4K UltraHD Blu-ray vs 4K Streaming | What’s the Difference? 

Nerd talk can also be translated to “properly informed”

For me, picture and sound quality are equally as important as the film itself so I will always choose Bluray or 4K Bluray over digital.

I stream movies when I travel. I play my physical media when I'm at home. Physical media makes your home theater investment worth the money you spent.

Owning the 4k or Blu Ray discs also offers the complete experience of special features, etc. A good model to follow is purchase your favourite movies or tv series on discs and then stream the rest.

Streaming is to movies what mp3 was to music, sacrificing quality for the sake of convenience

For me, the main difference is I can't relax and enjoy 4k streaming because when the quality is good you constantly worry about it buffering and I have good internet. Plus, it's never really true 4k, it's been compressed and upscalled. Physical media will always win quality wise.

Wow, you answered a ton of questions I had regarding streaming vs. 4k Blu-Ray. Lot's of things I was unsure about now make sense since you explained compression audio and video compression really well. Buying physical media is expensive, but I may start getting some of my movies on sales and even pre owned.

Your channel is a godsend. Nothing beats a 4k disc or standard blu ray disc, compared to streaming, in receiving the complete visual & audio experience!

As a longtime home theater lover one of my biggest fears is that streaming will overtake physical media rendering physical media obsolete and I'll then be stuck with this compressed garbage all because the public at large doesn't know or, worse, care how inferior streaming is to a disc.

Really appreciate you breaking this down with numbers! Can't argue with the superior quality. I can tell a HUGE difference in the audio quality on my home theater when I'm playing from discs. It is so much richer. I love physical media and really hope the studios keep producing it for us in the now niche market.

I know this video is 2 years old now but this is a very insightful explanation of the differences between streaming and physical media. I had no idea why blu-rays were still around but you taught me a lot. Don't think I'll move over completely but I'd definitely like to buy some of my favourites on blu-ray at least (4K a bit too pricey 😄). Thank you.

Lol. The answer is night and day. It's the SOUND QUALITY. Lossless vs lossy. Compressed vs uncompressed. No comparison!!

Somthing I really like about your videos is you don't over edit and the information is so solid. You're doing great work man.

Streaming is not always reliable depending on your internet, I prefer physical Disc!

I'm glad there was discussion of sound quality - I have a decent speaker setup and want the best quality possible being fed into them. Maybe a separate video, but I dislike streaming because of 'content control' - these services change around and you may or may not be able to migrate your stuff; even if you download there's the risk of hard drive failure. A disc will always be there.

I watched anime on Netflix a year ago. Yesterday I watched it at blu-ray quality 10bit 1080p on my LG C9 OLED tv. I was literally blown away. It's like when watching a 360 video on RU-vid then ramping the quality to 4K. My plan for now is i will buy a high capacity hard disk to download all the movies/series/animes at blu-ray quality while still paying for the streaming services to support that industry.

Physical Media I love buying blu ray and 4k movies physical media forever 💯

The biggest difference is that your disc is not going to disappear from your shelf, or get edited, or any of that crap. You are not at the mercy of the provider.

This channel is PERFECT. Can't get enough of it, I've learned so much haha

We cannot lose our physical media. We cannot let them get away with "You will own nothing and you will be happy."

A great video, thank you. I wish more people understood compression. They're just sold on 4k TVs but still buying DVDs or streaming their content.

It was more about audio for me during the BD days, but now with UHD & HDR, audio & picture are why I invest in physical media. Thanks for the vid, man 👍🏽

Streaming quality is really good nowadays, as long you don't know the difference, or have a small/shitty display. But even if A/V quality doesn't matter all that much to you, there is still the matter of missing out on a lot of stuff besides the mainstream that will probably never be on any streaming service. Or jump around from service to service because of licensing. I started collecting physcial media again this year and complement this with Amazon Prime Video and a month of Netflix here and there for stuff that i don't have or isn't out (and maybe won't ever be) yet on disc.

And the Hollywood studios are considering to end the production of physical media, so I’ve heard. More people are watching movies online. Picture and sound quality are not important to them. So sad.

