Upgrading from Blu-ray to UHD: Where do you draw the line? (1 Viewer)

[Konstantinos]

Hello all.
I was wondering about this, that I'm mentioning in the thread title. With all the UHDs that are currently released or will be released in the future, how do you cope with this matter of upgrading?
Do you upgrade everything? Only films you love dearly or when there is a considerable uptick in quality?
I really don't know where to draw the line.
And what do you do with your old blu-rays? Do you keep them, sell them, give away?
I have a hard time selling them...
I still wonder if from the position I'm sitting to my monitor when viewing a film, there is a difference between blu-rays and UHDs.
When I'm right in front of my monitor and see caps comparisons, I see the difference in grain management mostly, and I'd like to upgrade, but you can't upgrade everything...
eg. this here:

Indecent Proposal • US Ultra HD Blu-ray vs. US Blu-ray

caps-a-holic.com

I love how the UHD looks and all that grain, but when I'm sitting in viewing distance and watch the film in motion, does it really matter?

 

[jayembee]

I am a weak, weak man, and I'm inclined to upgrade from BD to UHD if it's a movie I'm interested in owning. Even if the increase in quality isn't that notable. Does it matter? Probably only in my own mind, but that's all the rationale I need.

So far, the only time I've made a deliberate choice not to upgrade, it was for Paramount's UHD of The War of the Worlds, as I already have both the Criterion and Imprint BDs, as well as the Imprint BD of When Worlds Collide, and it didn't sound like it was worth the cost to upgrade. And I'm considering passing on the new UHD of Casablanca, though I haven't made my mind up yet about that.

As for what I do with the BDs of movies I upgrade, I trade them in, just as I do DVDs that I've upgraded to BD. I live in Bull Moose country, and I get a pretty good trade-in deal from them.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I’ve started upgrading from Blu-ray (and DVD in a couple of cases) to UHD and have done 43 titles so far. I have 2 titles preordered and another 35 in my wish list. So far, I have no line but I also try to read reviews of titles before I upgrade so I don’t accidentally downgrade picture quality because of a poor 4K transfer. We no longer have any local video stores so I have nowhere to trade in old discs. Man, do I miss Hastings Entertainment! It’s too much of a hassle and I don’t have time to sell them on eBay so I wait until I have 20-25 titles and go donate them at goodwill.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

If there's not much diff in details/rezz expected, I generally only get the 4K digital and call it a day... unless it's a top fave film perhaps (and/or maybe I don't already have the umpteenth minor upgrade redip of it, LOL).

There can often enough still be some gains in terms of color or contrast/tonality w/ the 4K (often because of the HDR grading)... though not quite so much in projection, which is what I use for display. The grain can also be better resolved, tighter/finer in 4K even w/out real detail/rezz gains.

But that's partly why I've decided to opt for just 4K digital in some/many cases (on top of keeping my old BD). Of course, that's only if the old BD is already very good (and close enough if I should ever unexpectedly lose access to the 4K digital or some other unexpected thing happens w/ it).

At least a couple caveats about 4K digital (at least for now), they always come w/ lower bitrate lossy audio, which definitely can matter in at least some cases, if you have a good sound system. It's not quite the same encode as the 4K disc (and certainly not guaranteed to be any particular mastering/version in most cases anyway) and could possibly change on you w/out notice. So yeah, important to still have high quality physical media (or some kinda backup) for anything you deem crucial to your collection -- some folks might choose to keep backups on or simply stream from their NAS... though that requires significant extra effort and investment...

_Man_

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Haven't really figured out anything specific/systematic for old BDs I don't need/want to keep.

In the past, I'd just let the family/kids run stoop sales w/ old DVDs -- that's our Brooklyn version of garage/yard sales since most of Brooklyn homes don't have garages or sizable front yards -- but the kids grew up, so there's not much interest in doing those anymore.

I might just give occasional remaining, old DVDs/BDs to friends (who might still want such) or maybe just leave them out for passers-by I guess -- I've definitely done the latter for some laserdiscs that got snatched up immediately (probably by someone who mistakenly thought they were vinyl records, LOL).

Our libraries used to lend out discs (and would accept donations), but not sure they bother w/ that anymore. Probably worth checking, if you're interested in donating. Also, there used to be some interest in DVD donations to the armed forces, but not sure there is anymore -- that's apparently actually where some of the old DVDs we sold (very cheaply) went.

_Man_

 

[jayembee]

Our libraries used to lend out discs (and would accept donations), but not sure they bother w/ that anymore. Probably worth checking, if you're interested in donating.

Even if the library isn't interest in having the discs on their shelves for lending, they still might want them to make some money in library sales.

