What format to buy movies / series on?

optimus

optimus

optimus

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Having just got rid of my final DVDs for a pittance, and it only owning a few blu Rays (mainly for the kids) - it's got me think what is the best method to buy movies and TV series now?

Buy the Blu Ray, with ultraviolet if available?
Buy from a streaming service?
Rent from a steaming service every time?
Buy from something like itunes?
Or other?

Physical media is really dead, but what's the best alternative?
 
Everything i have is digital,music,films,games,i dont own one dvd ect....its nice and simple,the way i like it :)
 
netflix,amazon prime,itunes and steam,i don't have a lot of music (probably 2gb) and use streaming services now,there always there and simple to use.
 
Buy the media and rip it yourself.

Just because something is available on a streaming service now doesn't mean it will always be in the future. Just because you can buy some media from a service now doesn't mean that that service will still be around in the future which could then cause issues with DRM.

I would also disagree that physical media is dead.
 
optimus said:
Physical media is really dead, but what's the best alternative?
Click to expand...

Physical media isn't dead at all, considering how many CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays are sold.

I'd personally rather have the Blu-ray and know that I'm getting the best quality version available, than spend almost equivalent money on a streaming service and end up with a lower-quality version that I potentially can't access without an internet connection and might lose completely if said service collapses.
 
Netflix, amazon prime, nowtv are first port of call.

If I'm desperate and it's not on said service, then I have purchased a few from Xbox movies.

Zero interest in physical media, horrible things.
 
Im on the fence with something like this, i love the idea of digital everything. But its all dependant on having an Internet connection, and whilst i have Virgin BB (100mb) Its utter poo during the evenings, the time when i actually want to watch a movie or show!
 
I am in the same boat, at present I purchase DVD's and rip so I can watch on my PC, tablet etc.

Watching Blu-Rays on a TV for quality alone is undeniably, a worthwhile investment. However, Blu-Rays on an iPad, Computer (the majority for which I watch media) I wonder if the investment is worth it? Blu-Rays, are undoubtably, the best quality, however to create backups, they are huge files and to replace a large DVD collection, will take some time and cost.

There are some films I have purchased off iTunes, LOTR extended versions, since it gets rid of the film 'break' in the middle to swap disks. However, there are films where the DVD's are rubbish quality (lots of noise) therefore I have been looking for better alternatives. One example is iTunes sells the same film for £14(?!) therefore the Blu-Ray is the logical method of purchase. I think my main concern when ditching DVD's for digital media, is the pricing, some of the prices are a complete rip off?
 
Moses said:
What quality do you get from iTunes? Because I guess there's an argument for buying through there, based on the assumption that if you buy the HD version you'll always get the HD content they provide (eg. if you buy a film in HD now and get 1080p or whatever, then in the future if they do 4k they give you that under your the purchases you've already made).
Click to expand...

Very unlikely that you'll get a free bump to 4K, iTunes doesn't support 4K yet. However as broadband speeds improve and codecs get better iTunes will re-encode their HD and SD versions for quality improvements as the master they hold is near lossless from the original source. That goes for a few other services too.

I personally only ever buy on Blu-ray and rip it myself.
 
You can't beat the quality of Blu-Ray, Netflix pic quality has gone down i have noticed, i wonder why that is, maybe to fit their 4K streaming service in.
 
Optical Media in my opinion is best, bar the whole physical storage.

While I do buy CD's and Blu-rays (Although I've only started the last 3 months) I do have a Spotify and Netflix subscription.

I would have liked to just buy stuff digitally say on iTunes. But the prices were meh, and I'm not comfortable with just downloading and watching. I haven't even gave any of the "Ultraviolet downloads" a try either, although I probably will.
I play my Blu-rays generally on my PC on my 21:9 monitor or on my Surface 3/Ultrabook.
 
I buy my movies on Blu-ray and my music on Google Play whenever they have offers, can't go wrong with 99p daily album deals :cool:

I can't see digital media becoming the norm until the infrastructure to support it improves (not going to happen in this country for a long time), prices plummet (expect them to increase if we're forced down the digital only route) and people aren't expected to subscribe to dozens of services to get what they want (I think it's only a matter of time before distributors pull their films from services like Netflix and iTunes and offer their own services and we'll actually be expected to subscribe to more).
 
blu ray to server rip

now i have 40mbit fibre i can stream. but i wont.
if you can make the most of blu ray sound get that
if you cant streaming

second hand blu rays are cheap
 
Blu ray or dvd.

Generally blu ray. But for example if it's stand up just dvd. I own some American stand ip digitally. $5 hd download and onto media pc.
 
Amazon Streaming is very good as far as content for myself goes, I've just had a look on a Prime Trial. I mean it's got everything I want.
I'd pay 75 pound to get the Star Trek Original Blu-rays right now on Amazon, or I could watch it for a fraction of that for the month (Although you pay for Prime in one go I think?).

I love owning stuff, and frankly don't think the quality of Amazons Streaming was all that. But as far as the content went, it was very good.
 
If it's a modern film, go blu-ray.

For everything else unless it's been specially labelled as 'super mega remaster', go DVD. There's barely any difference with most older films (if at all)
 
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