Do you still buy physical media?

[phrehdd]

They are extremely close.

Where did you see this in terms of measured comparisions? Look at the size of the file streams and you'll see there is no comparison. Apple might produce good looking output but it is not near UHD disc.

 

[avz]

I tend to "archive" my discs to drive and make all my disc movies available to me wherever I am at home. The discs in turn are boxed and stored away. Both video and audio from disc has yet to be matched by any streaming.

You can never go wrong with backups. I had a few DVDs that stopped working while looking absolutely spotless on the outside(yes they were stored in their original boxes). So when you finally open your boxes up you might find that not everything is in working order and you essentially have been storing plastic(hopefully without having to pay for the storage).
One of the users on this forum once pointed out that DVDs are never meant to be "of an archival quality" and should never be treated as such if you are serious about your collection.

 

[HDFan]

With a stereo pair of OG HomePods for my audio output I would be unlikely to be able to notice the differences in sound quality.

True. The ability to perceive the differences also depends on the quality of the video and audio streaming devices. No reason to obsess about a DTS-MA soundtrack when Bluetooth can't send it or your headphones can't reproduce it.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Where did you see this in terms of measured comparisions? Look at the size of the file streams and you'll see there is no comparison. Apple might produce good looking output but it is not near UHD disc.

Most comparisons I’ve seen say the picture quality is very close but there is a vast difference in audio. Anyway I am still curious so I’ve ordered a UHD blu ray player and I’ll see what results I get. I may invest in a soundbar.

 

[phrehdd]

Most comparisons I’ve seen say the picture quality is very close but there is a vast difference in audio. Anyway I am still curious so I’ve ordered a UHD blu ray player and I’ll see what results I get. I may invest in a soundbar.

I hope you find something that meets your needs and leaves you satisfied.

If you ever do try archiving to drive your discs, see if your 4k player will play files and if not, you have options from your Mac to streamers such as NVidia TV Shield and more.

 

[HDFan]

Most comparisons I’ve seen say the picture quality is very close

Moving to 4K UHD visually the extra resolution was certainly nice but it was Dolby Vision that blew it out of the park. That's what I really noticed.

 

[George Dawes]

I've got a big pile of 4k blu rays that I never play as the PQ on apple tv now once you sort out the various Dolby Vision 'issues' is so stunning and it's all so convenient , why bother ??

 

[kiranmk2]

We need some video comparisons of iTunes 4K vs UHD blu rays.There are a few out there but they are quite old. I was surprised in many of them how the iTunes version was not that bad compared to the UHD. Obviously it depends on a lot of factors but I was surprised. I thought that an iTunes 4K version would be similar in quality to a standard Blu ray. I can still pixel peep when I want to though.

Here are a couple that you may have seen before but are done by a reputable source

 

[AL2TEACH]

The 4K optical version

If you mean the disc, I agree but they are close. I played the disc of A Quite Place II and compared it to the Apple stream. The disc has better audio than the stream but they were close. Would I throw away my equipment and just stream, no way.

 

[AL2TEACH]

Where did you see this in terms of measured comparisions?

I don't really care about those only what I see and hear on my stuff. I'm not saying the two are neck and neck just saying close. Streaming is compressed and the discs are not.