possibly my most boomer quality is that I quite adamantly prefer blu-ray discs to streaming

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Usually, Blu-ray discs have a higher bitrate compared to streaming, resulting in better video quality. Some also include lossless audio tracks. However, be aware that many recent releases use fake high definition, upscaled with AI and artificially added noise to mimic film grain.

could write a whole thread on this given my background in film digitization.

a couple caveats:

- not all streams are created equal. sometimes you’re watching an ugly old transfer, other times a new UHD remaster in dolbyvision. very variable. disney+, netflix, and apple the leaders in quality imo, but still some bad apples here and there (pun intended).

- not all discs are created equally. you can also watch a bad transfer on blu-ray. not necessarily a guarantee of anything.

that said, in general:

- blu-ray discs don’t waver in quality in response to network conditions like streams do. for example, you’ll see consistently tight grain structure that doesn’t go softer/sharper or more/less apparent.

- good blu-ray players have more sophisticated HDR handling than any streaming method, which will help HDR content not get clipped/unnatural while retaining detail.

- blu-ray discs give you uncompressed audio, not lossy mp3 or aac, but this might only matter to you if you have a decent sound system.

not “usually”, blu-ray will always be higher video bitrate than streaming. same for audio.

with regards to upscaling, this is only common for UHD releases that were not mastered in 4k and rely on a lower-res transfer.

Graphic Designer, Illustrator, 3D Voxel Artist, and music enthusiast /audiophile
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Ah yes, sorry. Sure, the bitrate is far superior because they don't need to rely on an internet connection on both video and audio. Not always they do a newly 4K transfer unfortunately, many Disney cartoons have damaged borders and edited colors compared to old VHS/DVDs or even previously blu-ray editions.
Could be nice if they would offer a high quality download, since not all movies/series are distributed on disc. That's cool you has into film digitization

not “usually”, blu-ray will always be higher video bitrate than streaming. same for audio.

with regards to upscaling, this is only common for UHD releases that were not mastered in 4k and rely on a lower-res transfer.

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