Electronics

The Benefits of Blu-Ray Over Streaming Services

maxresdefaultWith Smart TVs and their 1080p resolution becoming more and more affordable, people are signing up left and right for services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon for their home entertainment and movies experiences.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t invest in a Blu-Ray player. Blu-Ray players still offer the best combination of audio/visual experience with movie watching experience. A lot of Blu-Ray players also have a smart option, where you can stream as well, for an added bonus.

Here is a little bit more detail why Blu-Ray still has its perks:

  • Blu-Ray offers more bonus content compared to streaming videos. That means if you are a true movie buff you get a lot of extra great features by watching the film on Blu-Ray. That includes bonus content, alternate endings, bloopers, director commentary and so much more. All built right into the Blu-Ray disc. In addition, many Blu-Ray discus offer a digital copy of the movie so you can also view it on portable devices such as your tablet or iPad.
  • No Wi-Fi or Internet connection is needed for a movie to be watched using a Blu-Ray player. As long as you have power, you have the ability to access the content on the disk. That means less potential of the movie freezing or having glitches as everyone knows Wi-Fi at times can be spotty. In addition, if you are one that likes to watch movies on the go, for example on an airplane, you don’t need to take the time ahead of time to download the movie to your mobile device. You simply bring your portable Blu-Ray player with you, pop in the disc and hit play.
  • Blu-Ray rentals are more affordable compared to renting streaming movies. In many cases, you can rent a Blu-Ray for as little as $2. In contrast, streaming services charge monthly subscriptions that provide you with a lot of content you may not be interested in. With Blu-Ray you only pay for what you want to watch.
  • The audio on a Blu-Ray outperforms streaming movies. While streaming services have definitely improved their audio quality in the past few years, Blu-Ray offers uncompressed multichannel audio. That includes even soundtracks that have up to 7.1 channels of uncompressed audio. In contrast, to achieve that type of audio with a streaming service could take a lot of bandwidth. Additionally, you will almost never find DTS-HD master audio using a streaming service. That can make a huge difference watching a great action or adventure movie in your “mancave” or living room.
  • Picture quality is still better on Blu-Ray. While today, streaming services offer 1080p resolution just like Blu-Ray players, comparable televisions will still show a better picture that uses Blu-Ray. That is because streaming movies still require a lot more compression when being delivered via the Internet. Those compressions can downgrade the picture in areas such as softness and banding. Additionally, a Blu-Ray disc is capable of holding multiple gigs of data so less compression is needed. If your network is slow you will for sure see a difference in your viewing experience.

So, while streaming and on-demand services are becoming more and more popular mainly because of convenience, watching a show or movie via a Blu-Ray player will still provide for the best overall and enjoyable viewing experience.

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