Your presentation skills are excellent and so lucid!.. I subbed now. Thanks for sharing valuable information. A new fan from India

Great video! I have a 5.2.2 home theater setup with pretty big speakers. My biggest struggle with streaming is the audio compression. The dynamic range is crushed... It's like the dialogue and the action scenes are almost at the same level. So if I get the volume where I like it for action, then the dialogue moments are way to loud.

As a movie and hard core physical media buff, found ur video extremely informative and interesting. .kudos dude..

I have a 100mb/s connection and I always prefer my Oppo 205 and discs over streaming.

Man keep it up don't stop your videos are helpful and joyful

Loved the video. Thanks for doing this topic.

I stream 4k when watching Amazon (no 4k upcharge) and the biggest difference from a Blu-ray to 4k streaming is the benefits of HDR. I still notice the upgrade in depth and color.

I'm sad when they put Dolby vision on streaming but you can only get regular HDR10 on disk 😢 The Dolby vision version often looks better on my oled tv regardless of disk vs streaming... But the audio is always better on disc 🙂

Great video. I have always thought the bitrate on discs Blu-ray and 4K will always be better than streaming. Physical Media all the way the way.

I'm new to youre channel and I love it. Very informative!

I was wondering the same, thanks for clarifiying, great video...:)

Don’t have to convince me...I’m a believer...been tryin to tell me friends for the longest that high end physical copy discs are the way to go...your sound bar and other audio equip will thank you!

The bitrate of standard blu ray (1080p) maxes out at 40 mbps for video. Most movies on blu ray average around 25 mpbs. Its impossible for a standard blu ray to have a bitrate of 50 to 80 mbps.

Hi Jeff, the sad fact is... most people don't care about quality. Most people think that having physical media is a pain because of storage space. Myself, I would rather have the discs and deal with the space they take up. Netflix is great for previewing a movie or TV series to see if it is worth the purchase. I always hated buying a turd, wasting money on crappy movies. Anyway, long live physical media. Good video Jeff !!!!! ✌✌✌

Great video, Jeff! The AV quality between 4K Blu-Ray (& standard Blu-Ray) compared to streaming have been night and night day to me. Especially since I've updated my home cinema and TV recently. It's made me a HUGE fan of physical media. Plus, from what you said, it sounds like 4K & Blu-Ray discs will surpass streaming quality for the next 10-20 years, maybe more. Nevermind the advantages of owning a copy, having beautiful artwork on your shelves, etc. I love your channel! Thank you for doing what you do!

Nice video man. Very useful info. Keep it up!

I have always found the physical blu-ray to be superior for the picture quality compare to the streaming services. The bit rates ratio is the reason. Streaming is an alternative way to watch a movie and that way we can access a lot of titles and maybe we can find a movie that we will love a lot. That is when purschasing the title on Blu-ray or Blu-ray 4K will help you enjoy that title to the fullest and also owning an either 7.1 compatible Home Theater or a Dolby Atmos one also comes in line. I own only a 7.1 but when I compare my experience from streaming wich are Dolby Digital Plus (a lossly formart) I can only get a 5.1 soundtrack. When I buy a movie on blu-ray, I can get the 7.1 DTS-HD master audio or a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack with no compression. Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and the others are for me an access to titles I can experience and then if I like them I then buy them and then I don't have to worry about a title to be deleted from any streaming service after that.

Very interesting, thanks for explaining that all!

Great video man. Always enjoy your videos.

Love your video you have the best movie reviews and you should consider to do unboxing blu rays and 4k movies love your commentary.

Please educate me! This video is 100% why I purchased a new Sony 4k UHD Blu-ray player! And oh my gosh even my wife is happy! I am over the moon…It’s amazing. Question- A little confused, what do I select for audio, Dolby Atmos or Dolby TrueHD? I have 7.2.2. Thank you for your time and for being amazing!

LOVE THIS CHANNEL! AWESOME INFO!!!

This guy's knowledge is amazing !!!! Thanks for posting !!!

This video definitely helped me understand things, I got the LG 65-inch Nano cell 9-series which is a really nice TV and I stream with the Roku Ultra hardwired to my modem and the HDMI cable to the TV obviously for HDR it sucks I have the best internet speed and they're still artifacting and distortion, definitely going to use it for just general streaming in HD but going to go and buy a 4K Blu-ray player and start collecting DVDs again

Been waiting on this video thanks man

Best video man thanks for info Keep them coming....

