Author Topic: SD vs BD vs Downloads (Read 51184 times)

milken · « **Reply #270 on:** Nov 29, 2008 at 10:12 AM »

Quote from: raptor on Nov 29, 2008 at 02:44 AM

- Blu-ray should have better quality than downloaded HD movies (I cannot really comment much on this because I do not have Blu-ray player, my basis is that downloaded HD movies are mostly rips from Blu-rays or HD-DVD and undergo compression)

I agree that the original Bluray is still better than ripped Bluray using x264 codec. The quality of the rips are dependent also on the skills of the reencoder. The quality of reencodes from scene groups such as septic and ctu most of the time sucks. But rips of groups like esir, ctrlhd and eureka are getting more transparent to the source. Most people won't see the difference. The only thing that rips can't duplicate is the lossless audio which are huge so they have to reencode them to lossy formats like AC3 (or Dolby Digital) or DTS. But then, not everyone can hear (or have the HT equipment to hear) the difference between lossy and lossless audio offered by DTS-HD, TrueHD, etc. The real killer to Bluray discs is the proliferation of full Bluray iso backups. Their huge size (~40gb) is a big trade off though to those in developing countries. But for those with freaking internet speed in Japan, Korea, Finland, Sweden, etc., downloading full Bluray is only a matter of hours or perhaps minutes (?).

Clondalkin · « **Reply #271 on:** Nov 29, 2008 at 10:37 AM »

Quote from: milken on Nov 29, 2008 at 10:12 AM

...But rips of groups like esir, ctrlhd and eureka are getting more transparent to the source. Most people won't see the difference.

For 720p, it's still pretty obvious even with smaller screens. But for the premier 1080p encoding of these 3 groups, I think it's reasonably safe to assume that most viewers would simply stop to care about whatever improvements the original BD can offer. They are too stunning already.

milken · « **Reply #272 on:** Nov 29, 2008 at 01:50 PM »

Quote from: Clondalkin on Nov 29, 2008 at 10:37 AM

For 720p, it's still pretty obvious even with smaller screens. But for the premier 1080p encoding of these 3 groups, I think it's reasonably safe to assume that most viewers would simply stop to care about whatever improvements the original BD can offer. They are too stunning already.

I agree that most viewers won't mind the very subtle differences especially when they're free.

But some purist and hard-core fans would prefer the original nonetheless. Like for instance in CDs, although the mp3 ripping techniques now are very good and the sound quality is almost as transparent to the source CD, still some audiophile (with golden ears) swear they could hear the difference between lossless (original CD) and lossy (mp3 format), which for most audience is simply negligible. Maybe psychology comes into play.

If we want the best of the best, we should get hold of the master copy of the film. That way we're assured of the highest quality. Btw, not all BluRay transfers are good and faithful copy of the master film. For instance, a lot of users complain about the bad transfer of Point Break wherein its Bluray version doesn't offer much improvement over the upscaled DVD version. Sin City Canadian version lacks bitrate and have lots of blocking while the Scandinavian version appears purplish/redish. Maybe the future is not Bluray but a media that could exactly duplicate the master copy of the film as the director intended. Hmmm...

Clondalkin · « **Reply #273 on:** Nov 29, 2008 at 02:13 PM »

Quote from: milken on Nov 29, 2008 at 01:50 PM

I agree that most viewers won't mind the very subtle differences especially when they're free. But some purist and hard-core fans would prefer the original nonetheless. Like for instance in CDs, although the mp3 ripping techniques now are very good and the sound quality is almost as transparent to the source CD, still some audiophile (with golden ears) swear they could hear the difference between lossless (original CD) and lossy (mp3 format), which for most audience is simply negligible. Maybe psychology comes into play.

My personal analogy of BD/HD-DVD to MKV is CD to Pseudo-FLAC (or whatever term we can coin). I find MP3 to be obviously inferior to CD regardless of how high I set the bit rate during compression, but OK and acceptable because of convenience. High quality MKV encodes on the other hand are pretty impressive right at hello. Malakas ang dating even though it's no more than 1/3 the original size. But yeah, there will always be purists. Mathematically speaking, a compressed version should not be able to reach the level of quality of the original source.

