What is your final format ? (1 Viewer)

[technohobby]

I've had sufficient time to buy dozens of 4k discs, both upgrades of older titles and new releases. And, of course I've played dozens of my 1080p Blu Rays on my new 4K equipment. The results have been confusing.

It's become increasingly apparent that new release 4ks are worth the purchase, and that the vast majority of upgraded movies are simply not worth the additional cost. This seems to be partly a result of the remarkable improvement inherent in scaling up 1080p Blu Rays with both the current crop of 4k players and the newest premium projectors/TVs that are on the market. Upscaling is surprisingly successful with the internal upscaling of either 4k player I now own. At the same time, the unpredictability of HDR "enhancements" on re-released Blu Rays too often ruins the experience.

Yes. I'll buy new 4ks media, but I've given up buying most re-releases of my Blu Ray collection. And, yep. even my 3D movies look spectacular on the new 4k screens with all the added brightness. I'm glad I ignored the 3D naysayers.

 

[Joseph Goodman]

I think I will continue to upgrade my personal top twenty or so films, if upgrades appear, but for everything else, upgrading beyond Blu-Ray isn't essential. Having seen Blu-Ray projected on an actual theater screen (an Alamo Drafthouse with Sony 4k projectors), and having been shocked at how well the image held up, my need for upgrading has been tempered.

 

[JediFonger]

really thought BD was it for me... but the UHD PQ is amazing.

will wait for the douple/triple dips as just like 1st gen BD... not all the catalogs are good yet. will wait for DI/encoding improvements

the key for UHD for me is the DV optimized for as high of nits as possible. hoping for one to hit 10k nits one day lolz

 

[ScottRE]

I miss 16mm.... man, projecting reels of old TV shows was so fun. Many had network bumpers and tags. And the clarity was great! A little orange at times, but wow...

But Blu Ray is it for me. Especially when dealing with old shows.

 

[Widerman]

We have reached 4K UHD resolution and many people have there good enough point. Have you reached that point where video is good enough or better than you need it to be? What is your last supported format or will you continue on past physical media?

I will not move from 1080p blu-ray until there is a higher res 3D format.

 

[actionsub]

3D Blu-Ray for me.
Not really my thing streaming as I have always enjoyed owning the physical film in some form rather than paying for air.

I'm not big on streaming per se. I don't mind digital downloads, but those would be saved to some form of hard drive for the same reasoning you state.

 

[Yohan Pamudji]

Surprised to see so many stop at 1080p on an A/V enthusiast forum. Is that because there's no 4K 3D or is 1080p simply good enough?

4K is glorious when done right. 1080p upscaled is very nice, but 4K feels to me like the final step. I don't think 8K will make a discernible difference for my preferred screen size and viewing distance.

 

[Joe Bernardi]

I have a Sony 4K projector and a professionally calibrated 2018 Samsung 65" Q9FN. I have about 24 4K blu-rays, but now rent 4Ks from 3d-blurayrental, and only buy what I must have.

 

[MatthewA]

As for "good enough," that depends on what the best available source material is and whether the highest resolution version of the film isn't flawed in some other way (like, for instance, missing a whole reel of footage or being subject to amateurish "restoration" techniques that make it look worse, not better). The last two movies I watched were TV movies from the 1980s on Betamax tape because they were never released on any disc media. Run through an external upconverter and projected at 1080p60 onto a constant image height screen, they don't look half bad. They don't look better than the source material, but they are far from unwatchable.

 

[Vincent_P]

32K resolution with 48-bit colorspace and at least 32-stops of dynamic range or NO SALE!

Vincent

 

[grayrhino]

3D is my format of choice for now which is spectacular on my LG E6P tv. Luckily, EU still supports 3D. I have 4K player and purchased some 4K movies but me and my family still prefer 3D.

 

[3D Projectionist]

Nice to read someone is picking up on the initial acquisition materials Matthew which perhaps settles how far we go up the K scale.
Some of my material is from 8 and 16mm film and we don't always see the best Blu-Rays on the high street shelves either from commercial releases either.
3D is important to us here watching it up to a projected 10ft wide now and very happy with the whole thing, but at the end of the day its what's up on the screen that counts with regard to content.
The plethora of 50's Classic 3D releases we are seeing now is a wonderful time for me to see films in 3D looking far better than they did way back then.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I put "have not decided", but with that being said, for me, blu-ray is good enough for my setup: a 52" screen in the living room with 9-10 foot viewing distance (which gets the most use), a 60" screen in the basement with 12-13 foot distance, a 32" bedroom screen, and a 42" "man cave" screen that hardly gets used at all.

For my current needs, I don't think replacing any of these screens with 4k ones is going to make much difference, unless I went with something ginormous like 80" or bigger, and since I can count on one hand the number of times we've gone to the basement to watch something on the "big" TV, that's just not going to be a priority for me.

As has been said, it's not a matter of money, I'm just content with what I have and don't see a need to stay on a technology treadmill. I've currently got titles on VHS, Beta, Laser, DVD and Blu-ray, as well as over-the-air channels and streaming service subscriptions.

I also have the growing realisation that my collection is much larger than the number of years I likely have left to watch it in, so at least for now, I'm good with what I've got.

If I ever do get 4k someday, it will likely be to replace a 'broken' TV or player, and I'll want my next gear to be as backwards compatible as possible (region-free and 1080i/50/PAL compatibility is much more important to me than increased resolution), because I don't foresee myself upgrading many--if any--titles to a new format beyond blu-ray. Any 4k or future purchase would likely be stuff I didn't already own, or which didn't get a good BR release.

 

[JediFonger]

Andy I totally agree. even with my 1,000 Blu-Ray titles... i have yet to watch 40% of the collection... the volume is so tremendous. there's more content to watch than there will ever be life left in me hahaha

 

[John Dirk]

4K is glorious when done right.

I think that's just the point, it hasn't yet been "done right." There simply aren't enough reference quality titles available at this time. I'm with you and betting this will not always be the case, so I'm in with 4K but I completely understand why many aren't at the moment.

 

[Malcolm R]

There simply aren't enough reference quality titles available at this time.

They're on the way. Dirty Grandpa just came out on 4K, with National Lampoon's Van Wilder coming shortly.

 

[TJPC]

I have amassed such a large collection of Blu rays, DVDs and DVD-R discs which keeps ever growing that 99% has only been watched once. About 1/3 of this has never been watched at all.

I keep thinking that I will watch my favorites again when the new ones have all been watched, but this never happens. The thought of converting to another new format makes me shutter, especially when you basically have to squint with one eye and stand on your head to see a difference.

 

[JediFonger]

what's also interesting is i watch the same exact movie/tv titles that i have owned on physical medium over on stream because it's easier than pulling it off the shelf and inserting the disc.

like with vudu, i sometimes open it and pick inny minny moe and just start playing.

i can't do that with disc... =P

or i have stuff that's already on the media center/nas and i just hit play on kodi =P

i haven't time to convert it all to the media center... huge amount of time.

 

[gadgtfreek]

The last one they make before I die.

 

[Jasper70]

My question is where does it end? There are already so many TV shows they haven’t and probably won’t convert to 2k not to mention 4K resolution. Stargate SG-1 for an example. Awesome show. No Blu-ray. Plenty of other examples come to mind. The higher grade resolution displays will make SD content look worse as well as watching more Blu-ray/4K our eyes will get accustomed to seeing the better quality and it’ll make it harder to view . IMO.

Such a backlog of titles, not just TV, movies as well. Will they just sacrifice these older shows because they are not profitable enough?