Blu-ray, in General

[Oedipax]

Historically, it hasn't been as much of an issue in the U.S. and the only (non-wireless) internet caps have been in the 200gb/mo area, as far as I'm aware. Thanks to some recent legislation, however, that could be changing soon although it looks like wireless networks are the main target for companies wanting to prioritize certain bits. I do recall hearing Netflix recently increased its monthly fees by a dollar in response to something Comcast-related (probably the most despised U.S. ISP).

Certainly if we're ever going to stream video at the quality level of a good bluray disc, transfers speeds and bandwidth caps are going to have to go way, way up. But my concern is that - like with MP3 - convenience will win out over quality and we'll have yet another dumbing down and reduction in quality. I know you can stream some Netflix titles in 1080p via the PS3 now, but I can't imagine the compression is very kind to things like film grain and scenes with lots of movement.

[brendanjc]

I think that the tech geeks with miserable taste in film are almost certainly not the reason streaming is going to succeed. Head over to the AVS Forum site and you'll find threads trashing Criterion releases because the bit-rate meter on the encode isn't high enough for their liking! Tech geeks are, more than anyone, likely to be bothered by the quality, to the point that they purchase and watch discs based solely on their audio/visual quality and will refuse to watch good films with bad-looking releases. The film taste of tech-geeks has little to do with the argument here, though it might play a role in which films get released on the format.

Streaming is supplanting Netflix among the 'average Joe' because it's easier, and regular non-tech-geeks and non-film-fanatics don't really care how things look. They'd rather rent a movie than pay $12 to see it in the theater. They'd rather Netflix mail them a disc than drive to the rental store. And now, they'd rather use the remote for their Xbox, or Tivo, or TV itself (some new models have Netflix streaming built directly in) to pull a movie down directly from the couch. These are the same people who kept pan-and-scan and picture-boxed releases around for so long. This is the majority of the market. In my mind, the war in the future is going to be broadband accessibility vs. Blu-ray cost-of-entry.

[ccfixx]

I know you can stream some Netflix titles in 1080p via the PS3 now, but I can't imagine the compression is very kind to things like film grain and scenes with lots of movement.

In my personal experience of streaming the "HD" movies from Netflix on my PS3 the quality is comparable to a standard DVD disc. In no shape or form do the streamed "HD" films come close to the quality of a physical blu-ray disc. I try to avoid Netflix's regular streaming films at all cost. Even streaming Disney's "The Princess & The Frog" recently as "standard" definition was atrocious, I thought, because of all the artifacting I saw during movement on the screen.

CC

[eerik]

Release date for previously rumored Barry Lyndon and Lolita has been leaked: 18th May in France.

Midnight Cowboy will be released in UK on 2nd May.

Pixar's The Incredibles is coming in April. Only Finding Nemo is missing to complete the collection.

And, can you believe it, Paramount will release some catalog titles on Blu-ray. The Ten Commandments is coming in March, along with Spongebob movie and Charlotte's Web.

[domino harvey]

Can someone recommend a decent, cheap Blu-ray player (doesn't have to be region-free) that I can easily keep updated so I can actually watch the fucking Blu-rays I buy? I'm breaking up with this Sherwood P.O.S.

[matrixschmatrix]

Do you have a computer you can hook up to your TV? If you do, this is a great option- $40, and it's really easy to go region-free and to update.

[mfunk9786]

Go to Best Buy when they have an Insignia player on sale - I've never had a problem with my BRDVD3 (or whatever the fucking model number is, it's the one with 3 in it) aside from some inexplicable seamless branching problem that only ever came up with the Anchorman BD, of all things. They're nice players at reasonable prices, and the system menus are almost identical to the Sherwood, so there'll be no learning curve. A lot of them are Netflix streaming equipped, as well, and since there aren't region concerns you can feel free to keep the firmware updated.

[domino harvey]

Actually might be getting a MacMini to hook up to my TV at some point, but not right now.

Mfunk: Like this?

[mfunk9786]

Bingo. They have a wired one for $89.99 right now, too. I know that as someone with their Blu-ray player close to their modem, it was a nice way to save a few bucks, going with the wired model. I can't attest to these exact models personally, but I was very happy with my purchase of one from the previous generation.

[Kirkinson]

Actually might be getting a MacMini to hook up to my TV at some point, but not right now.

And unless Steve Jobs gave up and made a deal with the Blu-ray mafia, a MacMini wouldn't help you play Blu-ray discs anyway.

[Noiretirc]

Can someone recommend a decent, cheap Blu-ray player (doesn't have to be region-free) that I can easily keep updated so I can actually watch the fucking Blu-rays I buy? I'm breaking up with this Sherwood P.O.S.

And still I am Blu-less, because of bullshit like this! Wake me up when it all becomes harmonized.

[Oedipax]

I think that the tech geeks with miserable taste in film are almost certainly not the reason streaming is going to succeed. Head over to the AVS Forum site and you'll find threads trashing Criterion releases because the bit-rate meter on the encode isn't high enough for their liking! Tech geeks are, more than anyone, likely to be bothered by the quality, to the point that they purchase and watch discs based solely on their audio/visual quality and will refuse to watch good films with bad-looking releases. The film taste of tech-geeks has little to do with the argument here, though it might play a role in which films get released on the format.