Agree with you 100%. Physical Media will always beat the quality of streamed content. Bandwidth is a cost that the providers keep an eye on for profitability. So with them it comes down to how much can they compress it before the viewers start noticing the artifacts. Some of the higher end displays are getting pretty good at fixing some of the issues but you cannot make gold out of lead. If the information is not there in the first place the correction algorithm is making a best guess at what it should be. Being that physical media takes up space as you collection grows i have invested in a Kaleidescape system. It offers the same, sometimes better quality than the original BluRay or 4K disk. They are not limited by the physical disk capacity. It is not a cheap investment but has its benefits in the long run. For example if you have a BluRay movie in your system and they release a remastered 4K version with Dolby Atmos Sound. Instead of having to purchase a complete new disk. They have the option for you to download the 4K version usually at a reduced cost compared to the Physical disk. If you are serious about Home Theater movie viewing check it out. www.kaleidescape.com/

I was waiting for this vidoe for a very long time🙂

Dont exaggerate the numbers effect on quality....7 or 10 times the bit rate will not transfer into an experience that is 7 or 10 times better.....just like how we are approaching a resolution on tvs with diminishing return. Also about color banding that will still be there depending on your tv no matter if you use disc or streaming....I know The Martian has it in the skyline depending on your set this is a processing limitation not just bandwidth.

Thanks very much for these videos. I've always stated the fact that the audio from Netflix is very weak. I would say audio with Amazon Prime video is so much better and dynamic.

Great video brother! Real important info👍💯

Truly excellent learning for me. Thankyou brother.

Good stuff bro! 🤘🏼

I'm glad he threw in the info about Digital Copies towards the end; I was gonna ask about whether that would possibly be identical quality to a physical disc.

All video has compression. Blu-ray’s increased data rate does not necessarily equal “multiple times better quality.” Less noise in demanding scenes yes, but have realistic expectations for potential quality gains from physical media.

I set up streaming services for people for a living I always recommend ethernet over power line adaptors and chromecast ultras, it works sooo much better then wifi

My only issue with physical media on Blu-ray or 4k it’s not releasing titles from films that are available on DVD, which gives stream the upper hand by delivering titles on HD that are not available to purchase physically. We’re already 13 years into the Blu-ray lifetime and we still missing a lot of movie titles that were released on DVD from VHS within a 5 year period.

I'm sorry if someone else already clarified, but you are very wrong with much of your analysis. Yes, Netflix has a much lower bandwidth for streaming than a 4K player would provide. Color banding has more to do with 8 bit vs 10 bit (or higher sources.) color space. Also, every digital video stream is compressed currently - including the 4K disc. The codec matters the most here. Using a bit rate of 15 Mb/s with a VP8 codec, versus H.265 is night and day. In other words, bit rate is just one factor. A bit rate of 20 Mb/s with H.265 is far superior to a H.264 at 40 Mb/s (Most streaming services use H.264) Also, as I mentioned before, the color space is another factor. A 10 bit color space is far superior to an 8 bit when it comes to banding. Netflix mostly uses 8 bit. The biggest reason why streaming services aren't as good (video) is partially the bit rate, but it's also the codec and the color space / bits. It's a lot more complicated than just bits per sec. Lastly, you can absolutely download files that are just as good at the 4K discs. I have dozens of 4K discs, and when I view the files, they are rarely more than 50 GB in size. Once you remove unwanted audio, they are often no more than 30-40 GB in size. You are right Netflix and streaming services aren't as good as the native disc, but your reasons are incorrect / lacking critical details. I'm happy to help explain more if you wish. Not trying to be an ass - I like your channel and just want to make it better. Let me know if you want any more details.

I dont't mean to take a stab, this is just my OCD talking... BUT, you're not "getting compression" because of the low bit-rate, it's the other way around; the bit-rates are low because the stream is heavily compressed. and this is directly related to the amount of data that needs to be transferred. otherwise, this video is great explanation of the differences between streaming and physical media.

Great job as always 👌

According to a handful of sources the BD max. video bitrate is 40 Mbps (some say 48) + audio (56 Mbps as a total), not 60-80 Mbps. And video on UHD-BD is 100 Mbps + audio.

