE cable for my dvd writer. My main rig is in the stone ages now LOL. Q6600 + P35 + GTX460 + DDR2 + SATA 2 FTW!!
 
I was a big DVD fan... have about 100 different movies on it... I have 2 Blu-Rays... never got into it. Probably because I had kids by the time the format came out.

Now I buy ALL MOVIES I want to "own" through iTunes... and watch through the AppleTV... FLAWLESSLY Even on 70" TV's in high def... it's AMAZING and there is NO stuttering or issues. And I can bring them all locally to my other apple devices if I care to...

Not sure why I should bother with anything else...

When you can buy all 3 Godfather movies for $9.99... that says best value right there.
 
Limahl said:
Once your ISP puts in monthly low caps and high overage charges... there'll be plenty to explain to the family when they cant stream any more movies for the month. :D

That day is coming, and is why I still prefer to buy BR discs and watch/rip them to my PC for streaming to the TV.

Dont think for one minute that Comcast and Verizon are going to let us all stream endless amounts of data every month forever.
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Nice troll.
 
If one buys a Blu-ray player only to hear the audio through TV speakers... /sigh

Juss sayin....

Btw I love blu ray content and what it has to offer over any other medium when I comes to picture quality and HD sound :x. Am I doing this right?
 
MRAB54 said:
Limahl said:
Once your ISP puts in monthly low caps and high overage charges... there'll be plenty to explain to the family when they cant stream any more movies for the month. :D

That day is coming, and is why I still prefer to buy BR discs and watch/rip them to my PC for streaming to the TV.

Dont think for one minute that Comcast and Verizon are going to let us all stream endless amounts of data every month forever.
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Nice troll.
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It's not really a Troll, ISPs are content providers and it's within their financial interest to forcefully persuade customers to consume the ISPs own provided content (for a fee) over the competition's content. Streaming media is a double loss for company's like Comcast who would much rather see you use their bandwidth to stream their own Xfinity content. So slowly but surely, they are going to ween people off the competition by means of throttling and bandwidth caps that only apply to the competition.
 
Tekara said:
It's not really a Troll, ISPs are content providers and it's within their financial interest to forcefully persuade customers to consume the ISPs own provided content (for a fee) over the competition's content. Streaming media is a double loss for company's like Comcast who would much rather see you use their bandwidth to stream their own Xfinity content. So slowly but surely, they are going to ween people off the competition by means of throttling and bandwidth caps that only apply to the competition.
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Exactly.
 
If only people spent 1/4th the amount they spend on their big tv on a surround sound system, or in fact any audio system other than tv speakers.

BR was meant to bring the movie experience to your living room. You either appreciate high fidelity AV or you don't. There'll always be people for whom its perfectly ok to watch a 720 stream on demand via their tv speakers, you can't really expect them to buy discs.
 
MrCrispy said:
If only people spent 1/4th the amount they spend on their big tv on a surround sound system, or in fact any audio system other than tv speakers.

BR was meant to bring the movie experience to your living room. You either appreciate high fidelity AV or you don't. There'll always be people for whom its perfectly ok to watch a 720 stream on demand via their tv speakers, you can't really expect them to buy discs.
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Pretty much this.

The issue is that the average consumer is ok with mediocre video and crap audio being streamed to the speakers on their tv.

That being said, I have a largish BR collection but I would gladly switch to streaming if BR quality video and audio were available, however until that day comes I'll stick with the superior quality available on disk.
 
But, that's what I did on DVD, Laserdisc, and VHS before it. Just bought those favorites that I really wanted to keep or a blockbuster that I knew I would watch more than once. NetFlix has has not changed a thing for me. It is just like having cable TV ha ;-)
 
Putting unskippable marketing on almost every disc is not helping the cause. Nothing irks me like putting in a disc I bought five years ago and being forced to sit through a trailer for Wolverine Origins.

I love blu-ray. HD streaming is not good enough and often has frames dropped out on top of the image quality problems. The "HD" provided by digital cable is a joke (1080i and compressed to hell).
 
I love physical media for the way you sort and display a collection, and then browse through it at a glance with a little bit of randomness. I read somewhere recently that "looking for a movie on Netflix descends into an existential crisis" and I'd agree. I can almost never pick something to watch from a streaming service and when I do it's almost impossible to stay with it. Something about strolling through a video store or staring at my own collection displayed lovingly on my shelves makes it easier to choose and easier to commit to watching it.
 
