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Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

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    Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

    What it says in the title really. We've got an HD tv and I like watching films.

    #2
    Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

    When you say HDTV, do you mean 4K?

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      #3
      Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

      "Blu ray" releases outnumber DVDs about 2 to 1 in the shops now when big movies come out, so on that basis I'd say it looks like the old format will soon go the way of video casettes. We've not got a blu-ray yet but it looks an inevitablity.

      Coincidentally, the blu ray releases tend to cost £5 more, for the privelege of an extra behind the scenes disc or some tat like that.

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        #4
        Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

        If you're going to, make sure it's 4K capable (especially if your TV is, but I assume it isn't).

        Alternatively, get an Xbox One or PS4.

        At this point, though, I'm not sure there's a whole lot of point in physical media unless you have a really shitty internet connection. All the new stuff goes on one or more of the internet services and the old stuff often doesn't get remastered on to Blu Ray.

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          #5
          Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

          Get an XBox One or a PS4. They both have Blu Ray players on board and you get to play games too.

          But seriously, if you're a buyer of disks, Blu Rays look (and sound) great.
          But they'll be dead in a few years too as streaming services take over. So if you can get one reasonably priced and you're prepared for the outlay for maybe 3 years of use, go for it.

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            #6
            Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

            Hah. GY got in there while I was writing my post.

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              #7
              Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

              Ginger Yellow wrote: At this point, though, I'm not sure there's a whole lot of point in physical media unless you have a really shitty internet connection.
              That's true if you're streaming 1080px. But streaming 4K is a whole other can of worms and requires a really fast internet connection. Therefore if you want 4K content, there's still value in buying a 4K Blu-Ray player.

              If you want to play 720 or 1080px content, then I agree, it's not worth the bother.

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                #8
                Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

                Apparently you need at least 20Mbps down to stream 4K video.

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                  #9
                  Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

                  Ah, no. 1080p only not 4K.

                  Rogin, one of the things mitigating against buying one has been going to shops and seeing that the DVD section is still 2 to 3 times the size of blu ray.

                  I've got a decent connection, but for films that I'm going to watch again and again I just don't like not having a physical disk.I know it's slightly different but look at the ebook services that have folded.

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                    #10
                    Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

                    Then again, you can buy a brand new Blu-Ray player for £40.

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                      #11
                      Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

                      I felt the same way for a long time, but honestly I've bought maybe 3 physical movies in the last two years. You don't watch them as often as you think you will*. Lovefilm covers almost everything that isn't online. There are also ways to make streaming movies more permanent.

                      But streaming 4K is a whole other can of worms and requires a really fast internet connection.
                      Fair point, though anyone with fibre or cable internet should be fine.

                      *Obviously not true if we're talking kid's movies for a family.

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                        #12
                        Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

                        Wait. The PS4 doesn't play DVDs?!

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                          #13
                          Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

                          I'm 99% sure they both do, but you have to download a patch to do so (it saves them licensing fees if it's not switched on by default).

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                            #14
                            Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

                            Carniveraux Vulgarry wrote: What GY and hobbes said. Buy a PS4 or an Xbox One
                            If you're not a gamer though, it's rather an expensive media hub. Does they do anything else?

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                              #15
                              Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

                              I'll double check when I get home but I'm pretty sure that I've played DVDs on mine before. Like I say, you may not have downloaded the patch. Or it could be the wrong region?

                              If you're not a gamer though, it's rather an expensive media hub. Does they do anything else?
                              If you're not into gaming at all it becomes more questionable, but they're both pretty competent media players/streamers with Netflix, Spotify, Plex etc. There's probably a list of apps available for each somewhere. If you want one box that does everything, they're pretty decent choices. You're still going to be better off with something dedicated like a Roku if you want the best streamer/Plex platform, but he specifically emphasised physical media.

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                                #16
                                Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

                                Sure, but a Blu-Ray player and a Roku stick will cost you about £70. A PS4 will cost about £270.

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                                  #17
                                  Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

                                  Levin wrote: one of the things mitigating against buying one has been going to shops and seeing that the DVD section is still 2 to 3 times the size of blu ray.
                                  Latest data I can link to is from here, which indicates 2014 sales of 125m DVDs and 17m Blu-rays.

                                  The gap between the two will have closed a bit since then, I know this from stuff I pick up at work, but DVD is by far the dominant sales driver for physical video, and is likely to be until both are seen as heritage formats.

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                                    #18
                                    Is it worth getting a blu ray player?

                                    If you've already got a large DVD collection, a decent Blu-Ray player will upscale them to look noticeably better on an HDTV. It's still no match for actual HD content but it's as good as you'll get from SD.

                                    If you're looking at a gaming option, a PS3 might be better if you're on a tight budget. It's still got most of the media hub stuff that the newer consoles have, Blu-Rays and DVDs look superb on it (Sony really brushing up their act after how shoddy the PS2 was for DVDs), games are dirt cheap and in plentiful supply and you should be able to find one for £50.

                                    I also have a player made by LG that I use to play files from a 1TB hard drive. No conversion necessary, everything I throw at it works even if it didn't say so in the manual. Handy when I can't be arsed to turn my computer on to use as a server.

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