I'm just getting into blu-ray. It's so similar to why I collect CDs for high quality audio instead of streaming from Spotify. I mean, I still use spotify, but I have a giant cd collection for higher quality, lossless audio. ANd it's so wild to get into blu ray and realize how similar it is... the streaming services compress everything... and here I am getting into physical media to get a higher quality sound and picture. Makes sense. Great channel btw.

I really enjoyed this video. I started buying 4K on Amazon for a number of reasons, but for my fav movies I will continue purchasing disks. Thank you!

Thanks for expanding on this issue. I had a RU-vidr argue with me that the sound quality for streaming is the same as dvd and Blu-ray disc

You are amazing, you really change my mentality about home teacher. Greetings from Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦

For movies I’ve gone mostly streaming from iTunes. For 4K films I get deals thru codes and wait for sales and never pay more than 10. Watch via my 4K Apple TV. I just bought Red Heat in 4K for $5. Good flick but would never pay $25 for it. Are the disks better sure, but I’m running out of room, still buy TV shows on disk and have a big collection. Pretty confident Apples not going anywhere and now there’s movie anywhere.

does all of this streaming from apple tv also apply to movies purchased with a digital copy if they are streamed?

@FilmsAtHome. Sir, i have a question for you: if Top Gun was the demo tape for VHS as The Matrix was to DVD, what do you consider to be THE demo discs blu-ray and UHD?

Jeff, I'm a new subscriber to your channel. Which 4K Blu-ray player do you recommend for the best experience?

Great video, very informative. I had no idea how big a difference there was between physical media and streaming. Oh and as far as I’m concerned, the more nerd talk the better. Lol

thank you for this!

most people cannot hear the difference in audio, most people don't have a really sophisticated sound system to utilized the lossless audio track on bluray. even people who have a great sound system usually need a great ear to hear the difference in audio quality difference. same with picture, most people dont have a really amazing tv with amazing picture quality. although picture quality is easier to tell... there is a point where you can't tell the difference between a REALLY GOOD LOSSY and lossless video.

If I’m watching off of a flash drive, would the mb/s be a factor? I’m using a usb 3.1 thumb drive with a mb/s read speed of 90mb/s

Long live physical media!!!

Thanks for the video, great stuff. Regarding your router speed...you need to upgrade your router equipment. If you have 150mb/s download you should also get that on the 5Ghz band of your router and you don't need to be sitting right next to your router to get that speed. Also make sure that your modem is capable of 150mb/s as well, sounds like it is as you were getting that via ethernet. Next time for your video, some comparison shots between streaming 4k vs physical 4k disc would be great to drive home your point.

I have a question : For streaming with the inbuild video-processor from the tv.. What difference is there between tv's.. I always read aboout meditek processors.. video-processors. If bitrate in streaming goes uo to higher than 25,.. Maybe even to 50 or 60... Will the mediatek-processors going to fail... I mean,.. it will not always be the capacity of the internet-connection ! With higher bitrate the internal processor will maybe become too slow.. My brothers desktop cannot even play youtube video's in Full HD.. I always have to lower the settings to 720p.. Otherwise the sound and image go out of sync and the image starts stuttering..

Excellent video!!

What's your thoughts on using your Xbox One X as your 4K dvd player? It's the highest console from Xbox in regards to 4k

what would you recomend , like if you have to rent a 4h uhd /atmos movie, are they alll /platforms/ the same??

I stream for just basic tv watching and background noise. but when i ready to watch a movie and have that theater experience i whip out my 4k disc collection and get the most out of my movie experience.

Great video. One thing though: you may want to invest in a better/beefier router. I get easily 280 Mbps on WiFi, but that was only after I bought a router, connected it via ethernet to the Comcast modem, and then my speeds skyrocketed. Of course, it will depend on how far your SmartTV or Apple TV is from the router as well... (Your receiving end also needs to support the newest WiFi technologies as well...)

I don't know if you or someone else can help me out or give me a little insight. So I have my sony ubp-x700 hooked up to my Sony oled passing through my soundbar. Last night I hit the display button while watching a blu-ray and it showed about 4 mbps. To me that sounds very low going by what was explained in this video. Any ideas 9n why that is. Thanks in advance to anyone that may have an explanation. I just want to make sure I'm getting the best experience possible.

