I'm behind the times and want to buy a blu ray player, but will blu ray be around a while or is the next big thing around the corner?
Will blu ray be around?
- Thread starter Starfleet Engineer
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The next thing is 4K, but it's likely to be a decade or more before it becomes affordable. If you're already got an HDTV, you're really missing out on picture quality if you're only watching DVDs.
You can get a Blu-ray player with "smart" features (streaming Netflix and other Web services) pretty cheaply these days. As for content, you may find the local libraries have lots of Blu-ray discs. All the libraries in my state are tied together in one computer catalog. I can request titles from all over the state.
There is no such thing as a 4K Blu-ray, nor is there one on the way in any decent length of time, so I'd say the existing form of BR is a safe investment.
A bit of a sidetrack but how DO you get 4k video? Are there specific networks that offer 4K broadcasts? Is it simply a matter of downloading 4K videos? Or do the TVs just exist with no one producing 4K videos?
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Amaris
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DVD is still around, and still very popular, so yes, I'd say Blu-ray still has a good decade in it before something more swanky comes along to push it off its perch. I say this because I think Blu-ray is among the last iterations of physical media.
You're probably right.
5 years ago I was one of those people who always wanted to have a hard copy of everything "just in case" something happened.
But now...
All of my music is saved on my phone (and backed up on my computer), and if I want to watch something that isn't on Netflix, I get annoyed that I have to put in a disc.
Streaming and cloud storage are the ways of the future.
Don't confuse content with medium. 4k content can fit on CD, DVD, blu ray or whatever they come up with next.
It's not about having to get off the couch and walk over to the disc player, it's the ten minute wait before you can actually watch the feature.
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Amaris
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Indeed they are. In my case, I rip all of my DVDs (I own them) to MP4, and put them on my HDD. Then I stream them to my Roku box, where I use Plex to watch them any time I want.
What's nice is that if my DVD ever becomes damaged, or breaks, I haven't lost the movie. If my HDD is ever wiped or damaged, I still have the DVD. If I want to watch a movie straight up with no waiting, it's streamed from my PC. If I want to watch special features, I pop in the DVD. It's win/win.
And the thing is, my way is the more complicated way. Now I can just by the digital copy online, have it downloaded to my HDD all ready to watch, or I can watch it from the service from which I purchased it. Or, I can make a hard copy of it, and pop it into the DVD player. Lots of options; same low price.
A-fucking-men. I remember switching from VHS with its dozens of trailers you had to FF through, to DVD, which went to the movie menu screen right away. Now, of course, DVDs and Blu-rays are jam packed with trailers you can't skip, advertisements that lock you in where you have to watch them all the way through, and then a number of anti-piracy messages which are straight up bullshit.
This.
ESPN is offering 4Kay through DirecTV right now, but dont let that fool you!
It depends on how long you reasonably expect to be able to get the latest and greatest movies on Blu-Ray. I only buy Blu'Ray discs. I never buy DVD anymore. Granted, the convenience of streaming video services can't be overstated, and it will certainly take a larger piece of the content pie as years go on.
As far as the general public knows, there's no successor disc format poised to take over Blu-Ray's spot as the best option for highest picture and sound quality.
There are several technologies being developed that can make a significant impact on home viewing in the short term (12-24 months):
1. 2160p (i.e., 4K, UHD). It's the easiest to understand improvement, because the public understands higher resolution and the gains offered by it, as we've done this already with HDTV 7-8 years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_high_definition_television
2. Rec 2020. As good as the current standard Rec 709 is, there are improvements in color accuracy and richness that can be made. For example, the best looking Blu-Ray movie in the world cannot display the Coca-Cola red correctly. It's nothing that Coke did wrong. It's what's known as an out-of-gamut shade. Rec 2020 will fix shortcomings like that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rec._2020
3. HDMI 2.0 - This new standard for interconnecting all these new devices will allow 4K UHD video played back at 60Hz - ie. good enough for gaming, without making you want to throw your 4K monitor out the window. http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/hdmi_2_0/
4. High Dynamic Range video. Dolby's "Dolbyvision" technology will allow a wider range of brightness outputs on new HDTVs and UHDTVs, making video more immersive and like real-life. http://www.dolby.com/us/en/professional/technology/home-theater/dolby-vision.html
5. Glasses-Free 3D. It really is the Holy Grail of 3D. http://www.dolby.com/us/en/professional/technology/dolby-3d-glasses-free-3d.html
Some of these are beginning to be available now (4K UHD, and HDMI 2.0), while others are in the works for availability within the next year or two (DolbyVision, Dolby Glasses-Free 3D). Rec 2020 is a standard finalized last year, but has no consumer products available that comply with it. We don't know when those products will come. Until at least Rec 2020-compliant displays and source devices (like media players/streamers, cable/sateliite boxes, gaming consoles), there will be little reason to upgrade to anything more than a currently-available LCD or Plasma panel and Blu-Ray player.
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4K isn't the next thing, as in something that's happening in the future. It's happening now. Chinese manufacturers like Seiki and TCL are really pushing quicker adoption of this technology, by driving the prices down.
Here's an example: Sony, Samsung, and LG all have 55" UHDTVs coming in at $3499.99 MSRP. Seiki has a 50" UHDTV for sale now at $699! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...22022&ef_id=Uo1A8AAABG6JZwXb:20140323221536:s
Normally, without the influence of these value brands driving down the prices of UHDTVs, we would have to wait years to try UHD for ourselves. I imagine that, next year, we'll see UHDTVs from the major players (with the same or better specs as they're offering this year) for $1799.99.
The technology is happening now, but the content isn't.
It's going to take a while. No lie. Is 4K content available now? Yes. Will it remind you of the rocky content road waaaaay back when HDTV was new, ands you had to struggle for new things to watch? Yup.
Here's a thread over at AVS Forum where early adopters are offering their finds of 4K/UHD content to watch.
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1500134/anyone-know-where-to-find-4k-test-files-not-youtube
Obviously, the biggest announcements were from Netflix with regard to the second season of "House of Cards" - plus ALL their future self-produced shows - and all of "Breaking Bad". Right now, they have a 7 minute test file named "El Fuente" that you can watch already - and check your bandwidth.
This is what's being presented as "the first 4K feature film" http://timescapes.org
Vimeo.com has some 4K test files.
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