1080 vs 720 vs 540

[terminaltrip421]

As someone once said "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". But also the quality of the original source material makes a big difference. I find some DVD's look really good while some Blu Ray and 4K discs are disappointing. Like they say in the computer field "Garbage in Garbage out". I am often surprised by the video contradictions.

I am surprised that even at my advanced age I can still appreciate good quality 4K streaming or discs. I think that in 2022 the minimum acceptable quality for HD is 1080p. Of course there are exceptions, especially for older movies, only available in lower resolutions. In my opinion Video Streaming services or cable companies broadcasting in less then 1080p are cheating their customers. I have always believed in owning discs over streaming but lately I am very invested in both. There are many movies that I have purchased on VHS, DVD, Blu Ray, Streaming and 4K (I am not old enough for 8 Track).

My biggest TV is an LG 60 inch 3D Smart TV. Just my luck 3D TV's are are no longer being made and I have a lot of 3D Discs (Thanks so much Samsung!). The constant evolution of big screen TV's and lower prices make it much more practical to want higher resolution video quality.

Shame on Amazon and Netflix for raising prices when they are making record profits during a pandemic!

not only should minimum acceptable resolution be 1080p it should have a minimum bitrate of say nothing less than say 10Mb/s IMO. HD stands for high definition after all yet the bar has gotten lower and lower with youtube and social media and of course netflix famously claiming that their employees couldn't tell the difference when they introduced a "new encoding method" that has left everything of their incredibly disappointing.

 

[donaf]

I don't think Hogans Heroes will ever be released on Blu Ray (unless it has already?) I am fine with the handbraked episodes I made from my DVD set...It fits for the time those episodes were made. I also know there are A LOT of poor DVD and BLU RAY movie and TV show transfers. I remember being excited to get my hands on a Highlander Blu Ray, only to find out that transfer was horrible. I think one would need to do a bunch of digital cleaning and other fine tuning to make a lot of older filmed movies into great HD and UHD versions.

You can get the Blu-ray version of Hogan's Heroes from Amazon-Germany. My son got the entire series (all in English) shipped to USA. The box set comes in German, but the episodes are in English. The quality was stellar (great remastering)! Not sure why they'd release it there and not in the USA... sort of ironic!

 

[DQ]

not only should minimum acceptable resolution be 1080p it should have a minimum bitrate of say nothing less than say 10Mb/s IMO. HD stands for high definition after all yet the bar has gotten lower and lower with youtube and social media and of course netflix famously claiming that their employees couldn't tell the difference when they introduced a "new encoding method" that has left everything of their incredibly disappointing.

I disagree. You watch a movie or a show for the story. Sure, some things can show some beauty others don't and that's where the quality pays off some but at the end of the day you don't watch for that.

 

[Paul W. H]

To me at the end of the day the resolution is all about how you are going to view it.

I have a 32" TV in my bedroom (I watch about an hour each night) and a 52" in my lounge where most TV is viewed.

All my films and TV Programs are on a NAS system and for films 1920 x 1080 is minimum and TV Programs a little less is acceptable.

If I was viewing on a phone or tablet a lower resolution would be OK

My logic is download the highest resolution you can and if you need a lower resolution use a conversion app.

Some of the resolutions offered by providers make me scratch my head as for what gismo they are intended for.

 

[Jimc115]

You must be referring to the German Blu Ray set? That is the only one I have found. Thanks

Yeah...picked them up on amazon.de. Why only a Germany release...who knows, but they are region free and still a good price.

 

[Jimc115]

Yes sir, I understand how NAS's work. I just don't prioritize building out my NAS because I have other responsibilities where my money goes first. Large HD's are pricey.

I didn't intend on insulting you....I assume you know how a NAS works. Some can use external storage...others can't. That was my only point. I also understand costs are high. I made a conscious decision to stock up on 8tb My Books when they were selling at $119. Currently, they are still at $175, so I made a good choice.

I started out downloading lower quality also and eventually ended up replacing everything with higher quality. It's all personal choice....as you pretty much stated.
I know many people that only download SD quality because of storage costs, so I understand your point there also. We all have responsibilities.

I tend to agree with Paul W.H. above...start with the higher resolution. You can always convert it to a smaller size, lower quality later if you need to.

 

[Jimc115]

not only should minimum acceptable resolution be 1080p it should have a minimum bitrate of say nothing less than say 10Mb/s IMO. HD stands for high definition after all yet the bar has gotten lower and lower with youtube and social media and of course netflix famously claiming that their employees couldn't tell the difference when they introduced a "new encoding method" that has left everything of their incredibly disappointing.

Not just Netflix...Amazon has done it also and they have no excuse...owning their own CDN.

 

[DQ]

I didn't intend on insulting you....I assume you know how a NAS works. Some can use external storage...others can't. That was my only point. I also understand costs are high. I made a conscious decision to stock up on 8tb My Books when they were selling at $119. Currently, they are still at $175, so I made a good choice.

I started out downloading lower quality also and eventually ended up replacing everything with higher quality. It's all personal choice....as you pretty much stated.
I know many people that only download SD quality because of storage costs, so I understand your point there also. We all have responsibilities.

I tend to agree with Paul W.H. above...start with the higher resolution. You can always convert it to a smaller size, lower quality later if you need to.

No offense taken. I was just establishing that I understood. I was not trying to be snarky but I can see where it could have come off that way.

But you hit the nail on the head. The whole thing is really preference which tends to be a combo of things like source material, size of files and cost. There is no wrong way. I think most of us have the same goals but we tend to all get the a bit different and there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[Jimc115]

No offense taken. I was just establishing that I understood. I was not trying to be snarky but I can see where it could have come off that way.

But you hit the nail on the head. The whole thing is really preference which tends to be a combo of things like source material, size of files and cost. There is no wrong way. I think most of us have the same goals but we tend to all get the a bit different and there is nothing wrong with that.

Glad you didn't take it the wrong way.....and you are correct...I'm just happy not to have to pop a disk in every time I want to watch something. Don't get me wrong...If I want to watch a 4K movie...I'll put in a disk and watch it on the 4K TV. I'm not going to store 4K rips though.....maybe when H266 comes out, but I don't see H265 quality as any better than 1080p.

 

[DQ]

Glad you didn't take it the wrong way.....and you are correct...I'm just happy not to have to pop a disk in every time I want to watch something. Don't get me wrong...If I want to watch a 4K movie...I'll put in a disk and watch it on the 4K TV. I'm not going to store 4K rips though.....maybe when H266 comes out, but I don't see H265 quality as any better than 1080p.

The differences between folks are very interesting. I actually have a small collection of UHD rips. And I do them lossless.

 

[terminaltrip421]

I disagree. You watch a movie or a show for the story. Sure, some things can show some beauty others don't and that's where the quality pays off some but at the end of the day you don't watch for that.

apparently you missed the part where I was referring specifically to what constitutes 'HD.'

I don't care what anyone thinks 'looks good' I typically download bare bone 720p encodes if it's just to watch. I'm saying as a standard "HD" doesn't mean shit without adequate parameters and those parameters should be implicit given the name; definition. if skin textures are smooth or blacks are blocky or motion blurred clearly it's lacking definition.

 

[DQ]

apparently you missed the part where I was referring specifically to what constitutes 'HD.'

I don't care what anyone thinks 'looks good' I typically download bare bone 720p encodes if it's just to watch. I'm saying as a standard "HD" doesn't mean shit without adequate parameters and those parameters should be implicit given the name; definition. if skin textures are smooth or blacks are blocky or motion blurred clearly it's lacking definition.

That's true. It all really depends on how well the source was done. Like we have said you can get something 1080P and it looks like grainy garbage. I have seen some 720 and even 540 stuff that looks pretty good but the sources were good I assume in those cases.