I live in a small town where I can only get 10mbs from my ISP, it sometimes struggles with 1080p. It would die with a 4k stream. There is a faster ISP in my town but will not put a cable down buy my house for thousands of dollars. Plus I still like to open the Blueray package and seeing the movie's main menu.

I’m starting a digital library on Vudu which format do I select? I have a regular 1080 Samsung flat screen. Do I buy SD, HD, or 4kUHD? I don’t wanna have to buy twice. I will eventually upgrade Tv. For now, I would like to buy UHD digitals but I don’t want any compression to degrade the picture on my 1080 TV in the meantime.

I buy the 4K disc if I really love the movie and want the highest quality but I’d like to see side by side comparisons or a blind test where you don’t know whether you’re watching Apple TV 4K or a 4K disc. HDTV guy did a good comparison.

Great Video subscribed. How does Netflix compare to VuDu 4k?

Thanks for the video enjoy it.

Great video. Just got a series x and tried a couple 4K blurays and I noticed right away the difference from iTunes 4K.

It doesn't have to be "nerd talk", knowledge is awesome! It doesn't have to be a negative thing. Great video!

I don't recall last time i was very interested on a video. man you rock! I thought a good internet could compete a little bit with physical 4k, but I guess is a question of common sense, that anything on air is not 100% pure and we will lose audio or video quality. At the end, it's a question of which movies really worth to buy and which ones on streaming.

Great talk!

Thanks for this video! I’ve been toying with the idea of converting my Blu-ray collection to a digital format. This made the decision easy. I’ll stick with converting the DVDs.

I always just bought movies on Blu-ray discs that are worthy of watching over again. I haven't upgraded to a 4K player yet....what I'm saying is just buy your favorite movies on physical media it's not necessary to watch everything 4k discs or in 4k streaming...1080p HD is just fine for shows movies...

I'm a little late to this video, but I compared the first few minutes of 4k UHD Bluray Star Wars (A New Hope) to Disney+ the other day. Just the first 10 minutes. I think everyone instinctively knows the blu-ray will be better, but the question is 'How much and should I care.' Here's what I noticed, and I've tried to put it in less technical terms than the video because while I understand the difference between bitrates, there is a point of diminishing returns. (Note, I don't have a Dolby Vision TV, so I viewed this in HDR10 on Disney+, same with the Blu-ray): 1) If you pause on the same frame with the blu-ray vs Disney, you might be able to tell the difference. If you get really close the TV you'll notice more detail on the blu-ray of course, but there's no denying that the stream does a really good job with it's limited bandwidth. This similarity extends to scenes without much motion. 2) If there is motion in the scene then this is where the blu-ray really pulled ahead. A scene with rebel soldiers running down a hall while the camera panned stayed pretty clean on the blu-ray, but was quite blurred on the stream. So if you're getting movies with lots of motion then this will really make the difference. If it's a fairly static drama or something then I honestly think the streaming is of sufficient quality. Note: I've said motion, instead of action, because some action can actually be quite static from a frame-to-frame point of view, but I think the majority of cases you can equate action to motion. 3) Sound. Yes. Everyone loves to talk sound with these things. I noticed that the UHD seemed louder at the start of the stream. To those un-aware the human ear instinctively perceives 'louder' as 'better' (within reason). To account for this I upped the volume on the stream. A few minutes later the stream was louder than the blu-ray. Ultimately the stream simply had less dynamic range (difference between loudest and softest parts) compared to the blu-ray, and just... flattened everything. Now: An important note on audio. You are definitely not going to hear the difference in quality on a pair of iPhone headphones. I doubt you'll hear the difference on most soundbars, but if you've got a receiver and at least a semi-decent set of speakers (read: more expensive than a sound bar), Even without heights/atmos, then you'll definitely appreciate the difference. Of course - you already know that because you have a receiver and semi-decent speakers that cost more than a soundbar and about the same as a car :P

I am into Movies, I am into Home Theatre Movie experience, Subscribed.

I understand that all the your points still apply but what is your opinion of Disney+ 4k UHD streaming compared to Netflix and Amazon? In particular the Marvel titles included in the Disney+ library since Disney+ has debuted after your video was uploaded?