Eh, when it comes to physical media I'll only watch Blu-ray.

That being said, I really only rent them from Redbox and own zero Blu-ray discs.
 
ballpoint said:
Putting unskippable marketing on almost every disc is not helping the cause. Nothing irks me like putting in a disc I bought five years ago and being forced to sit through a trailer for Wolverine Origins.
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That's true and it is a pain. Fortunately most of the newer BRs I have watched recently allow you to bring up a guide and skip straight to the menu when the first preview starts, bypassing the rests. Looks like they're finally catching up/catching on.
 
I borrowed a Blu-ray disc from a friend last weekend, couldn't get to to play on my laptop because apparently they constantly change the DRM and PowerDVD 10 isn't updated anymore. I'd have to give the PowerDVD jerks $99 to play the disc, and then this would probably happen again at some point.

Luckily it was a dual disc so I just popped in the DVD and guess what? It worked and I didn't care. Blu-ray is more trouble than it's worth and I don't care.
 
Quix said:
Luckily it was a dual disc so I just popped in the DVD and guess what? It worked and I didn't care. Blu-ray is more trouble than it's worth and I don't care.
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If only Toshiba had won out. HD-DVD was final spec when it first came out and didn't require the occasional updates BR does. You raise a good point; for many the need to update player firmware/software to place newer discs is an understandable barrier to entry.

Granted, I haven't had to update my firmware as recently over the past year or two. Still, that BR requires people to take technical steps to watch newer releases is (and always has been) ridiculous.
 
zacrobmer said:
Pretty much this.

The issue is that the average consumer is ok with mediocre video and crap audio being streamed to the speakers on their tv.

That being said, I have a largish BR collection but I would gladly switch to streaming if BR quality video and audio were available, however until that day comes I'll stick with the superior quality available on disk.
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I would love a decent audoio system but right now don't have room for it and i own BR disks. It is on a wish list, but the audio on my Sony TV is fine for now (i have had a decent audio system few years ago so i know how it can sound)

Ugh, reading this thread is going to have my looking at audio systems now, DAM YOU ALL!
 
Quix said:
I borrowed a Blu-ray disc from a friend last weekend, couldn't get to to play on my laptop because apparently they constantly change the DRM and PowerDVD 10 isn't updated anymore. I'd have to give the PowerDVD jerks $99 to play the disc, and then this would probably happen again at some point.

Luckily it was a dual disc so I just popped in the DVD and guess what? It worked and I didn't care. Blu-ray is more trouble than it's worth and I don't care.
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I have spent far too much money and more importantly dealt with too much frustration over the years using an HTPC to watch blu-ray. Looking back I should have invested in a standalone player and an HD audio decoder from the start. The frustration and wasted time has been bad enough... but honestly I've spent about $400 on player software over the years, nevermind the cost of the drives and the extra long HDMI cables etc.
 
Quix said:
I borrowed a Blu-ray disc from a friend last weekend, couldn't get to to play on my laptop because apparently they constantly change the DRM and PowerDVD 10 isn't updated anymore. I'd have to give the PowerDVD jerks $99 to play the disc, and then this would probably happen again at some point.

Luckily it was a dual disc so I just popped in the DVD and guess what? It worked and I didn't care. Blu-ray is more trouble than it's worth and I don't care.
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Instead of giving the PowerDVD jerks 99 dollars a year to watch your blu-rays you already paid for, pay AnyDVDHD 99 dollars and watch your blu-rays for a lifetime with faster updates than power DVD provides. Nothing worst then when I spend $200 dollars for the latest Japanese Ultraman Movie Blu-Ray pre-order and the Disc won't work for literally 2 months if your waiting for Power DVD to support it......
 
ZodaEX said:
Instead of giving the PowerDVD jerks 99 dollars a year to watch your blu-rays you already paid for, pay AnyDVDHD 99 dollars and watch your blu-rays for a lifetime with faster updates than power DVD provides. Nothing worst then when I spend $200 dollars for the latest Japanese Ultraman Movie Blu-Ray pre-order and the Disc won't work for literally 2 months if your waiting for Power DVD to support it......
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You may be on to something there. Maybe I will give that a shot. :D
 
I will continue to buy Blu-rays because I will keep them for decades and I will watch them whenever I want.

(And I'll repair the equipment needed to do so as many times as it takes to keep it in good, working condition until I can no longer hold a soldering iron.)
 
LiNKiN said:
You may be on to something there. Maybe I will give that a shot. :D
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I couldn't disagree with him more, personally. AnyDVD is no better with their own subscription fee. I'll stick to a physical player for Blu-ray, thanks.

There is not a single software package that I'd purchase for home usage that is subscription-based.

And before you say you don't HAVE to buy a recurring subscription... same thing with PowerDVD. No thanks.
 
dandragonrage said:
I will continue to buy Blu-rays because I will keep them for decades and I will watch them whenever I want.

(And I'll repair the equipment needed to do so as many times as it takes to keep it in good, working condition until I can no longer hold a soldering iron.)
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And then in a few years when ultra hd resolutions come out you'll feel like you're not hip because you're watching old blu-rays when you could be watching new movies at 1034983498 x 19239833 resolution.
 
PornoSatan said:
And then in a few years when ultra hd resolutions come out you'll feel like you're not hip because you're watching old blu-rays when you could be watching new movies at 1034983498 x 19239833 resolution.
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Let's not forget about the new remastered version of star wars that will most likely also come up at that resolution. You just HAVE to own that! :D
 
MrGuvernment said:
I would love a decent audoio system but right now don't have room for it and i own BR disks. It is on a wish list, but the audio on my Sony TV is fine for now (i have had a decent audio system few years ago so i know how it can sound)

Ugh, reading this thread is going to have my looking at audio systems now, DAM YOU ALL!
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Even a cheap soundbar with a separate powered subwoofer is lightyears beyond any TV speakers. I got one of these free with my TV:

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-HW-F4...=1398898453&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+sound+bar

And even though I have a pretty serious audio system in my HT, the sound bar is fine for casual living room TV watching (while TV speakers are not IMO).
 
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Grimmda said:
I was a big DVD fan... have about 100 different movies on it... I have 2 Blu-Rays... never got into it. Probably because I had kids by the time the format came out.

Now I buy ALL MOVIES I want to "own" through iTunes... and watch through the AppleTV... FLAWLESSLY Even on 70" TV's in high def... it's AMAZING and there is NO stuttering or issues. And I can bring them all locally to my other apple devices if I care to...

Not sure why I should bother with anything else...

When you can buy all 3 Godfather movies for $9.99... that says best value right there.
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Only downfall of your method is you are trapped into a specific ecosystem. This is probably THEE reason why I have gone your route. However, I am very selective on what gets bought so that helps. With RedBox these days, I can watch all movies "once" and then buy the ones I will watch again. Imagine being able to try a $60 game for $6 and then decide whether or not to keep it; EA would fold up shop overnight. :D
 
I own probably a bit over 100 blu rays, and other than TV series and box sets, I've rarely paid over $20 for them. In fact I just ordered (5) blu rays today on amazon for $5 each. I typically splurge on Black Friday and stock up on a shit ton of sub $10 BD's.

The HD audio makes them worth it, and you don't need a super expensive home theater setup to take advantage of it. Even a $200-300 Denon or Onkyo receiver and some cheap 3.1 or 5.1 setup will make a substantial difference in your movie watching experience with lossless audio codecs.

The video quality varies per movie. You can have something like 28 Days later which arguably looks worse than it's DVD counterpart, and then something of mind blowing quality like Avatar. Although I prefer lossless quality (well lossless from what the studio provides us), I still believe most streaming 720p and 1080p services are acceptable and enjoyable. However, I refuse to buy a digital copy of a movie that is locked down to a specific delivery method and at reduced quality. If I'm considering buying it, I'd rather dish out a few extra bucks for the best possible quality - then I'll have a physical copy that I can rip into my own digital copy, and strip out all of the bullshit menus and advertisements.
 
The thing I don't get is when you look at all those futuristic movies, shouldn't we be getting videos on SD chips or something with flash? Think about it, Blueray and DVDs you can scratch, we can now get the same videos put on SD cards. Smaller, lighter, and faster load times than a DVD/Blueray.

