Answered Anyone given up 4k physical media and gone soley digital?

Like many on the streaming forums they buy a high End streaming / playback box that supports most media playback formats and many just rip a copy of there blu ray / 4K collection 1:1 or bare file and store it on there box to watch at there lesuire no internet req .

and now hundreds of blu can be purchased new from a £1.00 it seems so cheaper than a i tunes purchase albeit not a new release .

It depends on your circumstances children or none makes i tunes easier for some .
Seems many are paying £1000.00 plus a year to stay connected nowdays . :(
 
I'm buying more and more digitally but still getting the occasional 4K disc. I find myself buying more bargain movies on itunes than New Releases but I'm really tempted to go for Isle of Dogs on iTunes over disc as itunes seems to be the only place to get it in 4K and it's half the price
 
I looked at a UHD player last year when I got my 4K TV. Decided against it and went with an Apple4K TV instead. I tend to watch a lot of things once rahter than repeated viewing so it makes sense to rent digital copies for me. Picture quality (in the main) I have no issues with. Sound can be a bit lacking on some films but that might be more specific to the title rather than a fault of the apple TV. Don't regret not going for a UHD player
 
I have contemplated 4K Apple TV, but I am reluctant to invest in buying movies from Apple due to the limitations of the Apple sales model and some of their products. We used to have Apple TV, but rarely used it at the time. Only bought 2 movies and now are stuck for a way to watch them other than via chromecast. This isn't meant to spark another Apple row, its just that although I think it unlikely I would move away from Apple completely, you just never know.

Also I like having physical media. I still own CD's!
 
I guess I can’t really be deemed “all digital” until I actually have the ability to watch ALL the titles I owned on disc on digital platforms. I’m pretty mainstream with the occasional cult movie, but even then there are a couple of titles I’m still not able to just own officially in the UK digitally, so am stuck with those discs for now.

I just wish the likes of Disney would pull their finger out and go 4K digitally here in the UK. Actually scratch that, it’s about time we had full the “MoviesAnywhere” system here too. I think a lot of people on the fence here would be far happier moving over to a digital setup if they knew they could access their purchases from all the major players, not just the one they purchased from initially. It’s one thing to say “what if Apple go under in the next 15 years I lose my collection”, it’s quite another to say what happens if Apple, Google AND Amazon all go under in the next 15 years. The likelyhood of ALL those behemoths going under anytime soon is pretty remote.

I’m not THAT fussed about ultimate quality, it’s a little pointless at times worrying to that extent when I haven’t got the setup to notice the difference. It also seems a bit daft (only personally) worrying about 4K digital vs UHD quality when the fact is that on any given day I could be watching the latest title in 4K, but on the next something that hasn’t even seen the light of day in HD yet ..like say The Abyss. (Let alone when I’m watching titles that have naturally poor transfers like The Evil Dead or 28 Days Later etc.) UHD v 4K digital seems a little trivial to be worrying about in that context.

As for what if my internet goes down for a day or two. Most of us don’t live with purely ONE form of internet access at home. I could always just use up some of my mobile tether for a day or two to tide me over with 1080p content rather than 4K. Wouldn’t be the end of the world.
 
If ever you do consider selling your Oppo I’ll be first in line :D

So I have been an avid movie collector/ hoarder for years and years (VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, HD disc, Blu ray and finally UHD Blu ray) but since I bought an Apple TV4k and got super fast fibre broadband I have found myslef turning more and more to digital.

Has anyone else given up UHD discs in favour of soley buying digital? Any regrets? I am finding it a little hard to fully let go (selling my Oppo 203 would be the final act of departure!). I appreciate the quality is not quite as good as a disc but recently the 4k digital releases have been pretty close and at a cheaper price point to boot and with Atmos now on the Apple box I am struggling to find any other reasons to buy physical again.
 
I have found the cheapest way to watch new films is to buy them from the US then resell them on here as soon as I have watched. Generally break even or costs a couple of £ to watch after all costs are taken into account.
 
I stick to physical
But companies are pulling their quality down to a level that streaming is equal physical
Take a look at Disneys latest releases (and other companies too) and you will see that they don't go all out on their blu-ray and uhd, even no DV on their disc just on the stream.
Stream won't be as technical good as a disc can be, but they just cut the disc down.
So they promote the more dollar making streaming over the disc and soon we will just settle for the streaming and have no more option for physical. They have just eye for dollars and ot quality.
Try to stream 60Mbps or more from a well made UHD.....
 
If ever you do consider selling your Oppo I’ll be first in line :D
I most likely will be and if you are interested I most certainly will let you know.
 
Gave up on physical media months ago . All my movies are on Hdd's . Overpriced and until it is down to an affordable level . More entertainment will join my digital collection
 
I still prefer physical media (standard Blu-ray) over Apple TV 4K. I perceive the sound to be more detailed and punchy and the image to be sharper and smoother. I haven't gone UHD discs yet due to price and lack of subtitles.
 
Always prefer my Panasonic 4K BluRay player than any streaming. Much better quality on disc to stream at present.
 
Streaming 4k is nowhere near as good of quality compared to 4k blu ray for me anyway. For me I still feel it's worth paying the extra to get the better quality.
The only thing you have to watch but this might be going of topic a little is the quality of the transfer, but I suppose it's the same for both.
 
