Is 4K UHD really better than Blue-Ray

[PT1984]

Current setup is-

-Panasonic 50EX750

https://www.avforums.com/reviews/panasonic-ex750-t...

-An old Sony Blue-Ray player. Upscales to 1080p.
-Audiolab 6000A with DAC.
-Monitor Audio Silver Speakers.
-BK XKS200 SW.

I currently watch TV through Freesat or aerial. TV has all the apps, Netflix, Amazon etc. This is all at 1080p best.

I use an optical into the amp. I’m not interested in anything over 2.1 audio.

I’m looking at getting a few of my favourite films as a small collection, to watch over the years. The Craig Bonds, Blade Runners, Alien and Terminator collections, Sicario.

I know the TV does 4K, and HDR but I’m not too clued up on this.

At 50”, will there be a big difference between Blue/4K? Is 4K UHD realistically going to be the final format moving forward, or will there be something new as soon as I upgrade? I believe the TV is HDR10. Realistically these are old films. How good can they be remastered?

Price is a factor. UHD dice are typically double the price, plus I would need to buy a player too. The cheapest being a Panasonic DP-UB150EB-K which really looks to be at the budget end.

Thanks for the advice. I have watched a few of the wildlife in 4K videos on YouTube and they do seem impressive. But they are filmed in 4K!

Edited by PT1984 on Sunday 28th March 15:44

Edited by PT1984 on Sunday 28th March 15:46

[PT1984]

Just watched the Gemini Man sniper scene in 4K HDR 60 FPS on YT. Impressive. But again, recorded to look great.

[sja360]

Watching compressed content on YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV etc at 4k won't provide the same quality as a UHD disc, similar to when Blu-ray's were out the streaming services only offered 720p then 1080p full hd, again not the same as a Blu-ray disc.

Up to you if you feel it's worth it.

[Camelot1971]

It depends on the mastering of the content as much as anything. A well mastered blu ray can look way better than a compressed 4k stream or vice versa.

[PT1984]

So I’m never really going to be watching 4K streamed. It’s Freesat, Netflix and Amazon normal subscription at whatever they stream at. I’d imaging that’s 1080p.

It’s really whether it’s worth spending the extra on a UHD player and the more expensive discs. Is UHD that much better than BR, on my TV.

[lizardbrain]

Why 1080 at best? I was under vague impression most Netflix etc was 4K UHD these days and comparable to Blu-ray? Is this not correct?is this an internet speed thing?

[walamai]

I pay the extra £4/month for 'Premium' Netflix to be able to get 4K (on a 55" TV), so that's 'worth it' for me. Definitely a noticeable difference from 1080p, but as others have said it depends a bit on what you're watching. Something like The Expanse, which is SciFi filmed to look 'striking' it makes a difference. Watching an early 2000's movie, not so much.

NowTV (Sky) used to be only 720p and that was horrific. A very stark difference between 720p and 1080 - I found 720p basically unwatchable. I'd say going from 1080 to 4K is more 'incremental'.

For the sort of stuff it sounds like you would watch, I'd say it probably wont' make a huge difference.

Maybe spend an extra £4 to bump your Netflix up to 4K for a month or two and try it out to see what you think?

[PT1984]

lizardbrain said:

Why 1080 at best? I was under vague impression most Netflix etc was 4K UHD these days and comparable to Blu-ray? Is this not correct?is this an internet speed thing?

You have to pay for it. Any let’s face it, there isn’t a exhaustive choice of movies.

[PT1984]

But wait! It looks like Blade Runner 2049 is on Prime in UHD! A good experiment for next weekend.

[Aunty Pasty]

You can see a difference but the difference is small. It's not mainly the resolution but the enhanced colour range. I have a similar TV and a 4k player. Most of my stuff is blu-ray but I do have some 4K discs.

Try BBC iPlayer UHD content to see if you think the difference is worth it.

[Murph7355]

I was skeptical but needed a new drive for ripping my collection (old one was failing) and a UHD drive wasn't that much more than replacing the old one more like for like (man maths).

Bought a few UHD discs and ripped them (50Gb-75Gb each!).

The quality is very impressive IMO (55" OLED TV). As mentioned above, the quality of the mastering is important. But there are plenty of sites out there with reviews on UHD discs so you can make a choice. And also plenty of offers on UHD discs so they don't have to cost the earth,

Blade Runner was one of the UHD discs I bought and it's very good. Significantly better than the DVD I bought a while ago. Fifth Element another.

I won't be going out and replacing everything in my collection, but for the odd film it's definitely worth it. And I may buy new releases on UHD.

The audio on these discs is also much improved IMO, but 5.1 minimum needed for that.

[Narcisus]

Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are simply stunning in 4K and Dolby Vision. I also have Lord of the Rings on dvd and Blu-ray and The Hobbit on Blu-ray.

Watching on a 49” 4K LG I pull a comfy chair up to the TV and there is no comparison.

[h0b0]

PT1984 said:

But wait! It looks like Blade Runner 2049 is on Prime in UHD! A good experiment for next weekend.

4K streamed is still compressed and you will notice artifacts on dark portions of the screen. It is done to reduce the bandwidth requirements but it’s very annoying.

As a test, watch the opening credits of “The Expanse” and then compare to something else. The titles on The Expanse are very impressive as is most of the cinematography. It’s clear that it was filmed to take advantage of 4K and suffers less. Other 4K content can look a blocky mess.

I may be a little more critical in this area because I watch on a 120” screen so it magnifies the problems. Many times 1080P can look better as it suffers less through compression. But, when they get 4K right it is fantastic on a bigger screen.

[STiG911]

h0b0 said:

As a test, watch the opening credits of “The Expanse” and then compare to something else. The titles on The Expanse are very impressive as is most of the cinematography. It’s clear that it was filmed to take advantage of 4K and suffers less. Other 4K content can look a blocky mess.

The expanse is one of the most underrated SciFi programs out there right now. The production quality is off the scale, this season in particular, let alone that the story and characters are simply top-notch. Brilliant stuff.

[arfur]

STiG911 said:

h0b0 said:

As a test, watch the opening credits of “The Expanse” and then compare to something else. The titles on The Expanse are very impressive as is most of the cinematography. It’s clear that it was filmed to take advantage of 4K and suffers less. Other 4K content can look a blocky mess.

The expanse is one of the most underrated SciFi programs out there right now. The production quality is off the scale, this season in particular, let alone that the story and characters are simply top-notch. Brilliant stuff.

Off topic .... but the latest season diverted from the books at the end by killing off a character ! I was just starting to read book 6 after watching the last episode and all of sudden the character is back again !

[JimboM3]

arfur said:

Off topic .... but the latest season diverted from the books at the end by killing off a character ! I was just starting to read book 6 after watching the last episode and all of sudden the character is back again !

Google the actor and you will see why the character was killed off prematurely (all done post filming). Sounds like a very unpleasant chap.

[PT1984]

Not scientific, because as said, streaming will likely compress. But there is a difference between 1080p and 4K watching BR 2049 on Prime. As always it’s the blacks that impress.