iTunes questions

[Jsplinis]

I am currently looking to fill out my collection of Star Trek movies. I have the Blu-Ray set of 1-6 but I still need the TNG and Kelvin Timeline movies as well as the new 2016 version of The Wrath of Khan.

I'm debating whether to get Blu-Ray or go digital (iTunes) but am not sure about how the 2 formats compare. So I have a few questions.

1. For the HD versions of the movies, how do they visually compare to the quality of the Blu-Ray versions. If there are differences would they be noticeable for an average viewer or are they really significant?
2. How does the audio compare between the formats?
3. For The Wrath of Khan, is the HD version the same as the new version on the 2016 Blu-Ray? That is, does it have the same "colors" as the 2016 Blu-Ray?
4. Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country both list their respective Director's cuts as iTunes extras but these Director's Cuts are also sold separately. Does that mean that if I buy the theatrical version that I get the Director's Cut for free?

Thanks for the help,
Jsplinis

 

[Kemaiku]

I bought the 7-10 HD movies a couple of months ago on iTunes.

1. They look cleaner and have better colour definition. But there was no significant clean up of the 4 movies for the Digital Master, for either BR or digital, so they still have less picture and sound quality than other movies of the era that were cleaned better by their studios. As it goes, they look and sound about as good as you're going to get.

2. Audio, I can't compare as easily as I don't have the Bluray versions, but the sound is good on a decent sound system, the music and dialogue are nice and clear. Stereo works nicely too for the space scenes etc

3. iTunes only has the same copy as the earlier TWoK bluray release, only the standalone 2016 and TOS 50th boxset have the new 2016 4K master of the film. Every Trek film on iTunes is the earliest HD copy available, which means the Theatrical Motion Picture, not the DE.

4. No. Much like SD and HD, they're counted as separate files, therefore you'd have to pick which one you want.

For 1-6, it's best to buy the Blurays. For 7-10 go for whatever copy you think best.

 

[Jsplinis]

Kemtrail, thanks for the answers. They were useful. I am curious why you said its better to buy the Blurays for 1-6. You didn't elaborate on those films.

 

[Kemaiku]

Mostly because they recieved a better process of being cleaned up for the discs, sometimes getting newer and slightly better transfers. It means you get the more recent Motion Picture theatrical edition, TWoK 4K scan, a cleaner version of Undiscovered Country and better sound quality for all of them over iTunes.

The TNG films were basically shoved onto both iTunes and the bluray from the same original HD master and aren't so old, there's so little difference it's really up to which is more convenient with 7-10.

 

[Shalashaska]

Blu-ray discs can hold up to 25-50 GB of space with a maximum bitrate of 40 Mbps. You get uncompressed lossless multi-track audio in the form of Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks. Other than hard facts, it's yours to own forever. You don't need to rely on your internet connection. There's more bonus content.

To compare, a 1080p movie on iTunes is usually only 4-5 GB, maybe even less, with a much lower bitrate than the same film on Blu-ray. It's compressed to shit and restricted to lossy audio.

Here's a comparison of the two:

It's not even a movie-by-movie thing. Blu-ray is objectively the better format of the two and the best format on the market aside from 4K UHD Blu-ray.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

it's yours to own forever. You don't need to rely on your internet connection.

That is also the case with iTunes. Once you buy something - song, movie, TV show, whatever - it is still yours to keep.

 

[Shalashaska]

That is also the case with iTunes. Once you buy something - song, movie, TV show, whatever - it is still yours to keep.

Nope. DRM.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Yes, TV shows and movies have DRM (music doesn't), but you still get to keep it. Only you can PLAY it, but it's still yours. It's downloaded, not streamed.

 

[Smellmet]

When it comes to something as important as my star trek movie collection, owning the physical disc will always win hands down.

 

[Kemaiku]

Except TNG, not worth the extra cost (iTunes was 30% cheaper when I got them) for those.

TOS and JJ movies, sure.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

I prefer the physical copies of everything I like.

 

[Shalashaska]

Except TNG, not worth the extra cost (iTunes was 30% cheaper when I got them) for those.

TOS and JJ movies, sure.

Can you post some screencaps? Perhaps the TNG films were taken from an older master, I'm not sure how true that is though.