Contrast and Comparison among Blu-ray, 4K Blu-ray and 4K Streaming
Summary: As technology grows by leaps and bounds, there are a series of new words used to refer to the latest innovation. You must have heard about 4K and Blu-ray, but what’s 4k resolution? What is blu-ray? What’s the difference between? What kind of product should we choose? If you are curious about these issues, this post will provide detailed answers.
- • Play DVDs, Blu-rays, and 4K Blu-rays with Menus and HDR10 effect
- • Avalibale to Discs, ISO Files, Folders and 3D videos with Hi-Res audio output support
- • Import DVD & Blu-ray Discs to local media library as ISO files with just one click
Table of Contents
What is 4K Resolution?
4K Resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. In the respect of television and consumer media, 3840 × 2160 (4K UHD) is the main 4K standard, while the movie projection industry uses 4096 × 2160 (DCI 4K). In 2005, an authoritarian organization in the aspect of cinema industry - Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) published the Digital Cinema System Specification. It specified the standardized 2K and 4K container formats for digital cinema production, with resolutions of 2048 × 1080 and 4096 × 2160 respectively.
Blu-ray VS 4K Streaming
Blu-ray, the abbreviation of Blu-ray Disc (BD), is a digital optical disc storage format. As the next generation of DVD, Blu-ray owns a more powerful function of storing high-quality videos, audio and other documents. However, until now, DVD has not been completely replaced by Blu-ray restrained by the need for better equipment.
4K Streaming means the 4K quality video playing in the streaming platform such as Netflix. It is famous for its convenience and high-quality videos.
Contrast and Comparison among Blu-ray, 4K and 4K Streaming
Resolution
Blu-ray: 1920×1080
4K: 3840×2160
4K Streaming: 3840×2160
The resolution of 4K is twice that of Blu-ray, which could provide a better watching experience. With HDR technology, the whole video will overpass BD in definition, contrast, brightness and color. The usual markers, such as the definition and texture on hair, skin, clothing and buildings are all very impressive, especially for a large screen. This is the reason why many companies choose to invest in UHD.
When comparing 4K Streaming with Blu-ray, the former has a higher resolution. However, due to the restriction of higher compression and low bitrates, which poses a challenge to the picture resolution, 4K Streaming is inferior to the performance of Blu-ray especially in the darkness.
Conclusion: 4K＞Blu-ray≥4K Streaming
Sound Quality
For video lovers, the picture quality is as significant as sound quality. They will post high demands not only in the picture but also be critical about hearing the content. No matter you use Blu-ray or 4K, you could enjoy uncompressed Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD Master Audio, typically in 5.1 but regularly in 7.1. Besides, both equipment support Dolby Atmos, which enables to build a more immersive environment to give a better experience. Frankly speaking, it is difficult for us to be aware of the nuance between Blu-ray and 4K in sound quality.
When it comes to the sound quality, 4K streaming doesn’t own any similar equipment which leads to much less performance in the field of sound quality.
Conclusion: 4K≥Blu-ray＞4K Streaming
Content
In the streaming age, it is much more convenient for us to search for plenty of resources on the Internet. As long as you click the poster or keywords, your wanted video will turn up at once. Time and space will limit the watching experience all available at the touch of a button. However, 4K Streaming can’t ensure stable service to every user, and the number of people online and even weather will exert effects on the watching experience.
Although disc can’t provide the same convenience, Blu-ray and 4K UHD embody more content more than the main feature, such as behind the scenes and directors’ interviews. What’s more, the special version of 4K UHD will contain the related items including the movie posters, directors’ motes and other small objects connecting with the movie. Just like a package of gifts, these items not only add a sense of amusement but also have great value in the collection. However, be it 4K UHD or Blu-ray, the first step of watching is to collect discs and prepare the appropriate equipment which posts requirements for many people.
Conclusion: 4K Streaming＞4K≥Blu-ray
Price
There is no doubt that streaming service is much cheaper than buying discs. If you pay £9.99 for 4K Netflix annually, you can watch as much as you want. However, when you choose to watch the 4K contents online, high and stable speed is a must for smooth watching, 25mbps or so is the best option.
While 4K discs are around £20 to £25 each without considering the cost of the player. The first UHD Blu-ray player to enter our test rooms costs £600.
Conclusion: 4K Streaming＞Blu-ray≥4K
Final Words
All in all, there are pros and cons in 4K, 4K Streaming and Blu-ray. Just like the invention of e-books can’t replace paper books, and the radio, vinyl records and streaming music now co-exist in the music market. The rapid advance of technology brings diversified products, and therefore we have a wide range of opportunities accordingly.
DVDFab Player 6
DVDFab Player 6, the latest generation of DVDFab Player, is the world's best 4K UHD Media Player. If you are searching for a player compatible with Blu-ray and 4K UHD, DVDFab Player 6 is definitely the top option for you.
Navigation Menu on DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays
No matter what form your file is, DVDFab Player 6 provides comprehensive supports for navigation menu playback on DVDs, Blu-rays, and the new-generation 4K Ultra Blu-rays. Besides, the powerful player also supports Genuine discs, as well as ripped ISO image files or folders. Armed with DVDFab Player 6, there is no need to worry about compatibility problems and the cinematic experience is at the touch of a button.
Hi-Res Audio Output Support, up to Dolby Atmos & DTS:X
As an outstanding player, DVDFab Player also attaches great importance to sound quality. Equipped with this edging technology, you could easily gain access to the lossless high-resolution audios, including Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master and DTS:X, etc., with up to 7.1 channel surround sound output.
