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Eug · Dec 11, 2011, 03:28 PM

I just got my 14 disc Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogy Blu-ray set, and it came with the digital copies for the movies. Wow, those iTunes versions really look terrible. Their look is like as if someone smeared a thin layer of vaseline all over my iMac.

WTF? No HD, in 2011, when all current Apple video-compatible iTunes devices support HD video? Even 720p at say 6 Mbps or perhaps a bit lower would be fine. Instead we get < 2 Mbps 480p.

ShortcutToMoncton · Dec 11, 2011, 03:52 PM

[obligatory "you actually want 14 discs of LotR?!?!!!!1!" comment]

turtle777 · Dec 11, 2011, 03:55 PM

What's Blue-Ray ?

-t

Spheric Harlot · Dec 11, 2011, 04:06 PM

I hear it's popular in Spain.

Don't crucify me, please.

Eug · 04:23 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

What's Blue-Ray ?

Blue-ray doesn't exist, but Blu-ray does.

So, what do you watch for recent release HD? Just curious. Cuz iTunes is pretty lacking and isn't even cheap. $14.99 to buy each LOTR movie, in SD, and they don't even have a rental version. And in Canada, Netflix is all the old stuff.

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton

[obligatory "you actually want 14 discs of LotR?!?!!!!1!" comment]

Most of it is extras, but six of the discs AFAIK are the movies. I held out this long, and finally bought my first copy of Lord of the Rings on disc this week. $39.99 for the 14 discs. (The first LOTR discs came out almost a decade ago.)

turtle777 · Dec 11, 2011, 04:42 PM

DVD is good enough for me. My TV is only 42", BR wouldn't make a difference.

Your experience confirms that I shouldn't bother with BR.

-t

ShortcutToMoncton · Dec 11, 2011, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

DVD is good enough for me. My TV is only 42", BR wouldn't make a difference.

Your experience confirms that I shouldn't bother with BR.

-t

It would make a very noticeable difference over DVD for most new(er) movies, unless you're sitting a million miles away.

Of course, whether it's worth it or not is another issue. BR discs are outrageously expensive and shockingly overpriced.

Eug · Dec 11, 2011, 06:23 PM

Good HD Blu-ray is usually noticeably better than good DVD on a 42" TV, at least if you sit relatively close to it. However, if you sit 10-12 feet away or something, then not so much.

olePigeon · Dec 11, 2011, 06:27 PM

I might buy a few Blu-Ray movies if there's an app that lets me remove encryption, then create an .ISO of the Blu-Ray disc. Not ripping the movie and simply saving it as an .ISO, but creating an unencrypted disc image.

I currently do that now with my DVDs using Fairmount and Disk Utility. Unfortunately I haven't had any luck finding an equivalent method for Blu-Ray.

ghporter · Dec 11, 2011, 07:07 PM

Comparing the DVD version with the Blu-Ray version of a couple of movies that were quite visual-dependent taught me a very big lesson: even with a good up-converting player, there isn't enough data in a DVD version to challenge the clarity and detail of a Blu-Ray version of the same film. In the LOTR films, there are so many visual details that I never saw, whether on DVD or in the theater, that are extremely clear and precise in the BR version. 2001: A Space Odyssey is even more sharp edged and real. It really does make a significant and noticeable difference.

chabig · Dec 11, 2011, 09:38 PM

Originally Posted by Eug

Even 720p at say 6 Mbps or perhaps a bit lower would be fine. Instead we get < 2 Mbps 480p.

Wasn't the decision of what resolution to include in the digital copy made by the disc producer? What does Apple or iTunes have to do with this?

Eug · Dec 11, 2011, 09:54 PM

Originally Posted by chabig

Wasn't the decision of what resolution to include in the digital copy made by the disc producer? What does Apple or iTunes have to do with this?

Good point. That's probably largely true. Either way it becomes almost pointless though, to have crappy SD digital copies of these Blu-ray discs for personal use.

voodoo · Dec 12, 2011, 07:13 AM

Originally Posted by Eug

Good point. That's probably largely true. Either way it becomes almost pointless though, to have crappy SD digital copies of these Blu-ray discs for personal use.

One would assume that the SD copies are for tablets/smartphones, because 480p isn't good for much else (certainly not a 27" iMac)

Then one would use the discs in the player or the PC.