I think I have posted this somewhere previously. DVD is such a huge successs because it was a giant leap from VHS, and, it took years before DVD rips reached the level of threatening quality. BD/HD DVD on the other hand, is competing against "better than decent quality" copy, and convenient alternative method of content delivery right from its infancy.

barrister · « **Reply #274 on:** Nov 29, 2008 at 06:26 PM »

The age of the single format is over. Video in multiple formats is now the irreversible trend.

It's undeniable that Blu-ray is the best of the best. That's why it remains the videophile's choice. But with the way things are today, BD will have to give up its hopes of becoming the dominant video format.

ninjababez® · « **Reply #275 on:** Nov 30, 2008 at 08:16 AM »

Quote from: barrister on Nov 29, 2008 at 06:26 PM

The age of the single format is over. Video in multiple formats is now the irreversible trend.

It's undeniable that Blu-ray is the best of the best. That's why it remains the videophile's choice. But with the way things are today, BD will have to give up its hopes of becoming the dominant video format.

couldnt agree more, im pretty sure we will endup having a bluray/mkv/dvd/hddvd player in the future, just like divx, avi dvd players ..

(very possible since firmwares can be updated, this should include codecs and stuff)

Clondalkin · « **Reply #276 on:** Dec 01, 2008 at 12:10 PM »

Quote from: ninjababez on Nov 30, 2008 at 08:16 AM

couldnt agree more, im pretty sure we will endup having a bluray/mkv/dvd/hddvd player in the future, just like divx, avi dvd players ..

There is already a gadget that can do that since last year. It's called an HTPC.

ninjababez® · « **Reply #277 on:** Dec 01, 2008 at 12:33 PM »

Quote from: Clondalkin on Dec 01, 2008 at 12:10 PM

There is already a gadget that can do that since last year. It's called an HTPC.

oo nga pala ..

barrister · « **Reply #278 on:** Dec 02, 2008 at 11:27 AM »

Blockbuster VOD Going to Blu-ray Players
By Chris Albrecht
December 01, 2008: 10:33 AM ET

(gigaom.com) -- Hot on the heels of releasing its own set-top box, Blockbuster (BBI) said it will expanding its on-demand video rental service into Blu-ray players in the first quarter of next year, as the company goes toe-to-toe with Netflix (NFLX) over direct delivery of video content to your TV.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/gigaom/big-tech/2008_12_01_blockbuster_vod_going_to_blu_ray_players.html

barrister · « **Reply #279 on:** Dec 09, 2008 at 01:22 PM »

SHIFT: Movie studios are protecting themselves to death
By Charlie White
6:02 PM ON 12/04/08

Times are tough. With financial resources dwindling by the minute, the movie-viewing public recoils in horror as Hollywood asks them to pay $39.99 for a film on Blu-ray disc. But there are ways to watch those flicks that are more economical. Just in time for cash-strapped film buffs to snap them up, increased bandwidth and processor power are making it practical to stream or download HD movies to living rooms and home theaters.

http://dvice.com/archives/2008/12/shift_streaming.php

barrister · « **Reply #280 on:** Dec 16, 2008 at 10:17 AM »

Sony's PS3 A Sinking Ship: Sales Plummet
By Eric Krangel
December 12, 2008: 09:21 AM ET

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/siliconalley/personal-tech/2008_12_sonys_ps3_a_sinking_ship_sales_plummet_sne.html

Sony's epic fail: The 5 major blunders of the PS3
December 12, 10:37 AM
by Justin Kemppainen, Minnesota Game Examiner

http://www.examiner.com/x-1726-Minnesota-Game-Examiner~y2008m12d12-Sonys-epic-fail-The-5-major-blunders-of-the-PS3

imperialcog · « **Reply #281 on:** Dec 26, 2008 at 01:25 PM »

Here are my personal opinions on this:

Bluray - I only buy Bluray of movies that have been recently released, like 2005 up. An exemption of this is the Star Wars movies, hopefully to be released soon. If I also buy older movies, then it will never end!

Dvds - Older movies that I like, with good audio and video, and really good supplements. Since DVDs are getting cheaper by the month, it's a good time to buy some of my older favorite movies on Dvd.