What I think you're describing is certainly a certain subset of geek culture, the audio/videophile, which as you say, is anal about quality/specs to such an extreme that films themselves are often beside the point. But my problem (which is admittedly mostly personal bias and not particularly grounded in any concrete reason, other than visceral aesthetic revulsion) is more with the crowd that thinks the LOTR movies are the height of cinematic achievement, that Joss Whedon is our modern day Shakespeare, that gets excited for every comic book/fantasy novel adaptation, that attends ComicCon/DragonCon, etc., and in summation, has become one of the major target audiences that studios take an interest in.

I feel like there's a lot of grandstanding in general in favor of streaming because it seems like the obvious direction things will head in at some point - and there's a lot to be said in favor of physical media being phased out, but not in 2011 with bandwidth caps and connection speeds being where they are, at least in the U.S. Besides, try streaming that movie that hasn't opened in the U.S. yet which had a domestic release six months ago and is now available on video. And when streaming titles go 'out of print' so to speak, or become 'unavailable in your country,' there's no such thing as a secondhand market to still see things (well, there is, but... you know).

Ultimately I don't mind streaming as a supplemental tool, although I have no interest in it personally, it's just aggravating that people are already declaring blu-ray dead because, hey, they can stream the same movie in 240p on their flatscreen. Progress!

[redbill]

Actually might be getting a MacMini to hook up to my TV at some point, but not right now.

I've been considering this also, since I discovered Plex. But as mentioned what's holding me back is not being able to get an all-region Blu-ray player hooked up to it, or included. The minis are due for an update sometime soon anyway...

[triodelover]

Actually might be getting a MacMini to hook up to my TV at some point, but not right now.

And unless Steve Jobs gave up and made a deal with the Blu-ray mafia, a MacMini wouldn't help you play Blu-ray discs anyway.

Well, that depends on what lengths you are willing to go to have a Mac-centered HTPC set-up. You can get to Blu on a Mac for about the cost of a Momitsu or Oppo region-free BD player. And you can bypass all the disc problems that get posted here with so many of the players.

I have a Mini on which I've installed Windows XP in a Bootcamp partition. I use ArcSoft's Total Media Theater 3 Platinum (newer versions are available) with a Plextor external BD drive. Some external BD drives come with the media software bundled (e.g. Power DVD), which are perfectly sevicable and may meet your needs adequately. I also use SlySoft's AnyDVDHD to make the set-up region free and - this is important - to cover HDCP compliance since Macs generally fail these tests. You can also watch SD DVDs with the set-up with upscaling that is as good as I have seen. Alternatively, I can use VLC on the OS-X side for SD.

I've had this set-up for around 14 months and it hasn't refused to play any BD I've thrown at it. You might say that's a lot of work when you can get an inexpensive PC and just run Windows and you're probably right. But mine is a Mac household and I wanted to keep it that way. I also use the Mac side to watch downloads and streaming video, and the internet feeds of things like the Tour de France and other cycling. The whole set-up was around $250-$300.

So it can be done if you want it. Whether it makes sense to you or not is your call.

[carax09]

Thanks for laying that all out, TL. Having that info distilled like that, will undoubtedly prove terrifically helpful to me, and others.

[MichaelB]

Very much seconded - that's incredibly useful.

[triodelover]

Very much seconded - that's incredibly useful.

Thanks both of you. I should add that AnyDVD HD is a bit less of a good buy than it was. Until 31 December, 2010, you could buy a lifetime license for 109 Euros - less when they had sales. While the site still shows that option as available, I received an e-mail back in December indicating that they were discontinuing that option at year's end. If so, your best deal is a license for 4 years at 103 Euros (again likely less at the periodic sales) and hope something better, like Steve Jobs getting his head out of his ass, comes along by then. Of note, AnyDVD HD will also allow region-free playing of any discs you have in the HD format as well. Of course, that's yet another external drive.

[tenia]

I think that the tech geeks with miserable taste in film are almost certainly not the reason streaming is going to succeed. Head over to the AVS Forum site and you'll find threads trashing Criterion releases because the bit-rate meter on the encode isn't high enough for their liking! Tech geeks are, more than anyone, likely to be bothered by the quality, to the point that they purchase and watch discs based solely on their audio/visual quality and will refuse to watch good films with bad-looking releases. The film taste of tech-geeks has little to do with the argument here, though it might play a role in which films get released on the format.

Some of the people here do that with the cover art : not nice enough, I don't buy it.

I find it much worse than doing it for PQ / AQ reasons.

[domino harvey]

Thanks for the guidance mfunk (thank you everyone else too for the techy suggestions), I picked up the Insignia I linked to on my way home from work and it's playing Social Network as we speak. I was also able to set up that streaming Netflix Oedipax was raving about!

[mfunk9786]

Glad to hear it worked out - Netflix streaming will change your life (somewhat)

[swo17]

I believe those Insignias can also be hacked to be region free.

[mfunk9786]

I have the Sherwood/Insignia combo going on, and I'm afraid to mess with my Insignia since the unreliable Sherwood is there for use only if I need something to play Region Free stuff. Especially since the Insignia is the one I have connected to the internet. But maybe I'm just paranoid when it comes to messing with my firmware.

[domino harvey]

I am keeping my Sherwood for region-free discs, because it's actually a really great region-free SD player (the best I've ever owned), but I feel a bit like Jeff Foxworthy or something, a working TV on top of a non-working TV. Maybe this is just the middle class equivalent

[perkizitore]

If you already have a Region A player like Insignia, it is better you import a Region B player than spending $150 on Sherwood.

[Noiretirc]

LOOK AT THESE LAST FEW POSTS. I MEAN, JUST LOOK AT THEM!!! WHY IS BLU-RAY, IN GENERAL, SO NEEDLESSLY FUCKIN COMPLICATED?