Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Watching Films in 2022

How are people watching films these days? Is anyone still buying Blu-Rays / 4K or just streaming?

I have a rental subscription with Cinema Paradiso which I hardly ever use, but thinking that I should keep it going.

I have a 4K Apple TV which I love and use for Apple, Amazon and Netflix. I still have an HD621 with a cheap 4K splitter which I'm thinking of upgrading to a UHD722, mainly because I have picked up a Control 4 remote system which I want to set up once.

Cheers
Tom

I am still buying physical media- preference for 4KUHD, but Blu-ray still ok too.

No more new Blu-Ray (my XBox Series X covers that base these days and is my only external source). I stream from Prime and Netflix, dipping in and out of Disney+ and NowTV. Lots of other streaming via iPlayer and YouTube. Don't go near Apple for content (IMO, that's what you get when you appoint a bean counter as CEO after a visionary, though I suspect that a Netflix acquisition is not off the table once its stock has quite literally dropped). And *all* of this through apps in my Samsung QLED. One remote.

Do you still have a surround system connected to your television? And would you say that you watch many films? (and does Roon play through this system?)

Cheers
Tom

Of a kind: the matching Samsung (Harmon Kardon) Atmos soundbar with sub and surrounds.

Average in terms of full length films, but I watch a lot of new TV series that are made in either 4k and/or surround/Atmos.

No, I have 8kSEs at 90º to the TV in the same room.

Good question Tom.

We mainly stream these days (Netflix & Prime) although I do still buy the occasional Bluray & 4K UHD disc. But our circumstances are somewhat unusual at the moment; we're undergoing a major house refurb out in Italy so our beloved cinema is currently in various large boxes so we're *reduced* to watching content on our 65" LG OLED & let me tell you that as an experience it's a very pale imitation of the real thing.

As a result I'm less content-critical and won't consider playing anything off my favourites list until I can enjoy them properly when the cinema's back up & running. I suspect that when that happy day arrives my intake of new physical discs will increase.

Quality via streaming is generally very good with just the occasional day when bandwidth is restricted / gremlins get into the system and we have VHS-style picture & SQ. So all of my favourite films would always be watched via physical disc*, to max-out the SQ & PQ.

VK says he watches an "average" number of films; I'd be interested to know what the average is. In general I much prefer the one-off hit of a film to a long series, although there have been some amazing series too. Once we start watching a series, my wife will always want to see it to the end so I've got to be pretty sure of my footing before I dive into a new one, particularly if it's going to be 50+ episodes.

* Where the disc is available of course; often it isn't. Disney is 'leading' the way with NOT releasing discs of even modern hits, to try to encourage people like me to subscribe. I understand the business model but it's still frustrating.

When I buy a movie it’s via Apple for watching on my AppleTV. Over the years, any given SD movie has been automatically updated to HD and then UHD - with the associated sound update from 5.1 to Atmos - at no additional cost. That is, I didn’t have to buy successive/replacement media each time a new format emerged.

I subscribe to Now, ATV+, Disney+, Prime, Netflix, and Britbox because their content is often superior to that by terrestrial broadcasters.

Perhaps, but have they been updated / rescanned at higher resolution from the original film-stock, or merely upscaled? I suspect the latter in many cases. That may well be good enough, but for many people, good enough simply isn't good enough.

Still prefer disc , 4K or BD , over variable quality streaming and have added a Zappiti Nas SE to store my DVD and BD collections and eventually 4K too to create my own 'Netflix'. For some tv variety Disney+ , Netflix and Prime but much prefer genuine 4K and Atmos to the watered-down and inconsistent delivery methods of Apple/nVidia etc .

M

No. They’re updated and replaced by the latest format - both on visual resolution and sound.

That's interesting . Can you download the film and watch it at a later time without an internet connection?

Now we're talking!