Streaming vs Cable vs Physical Media (1 Viewer)

[bigshot]

Dave, with all those black boxes, I have no idea what you're doing there. What is it that is decoding the audio in your system and how old is it? It might not support DD+ and may be defaulting to regular Dolby instead.

 

[bigshot]

High end equipment does not guarantee good sound quality in digital audio. The worst case of jitter ever measured (the only example I know of that ever exceeded the threshold of audibility) was a McIntosh media server. It had fantastic preamp circuitry and HORRIBLE digital audio performance. It's entirely possible that your system isn't decoding DD+ properly, no matter how much you paid for it.

 

[bigshot]

And by the way, as I understand it, DTS's average bitrate on blu-rays is about 2-3Mbp/s and DD+ is capable of up to 6Mbp/s. So the quality depends more on how the disk is encoded than which format they use to encode. One is not necessarily better or wose than the other. It all depends on the rate. At some point audio becomes audibly transparent, and at that point it doesn't matter any more how much higher a bitrate you use unless you increase the number of channels.

 

[Dave Moritz]

At the begining the HD-DVD player was decoding Dolby Digital Plus because I was using a Yamaha RX-V995 5.1 surround reciever. I later upgraded to a 2nd gen Toshiba HD-DVD player and the reciever was upgraded to a Pioneer Elite SC-05. For the blu-ray player I started with a 1st gen Sony then upgraded to a Denon blu-ray player. For blu-rays it doesn't matter for Dolby Digital Plus because I do not think there are many titles with Dolby Digital Plus. I believe that if it was just a issue with my system I would not feel the way I feel about Dolby Digital when hearing it on many other systems. For movies the best systems I have heard in the past where were movies used DTS and now it is uncompressed PCM, Dolby True HD and DTS -HD Master Audio.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/ephox/StaticFiles/PUSA/Files/SC-05.pdf

 

[Dave Moritz]

Getting back to topic, I have not done streaming from Netflix, Vudu or any other sites and my only actual experience is Direct TV which I am not sure if you can consider that streaming or not and on demand from Verizon Fios. As far as picture quality I had no issues with picture quality as it works very well where I live.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yeah it was $15 to buy or $7 to rent, figured no sense skimping. Very interested in hearing your experiences!

Bought it, watched it this morning and thought the movie and download presentation were very good. I have no complaints with one less BD to buy in the future.

 

[schan1269]

I might try Snowpiercer as a download.This new PC(laptop) does 5.1 Netlix. Not sure what it was though (AVR showed 6 channel PCM).My DV7 7 machine only did 2.0 over HDMI (would only do 5.1 over mini-T).

 

[bigshot]

For blu-rays it doesn't matter for Dolby Digital Plus because I do not think there are many titles with Dolby Digital Plus.

And you say you don't stream... perhaps you've never even heard DD+. I use it all the time, and I can assure you that it's audibly transparent, just like DTS.

 

[bigshot]

This new PC(laptop) does 5.1 Netlix. Not sure what it was though (AVR showed 6 channel PCM).

I find that the picture quality of Netflix is better on my Roku 3 box than using my computer. The loading times are shorter and the navigation is faster with the Roku too. It's well worth getting a Roku or AppleTV if you are going to use Netflix streaming.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I rented Snowpiercer last night on Vudu in what they call "HDX", which is just their fancy name for 1080p with DD+ audio. Looked and sounded pretty good to me, perhaps not quite Blu-ray quality, but superior to DVD quality for sure. Pretty good movie too.

 

[schan1269]

I find that the picture quality of Netflix is better on my Roku 3 box than using my computer. The loading times are shorter and the navigation is faster with the Roku too. It's well worth getting a Roku or AppleTV if you are going to use Netflix streaming.

I use a PC for three reasons...Already have Xbox 360(bought at a pawn shop for $140 including the latest versions of Skyrim, GTA, NBA 2k14, Halo 4 and Forza).I watch other sites that are free via PC(hulu being just one).I can set the PC for 720p. I only have 15(ish) gig of internet a month between Wild Blue, T-Mobile and Verizon...thanks to living out in the sticks...I have zero interest in a box I have to use paid apps for...beyond Netflix.

 

[Dave Moritz]

I have heard Dolby Digital Plus as I have many HD-DVD's with encoded with Dolby Digital Plus. I would love to upgrade at least Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy to Bluray and have it in ether Dolby True HD or DTS HD Master Audio.

HD-DVD Dolby Digital Plus titles I want to replace with lossless Blu-ray versions
1. Bourne Identity
2. Bourne Supremacy
3. Full Metal Jacket
4. King Kong
5. The Mummy
6. The Mummy Returns
7. Red Dragon
8. Space Cowboys
9. Unforgiven

 

[bigshot]

I use a PC for three reasons.

My media server is a Mac Mini, but I have a Roku box too. There's lots of Roku content that isn't available on the internet, the picture quality is better and streaming more dependable. A Roku box is pretty cheap for the advantages it adds to a system. Maybe your Xbox also has better picture quality and streaming than your PC. Never used one of those.

 

[schan1269]

I have heard Dolby Digital Plus as I have many HD-DVD's with encoded with Dolby Digital Plus. I would love to upgrade at least Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy to Bluray and have it in ether Dolby True HD or DTS HD Master Audio.

HD-DVD Dolby Digital Plus titles I want to replace with lossless Blu-ray versions
1. Bourne Identity
2. Bourne Supremacy
3. Full Metal Jacket
4. King Kong
5. The Mummy
6. The Mummy Returns
7. Red Dragon
8. Space Cowboys
9. Unforgiven

Bourne Identity_Back.jpg

All of those releases came out BEFORE lossless audio existed. Pretty sure all of them are on lossless Blu now...and their re-releases were AFTER lossless audio came out.

 

[bigshot]

And they were probably remixed and remastered when they came out on blu-ray so they aren't good comparisons of what the different formats are capable of.

 

[Tom St Jones]

I tend to subscribe to the belief that physical media, in some form or another, will be with us for a while yet. As long as Generation X (those born between the mid-sixties and the mid-eighties) and remaining members of older generations are still around, discs - or whatever physical form home media may eventually take - will remain popular to some degree. As for "Millennials" aka Generation Y (I wonder what will come after Z?), not so much. They've been raised on the forefront of today's cutting-edge technology and are much more used to non-physical media etc. They may just end up being the first generation to live in a world where actually "owning" something is a complete illusion, but that's a whole 'nother subject.
I think people simply love to collect things and they like tangible things. They like something they can hold in their hands and feel that they have "some" real control over. And let's face it, digital files by themselves just aren't that collectible.

 

[Sam Posten]

Well yeah, since 4k Blu is now official you can bet on 10 more years of physical disks for those who want em.

 

[bigshot]

I think 4k will be as big of a success as SACDs were.

 

[bigshot]

I discovered why my Netflix through my Mac is worse than through my Roku. Apparently Verizon is throttling Netflix. But the Roku box flies under the radar because it isn't a direct competitor to Verizon's video service like Netflix is. I signed up with a VPN service that anonymizes my connections and immediately, the Netflix connection on my computer got as solid as on the Roku.

 

[schan1269]

Verizon isn't throttling my Netflix.Of course I pay for 30g of cellular internet...(4 devices as well...Galaxy 4, LG G3, Pad 8.3 and a thumb drive)I should add...VZW wants you to go over your monthly pre-billed allotment.They charge $10 per 1g. So, why on Earth would they ever throttle you on cellular...