Download - Movies that don't need surround sound and high definition, like romantic comedies. And, movies that don't give any supplements worthwhile on Dvd or BD.

iiinas · « **Reply #282 on:** Dec 26, 2008 at 09:46 PM »

Here are my personal opinions on this:

Bluray - I only buy Bluray of movies that have been recently released, like 2005 up. An exemption of this is the Star Wars movies, hopefully to be released soon. If I also buy older movies, then it will never end!

+1 sir imperial

Dvds - Older movies that I like, with good audio and video, and really good supplements. Since DVDs are getting cheaper by the month, it's a good time to buy some of my older favorite movies on Dvd.

+1 sir imperial

Download - Movies that don't need surround sound and high definition, like romantic comedies. And, movies that don't give any supplements worthwhile on Dvd or BD.

sir imperial, you should try to download an hd mkv file that can be played by an nmt or hd media player. pq and aq definitely excellent. of course there are no add ons.

barrister · « **Reply #283 on:** Dec 26, 2008 at 09:50 PM »

Blu-ray still dwarfed by VHS in Japan
Dead-and-buried format completely outclassing HD counterpart
By Marc Chacksfield
Wednesday at 11:55 GMT

... The findings were that the most popular format at home was still the humble VHS – with 68 per cent of those polled still holding on to their VHS player.

Those who owned DVD players were close behind with 66.4 per cent of the vote ... while just 6.3 per cent said that they had a Blu-ray player.

http://www.techradar.com/news/home-cinema/10x-more-vhs-owners-in-japan-than-blu-ray-ones-497045

Blu-ray Adoption Less than VHS in Japan
Posted on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 13:02:12 GMT
by Shane McGlaun

You might think that the only two viable formats in the hotbed of technology that is Japan when it comes to entertainment are DVD and Blu-ray. VHS is a dead format in the US, but according to new statistics Japanese movie fans still like old-fashioned VHS tapes.

The most popular home entertainment format according to a recent study was VHS according to 68% of those surveyed. DVD was very close with 66.4% of the vote.

By comparison, a mere 6.3% of those polled said they had a Blu-ray player including those who owned a PS3 console. 45% of those polled also said they had a hard drive recorder.

http://uk.i4u.com/article22401.html

oReOsHaKe · « **Reply #284 on:** Dec 26, 2008 at 10:49 PM »

Quote from: imperialcog on Dec 26, 2008 at 01:25 PM

Here are my personal opinions on this:

Bluray - I only buy Bluray of movies that have been recently released, like 2005 up. An exemption of this is the Star Wars movies, hopefully to be released soon. If I also buy older movies, then it will never end!

Dvds - Older movies that I like, with good audio and video, and really good supplements. Since DVDs are getting cheaper by the month, it's a good time to buy some of my older favorite movies on Dvd.

Download - Movies that don't need surround sound and high definition, like romantic comedies. And, movies that don't give any supplements worthwhile on Dvd or BD.

I own an NMT, DVD player and Blu-ray player and nothing beats the PQ and AQ of a blu-ray disc played on a blu-ray player.. But I only buy blu-ray titles (even old titles) that I like or reviews of which indicate they are excellent in terms of PQ and AQ. I download HD (720p) versions of TV series and comedies and watch using my PCH A-110. I don't buy DVDs anymore although I still have a substantial number of DVDs in my collection, some of which are double-dipped with blu-ray versions.

imperialcog · « **Reply #285 on:** Dec 26, 2008 at 11:37 PM »

Quote from: iiinas on Dec 26, 2008 at 09:46 PM

Here are my personal opinions on this:

Bluray - I only buy Bluray of movies that have been recently released, like 2005 up. An exemption of this is the Star Wars movies, hopefully to be released soon. If I also buy older movies, then it will never end!

+1 sir imperial

Dvds - Older movies that I like, with good audio and video, and really good supplements. Since DVDs are getting cheaper by the month, it's a good time to buy some of my older favorite movies on Dvd.