 

[Kent K H]

Man, there are so many things that tend to come into play here. For movies I don't already have, I buy the 4K if it's available. Lately, I've been running into situations where I've been hesitant to pull the trigger on more blu rays because I'm having to wonder if there will be an upgrade around the corner. I was rewarded for waiting on Malignant, but then you have things like Dragons Forever where I figured a 4K would be non-existent and ended up coming out very swiftly after the UK blu.

Historically, I would make the immediate jump from DVD to blu ray if I like the movie at all, but what I just described has me gunshy in that respect, as well. I've mostly picked up new blus for catalog and adopted a wait and see attitude for new releases, but it varies from release to release.

Generally, I have not upgraded an existing blu in my collection to 4K unless it's one of my absolute favorites, it's a super visually dynamic film or it's really cheap (or all three, like when Scott Pilgrim went on sale.) I made an exception for the Ghostbusters steelbook and box set, but the first one is my all-time favorite movie, so what are ya gonna do?

 

[jayembee]

I made an exception for the Ghostbusters steelbook and box set, but the first one is my all-time favorite movie, so what are ya gonna do?

Ummmm...call Ghostbusters?

 

[John Sparks]

Price

 

[Rob W]

I upgrade many of my favourites even though discs often come into the house faster than I can watch them. But it's comforting knowing I'm not watching my collection in the best possible quality.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

My primary movie watching display is a 1080p projector which still (knock on wood) works as well and is just as satisfying to me as the day I got it. The vast majority of films that I watch on it will likely never be released in 4K, or if they were, would not benefit in any significant way from the upgrade.

I am happy to future proof myself by choosing 4K/BD combo packs for new titles going forward. If an older movie that is a favorite of mine gets remastered in 4K, and the package includes a remastered BD, I will get that.

At this time, I am not purchasing 4K-only discs as I have no way to play them. Upgrading my primary display is not a priority or even a possibility at this time.

I realize that’s not a particularly exciting answer but since you asked

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I rarely buy discs anymore. There was a time I used to buy 100 discs a year. Now I buy less than 10.

The main issue is that I don't have room to store discs anymore after taking up three rooms of shelving and bookcases.

The next problem is that Blu-ray still looks fantastic in this day and age. Projected 4k does improve upon it, but not always as much as the price of upgrading is worth. I just read RAH's review of CASABLANCA 4k and he doesn't think there are any major improvements over the Blu-ray.

If the film is one of my all-time favorites, I'll absolutely upgrade my BD. Otherwise, I'll buy a 4k digital copy or just stick with the Blu-ray I own already.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I upgrade all my blu rays to 4k where possible, favourites immediately and others when on sale. There are a few I haven't so far (Great Escape, Grease, Scrooged, Groundhog Day). On the whole 4k is an improvement, particularly with HDR, although some are only incremental. Some films (eg American Werewolf in London) I haven't owned before, I will be buying the 4k. Personally I want more large format classic films to be released on 4k together with concert titles.

 

[Arthur Powell]

Very simple - a complete no to 4K UHD. Blu-ray is good enough.

 

[marcco00]

same here. i've decided that a *good* copy of a film is enough, it doesn't always need to be the *best* copy like in times past. got sooo many blus & dvds, i've been displaying some of them for the poster art.....got over 60+ out on display and also stuck on the walls using command strips!!

 

[marcco00]

 

[John Sparks]

same here. i've decided that a *good* copy of a film is enough, it doesn't always need to be the *best* copy like in times past. got sooo many blus & dvds, i've been displaying some of them for the poster art.....got over 60+ out on display and also stuck on the walls using command strips!!

Never thought of putting them on the wall.,.pics are required!!!

 

[marcco00]

ha! you read my mind!

 

[John Dirk]

For me it's more about the audio. If the Blu Ray had a decent 5.1 [preferably 7.1 mix] and the UHD has Atmos then I buy it.

I will not buy UHD discs that lack an Atmos or DTS:X mix.

 

[dpippel]

I almost always buy 4K if it's a new release that I want. Upgrading an existing Blu-ray in my collection? That depends on the film and how well the 4K is reviewed by trusted sources, but more often than not I'll bite. If it's a film that I truly love, then it's a no-brainer to buy the 4K release unless it's problematic. It's easy enough to sell the Blu-ray to recoup some of the cost involved in upgrading. I still want to own the very best presentation possible of my favorites, and doubt I'll ever grow out of that. And, as John pointed out, it's not just a matter of visual improvement, but audio as well. Atmos is a huge consideration.

4K titles in general look fantastic on my 65" OLED, and in many cases absolutely jaw-dropping. I really don't understand the resistance that some folks seem to have to the format, although I can certainly relate to the financial angle.