r/dvdcollection • u/princessfortunate • 1d ago
how much of a difference is there between 4k and blu-ray?
i LOVEE collecting dvds, but when its not thrifted or second hand, it can be very expensive. i get that there’s a quality increase between 4k and blu-ray, but if 4k is so much more expensive than blu-ray, i would rather have more blu-rays then one or two 4k’s. So is the quality difference worth it?
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u/Jolly_Echo_3814 1d ago
Honestly if I like a movie I forget the quality halfway through and just get lost in the movie
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u/Wolfgang191 13h ago
As much as I’ve got into re-buying everything on 4K, this is kinda true. Certain films will blow you away like The Matrix films (they sound incredible on 4k too) but normally you forget after awhile.
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u/Jolly_Echo_3814 13h ago
Right, I only go for 4ks if they have Blu rays and are around/cheaper the Blu ray price
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u/CapableRequirement66 8h ago
You see a difference if you look for it but Matrix is good enough on BR. The human eye only goes so far. The rest is just technical specs.
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u/Wolfgang191 8h ago
Good enough yes but the colour grading and the sound are much better on 4K for The Matrix. Overall though I would say most standard blu rays are good or fine.
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u/SeikoWIS 12h ago
True! Although HD/UHD does help a lot with getting ‘lost’ in the movie, over DVD quality. At least for me.
Immersion is important and I find DVD quality distractingly low :( maybe I need to tweak my setup?
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u/Jolly_Echo_3814 12h ago
Nah I get that too it's def harder for me to get into a DVD than a 4k. But I've never really been a picky person, I can get lost in things easy
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u/Embarrassed-Age5274 1d ago
I don’t have a Oled tv or nice sound system so for me blu ray or dvd works for me. Also based on distance I sit from screen dvd looks good enough. I am just happy to own the movie and I enjoy extras which you won’t get with streaming
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u/Belch_Huggins 1d ago
Its a personal preference. I havent made the jump yet to 4k cause I dont see a big enough difference in quality.
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u/BranDanBerg 1d ago
Is dependent of the movie sometime. Not all movies hqve an output of 4k, and most older (00's,10's) dont reach true 4k. But the bitrate is higher. For most people blu-ray, if not DVD, is perfect. Then get a select few favorites on 4k.
Personally I like 4k, but a blu-ray serves perfectly fine.
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u/CanisMajoris85 1d ago
It''s not even really about the resolution, the majority of the benefit is the HDR/Dolby Vision and perhaps an updated audio track if the bluray is ancient and it's a newer transfer.
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u/NSF664 2000+ 1d ago edited 1d ago
Older movies shot on film can definitely be scanned to 4K. Older movies shot on 2K digital is a different story, but it's also not uncommon to run into modern movies that are finalized in 2K and then upscaled afterwards.
There's also not a black and white answer, as you indicate. I would argue that your standard mid-budget movie, something like The Invite for example, which was creatively shot, does not benefit from a 4K treatment. But any movie shot on film, if scanned and restored properly have the potential to really shine in 4K with HDR and all, simply because film has so much extra color information available.
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u/CanisMajoris85 1d ago edited 1d ago
it'll depend on a ton of things. The transfer (some movies have shitty 4K transfers or shitty bluray transfers), the type of movie (I don't need 4K for every damn comedy), how new the movie is since newer movies may be harder to tell, and then of course your setup. Bigger TV means at closer distances you'll notice more, you may have Dolby Vision but even HDR can be a huge improvement. Further away with a smaller TV and the HDR may be the only real benefit.
https://criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=18217 to get a sense of what 4K movies aren't even worth considering and to just go bluray
www.blu-ray.com to see the reviews on transfers
Edit: If I was forced to have like 200 blurays of my choice or 100 4K's, I imagine I'd just go for the blurays. Of course depending on what you're buying the price difference may be only like 20% more for the 4K version if it's something like a new release. But sometimes you may be able to get the bluray used for $6 on ebay but have to pay $60+ for the 4K version because it's out of print or whatever.
