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Do you buy new movies from itunes 1080p or the bluray disc

I don't own a BR player much less a HD TV so I buy everything in HD on iTunes. My MB is connected to a 24" Samsung monitor. Good enough for now.

I did buy an Apple TV last January but I haven't been able to afford to buy a TV yet, maybe next tax refund.
 
Wait some time and most movies sometimes appear in HD, (but there should be some way to upgrade.) It is a movie studio thing because if you cross check with VUDU, cinemanow, and playstation store they usually have the same restrictions (HD rental, SD download) probably to encourage buying the blu-ray. I love the blu-ray quality but now usually buy from VUDU or iTunes, unless its a 3D movie then blu-ray only (the 3D downloads from VUDU aren't good enough yet) unless its something I really want the extras or box set for. (I don't watch movies on iPhone/iPad/MBA, only on my TV.)

Lots of good Blu-rays are getting so cheap that its cheaper to buy than rent online except for new-releases, especially those 3pack bundles at Target for $15 (-5%) except for redbox which is cheapest of all for rentals. Also with VUDU now you can convert any of your purchased discs to online for a few dollars each but you have to physically go into a walmart...
 
Omne666 said:
Like really....2012 and progressing...who 'wants' to actually have to store a stack, a bookshelf, or a cupboard full of physical based media? I'm still trying to find a sucker to offload my DVDs to!

The quality of BRs is a blast, but I'd rather the convenience of picking up the remote, pressing a few buttons, and relaxing to the HD digital version then getting up, finding what I want to see, going to the BR Player, inserting it, then returning to the couch and pressing the same few buttons.

Go digital!
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Just not at the expense of quality.

Get a few TB of storage and rip them to a NAS... As an ISO, no transcoding, no loss of quality, just mount the ISO image and it's as good as the disc. And then as a bonus you have the disc squirreled away in a box somewhere as a physical backup. Because, trust me, hard drives fail.

I'm treating it the same way I treated music. I'd rather buy the CD and make a lossless rip, and I have a physical hard copy that is a backup stored away in my basement. I will not "buy" DRM-infested inferior quality downloads.
 
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janstett said:
Just not at the expense of quality.

Get a few TB of storage and rip them to a NAS... As an ISO, no transcoding, no loss of quality, just mount the ISO image and it's as good as the disc. And then as a bonus you have the disc squirreled away in a box somewhere as a physical backup. Because, trust me, hard drives fail.

I'm treating it the same way I treated music. I'd rather buy the CD and make a lossless rip, and I have a physical hard copy that is a backup stored away in my basement. I will not "buy" DRM-infested inferior quality downloads.
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My collection would require almost 10-15 TB of storage if not "compressed." An "AppleTV 2" encode (via Handbrake) of a BluRay looks *pretty damned good*, considering it's 1/10th - 1/20th the file size of the uncompressed video.
 
radiogoober said:
My collection would require almost 10-15 TB of storage if not "compressed." An "AppleTV 2" encode (via Handbrake) of a BluRay looks *pretty damned good*, considering it's 1/10th - 1/20th the file size of the uncompressed video.
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+1. I've heard plenty of people tout the advantages of just running with an ISO/mkv rip of a blu-ray movie, but you're talking about 100gb for every 3 to 4 movies... that's a LOT of storage space. I've been ripping my blu-ray collection, then using handbrake to compress using the "High Profile" setting to maintain 1080p. There is *no* artifacting or quality loss, even in deep blacks. I've played the rip alongside the blu-ray and have seen absolutely no noticeable difference in quality. I'm also ripping the surround sound along with the movie, so I'm not losing the sound. Sure, TrueHD or DTS is technically superior, but DD sounds fantastic and is well worth the convenience of having every movie I own at my (digital) fingertips. For example, I can fit LOTR Extended, every disc, into the same amount of space (38gb) that one disc would take, without losing quality. That's just common sense.
 
Because of the DRM, I don't think I'd ever buy an iTunes version. I'd rent it, and if I wanted to own it, I'd have to go with Blu-Ray.
 
I'm kinda on the edge of whether to keep buying discs (I stopped using netflix rental mailings) for $12-16, or go digital and just rent. I've generally been a renter, so buying is not really something that interests me, and I too (begrudgingly) think digital downloading is the future. I just wish they could work out better audio, granted on a good system DD 5.1 sounds good.

I had an ATV2 and thought the 720p PQ wasnt bad at all, so now there is a 1080p version Im very curious and it is arriving tomorrow. I plan to check out a couple of new release movies this weekend, and see what I think.

