For a long time I have bought the digital versions of movies off of iTunes and have more recently been expanding my physical collection. I’m curious, how big is the difference between the 4K digital version of a movie compared to the actual 4K disc? If I own the 4K digital version of a movie is there any reason to also pick up the disc version?

  • linchiwo@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    The biggest difference is in audio; if you have a serious HiFi setup, it might be worth the hassle of physical to get lossless audio, but most of the time I’d say streaming is far closer to the sweet spot on the convenience-quality spectrum.

    Apple TV+ and iTunes gets ~40mbps video which is more than double the quality of other streaming services already, unless you use Bravia Core to get ~80mbps. Given the efficiency of modern compression algorithms, I think you have to pixel peep or do side-by-side comparisons to see the difference. That’s why I just stick with streaming and be happy.

    See comparison table here.

    • frumpydrangus@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Would a digital download from a tv (linked to iTunes with movies anywhere) be better quality than digital from somewhere else?

      • NoAirBanding@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        I’ve felt that for things linked with my Movies Anywhere account, that iTunes/Apple has a higher quality but I have nothing to back that up.

    • raul_dias@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I agree. I mostly pirate stuff. I download mostly 1080p content. In 1080p, WEB-DL is almost always clearly inferior to bluray. Now in 4k, often enough I keep the WEB-DL no problem. h265 is a marvel.