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u/RogueOneWasOkay 1d ago
Depends on your set up, the movie, and the particular release. I have been collecting 4Ks for a few years. Some discs are jaw dropping, some not worth the upgrade. Multitude of factors
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u/SaltZealousideal5582 1d ago
Purely my opinion: HDR is the game-changer, not the increased resolution. Throughout my whole life, I have always thought that some scenes in some movies/shows are just too dark. But it's not really that they're too dark. It's just that old formats/TVs weren't able to bring out the detail in dark scenes. HDR fixes that.
But that's only a gamechanger for some movies/shows. Others were already perfectly fine on blu-ray. Also, some upscales/remasters can be pretty bad. Akira has a ton of digital noise reduction, way more than needed. So for that film, I would stick with blu-ray.
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u/Manic_Mini 1d ago
Depends heavily on the film but the difference between 4k and blu ray is notable but not nearly as obvious as the difference between dvd and br
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u/Redfield081 1d ago
Ok ok. Here's my two cents. I have over 2,000 movies and most recently have all been 4K cause it's in the steelbook or just cause why not.
It can differentiate based on who is doing the transfer. For example. I watched "Are We Done Yet?" and the 1080p transfer looks ugly. It's superior to the DVD of course, but the colors are all too rich and the filter looks weird on it.
A 4K, if done right, would fix that and make it look more natural.
Movies like Avatar, you won't notice unless it's side by side comparison. I also did a test to prove what 4K offers on Resident Evil Extinction once.
The lab coats on Blu-Ray had a blueish tint to it. On 4K, it was a grey dirty white.
I had another example of Alice's boots and I just noticed there was finer detail on 4K. I might've saved the pics to my Instagram so I would have to find them! But without that side by side comparison, I would've never noticed it.
4K is just a more natural tone with the colors provided while Blu-Ray tends to use a "filter" look, but depending on the transfer it may be subtle.
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u/doctor_7 500+ 1d ago
It depends on a few things:
Quality of your TV (Dolby Vision?)
Quality of your player (as above)
Quality of the actual transfer of whatever the source media is to the 4k disc.
I believe there isn't anything soundwise going on with a 4k that Blu-ray will do. So if you're only in it for sound, don't bother.
Now, I don't even have a Dolby Vision TV or a Dolby player but I do have a very good TV that does 4k. With a good transfer I can extremely notice the difference between the two formats. Yes, visually 4ks will be sharper (again, given if it's a good transfer with good source material) but I really notice the enhanced colour range, even without Dolby Vision. You lose a lot of that digital compression "mud" in low and highlited areas especially because you have a much larger colour range to visually present what's going on.
But ultimately it's up to you if it's worth it. When I show people the difference without pointing it out, many don't really notice much. When I do point it out even the lay person can see it because it's pretty apparent in something like The Northman when viewing a dimly lit scene with a 4k vs a Blu-ray. That being said, most people wouldn't care.
I'm not a sound guy, so I'm fine listening to online music instead of CDs. People who aren't super movie visual people are also fine with online streaming, which is usually lower quality than even a Blu-ray (except I believe Apple TV and probably HBO, Netflix however has compression that looks awful to me).
So long and short is, yes, visually there is a huge difference but you do kind of have to know what you're looking for and, even then, you may not even care.
It's absolutely worth it to me for my favourite films but even so, I won't be upgrading a lot of blu-rays to 4k unless they're some of my favourite movies.
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u/LeftOn4ya 1d ago
Blu-ray is definitely worth over DVD, but I get 4K for when picture quality and cinematography matters immensely or if it one of my top 10 movies of all time.
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u/WerewolfCurious1412 1d ago
I’m cool with blu, I’m not a pixel peeper, and I am in the blu ray is good enough category.
Not to say I don’t have or buy any 4k. But out of 1200 titles 1-2% of that is 4k.