I have a 6mbps DSL connection, so I assume there would be some buffering time before I could start the move playback? If the PQ is good enough for me, I my let the BR player start collecting dust. I have no interest in buying digital versions either, rental is fine for me because I rarely watch stuff twice.
 
My current plan then is to buy my top films on Blu-Ray for the 3D and full 7.2 surround, and I'm going to wait for more HD downloads on iTunes.

I've ripped over 200 DVD's now, and while that's a lot of space, Blu-Ray ISOs are just too expensive to store.

How big is a ripped Blu-Ray mkv in 1080p with full surround?
 
radiogoober said:
My collection would require almost 10-15 TB of storage if not "compressed." An "AppleTV 2" encode (via Handbrake) of a BluRay looks *pretty damned good*, considering it's 1/10th - 1/20th the file size of the uncompressed video.
Click to expand...

To go back to the audio analogy, it's like encoding your CDs to 128kbps MP3 -- you may/will regret it later. By keeping the original around you can always re-encode from the original master copy when you get better playback equipment, your tastes and standards change, or there's a new even better codec, for example.

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AtomicEdge said:
My current plan then is to buy my top films on Blu-Ray for the 3D and full 7.2 surround, and I'm going to wait for more HD downloads on iTunes.

I've ripped over 200 DVD's now, and while that's a lot of space, Blu-Ray ISOs are just too expensive to store.

How big is a ripped Blu-Ray mkv in 1080p with full surround?
Click to expand...

Same size as the disc. In my experience they're typically around 20gb.

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kelub said:
+1. I've heard plenty of people tout the advantages of just running with an ISO/mkv rip of a blu-ray movie, but you're talking about 100gb for every 3 to 4 movies... that's a LOT of storage space. I've been ripping my blu-ray collection, then using handbrake to compress using the "High Profile" setting to maintain 1080p. There is *no* artifacting or quality loss, even in deep blacks. I've played the rip alongside the blu-ray and have seen absolutely no noticeable difference in quality. I'm also ripping the surround sound along with the movie, so I'm not losing the sound. Sure, TrueHD or DTS is technically superior, but DD sounds fantastic and is well worth the convenience of having every movie I own at my (digital) fingertips. For example, I can fit LOTR Extended, every disc, into the same amount of space (38gb) that one disc would take, without losing quality. That's just common sense.
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I understand the rationale. But it's the same reason people ripped their CDs to low bitrate MP3s back in the day.

For me, it's go big or go home. Storage space is cheap (3 TB drives are $144). Handbrake encodes can look good, but here's why I don't bother with them (other than as working copies for iPads, etc.).

(1) You're going through a generational loss because of reencoding. The fact is the source is decoded and reencoded which introduces generational loss.
(2) I don't want to give up the high-res lossless codecs because I have surround systems that will play them. DD sounds okay but if I listen side by side with a lossless track of a favorite movie, I definitely notice the difference so I won't settle.
(3) I don't want to lose all the extras. I don't want a version of the disc that loses things and has disadvantages, I want the disc exactly as it was shipped.

I still have everything at my fingertips and I didn't give up anything to get it -- aside from disk space.
 
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I don't even buy DVD's let alone Bluray. I don't buy CD's either.

Its very nice not having discs laying around but I fear if my Hard drive fails i'm ********! :D
 
im a fan of the bluray video/sound quality.

i have about 50 itunes movies, yet all of them came from when i bought a bluray digital copy.

things like toy story's, monsters inc, etc (for the kids) i do have the bluray discs, but its just so much easier to stream thru my apple tv.

now when me & the wife want to watch a movie, the bluray comes on and that beautiful picture and even better UNCOMPRESSED audio.

the uncompressed audio is the main reason i wont o all digital thru itunes.

as far as burning blurays, ive thought about it.
the storage is a killer and the fear that when the day comes that one of those 3tb drives fails (with 25 movies on it), i wont want to reburn all of them.

my 2tb raid 1 NAS works just fine for my dvd rips of all the kids movies that arent on bluray yet and play them thru my jailbroken apple tv (gen 2) :D
 
Anyone know if the ATV3 outputs RGB 444 or ycbcr 444?

Id ASSume ycbcr, but the Roku does RGB.
 
Blurays for me.

I'd only opt for digital media downloads when they're DRM free. Right now I can take my bluray or DVDs to friends houses, or watch them in cars etc.

Can't really do that with a file without having to log into accounts, adding another system to your "used machine" list.

Also I like having a shelf with media on. I don't know where this dislike has come from! I love having all my games, films, books laid out on a great wall. Same goes for all my friends and family. Things might change if Apple ever lets UK users re-download purchased films from iTunes (like it does in the US).
 
The only HD movies or TV shows I buy on iTunes are programs that aren't available on BluRay disc.

Apple charges full premium prices on movies that have no physical medium costs. You'd think they could get us much better prices! Even the rental prices are $1 or more too high. Bring down those prices!

Also as someone pointed out, you can't sell or giveaway as a gift your iTunes HD movie.

The bit rates on iTunes HD is lower than BD, though I find the quality to be pleasing and acceptable.

So I would only buy those "must have" HD programs that aren't available on BD. So far I have only encountered a "handful" of those.
 
Che Castro said:
they have this new movie safe house for $19.99 1080p on itunes

I cant decide wether to buy it here or the. Bluray disc

I read the ATV3 1080p is near bluray quality


What do u guys do for the most part on new movies that you want to own

Buy the bluray disc
Buy the movie from itunes
Buy the bluray disc, then rip it to itunes
Click to expand...

I recently started to opt for the iTunes HD content over optical media. It's nice not having to have physical storage for a bunch of discs.
 
Watched part of two 1080p movies today on the new ATV3 as well as an episode of Top Gear in 1080p. I think it looks awesome, of course its not quite Blu-ray, but I dont expect it to be and I may be rethinking my current movie watching strategy :)

Am I correct in thinking that the ATV3 does not adjust PQ based on current streaming speed and you will always get full 1080p, you internet speed mainly determines how long you need to buffer before starting the movie?

Im thinking about renting the flick, pausing it, and doing something else for an hour or so before starting it. Buffer should be way ahead then.
 
While the iTunes 1080P content looks good, it's not Blu Ray quality. Many people wouldn't take notice, but I do, particularly during dark sequences--the compression really stands out there.

Buying the Blu Ray and ripping & compressing it yourself will yield a better looking file.

That said, if you do this you get to spend @ an hour ripping it, about 3 hours converting/compressing it, assuming you're running a newer computer.

If you want to save the time, and aren't terribly finicky about picture quality, then get it from iTunes. If you want perfection, get the Blu Ray.
 
Dagless said:
I'd only opt for digital media downloads when they're DRM free. Right now I can take my bluray or DVDs to friends houses, or watch them in cars etc.

Can't really do that with a file without having to log into accounts, adding another system to your "used machine" list.
Click to expand...

Put digital file on iPad or iPhone, take device to friend's house, either connect to TV with HDMI cable or AirPlay stream through their Apple TV if they have one.

Mak47 said:
If you want to save the time, and aren't terribly finicky about picture quality, then get it from iTunes. If you want perfection, get the Blu Ray.
Click to expand...

This is the main thing for me. I've ripped a lot of my TV show DVDs to iTunes format and even with the excellent automation tools available on this forum it takes a long time if you have a lot of episodes (all 5 seasons of Babylon 5, anyone?). Because of that I'm now buying any TV shows I want via iTunes (esp. if they're available in HD), but for films I'm still buying the Bluray. TBH I don't buy that many films now anyway, we usually rent them and I just buy the ones that are my real favourites and I know I'll want to watch multiple times, so the conversion process for them isn't particularly onerous.
 
Since the content has gone 1080p I buy movies from iTunes when they are on sale and sometimes on release day. I own 180 Blu-ray movies and don't even watch them anymore because I don't feel like standing in front of a storage case looking for a movie to watch. I have 2 AppleTVs and 2 iPads so having movies from iTunes is really convenient for me as I can watch them anywhere.
 
Woke up this morning with no Internet or cable ,power outage

What are we to do ,read a book ? Talk to each other? Hell no

Dust off the old bluray discs and play them on my ps3

This proofs to me that buying the disc is better
 
I can't see buying it off of iTunes if I can get a digital download, dvd and bluray for nearly the same price.
Rip the dvd and transfer it on any of my portable devices
 
Che Castro said:
Woke up this morning with no Internet or cable ,power outage

What are we to do ,read a book ? Talk to each other? Hell no

Dust off the old bluray discs and play them on my ps3

This proofs to me that buying the disc is better
Click to expand...

How did you watch a Blu-Ray during a power outage? :D

At the moment I buy Blu-Ray disks, but I also rip them onto my computer so I'll always have them with me on my travels if I want to watch a movie, the disks stay at home because I find it better to stick them in the blu-Ray player.
 
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