+1 sir imperial

Download - Movies that don't need surround sound and high definition, like romantic comedies. And, movies that don't give any supplements worthwhile on Dvd or BD.

sir imperial, you should try to download an hd mkv file that can be played by an nmt or hd media player. pq and aq definitely excellent. of course there are no add ons.

sir ilinas, you know that's actually the first time I heard about a system like that... Can you post links on how I can get started? Interesting.

imperialcog · « **Reply #286 on:** Dec 26, 2008 at 11:44 PM »

Quote from: oReOsHaKe on Dec 26, 2008 at 10:49 PM

I own an NMT, DVD player and Blu-ray player and nothing beats the PQ and AQ of a blu-ray disc played on a blu-ray player.. But I only buy blu-ray titles (even old titles) that I like or reviews of which indicate they are excellent in terms of PQ and AQ. I download HD (720p) versions of TV series and comedies and watch using my PCH A-110. I don't buy DVDs anymore although I still have a substantial number of DVDs in my collection, some of which are double-dipped with blu-ray versions.

I agree about reading the reviews before buying any Blurays.

I actually have one old movie I bought on Bluray, and it was actually one of my first purchases. Enter the Dragon. I got it because the review said it was worth buying it for the supplements alone. But of course the movie was great, too.

nerveblocker · « **Reply #287 on:** Dec 29, 2008 at 11:43 AM »

My PS3 is gathering dust....my HTPC is a workhorse playing and downloading all those yummy mkvs. Guess that explains it all!

eksi · « **Reply #288 on:** Dec 29, 2008 at 12:01 PM »

Don't have budget to buy (still) expensive BD's... for now, downloads suffice my crave for high definition movies

though i'm still re-watching my collection of DVDs thru OPPO

pag bumaba na presyo ng BD's... i might get BD player as well

imperialcog · « **Reply #289 on:** Dec 29, 2008 at 05:44 PM »

Mga sirs, what are these HTPCs and OPPOs? Any help for me to understand this technology? Thanks!

eksi · « **Reply #290 on:** Dec 29, 2008 at 05:59 PM »

Quote from: imperialcog on Dec 29, 2008 at 05:44 PM

Mga sirs, what are these HTPCs and OPPOs? Any help for me to understand this technology? Thanks!

Quote from: imperialcog on Dec 29, 2008 at 05:42 PM

Me too!

There are some movies that haven't been uploaded yet, or have super low amount of seeders. For this, I go and buy the original.

bro, ano ang pang-download nyo and pang-play nyo ng mga downloads?

oReOsHaKe · « **Reply #291 on:** Dec 29, 2008 at 08:01 PM »

Quote from: eksi on Dec 29, 2008 at 05:59 PM

bro, ano ang pang-download nyo and pang-play nyo ng mga downloads?

Torrent is the way to download HD contents and to play them, buy an NMT such as PCH or Egreat.. Dami na lumabas lately.. and you have to have harddrive disc to store all your downloaded HD contents..

oReOsHaKe · « **Reply #292 on:** Dec 29, 2008 at 08:04 PM »

Quote from: imperialcog on Dec 29, 2008 at 05:44 PM

Mga sirs, what are these HTPCs and OPPOs? Any help for me to understand this technology? Thanks!

OPPO is a company which makes great DVD players such as OPPO 980H and OPPO 983H and coming is the OPPO Blu-ray player.. HTPC is Home Theater PC, basically a computer which plays media contents like mkvs, mp3s, etc.. basically an NMT is also a computer which can also play media contents from high def movies, music, pics..

imperialcog · « **Reply #293 on:** Dec 29, 2008 at 09:47 PM »

Quote from: oReOsHaKe on Dec 29, 2008 at 08:04 PM

OPPO is a company which makes great DVD players such as OPPO 980H and OPPO 983H and coming is the OPPO Blu-ray player.. HTPC is Home Theater PC, basically a computer which plays media contents like mkvs, mp3s, etc.. basically an NMT is also a computer which can also play media contents from high def movies, music, pics..

So HTPC's are different than normal PCs? What does NMTs stand for?

Wow, it's really the first time I've heard these items.

HD content in torrent sites have large files right? Wow long does it take you guys to download these?

oReOsHaKe · « **Reply #294 on:** Dec 29, 2008 at 10:07 PM »

Quote from: imperialcog on Dec 29, 2008 at 09:47 PM

So HTPC's are different than normal PCs? What does NMTs stand for?

Wow, it's really the first time I've heard these items.

HD content in torrent sites have large files right? Wow long does it take you guys to download these?