Manage Your Own Media Library through Poster Wall
Have you ever felt annoyed owing to messy piles of media files? Have you wasted time searching for your wanted video? If yes, what you are in desperate need of is DVDFab Player 6, which could assist you to build the local media library. DVDFab Player 6 will automatically download the latest posters and related information so that you could select the 4K blu ray movies at ease. Besides, if you wonder the other information, just click and you will be taken to a detailed page, where all the metadata info of the movie or TV show is well displayed.
Organize Your Local Music by Smart Library
DVDFab Player 6 is only good at handling media-related issues but also contributes to making a perfect music player. Except for providing a high-quality music experience, it could build your local music library, which enables you to manage numerous songs through albums, artists, genres, release dates, or other methods you like. In this extraordinary 4K player, listening to music and watching videos in one program becomes possible.
Customized Settings Provide Best Experience
With DVDFab Player 6, if you want to watch a series of TV shows or collections, what you need to do is just drag & drop them into the playback window to create your own playlist. Keeping them in order by name, or by type are all supported. Besides, you could play 4K blu ray movies in order, repeat a single one or repeat all. There are more customized settings for you to explore to build your unique playlist.
Guidance of DVDFab Player 6
- download and install DVDFab Player 6
There is a Free Download button, press it, and no matter you are a Windows or a Mac user, you could simply get DVDFab Player 6.
- Do some pre-settings
On the right corner, there is an inverted triangle-settings-general. DVDFab Player 6 offers miscellaneous choices for your customized experience. For example, you can set your language for the sake of convenience. DVDFab supports 13 languages, including English, Polish, Russian, Italian, Japanese and so forth. Besides, the Launch Mode is also of importance to your view experience, either PC Mode or TV Mode is available. The two different modes will match your screen size. PC Mode is to bring a truly immersive media watching experience on a computer screen, while the TV Mode is to bring cinema-equivalent audiovisual experience on large-screen TVs.
- Insert a DVD disc and play it
As soon as you start to use DVDFab Player 6, it will automatically ask you to add new directory into DVDFab Player 6.
- Choose your own settings
DVDFab Player 6 provides various options for you to customize your favorable view experience. When it comes to ratio adjustment. You could right-click the video interface and choose “Video” > “Aspect Ratio”. “1:1”, “4:3”,“16:9”，a wide range of options for you to choose from.
- Adjust video speed
Sometimes you may need to adjust your video to record some important information, or skip some points you don’t want to waste time on. Right-click the video interface, and choose Playback, according to your demand, either “Previous Chapter” or directly accelerate or slow down the playback speed by 10 seconds.
- Choose your favorite music from the local music library
As mentioned in the above column, you could create your unique playlist in DVDFab Player 6. Choose your wanted music, it will automatically build playlists in accord with the release date, singers, albums, genres. Or you can choose your own way to set the playlists. Almost all popular audio formats are supported, including MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG, CUE, APE and more. What’s more, DVDFab Player 6 will download accurate metadata from major online music databases to enrich the details of your music collections. What matters most is the professional audio-visual effect, once you play it, the professional visual effect will emerge on the playback screen to stimulate your senses.
DVDFab Blu-ray to UHD Converter
DVDFab Blu-ray to UHD Converter owns edging technology to make rapid and lossless upscaling from standard Blu-ray quality to 4K UHD Blu-ray. If you want to enjoy a better watching experience, DVDFab Blu-ray to UHD Converter will always be the best choice.
Upscale Standard Blu-ray to 4K SDR Blu-ray
As long as you have DVDFab Blu-ray to UHD Converter, your ordinary BD sources will transform into 4K quality with ease. What’s more, the hardware acceleration technologies will be used including CUDA, AMD APP and Intel Quick Sync in the process of decoding the original Blu-ray and re-encoding the decoded files into 4K Blu-ray. Your conversion time will be greatly shortened. With DVDFab Blu-ray to UHD Converter, enjoying high-quality 4K videos only costs a few moments.
Ensure No Audio Quality Loss
When converting the blu-ray to 4K UHD, DVDFab Blu-ray to UHD Converter will preserve the BD high-definition audio track and promises no compression or any loss of sound quality. Compatible HD audio track formats include Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD, DTS-X, and more.
Guidance of DVDFab Blu-ray to UHD Converter
- Choose your wanted file
- Set the related parameters and start to convert
- Save the converted file
FAQs
What does 4K UHD mean? For the display market, UHD means 3840x2160 (exactly four times HD), and 4K is often used interchangeably to refer to that same resolution. For the digital cinema market, however, 4K means 4096x2160, or 256 pixels wider than UHD. The meaning of 4K UHD is 3840 × 2160 resolution which is the dominant 4K standard In the respect of television and consumer media.
A 4K TV simply boosts that pixel count: Usually, 4K refers to a display resolution of 2160p or 3,840 x 2,160 pixels. That's roughly four times larger than a 1080p picture, hence the term "4K." (Technically, 4K isn't the same as 2160p, but the technical differences are so minor that it doesn't really matter.)
Ultra HD Blu-ray (marketed as 4K Ultra HD) (UHD-BD), also referred to as 4K Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray.
Conclusion
The edging technology brings great convenience for us to enjoy high-quality videos and audio. With streaming, we are capable of appreciating movies wherever and whenever. And 4K UHD and Blu-ray technology enable us to have a cinematic experience at home. This post makes a comparison and contrast among Blu-ray, 4K Blu-ray and 4K Streaming, each has its own pros and cons. If you are in pursuit of a theater-like experience, DVDFab definitely ranks at the top. Equipped with inclusive technology, no matter DVDFab Play 6, DVDFab Blu-ray to UHD Converter, Blu-ray Copy, or UHD Copy could satisfy your demands to great extent.