4K Blu-ray player or 4K Apple TV

[srk87]

Hello All,

Recently I am upgrading my home theatre. For movies, I am confused between a 4K Blu ray player and Apple TV.
Is 4K Blu ray player is better option in terms of sound & picture quality or convinience of streaming from Apple TV is fine? Any suggestions?

Also for 4k Blu ray player, is Panasonic UB820 available in India? Thanks

 

[Amarendra]

Hello All,

Recently I am upgrading my home theatre. For movies, I am confused between a 4K Blu ray player and Apple TV.
Is 4K Blu ray player is better option in terms of sound & picture quality or convinience of streaming from Apple TV is fine? Any suggestions?

Also for 4k Blu ray player, is Panasonic UB820 available in India? Thanks

Depends on your source and streaming platform. If you don’t plan to use discs or external hdd then firetv 4K is also fine. If you need hdd connection then apple or fire tv will not do. You will then need something like nvidia shield

 

[Srinivasa Rao]

Hello All,

Recently I am upgrading my home theatre. For movies, I am confused between a 4K Blu ray player and Apple TV.
Is 4K Blu ray player is better option in terms of sound & picture quality or convinience of streaming from Apple TV is fine? Any suggestions?

Also for 4k Blu ray player, is Panasonic UB820 available in India? Thanks

Nvidia shield tv pro is a great option I believe as you can stream OTT apps as well as connect external hard drive all in 4k and Dolby Atmos/Dolby Vision. Hope this helps. All the best.

 

[puthuraja]

Dear Bro, Nothing can equal a physical BluRay disc.... Streamings are acceptable but not great compared to original physical sources, SPECIALLY FOR AUDIO... Lastly, its what I feel and it's you to decide.

 

[k2max6]

If you intend on buying physical discs then Panasonic ub820 is the perfect choice.
Also depends what kind of projector / tv are you upgrading to in your home theatre.

 

[sijusid]

Hello... here's my 2 cents.

There is absolutely no argument in terms of sound and video quality that physical discs are always better than streaming.
However, whether you will appreciate or hear/see that upgrade on physical media depends largely on your system. A modest Atmos setup won't be able to deliver that true performance upgrade of an Bluray disc.
In my setup, there is a considerable difference between the audio and video (especially audio) when compared between itunes movie and physical media. Netflix and prime will be either equal or lower to itunes. The biggest difference is in bass.

In india, 4k Bluray players are very expensive. The pana ub820 i think is not available. Even if you get a 4k player somehow, the cost of owing a 4k disc is also higher. Itunes movie is available comparitively cheaper.
So if you want to have the best audio and video, there is a considerable investment required.

So, if you want the cheapest access to legitimate 4k movies to buy, itunes is more often than not, the best bet. If you are looking at streaming movies, there are other options like firetv, android box, nvidia shield etc,

 

[srk87]

Nvidia shield tv pro is a great option I believe as you can stream OTT apps as well as connect external hard drive all in 4k and Dolby Atmos/Dolby Vision. Hope this helps. All the best.

Nvidia shield tv pro is a great option I believe as you can stream OTT apps as well as connect external hard drive all in 4k and Dolby Atmos/Dolby Vision. Hope this helps. All the best.

Thanks for all your responses, I will consider Nvidia shield. However I was considering Apple TV primarily for iTunes movies collection .

 

[srk87]

Hello... here's my 2 cents.

There is absolutely no argument in terms of sound and video quality that physical discs are always better than streaming.
However, whether you will appreciate or hear/see that upgrade on physical media depends largely on your system. A modest Atmos setup won't be able to deliver that true performance upgrade of an Bluray disc.
In my setup, there is a considerable difference between the audio and video (especially audio) when compared between itunes movie and physical media. Netflix and prime will be either equal or lower to itunes. The biggest difference is in bass.

In india, 4k Bluray players are very expensive. The pana ub820 i think is not available. Even if you get a 4k player somehow, the cost of owing a 4k disc is also higher. Itunes movie is available comparitively cheaper.
So if you want to have the best audio and video, there is a considerable investment required.

So, if you want the cheapest access to legitimate 4k movies to buy, itunes is more often than not, the best bet. If you are looking at streaming movies, there are other options like firetv, android box, nvidia shield etc,

Thanks for such a detailed explanation.

At first let me highlight my upgrade path. I recently bought LG C9 and for the fronts I will be using KEF LS50W + R2C (Center). For surround I have not yet finalised, will audition few speakers. Considering between, Cambridge minx and Monitor audio radius 45.

For now I am quite sure to settle for 5.1 and not move to Atmos setup, primarily due to WAF

For movies I am good with Netflix as of now. But depending on future upgradation, either I will go for Apple TV - convenience of iTunes movies and relatively cheap or Blu- ray player - better quality and expensive (4K discs).

Two questions, if I decide to settle for UB 820 player, is sourcing from US only option?
Or are there any equivalent players without sacrificing much on picture and sound quality.

With my new setup is difference between iTunes movies and 4K disc going to be significant?

Thanks everyone for your responses.

 

[sijusid]

Ub820 i think is also available in uk. The us version will be 110volts where as the uk version will be 230volts. LG up970 is a good budget option, which is available quite cheap in Singapore.

Your speakers and TV are very good. I suppose you will be getting equally good AVR and subwoofer as that also plays a major role in audio.

 

[srk87]

Ub820 i think is also available in uk. The us version will be 110volts where as the uk version will be 230volts. LG up970 is a good budget option, which is available quite cheap in Singapore.

Your speakers and TV are very good. I suppose you will be getting equally good AVR and subwoofer as that also plays a major role in audio.

Thanks for the alternate option. For avr I have considered Denon x3600h and subwoofer I already have SVS sb1000. As of now I will be using only one and next year will add one more subwoofer.

 

[vikas pathak]

Xbox one S is a very good option. It can play cd,dvd,bluray, you can also stream netflix,youtube,prime video.It can play 4khdr as well dolby atmos.

I had apple tv4k,firestick & denon bluray also. Audio quality in streaming is far superior to apple tv & fire stick. Sound thru bluray is as good as my denon 2012 ud bluray.

 

[k2max6]

Thanks for such a detailed explanation.

At first let me highlight my upgrade path. I recently bought LG C9 and for the fronts I will be using KEF LS50W + R2C (Center). For surround I have not yet finalised, will audition few speakers. Considering between, Cambridge minx and Monitor audio radius 45.

For now I am quite sure to settle for 5.1 and not move to Atmos setup, primarily due to WAF

For movies I am good with Netflix as of now. But depending on future upgradation, either I will go for Apple TV - convenience of iTunes movies and relatively cheap or Blu- ray player - better quality and expensive (4K discs).

Two questions, if I decide to settle for UB 820 player, is sourcing from US only option?
Or are there any equivalent players without sacrificing much on picture and sound quality.

With my new setup is difference between iTunes movies and 4K disc going to be significant?

Thanks everyone for your responses.

You said you got the C9 and would rely on Netflix for movies; Netflix doesn’t have any Hollywood titles in 4K.
If you want a cheaper route than buying disks then apple tv 4k is a good option. You’ll get a huge collection of 4K dolby vision & atmos movies. Atmos isn’t needed but you’ll get Dolby Vision.
P.S create a US iTunes account, they have thrice the indian collection, plus you can get free/cheap codes for movies from a couple of fb groups which can be redeemed on itunes.
They don’t geolocate.

 

[SaurabhK]

I need a usa itunes . Soeaking of netflix .. would recommend using apple tv 4k for streaming netflix as well as apple tv video and audio quality even for netflix is far suoerior to in built LG tv app. Please invest in apple tv 4k. Moreover apple tv plus is jaw dropping quality. Beats everything ibhave ever seen.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Why not both? You could be selective in buying discs of movies which you expect to see reruns of and for others use streaming.

 

[abhishekdas]

Xbox One X can play 4K Blue-ray and all other physical discs. You can also watch Netflix and other online streaming services in 4K HDR.

Lastly, you can also play games in 4K HDR.

 

[SaurabhK]

For sound quality you cannot beat a physical disk as streaming will have it baggage of jitter and other noise.

 

[srk87]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Finally I have decided, as of now I will settle for Apple TV 4K. Later, say after few months or weeks , will buy a blu-ray player. This will help me to enjoy the best of both worlds.

One more question, in terms of blu-ray player, is there a significant difference between standard vs high-end player vs console (say between sony ubp x700 vs Panasonic UB820 vs Xbox One x).

 

[vikas pathak]

As already told in my earlier post I had all three apple tv4k, xbox as well high end blueray.

In sound quality xbox is far superior to apple tv 4k & almost as good as blueray. Picture quality is also great.

 

[k2max6]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Finally I have decided, as of now I will settle for Apple TV 4K. Later, say after few months or weeks , will buy a blu-ray player. This will help me to enjoy the best of both worlds.

One more question, in terms of blu-ray player, is there a significant difference between standard vs high-end player vs console (say between sony ubp x700 vs Panasonic UB820 vs Xbox One x).

I haven’t experienced it first hand but I’ve heard from a lot of people that UB820 is the best there is. But I don’t think one can notice a considerable difference unless compared side by side.

 

[SaurabhK]

Blue ray is great if you have a bundle to spend on movies