This is something I keep going back to every month, I talk myself out of jumping to ATV as I have Sky movies and 4k player for movies I really want to own, certainly a few coming out over the next few weeks, but, I know id probably buy more 4k upgrades of films I love on ATV due to the price, but in the long run, time to actually watch them is limited as it is, but I know I’ll buy less physical 4K than I would digital.
 
Hmmmm. I was sceptical but doing a quick search on the store Apple have a pretty good range. Only a few titles I've seen to be missing. Where do they source old classic titles from early cinema ? Would they be as good as the remastered blu-rays ?
 
So gave my first Vudu 4k Marvel film a spin last night in Thor Ragnarok and I have to say I was really impressed with the quality, unless you had the UHD Br playing side by side you would be hard pushed to tell the difference.
 
So gave my first Vudu 4k Marvel film a spin last night in Thor Ragnarok and I have to say I was really impressed with the quality, unless you had the UHD Br playing side by side you would be hard pushed to tell the difference.

They are no cheaper than discs though, especially new films. Of course, the big issue with Vudu in the UK is we aren't meant to access it - I had my fingers burned with them where VPNs stopped being able to access the site and films I had bought on there were no longer available.

That seems fixed now, at least with the trial VPN i used yesterday. I guess renting is fine but then I'm happy importing a disc and reselling.

I can't bring myself to use any Apple product. :thumbsdow
 
I'm fully digital now, well, at least as far as purchases go. I still subscribe to Cinema Paradiso, so I get new BDs and UHD BDs every week. The last disc I bought though was Blade Runner 2049, and I can't see myself every buying another disc. iTunes 4K all the way. The cost is vastly lower, there's no clutter, and the quality is high enough for me for the most part.
 
Well this thread has certainly hit me in the wallet, I heard always that physical media is dying because of streaming etc.. My answer to this was that Netflix / HBO etc tend not to show the movies in 4K / HDR so it's only really good for people with a 1080p TV etc. Now after reading this and actually taking a look in the iTunes store (I'm not really an apple guy) I went out and bought AppleTV 4K and bought a couple of films in 4K (Ready Player One and The Matrix) for starters. So far I'm well impressed and I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for iTunes sales. Just to give you a brief example.. In the shops here the Lego Ninjago Movie 4K is €34.95 vs €9.95 for the digital download, it's an absolute no brainer. Bring on the Harry Potter collection on sale please Apple!
 
I'm thinking of Apple TV (4K) to rent 4K films as a compliment to my physical purchases (UHD Blu Ray & Blu Ray) of films I really want and expect to watch again, in order to reduce the number of films I buy on disc and end up only watching once. I have a couple of questions if anyone can help.

1. When renting 4k films via Apple TV is this done via iTunes?

2. For the 4k rental, does it download a copy for limited use or does it stream? (my internet speed is probably not best for 4k streaming).

3. Do you need to connect Apple TV via HDMI to the TV for the best possible picture quality or can you connect wirelessly? All my TV's HDMI ports are being used.

4. Are 4k Apple TV films (bought or rented) almost as good as UHD Blu Ray/ at least better picture quality than regular blu ray?
 
1. When renting 4k films via Apple TV is this done via iTunes?

iTunes or via the AppleTV itself.

2. For the 4k rental, does it download a copy for limited use or does it stream? (my internet speed is probably not best for 4k streaming).

I think it downloads it and you have 30 days to watch it (48 hours to complete when started)

3. Do you need to connect Apple TV via HDMI to the TV for the best possible picture quality or can you connect wirelessly? All my TV's HDMI ports are being used.

HDMI connection only.

4. Are 4k Apple TV films (bought or rented) almost as good as UHD Blu Ray/ at least better picture quality than regular blu ray?

Ready Player One looked as good as any Bluray / UHD disc I've seen (LG 65" B7)
 
I'm thinking of Apple TV (4K) to rent 4K films as a compliment to my physical purchases (UHD Blu Ray & Blu Ray) of films I really want and expect to watch again, in order to reduce the number of films I buy on disc and end up only watching once. I have a couple of questions if anyone can help.

1. When renting 4k films via Apple TV is this done via iTunes?

2. For the 4k rental, does it download a copy for limited use or does it stream? (my internet speed is probably not best for 4k streaming).

3. Do you need to connect Apple TV via HDMI to the TV for the best possible picture quality or can you connect wirelessly? All my TV's HDMI ports are being used.

4. Are 4k Apple TV films (bought or rented) almost as good as UHD Blu Ray/ at least better picture quality than regular blu ray?

1. Yes, on your PC / iPhone / Mac / Apple TV box

2. Always streaming for 4K, you can download HD

3. HDMI

4. Yes almost as good, and better than Blu-ray although some people will tell you there is a vast difference. There isn’t. Especially if you’re watching on a TV. Even on a projector the differences are pretty small. Sound quality definitely better on BR / UHD but it’s not remotely night and day unless the disc is atmos, in which case there is a big difference. But atmos is coming to the ATV.
 
Last edited:
In my experience so far. The discs look and sound much better than streaming. The only services that I have that even touch 4k are Amazon and Netflix. I watch HBO Now. I can definitely see and hear the difference between standard HD and UltraHD. I still buy discs and will until the streaming services pick up their game.
 
I tend to buy discs and rip them then use plex to watch them this way yes I loose out on maybe a fraction of quality but I can share and with family still whilst having everything at the touch of a finger. Currently I still have 1000+ dvds/blurays on shelves but when we move I will be leaving them all boxed
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom