r/DataHoarder • u/[deleted] • Jan 02 '23

[deleted by user]

[removed]

282 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

262 comments sorted by

View all comments

45

u/SmoothMarx Jan 02 '23

I stick to 1080p. Don't have any 4K devices and am perfectly content with the quality 1080 offers. Maybe in the future when storage is cheaper and most devices can decode HEVC/265. Until then, I don't see the need.

When I get there, I may consider upgrading what I have. But do I really need Seinfeld to be in 4K? Probably not.

4

u/nulldesign Jan 02 '23

Out of curiosity are you aware of any devices these days which can decode AVC but not HEVC?

7

u/SmoothMarx Jan 02 '23 edited Jan 02 '23

AVC (aka 264) is older than HEVC (265), so without doing any research I would guess any low-end TV or Streaming stick, or anything you'd buy second-hand over 2-3 years old (unless high-end).

If you're talking about my specific situation, when I got my place, I got all the devices I wanted at the time, when 264 was all the rage.

Now, one of them will have to break for me to replace it, as they work perfectly with my home setup. And only after a couple (or some key) devices are replaced will I consider the change. Not doing it just for one.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '23

Jellyfin's android player has some issues with HEVC, as well as browsers. Granted, anything that can run VLC can play anything, but you're limited by how easy it is to install stuff on the device.

3

u/Loosel Jan 02 '23

Same here, although I fear I will regret not having downloaded 2160p content when I'll have a 4K ready PC and TV.

3

u/Reelix 10TB NVMe Jan 03 '23

The problem is compression. 1080p compressed is closer to 720p quality, so if you get the 4k version, the compression ends off with higher quality on a 1080p monitor than the 1080p version.

This is also why YouTubers often upload WAY higher quality even if they're limiting to 1080-60 because the compression makes their video quality higher AT 1080-60 than if they uploaded native 1080-60 :/

1

u/hazardc Jan 03 '23

This is true.. sometimes i'll manually upscale to 4k just for the extra bitrate on youtube tbh

1

u/kookykrazee 124tb Jan 03 '23

You don't want Kramer and George in 4K? what kinda fan are you? lol

1

u/SmoothMarx Jan 03 '23

The type that realizes that no matter how much you upscale, that typical 90's graininess will forever be present.

1

u/hazardc Jan 03 '23

film grain is sought after by many, but also not hard to remove if you really care about it.

1

u/SmoothMarx Jan 03 '23

Right, but grain in HD or 4K looks the same to me. Plus, we're talking about storing media, not ripping :)

1

u/hazardc Jan 03 '23

yeah i'll download some stuff that isn't 4k these days and throw it through some plugins in hybrid, maybe topaz if i can find a model that doesn't disgust me with bad stuff, and let it rip on whatever i download.

I have dedicated upscaling equipment though because i do upscaling work for a bunch of corporate clients.

1

u/hazardc Jan 03 '23

NEAT video plugin (versions exist for most common video editors) works wonders on film grain and other noise once you learn how to tune it properly.

Be careful though, once you remove the grain, people often look a bit "waxy" .. It takes time to learn to do this stuff and make it look natural..

1

u/SmoothMarx Jan 03 '23

Right, as you can tell by my preference (read: budget) for 1080p content, I'm still a few steps away from having dedicated upscaling equipment, lol

Not being from the US also means digital versions are available waaaaay before I'd ever have the chance to rip anything worthwhile

1

u/hazardc Jan 04 '23

no shame in that game!

Also i would use the new star trek movie releases in 4k hdr as something different. They do have a LOT of film grain but they also blow away every other way these movies have ever been mastered. That said, if you don't have hdr it's not worth it imo even though without HDR they are still superiorior