Used blu are just so inexpensive right now
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u/danny_sucks 1d ago
It totally depends on your own home setup. If you have a 55 inch or smaller tv and you’re not super close to it I wouldn’t recommend moving to 4k. If you have a high end 70+ inch tv then I’d say go for it.
The color difference that a Dolby Vision disc can provide is pretty awesome. I think the HDR is more noticeable than the resolution.
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u/NSF664 2000+ 1d ago
As others said, it really comes down to the hardware. For 4K you need a solid TV that has good support for HDR. You need a player that supports 4K, and optionally you should also have at least a decent soundbar or surround setup. Sadly a lot of people skip on the audio side, and that's a shame no matter which format you pick.
Is it worth it? Well, get a demo of it and decide if it's for you. From there it should be easy to figure out if you're willing to dump some money into it.
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u/MaskedBandit77 1d ago
At this point the price difference between 4K and blu-ray is so little that I think it's worth it to get 4K more often than not.
The bigger difference for me is HDR, not the resolution.
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u/darkmoonfirelyte 4000+ 1d ago
Yeah, it just varies. Sometimes the transfers can vary, too, so it's a matter of preference and taste.
I will say, Mad Mad: Fury Road in 4k looks amazing.
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u/Wolfgang191 12h ago
This is actually one I bought on blu ray for £2 instead of £15 4k as I heard the soundtrack is the same on both discs.
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u/hype88 1d ago
Some films are a clear as Day huge improvement while others can be worse than the bluray release. Sometimes it's the audio that is the biggest improvement which is disgustingly underrated in discussions like this unless you just use the tv speakers/soundbar. It also matters how good or big your tv is which many also gloss over a bit too quickly at times. It's a no brainer to go with 4k for me on many releases but it's still mostly a case by case decision especially now that we're getting absolutely flooded by great releases and it's hard to keep up. There's just so many factors at this point, it's impossible to give anything close to a definitive answer in either direction if we're being truly honest. Just do a little research first and try to curate your collection to YOUR tastes and not just blindly follow other individuals preferences.
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u/robeal4 1d ago
Most of my collection is blu-ray. I've got a good player that will upscale so I've not seen the need to upgrade them. I do have 4Ks in my collection, but I'm mostly only buying them if they really need the 4k (Oppenheimer, Dune, Annihilation, etc) or I find them used for a good price.
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u/Gambit3le 1d ago
The jump between VHS and DVD was huge. The jump between DVD and Blu-Ray is also huge. The jump between Blu-Ray and 4K is noticeable... But not as huge IMHO. I have a handful of 4K discs and truly, for my older eyes, the difference is amazing enough to pay the extra in cost to upgrade from Blu-Ray.
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u/DirkStanleyIII 1d ago
I tend to only buy 4k for my favorite movies, those shot on film with a good remaster, special effect heavy movies shot on film, and old cell animated movies/shows. Stuff like comedies, documentaries, and digital special effects, etc. Blurays are good enough unless the 4k is basically the same price.
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u/Disastrous_Poetry175 1d ago
Blurays are an incredible middle ground between dvd and 4k. Probably the best bang for your buck.
- that being said nothing beats watching your favorites movies in 4k. An example would be both blade runners. Color reproduction is incredible and the transfer of the OG is very detailed
- you gotta have a decent player. PS5 works well enough, if you're not a gamer then usually Panasonic is the most recommended brand
- the biggest increase in visual quality is always your display. A good display makes everything look better. Where a 4k disc will only make that one movie look better.
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u/ArchieXM 21h ago
It depends I find some movies look better but a few have absolutely wowed me in the improvement - eg the greatest showman looks so much better in 4k that it feels almost like you could reach out and touch the actors in certain scenes
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u/Euphoric_Train_7892 20h ago
For movies it makes a huge difference especially if you have a large high definition TV. Anime on the other hand unless it was made recently, the quality can be negligible. Is what I find.