]

HTPCs are computers with much better video and audio processors with HDMI ports thus you can connect this to your Digital TVs.. NMT means networked media tank, basically a computer dedicated to playing media contents.. DVD discs are played by DVD players while Harddisc drives with media contents (movies, music, pics) can be connected to and played by NMTs..

barrister · « **Reply #295 on:** Dec 29, 2008 at 10:20 PM »

Quote from: imperialcog on Dec 29, 2008 at 09:47 PM

So HTPC's are different than normal PCs? What does NMTs stand for?

Wow, it's really the first time I've heard these items.

HD content in torrent sites have large files right? Wow long does it take you guys to download these?

Sir imperialcog, we have threads for HTPCs and NMTs. Please try these childboards, I'm sure you'll enjoy browsing them:

1. HTPC: http://pinoydvd.com/board/index.php?board=138.0 -- Most popular is the Acer Aspire X3200:

Quote from: Alfie on Oct 08, 2008 at 08:23 AM

2. NMT: http://pinoydvd.com/board/index.php?board=139.0 -- Most popular is the Popcorn Hour A-100:

3. If you like it cheap and simple (as I do

), also consider the Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player:

http://pinoydvd.com/board/index.php?topic=87629.0

HTPCs are the best. NMTs are next-best, but more convenient. Hard Disc Media Players are the simplest and cheapest, but are also the least capable.

The era of the single-format video is over. The age of the multiple-format video is here to stay!

Huddaf · « **Reply #296 on:** Dec 30, 2008 at 05:13 AM »

Quote from: nerveblocker on Dec 29, 2008 at 11:43 AM

My PS3 is gathering dust....my HTPC is a workhorse playing and downloading all those yummy mkvs. Guess that explains it all!

Hehehe same here. NMT is the reason why i decided to postpone my plans of owning a BD player. Probably when it gets cheaper...

imperialcog · « **Reply #297 on:** Dec 30, 2008 at 09:40 AM »

Quote from: oReOsHaKe on Dec 29, 2008 at 10:07 PM

]

HTPCs are computers with much better video and audio processors with HDMI ports thus you can connect this to your Digital TVs.. NMT means networked media tank, basically a computer dedicated to playing media contents.. DVD discs are played by DVD players while Harddisc drives with media contents (movies, music, pics) can be connected to and played by NMTs..

Thanks for the info!

imperialcog · « **Reply #298 on:** Dec 30, 2008 at 09:44 AM »

Quote from: barrister on Dec 29, 2008 at 10:20 PM

Sir imperialcog, we have threads for HTPCs and NMTs. Please try these childboards, I'm sure you'll enjoy browsing them:

1. HTPC: http://pinoydvd.com/board/index.php?board=138.0 -- Most popular is the Acer Aspire X3200:

2. NMT: http://pinoydvd.com/board/index.php?board=139.0 -- Most popular is the Popcorn Hour A-100:

3. If you like it cheap and simple (as I do ), also consider the Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player:

http://pinoydvd.com/board/index.php?topic=87629.0

HTPCs are the best. NMTs are next-best, but more convenient. Hard Disc Media Players are the simplest and cheapest, but are also the least capable.

The era of the single-format video is over. The age of the multiple-format video is here to stay!

Thanks a lot bro!!

What I usually do is I download torrents, burn them into data discs or use a USB drive, then watch it on my PS3 or Philips DVD player with USB capabilities.

Is that basically the same as those other formats? Or is the audio and video better? I have not downloaded HD content yet since the files are so big, like 10 gigs for movies and 2 gigs for TV shows. I think I'll have to wait so long for them to finish downloading.. haha!

iiinas · « **Reply #299 on:** Dec 30, 2008 at 10:15 AM »

Quote from: imperialcog on Dec 29, 2008 at 09:47 PM

So HTPC's are different than normal PCs? What does NMTs stand for?

Wow, it's really the first time I've heard these items.

HD content in torrent sites have large files right? Wow long does it take you guys to download these?

nmt = network media tank

htpc is actually a pc, it just have an additional remote to control the pc. but it can do what a pc can, and usually it uses a housing that looks like an av gear rather than a pc so that it can blend with your other av gears.

hd movie files comes in a variety of sizes. 720p usually 4 gb, 1080p usually 8gb up. i have a 1mbps connection, usually takes me between 12 hours to download on private sites and around 18-20 hours on public sites.