expired Posted by neomatrixviper • Mar 25, 2025
Mar 25, 2025 3:07 AM
Item 1 of 1
expired Posted by neomatrixviper • Mar 25, 2025
Mar 25, 2025 3:07 AM
4K Physical Movies: Speed [Blu-ray] [4K UHD]
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The audio from streaming is a significant/major drop in quality for anything else.
If a soundbar is good enough for you, you should just stick to it.
No reason to fix something that isn't broken for you.
This should not be surprising, a soundbar isn't designed to compete with a traditional setup.
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank Fenix33
This is from Grok AI:
When comparing audio bitrate in streaming versus physical UHD Blu-ray, there's a significant difference due to the delivery method and storage capacity. Let's break it down:
Streaming Audio Bitrate
Streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+ typically use compressed audio formats to optimize bandwidth. For UHD (4K) content, the audio is often delivered in formats like Dolby Digital Plus (DD+), which includes Atmos support. Bitrates for DD+ usually range from 384 kbps to 768 kbps, depending on the service and your internet speed. Some platforms, like Apple TV or Tidal, might offer higher-quality options like lossless audio (e.g., ALAC or FLAC), but even then, bitrates rarely exceed 1,500 kbps for stereo or 9,000 kbps for multichannel (like Dolby TrueHD Atmos) due to compression and bandwidth limits. The actual bitrate you experience also depends on your connection—adaptive streaming can drop it lower if your internet struggles.
UHD Blu-ray Audio Bitrate
Physical UHD Blu-ray discs, on the other hand, have much more room to work with—up to 100 GB of storage on a single disc. This allows for uncompressed or minimally compressed audio formats like Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio, both of which support Atmos or DTS:X. Bitrates here can soar to 18,000 kbps (18 Mbps) or more for multichannel audio, especially with Atmos overhead channels. For example, a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Atmos track might average 6,000–9,000 kbps for the base layer alone, with peaks pushing higher when you factor in dynamic range and object-based sound. Lossless PCM is another option on some discs, though rarer, and that can hit 24,000 kbps for 7.1 at 24-bit/96kHz.
Key Differences
Compression: Streaming relies heavily on lossy compression (e.g., DD+), discarding some audio data to save bandwidth. UHD Blu-ray often uses lossless formats, preserving every detail from the studio master.
Bitrate Ceiling: Streaming caps out at a fraction of Blu-ray's potential—think 1–9 Mbps versus 18–24 Mbps for high-end disc audio.
Consistency: Streaming quality fluctuates with your internet; Blu-ray delivers the full bitrate every time, assuming your player and audio setup can handle it.
Experience: For casual listeners, streaming's compressed audio is fine, especially with good headphones or a soundbar. But for audiophiles with high-end AV receivers and surround systems, Blu-ray's uncompressed tracks reveal more depth, clarity, and spatial accuracy—think tighter bass, sharper transients, and a wider soundstage.
Edit: found exactly what I was looking from a review
"Movie looks great in 4k. Looks very filmik and natural from that era. No silly "enhancement"."
I think I'll pass.
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However, if I got the itch to melt my eyes are ears, then I go downstairs to watch on my Sony 85X95K screen on a 7-speaker Klipsch Reference Premier system with a SVS PC-2000 sub and then its not merely "good", it is absolutely awesome.
NGL - the difference in picture quality and audio quality is not just noticeable, its night and day. With that said, absent having the disposable income, that night and day difference aint sufficient to warrant going full out. Maybe, just maybe, if I had a full ATMOS system and OLED screen maybe the PQ and AQ would be sufficiently better. And even then I suppose Id need proper acoustic treatments and a near-perfect dimensional space and placement to make it worth it.
I bought the old FHD set of seasons 1-7 and even that is superior to the 4k streamed version on Max. Higher bitrate and all.
What kind of 4k disc player are you using? Did you purchase the individual components and set up your 13.2 system, or was it already in your house when you moved in? Have you calibrated the system? Have you considered acoustical treating your home theater?
Your statement reminds me of someone who owns a Ferrari but can't tell the difference between running it on low or high octane fuel.
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Major streamers are streaming to your device at 20-25mbit max on 4k content. Compared to a 4k blu-ray which is going to be about 40-50mbit from your player to the tv.
Thats why there is a very clear difference quality between streaming and physical media.