John Galt

Pretty self explanatory, but this is where we are with a lot of titles. Price being equal, which do you choose and why?

Adam Tyner

I've gone both ways on this, but now that I've decided on a more rigid option for shelving, I can see that impacting my preferences.

It'd probably be pretty rare for me to pay full price for a movie digitally, but I can absolutely see myself preferring a UHD rental over a full-price Blu-ray purchase. I've definitely passed up buying movies on Blu-ray (Underwater, for instance) when there's a UHD version available digitally.

milo bloom

My wife lives for streaming, so most discs I buy are for me.

TheMovieman

Physical discs.

E Unit

Very 50/50, just depends on mood and laziness.

Why So Blu?

Both.

PhantomStranger

If the physical media is available, I always buy it. It's only a matter of time before Disney et al decides Movies Anywhere isn't profitable enough anymore and pulls the rug out from under users.

If people thought the HD DVD/Blu-ray war was tough, the Streaming Wars will be decidedly less favorable for consumers.

L. Ron zyzzle

Really depends on how much I want to *have* it. A true keeper will be physical, something I wouldn't miss if VUDU went belly-up (for example) will be streaming, but I will typically wait for a lower price point if that's the case.

tonyc3742

Over the last year, much more digital. Easier to access and I usually buy when on sale.
Ideally, I prefer to buy the 4k or BD disc with digital version.
Although I don't even know when I last watched a physical disc.
I definitely have some heartburn/concern over the future of all this digital content, especially the 'purchased' (long term lease) stuff.

We are likely the last generation to value 'ownership' versus immediate access/curated content and streamability.

John Galt

Not having a popular method of renting titles certainly affects the decision making here (3D Blu Ray rental is a wonderful, niche program though). I've traditionally gone the Blu Ray route rather than rent/purchase the 4K version. I've accepted that we're getting to the point that new releases aren't getting UHD versions, and it's probably not too far off that they stop Blu Ray altogether for many and have started to pay more attention to purchasing digital 4k versions. I monitor sales and pick up stuff for $5 in 4k that I know is unlikely to get a UHD release, so I started to ask myself why I'm not doing this for the new releases too? Obviously those are less likely to drop to $5 to purchase anytime soon though.

TomOpus

Depends on the movie. I prefer physical but if a certain movie (like The Abyss) was only offered in 1080 on streaming, I'd be all over that.

davidlynchfan

Physical for life. I only like to watch miscellaneous, funky, wild wild west stuff when I stream.

zyzzle

Physical discs, all the way. Digital downloads are "throwaway" content to me; physical discs are media in which I'll keep and treasure, adding to my library. I'd only watch streaming for free, if the content wasn't available in any other format, the content wasn't DRM'd, and the bitrate (quality) was at least on par with what physical media offers (20 to 40 mbps).

Michael Corvin

Movies I want to own, I still buy. Quality is still better and $20-$30+ for digital bits that could disappear on a whim of a company isn't all that appealing.

I'll stream anything else though.

Inhumans99

While I am still more likely to let the physical media sit unopened in my apartment for quite some time before I open and watch, as of late I find myself getting back into the swing of buying physical media but I am more than happy to buy a UHD Digital movie when they are on sale and not care if I ever buy the blu or 4K.

In the past 12-18 months I have picked up the Elvira Motion Picture, the Arrow Shawscope set, Ultimate Ghostbusters, I have Alligator on order, The Core on order, and I am not adverse to picking up more stuff as the year progresses. For me, even this small number of titles/box sets purchased in the past 12 months is a lot. There was a point at which I thought I might be lucky to pick up as little as 1-2 movies in a blu/4K physical disc format a year, if that, but I am taking small steps to continuing to grow my collection with titles that I plan to keep even if they have a great resale value.

milo bloom

Space is an issue, also. We're in a condo and probably will be for many years to come. I have to make sure any new titles I buy are going to fit and are worth my trouble of finding space for. I'm still purging old stuff, but it's slow going.

morriscroy

Only A-list science fiction movies on disc.

For just about everything else, it doesn't matter anymore whether it is streaming, download, disc, or even broadcast/cable tv. Whichever comes first.

rexinnih

If I'm buying, it's physical.

JeffTheAlpaca

Maybe I am blind but I don't see that big or a huge difference with HD and 4K unless my Samsung QLED is not true 4K compared to OLED

asianxcore

Physical

PhantomStranger

It's a pretty big difference on the right movie. Not all movies benefit as much.

Alan Smithee

The quality of streaming has admittedly gotten much better lately, but I still prefer physical media. "The Sparks Brothers" (a documentary about one of my favorite bands) was available to "buy" on digital 4K a few weeks early, but I held out for the Blu-Ray disc as there was no 4K disc.

A worse dilemma is with the smaller movies and most series only getting released on outdated standard DVD- quality-wise I would choose digital for those, but practically speaking I would still prefer DVD just for it being a physical format- in most of those cases I just choose neither, or wait until the digital is available for under $5 or on a subscription service I already have access to.

John Galt

Lots of good responses in here; obviously a little biased on a forum dedicated to physical media, but I really wanted to see what others with similar interests were doing.

My rationale for preferring physical over digital has primarily been one of wanting the best quality presentation. So with that being the case, why would I still prefer a physical blu ray over a 4k digital version? Alan brought up a good point with the quality of TV shows...often the case is either owning physical DVDs with crappy A/V or purchasing a digital HD version with much better A/V. The difference there is much more noticeable than there is between 1080/4k.

The other obvious issue is one of ownership rights. The physical media is mine to keep and nobody can modify it remotely. Digital versions can be removed or modified at any time.

davidlynchfan

Another satisfying aspect of owning physical is when my little baby goes OOP..cha-ching.

Michael Corvin

I used to collect plenty of TV on physical and still buy some, BUT most times convenience wins out over quality for shows.

I have the entire Entourage series unopened on BD but just streamed it last year. Been watching Chuck and Fringe and both look better than their streaming counterparts but it's too easy to just stream them.