PhantomStranger

Most streaming 4K video doesn't look anywhere nearly as good as proper 4K from a UHD disc. Netflix and Amazon 4K look slightly better than upscaled Blu-ray.

laidbacklarkin

Per popular opinion, the ‘revelation’ in the 4K world is not so much the resolution (although the uptick is there technically) but in the accompanying HDR formats like HDR10 and Dolby Vision which enhances the viewing experience for higher dynamic range the Blu-ray standard does not accomplish. Personally, unless it’s a bad encode or from a bad scan, I have rarely found the Blu-ray standard to be deficient especially in its later years as the format matured as opposed to its infancy stages. An able bodied DTS track with high quality 1080p encode is a good combo for a fulfilling experience

DVD Polizei

Yeah, it's because streaming 4K is often not at the typical 4K bandwidth you'd see on a 4K disc. All the streaming networks compress their 4K delivery so while the resolution is 3840 x 2160 ("4K"), the lack of bandwidth makes it look barely above 1080p (blu-ray quality). 4K usually looks great on streaming services if nobody is moving around, but once people move around in action and sci-fi movies along with objects flying around, the required bandwidth has to be pretty high to maintain the 4K image.

I'd be surprised if any streaming service actually delivered on a true 4K promise with 30+ Mbps constant. Then you have to factor in your ISP and if they are reliable as well and if they throttle your bandwidth after 100GB usage per month or per session. A 4K movie can easily have tens of GB's racked up in a few hours if the bandwidth is unleashed.

MooMooMooMoo

A lot of people don't realize that hi-res audio streaming suffers from similar audio issues.

DVD Polizei

Yep. To many, a movie is a movie, and a song is a song. They don't realize there are different quality levels. Streaming services generally provide the lowest to mid-quality levels of streaming content. Companies seem to always pick the cheapest way to deliver a product, and movies and songs are no different. It's unfortunate because in the future, we may not have as many reference quality products to turn to. And it's the major reason why I've always thought of streaming as an addition and convenience to my movie and song collection...but not a replacement.

MooMooMooMoo

And songs tend to mysteriously disappear off streaming services with no warning..................

tonyc3742

Virtually every time I browse my Amazon Prime Video queue, another title has been removed from Prime viewing. I'm sure it happens on other services too, it's just more noticeable on Prime Video.
If you want to ensure 'owning' something, it's best to buy it physically. And as much as I like streaming audio (mostly my own library from Amazon Cloud, or SiriusXM), I still buy physical CDs as well.

laidbacklarkin

there’s a limited time for which the titles are licensed to be available for streaming. Once it goes off Amazon, you’ll see those titles pop up on another streaming service. And after a while will be available on Amazon again.

BobO'Link

My experience with Amazon is when a title goes away it rarely returns. I have more than a few in my "watch list" that have been missing from Amazon for several years. The few that "returned" came back as only available via subscription (couldn't even purchase a copy). Right now at least 50% of my "watch list" is MIA. I *do* mostly watch older material and, outside a handful of "TV series," nothing in my lists is newer than ~20 years ago. That could be a contributing factor as most people seemingly don't/won't watch much of anything older than ~10 years so it's possible (likely?) that Amazon's pandering to that group. But it's also one of several factors playing into the unlikelihood of me renewing my Prime subscription next year.

rich-y

I am waiting for the day that consumers realize that they don't actually OWN the movie downloads they "purchased" on Amazon.

Amazon can remove access to any movie you purchased at any time.

Here's a quote:

"Amazon also points to the user agreement, which clearly states that "purchasers obtain only a limited license to view video content and that purchased content may become unavailable due to provider license restriction or other reasons." - https://www.gamesradar.com/you-dont-...n-prime-video/

Just another reason to stick with physical media if you like watching something on the regular.

MooMooMooMoo

Or download files to your pc.

DVD Polizei

And this is the streaming scam, imo. A movie leaves one streaming service, so people sign up for another that has the title they were after. Do the math, and they probably end up paying several times over for a title that could have been a hard copy purchase over a period of say, five years. Longer-term, like 10 years, the amount of money forked out for streaming titles is probably insane.

MooMooMooMoo

And again, most films and music are available for sale in a version that you permanently download to your computer. Also there's lots of software to dl paid streams (you pat for the streaming service, the software downloads & saves it).

Why So Blu?

This is still the Amazon Deals thread, right?

Prisoners of the Ghostland is $7.50 on Amazon (Blu-ray):

PhantomStranger

The six-volume Pink Panther Classic Cartoon BD Box set from Kino Lorber is down to $50.99. While I don't know if it's going out of print, it looks increasingly difficult to find at retail for discounted pricing.

TheMovieman

While I have the DVD set, decided to pull the trigger on this one.

fujishig

You should probably do the math again. For the most part I think streaming probably saves people money if they were going to rent or buy everything they watched. I don’t think it’s a scam at all. I mean if you’re subscribing to multiple services chasing a title and never cancelling any of them then yeah sure you’re paying a lot but I’m not sure that’s on them.

MooMooMooMoo

There's another part of the scam. Bandwidth caps by the provider. I recently discovered Comcrap was trying to charge me for 4 times the bandwidth I was using. Fortunately, they actually sent an American who could understand me out here, & he admitted they had screwed up. I'm still waiting for the final resolution.

fujishig

Now bandwidth caps, that’s a scam.

Why So Blu?

It must be Nicolas Cage month but they're selling a few of his titles on BD for $5.99. The first Tron film is also $5.99. The French Dispatch is $8.99 but I'd wait on the eventual Criterion Collection version.

MooMooMooMoo

I got an email from some classic Television company & some of their items were on sale on Amazon. I picked up Barbara Stanwyck show Volume 2, & a Rod Serling Double feature.

joltman

I'm guessing this is YMMV, but I'm Prime and had an offer at for a $10 discount if I installed the Amazing Shopping app and logged in. I already had the app and couldn't figure out how to sign out, so I deleted the app, re-installed it and signed in, and I got the discount! It's actually $10 off $20.

story

Godzilla vs. Kong/Godzilla: King of the Monsters/Kong: Skull Island 3-film bundle on Blu-ray is now $16.99.

b2net

rich-y

Sonic the Hedgehog - Bonus Stage Edition
4K UHD Steelbook
$35.38


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