With all the Amazon Prime / Netflex / Hulu going on, I'd say any videos on a physical media is a thing of the past and the cloud seems to be taking over with streaming.
 
This thread makes me sad. If the [H] community in general are content with streaming then Blu-Ray doesn't stand a chance. Netflix "Super HD" encodes are unwatchable to me. Not only are they clearly bitrate-starved for the resolution but the amount of scrubbing they do to make the image more "stream-friendly" is egregious. If I were a cinematographer I would request Netflix to encode my 6Mb "Super HD" stream at 720p with an unmolested image. It would look way better than their traditional 1080p "Super HD" encodes.
 
Bluray movies would only be really worth it if it were in 4k-8k resolution. 200-400GB discs. 1080p isn't that high quality like it use to be. Doesn't excite many people anymore. 1080p has been around for years. Need something even more higher quality now.
 
MrCrispy said:
If only people spent 1/4th the amount they spend on their big tv on a surround sound system, or in fact any audio system other than tv speakers.

BR was meant to bring the movie experience to your living room. You either appreciate high fidelity AV or you don't. There'll always be people for whom its perfectly ok to watch a 720 stream on demand via their tv speakers, you can't really expect them to buy discs.
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Nor worth it when my only free time to watch movies is when the kid (age 2) is sleeping. Wife & I usually turn the volume down or mute.
 
ballpoint said:
I have spent far too much money and more importantly dealt with too much frustration over the years using an HTPC to watch blu-ray. Looking back I should have invested in a standalone player and an HD audio decoder from the start. The frustration and wasted time has been bad enough... but honestly I've spent about $400 on player software over the years, nevermind the cost of the drives and the extra long HDMI cables etc.
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Have you tried Plex?
 
PornoSatan said:
And then in a few years when ultra hd resolutions come out you'll feel like you're not hip because you're watching old blu-rays when you could be watching new movies at 1034983498 x 19239833 resolution.
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Exactly. And this is the argument against ever buying a movie, ever.

Unless you are 5 years old, and want to watch the Barney video over and over and over again, you are probably going to watch a movie once, and then it's going to sit on the shelf for years until you feel like firing it up again, at which point some new, better standard and a new remaster of the movie has probably been released.

I mean, seriously, unless a LONG time has passed, so you either don't remember it, or want to rewatch it for nostalgic reasons, who the hell (who doesn't have kids) ever watches a movie more than once?

And, even though blu-rays are cheaper than they've ever been, they are still too expensive for what amounts to a single viewing followed by years of collecting dust on a shelf.

Buying movies is simply a fools errand.

I have a small collection of my favorite movies on DVD I bought in college before I learned this lesson (and before bluray came out). Most of them I watched once when I first got them, some of them I fired up a second time at some point in the last 10 years, none of them were worth it.

While Blockbuster was still around, for optimum quality, it actually made sense to rent the blurays, but without them, now I just stream whatever I want to see, and put up with slightly lower quality.
 
ballpoint said:
I have spent far too much money and more importantly dealt with too much frustration over the years using an HTPC to watch blu-ray. Looking back I should have invested in a standalone player and an HD audio decoder from the start. The frustration and wasted time has been bad enough... but honestly I've spent about $400 on player software over the years, nevermind the cost of the drives and the extra long HDMI cables etc.
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I'm thinking maybe if you are still into blurays a used ps3 is a good option? As I recall, as crappy as they were on occasion, they were always excelled bluray players.
 
PornoSatan said:
And then in a few years when ultra hd resolutions come out you'll feel like you're not hip because you're watching old blu-rays when you could be watching new movies at 1034983498 x 19239833 resolution.
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My Blu-rays today look better than Netflix (or similar) streaming will in 10 years, and I like a lot of niche stuff that isn't going to keep being rereleased.
 
Robstar said:
Nor worth it when my only free time to watch movies is when the kid (age 2) is sleeping. Wife & I usually turn the volume down or mute.
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Exactly. At some point you mature enough and have life responsibilities to th epoint where movie and movie quality simply doesn't matter at all anymore. All this stuff is, is a teenage/twenty-something boytoy discussion. Most people outgrow it.
 
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