Bad news for home theater enthusiasts

@lalitk 

According to the article:

Quality: Although the quality of streaming video has improved over the years, it is still dependent on the viewer’s broadband speed. Unfortunately, not all consumers have access to or can afford the internet speed that will deliver the best possible quality. 

Using Disney+ as an example, an internet speed of 5.0 Mbps is the minimum required for HD content, while 25.0 Mbps is for viewing 4K UHD content. Other streaming services have similar requirements. 

Although standard definition DVD quality can be easily provided to most streaming viewers, physical 1080p Blu-ray supports transfer rates of up to 48 Mbps, and UHD Blu-ray supports transfer rates of up to 128 Mbps. The only streaming service that can support more than 40mbps is Sony Bravia Core which provides up to 80mbps. However, that is only available to owners of select Sony Bravia Smart TVs. Disney+ and Netflix are nowhere near that level yet. 

This means that streaming services have to use sophisticated compression techniques to try to deliver equivalent quality to their subscribers despite low transfer speeds. However, they don’t necessarily reach that goal.

So if they're going to take away the physical medium, they'd better up their game on the streaming end. I've always noticed the downgrading of video and audio quality through cable compared to disc playing. I'm stuck with Spectrum cable. 

All the best,
Nonoise

I think the main takeaway here is that Disney's Marvel assets aren't holding up.

jasonbourne71

388 posts

08-01-2023 at 04:39pm 

There are still millions of DVD's available so that supply ain't gonna run out any time soon!

Yup. Including all future movies that have not been shot & released yet 😱 😲

All one has to do is watch anything well made from Lawrence of Arabia to Dune on Blu Ray and then compare it to streaming on cable. So much is lost in translation, so to speak. 

Taking away discs will force some to go back to the theaters, get soaked in ticket and food costs, and still get a loss in quality compared to a good home set up, like most of us here have even with our two channel set ups.

I, myself, have outgrown the theater experience as the audiences are coarse as well compared to ones in my day. Too much noise and distractions that take away from the experience.

All the best,
Nonoise

@nonoise 

Agreed, it’s going to be a while before everyone can take advantage of gigabit speeds. My streaming content both audio and video took a substantial leap when I upgraded to Gigabit speed (thanks to Infinity). Another key factor, wired ethernet to my Apple TV, brought much needed stability to my streaming. Also, I kept up with the tech upgrades every 2-3 years to take advantage of latest updates and features.

While I have not compared the two features you mentioned, I did compare Disney’s Jungle Book and had hard time distinguishing between the 4K Blu Ray and Stream on my Sony 4K OLED and Dolby Atmos setup. In any case, I get your point; not everything you own on disc may not look as good with streaming content.