Should I start Blu-Ray collection now or wait for next-gen format?

[ryangarfield]

Hello,

Just curious if anyone has an opinion if now is a good time to start building a blu-ray collection or should I wait for the next format to come out? Does anyone believe we would see the next iteration of home video come out within the next 2 years or so?

I'd hate to start buying blu-ray if something better is going to come along soon.

Any insight is always appreciated.

Thanks!

[Vidd]

The next-gen format may be streaming from the cloud. There is no 100% guarantee there will be a physical media successor to Blu-ray. But if there is, there is a good chance for backward compatibility, like playing DVDs in Blu-ray players. Don't waste years waiting for the next format because there will always be a next format after that.

[usually_quiet]

I would go ahead and start buying Blu-Ray discs, 4K video is the "next thing" at this point, but it will probably take longer than just a couple of years before it is proven to be viable.

4k TVs and monitors are still very expensive. Who knows if 4K video will ultimately be legitimately distributed on physical media. Sony's Video Unlimited service is the only way that Sony is selling 4K movies so far.

[Noahtuck]

Man, and I thought I was behind!!
By about 3 years!!!!
Actually longer as I just started buying 1080 LCD TV's about 2-3 years ago and Blurays/players/burner.

LOL!!

[netmask56]

Depends a bit how old your are! In my case at 75 I don't waste time, so I'm an early adopter..... Bur seriously if you are in your mid 20's then you can afford to wait 4 or 5 years and your taste in movies is another factor. I happen to love change and to move with the times so I guess I am atypical of my demographic. Anyway I would suggest you start NOW.......

[fritzi93]

I too am not certain that there will be a physical medium for 4K or UHD (whatever term sticks).

Content providers would prefer heavily DRM'ed streaming. They hate rental-ripping, file-sharing, even secondhand sales. What we may end up with is something like the Sony 4K media player included with some of their 4K TVs. (The Sony box is strictly proprietary, BTW, and won't work with anything but a Sony 4K TV). You download content to the box and play it from there. No doubt a non-proprietary box would have updated HDCP, so the strippers currently available wouldn't work for capture.

Then there's the question as to whether, if a physical medium (probably optical disc using H.265) comes to fruition, that it would receive sufficient interest in the mass-market to survive. Especially if it has to compete with a streaming or DRM'ed download alternative. DVD quickly killed off VHS, but Blu-Ray has still not displaced DVD, and most folks have an HDTV now.

What about upgrade fatigue? Will 4K be enough of an improvement? For enthusiasts, sure; for everyone else, I have my doubts. You're gonna need a pretty big TV and close viewing distance to readily see the difference, according to many who have seen 4K TVs side-by-side with 1080p sets playing the same movie, native 4K on one, 1080p on the other. Demo 4K material is intended to show the difference in the most dramatic way possible, but movies are another matter.

It *is* likely that 4K (LED/LCD) TVs will displace 1080p LEDs in the marketplace. There are no technical obstacles to production, and prices will fall to levels comparable with current HDTVs. But you're not likely to see much 4K TV programming for quite a while. The industry just went through the HD upgrade cycle, and a good deal of programming is 720p anyway. That's by-the-by in regard to the OP's question, but I don't think folks are going to rush out and buy 4K sets. They'll buy them, eventually, as replacements. Which further calls into question the viability of a 4K movie format.

Anyway, I say go ahead and buy into Blu-Ray.

[glenpinn]

I shoot weddings in avchd format @ 28Mbps (moving to 220Mbps ProRes format mid 2014) and i have never ben asked to output any of the wedding videos i shoot onto bluray media, all my videos are copied to a 500gb portable usb powered hdd in various formats and my clients use this hdd to connect to a HD tv via usb and play the video via the on board media player in the tv.

because some HD tv's are a bit older, they dont often support all container types or framerates, so i output their edited videos to 5 different formats for them so they have full support regardless what HD tv or hdd media player they use to watch them on.

i have never bought a bluray player, and i have never bought or hired a bluray movie, and here in australia, you will not find many people with a bluray player either, most people still have their older DVD players and still buy or hire DVD movies because it is still a great format, and they still upscale very nicely even played on a big HD tv.

a lot of people are now ripping their DVD movies and converting them to mp4 so they can store them on a portable hdd and play them directly on their HD tv which saves them having to maintain their dvd player, and not have to get the movie disc out to watch it from.

for me, bluray was a dead format before it was invented, but dont expect too much in the way of 2.5k or 4k video in the near future at the consumer level, it just wont be something that many consumers will embrace because of the cost of having to upgrade everything.

[zoobie]

I saw a demo 4k somewhere recently...
It was dripping with clarity and color almost to the point of being distracting to the content.

[hech54]

Man, and I thought I was behind!!
By about 3 years!!!!
Actually longer as I just started buying 1080 LCD TV's about 2-3 years ago and Blurays/players/burner.

LOL!!

I own NOTHING Blu-Ray yet. I own one HDMI cable from my cable box to my TV though.
Woo Hoo

[redwudz]

Just my opinion, but even with 4K media, there would be little likelihood that all the present movies would be re-released in that format.
Maybe newly made movies would be when the 4K format is widely available.
I prefer having the movies I know already either in BD or DVD format so I can enjoy them.

And why wouldn't any new format be something like H.265? Then the media type wouldn't be the only issue for storage and playback.

[usually_quiet]

I wasn't an early adopter either. I only started with Blu-Ray a year ago. I do own the extended LOTR Blu-Ray boxed set and the theatrical Blu-Ray version of the Hobbit, but rent most movies. I bought a Blu-Ray player as a Christmas gift for my parents last year so we could watch movies together and a Blu-Ray burner and software player for myself.

[PuzZLeR]

One newer format very likely is UltraViolet CFF. It's here now (or fully on its way) - an H.264, streaming, DRM capable format - due to the popularity of phones and tablets that can't input discs (and also for any who trust the cloud). Currently only up to 2K AFAIK.

The vast majority of big players are supporting it - even Sony, and others of blu-ray's parents. (However, Apple/Disney are still being stubborn. Apple wants to continue with its download service, and Disney wants to keep selling classics in physical format it seems).

As for 4k, or the future of physical media in general, or UltraViolet adopting HEVC or 4K, or another format entirely, this would need a crystal ball. We simply don't know today.

In the meantime while waiting to see what happens, today, as a starting point, I would buy only DvDs that we know will never make blu-ray, or start with blu-rays of older movies that were traditionally SD for the longest time. At least you know there's less likelihood of these being obsolete to newer formats.

(I guess this should also include buying VHS movies that you know will never make DvD/blu-ray as well. )

[ryangarfield]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the great posts! I figured one way or the other I would get some great insight from people in the know. I was leaning towards sticking with Blu-Ray instead of waiting and it looks the majority of you believe the same. I think whenever I see my favourite movies on sale, I'll just go ahead and buy.

Happy New Year all!

[louv68]

Excellent advice from PuzZler. I bought a Blu-Ray player three years ago with the sole intention of watching rented Blu-Rays, Netflix, VUDU, Pandora, etc., and didn't actually buy a BD until about a year and a half ago. Most of my purchases have been on super sales. I can't justify spending regular price like I used to on DVD's, especially when double/triple dipping on movies I've had on VHS, Laserdisc, DVD. Some movies definitely are worth getting on Blu-Ray, while others look almost indistinguishable from DVD and obviously not worth it. Do a little research on reviews before spending your hard earned cash. A few of my favorites are dvdtalk.com, blu-ray.com and highdefdigest.com Just do it. Just my two cents.

[deadrats]

building a blu-ray collection is going to cost you quite a few bucks and a lot depends on what you plan on buying on blu-ray.

is it old tv series that were never broadcast in Hd in the first place? is it content you already own on dvd? is it available online via a legit service like hulu or netflix?

personally i wouldn't be buying any physical media until i see what happens with 2k and 4k streaming of content.

[yoda313]

I can't justify spending regular price like I used to on DVD's

I know we'll start straying off topic here but I used to think like this.

But what does help is when they are the bluray/dvd/ultraviolet combo packs. I like those. Then I can watch and play them on any device basically.

Also I'm buying more used now. I even recently bought the last Die Hard movie used on bluray on ebay.

It helps too to use the "lot" option that I've recently discovered that must have been around for a long time. The pick and choose option from a large set from a private seller. Great way to add to the collection at a low price.

And actually I just got the first four Die Hard movies on bluray at a great price on ebay to fill out the collection (I had the first on dvd and the last on bluray and the 2nd and 3rd on vhs which I haven't watched in ages). But now in two shots I have the whole set on bluray without spending the higher price on the new bluray collector set that came out recently.

Suffice it to say I love movies.

But I try not to rebuy everything on bluray. Unless it's a super special series I want on high def I won't force it to be on bluray.

Luckily though you can get great prices online these days with a little bit of looking if you don't mind buying used.

Though of course if you buy used you probably won't get the ultraviolet code or if it comes with it it probably was already used unless the seller specifically lets you know before hand that its unused.

But for 2.00 you can go to vudu.com and get a ultraviolet streaming copy of your movie (edit 2.00 will get you the hdx top quality version if you have the bluray version of that movie) using the disc to digital program. That scans your disc when you put it in your drive and than you get the movie added to your library. Though not every physical disc is allowed to be used for this redemption option even if its in their library. And some discs don't seem to be recognized by them.

They say you can take them to walmart to get verified and added to your library. However they'll stamp your disc so you can't loan it to someone else to get coded again. I don't like stuff on my discs, at least not the ones that I want to keep pristine. Maybe some of the "lesser" ones I might finally take in to the store to try for the transfer.

Oh and its 5.00 to get a hdx 1080p upgrade from a qualifying dvd disc - or 2.00 for the standard def version.

Only downside for vudu is not every single movie is in 5.1 and not every hdx movie is in 5.1 though most do seem to be in 5.1 when you get the hdx version.

So there it is.

And fyi I'm not a vudu or ultraviolet employee. I just like their service a lot. But I still want my physical disc. It's the pack rat in me. I want something phyiscal and there may come a day when I need to downscale my highspeed internet and I won't be able to stream hd videos.

Edit -

is it old tv series that were never broadcast in Hd in the first place?

Actually some are getting hd remastered updates. At least Star trek The Next Generation did. As did the original Trek series.

So some are getting the benefit of a hd upgrade. But yes things like I Love Lucy or what not won't benefit from merely being on bluray. Other than fitting more episodes per disc perhaps.

[hecramsey]

I think i enjoyed movies more when the only decision was the black and white one or the colour one.