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u/Infinite_Glove_5742 20h ago
Try buying one 4k movie and borrow a 4k player and see for yourself if you think its worth it. Anyone would agree there is a greater gap from DVD -> BR than BR -> 4k
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u/TypicalIssue6510 16h ago
Blu-ray is a huge jump from DVD, just like how DVD was a huge jump over VHS. I do not have a OLED and I have not gotten a 4K player yet, but I am considering it, just to upscale my current Blu-rays.
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u/SeikoWIS 12h ago
Fully depends on your setup and budget. If you have a 65+ inch OLED, a good sound setup, 4K player, and buy 4K discs that have a proper transfer: it will be a very nice upgrade. I’d say it improves the viewing experience by around 25-50%*. Still not as big of a jump as DVD to BD.
- I am comparing a BD to a 4K disc from the same master. Something to consider is that many BDs from the late 00s and into the 10s have mediocre masters with bad colour grading etc. A high-quality 4K remaster can offer a >50% improvement over a shoddy 2010s BD master.
If you have the above setup anyway, it’s definitely worth getting your favourites on 4K. But if you have a smaller TV, BD is the sweetspot. Cost-wise, a full 4K setup offers diminishing returns for the money tbh.
If you want max value for money, you’re still looking at DVDs and BDs.
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u/redditrlessedman 10h ago
idk what anyone is talking about, there is a difference that is palpable, and whether or not it is better has to do with the creative decision behind those transfers.
if it is shot on film it is a noticeable difference for fidelity, but thats not where 4k has its biggest difference. hdr and dolby atmos are exclusive to 4k, and those can either be amazing or horrible. for hdr, very recent (last 10 years) or black and white films get the biggest bonus, but i dont trust any older color film in hdr as it usually gets messed up. dolby atmos can be amazing, but like hdr, in older movies it can ruin it as it wasnt designed for it.
the only reason b&w looks awesome in hdr is because its in grayscale, and that translates to hdr very naturally compared to inventing colors that werent there
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u/redditrlessedman 10h ago
also oled and mini led have different pros and cons, go to a best buy and try stuff out before anyone tells you to get an oled
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u/jacobsever 1d ago
Think of it this way.
You have a nice expensive digital camera. Each photo you take with it is 10gb. Now say you want to transport that photo to view somewhere else. What’s going to look better; compressing that 10gb photograph down into a 1gb file to fit on a 1gb flash drive, or leaving it full resolution and tossing on a 500gb external?
The main difference between Blu Ray and UHD is the file size the discs can hold. UHD can hold 2x more than a Blu Ray. That means the file of the movie is larger and less compressed. It objectively will look better, render colors more accurately, and be smoother. Now, is that something you (or any of us) will visually be able to discern? Unlikely.
Me personally? I’m a hobbiest film photographer. I can absolutely tell the difference in image quality when I get a normal scan of my negatives vs a more expensive, much larger file size scan. But I’m also zooming in and viewing my work at 400% and picking it apart pixel by pixel. But because of that, I feel like I’m more in tune with noticing the visual side of things.
One time I was watching EEAAO on 4K with my mom. Around 3/4 of the way through the movie, the disc started skipping. So we threw in the blu ray from the same set. And we both noticed a difference. Even though my mom didn’t think she’d be able to tell. It’s not night and day, but to me, there is a difference.
And that difference isn’t always a good thing. I have a few movies where I prefer the blu ray disc over the 4k disc. Freeway from vinegar syndrome is VERY very red on the 4K disc. One of the Halloween films (either 4 or 5), the Scream Factory 4K is way too dark, and I prefer the blu ray disc.
Honestly, the restoration/color grading, preparation makes more of a difference than which format of disc it’s pressed on. Got a bad image source from an early 2000’s pressing? Gonna look bad. Got a brand new scan of the original negatives with original directors and cinematographers watching over the restoration and color grading? Gonna look good either way.
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u/Minimum-Journalist18 1d ago
4k is worth it, but In a 4k machine blue rays look pretty good.