(of course if one has a Mac, the world is just in error and Apple is right so one shouldn't worry one's pretty little head about playing BDs at all)

Point being, the digital copies are most definitely not for Mac playback. But the Mac is sort of alone on a desert island in this case, so it is to be expected.

andi*pandi · Dec 12, 2011, 09:19 AM

I guess the reason the digital copies are low-quality (in addition to target device, tablets etc as above) is piracy. Arrr.

osiris · Dec 12, 2011, 10:24 AM

if you think the digital copies are bad, try the 8mm versions. B&W, no sound, 18fps... meh...

ort888 · Dec 12, 2011, 12:05 PM

I don't have anything important to add, but I agree that the quality of digital movies is really poor. Even on an iPad you can see the difference in quality between a digital copy and a nice DVD rip from handbrake.

Eug · Dec 12, 2011, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by voodoo

One would assume that the SD copies are for tablets/smartphones, because 480p isn't good for much else (certainly not a 27" iMac)

Then one would use the discs in the player or the PC.

(of course if one has a Mac, the world is just in error and Apple is right so one shouldn't worry one's pretty little head about playing BDs at all)

Point being, the digital copies are most definitely not for Mac playback. But the Mac is sort of alone on a desert island in this case, so it is to be expected.

Yep. In my home office I have an old HD DVD player (which I bought for $50) which doubles as my DVD player, but I haven't bought a Blu-ray player for it yet. My iMac is there but playing the digital copies that come with those BR discs is painful.

Actually, I do have a Windows PC in the same room with a Blu-ray player. Maybe I should start doing more work on that PC so I can watch a BD at the same time in the background. Or else just put my Windows laptop on the same desk as the iMac, and move the BR drive there to use with the laptop.

It's just very irritating to have this super-powerful 12 GB i7 iMac and I can't even watch decent recent release HD video on it, unless I download a bootleg video copy... for a disc I already own.

P.S. My Pixar BDs also have SD digital copies. In fact, I don't have an HD digital copy of any disc I bought. Are there any? If so, which movies?

mduell · Dec 12, 2011, 02:52 PM

Make one with MBRP and Handbrake.

Eug · Dec 12, 2011, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

Make one with MBRP and Handbrake.

Thanks, but this is what I get with the www.macblurayripperpro.com site:

Great Success !
Apache is working on your cPanel® and WHM™ Server

If you can see this page, then the people who manage this server have installed cPanel and WebHost Manager (WHM) which use the Apache Web server software and the Apache Interface to OpenSSL (mod_ssl) successfully. They now have to add content to this directory and replace this placeholder page, or else point the server at their real content.

ATTENTION!

If you are seeing this page instead of the site you expected, please contact the administrator of the site involved. (Try sending an email to <webmaster@domain>.) Although this site is running cPanel, WebHost Manager, and Apache software it almost certainly has no other connection to cPanel Inc. or the Apache Group. Please do not send mail about this site or its contents to cPanel Inc. or the Apache Group.

However, ultimately it's too much work.

imitchellg5 · Dec 12, 2011, 04:10 PM

I just got LOTR on Blu-Ray too. It's a joke. The special features discs aren't even Blu-Ray.

Eug · Dec 12, 2011, 06:21 PM

I haven't seen them yet, but weren't a lot of special features shot in SD?

imitchellg5 · Dec 12, 2011, 06:32 PM

Yeah, they're all in SD.

reader50 · Dec 12, 2011, 07:14 PM

If the special features really were filmed in SD, they'd all fit on a single BD. So the 14 set could be done in 7 discs if they consolidated discs and remastered the menus.

imitchellg5 · Dec 12, 2011, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by reader50

If the special features really were filmed in SD, they'd all fit on a single BD. So the 14 set could be done in 7 discs if they consolidated discs and remastered the menus.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's insanity.

Eug · Dec 12, 2011, 08:01 PM

Oh, I see what you mean. I agree.

Don't worry, they'll release that again in a few years.

The Godfather · Dec 17, 2011, 10:38 PM

Mkmkv is your digital copy maker

Eug · Dec 26, 2011, 07:51 PM

I bought my first HD iTunes movie. Why? Cuz it was $6.99. That is reasonable. Looking forward to it since I've never seen the movie.

There is no way I'd be spending $19.99 for an iTunes version of an HD movie, when the quality is so much worse than the Blu-ray version and it comes with no extras. The only way I'd pay a small premium for an HD iTunes movie is if there is no good Blu-ray version, or no Blu-ray version at all.

BTW, I was pleasantly surprised to see it comes with both the HD and SD versions, but in truth I don't care about the SD version. The HD version is 3.75 GB, and the SD version is 1.62 GB.

ghporter · Dec 26, 2011, 09:16 PM

I got two movies for Christmas that include a digital copy: Cowboys and Aliens, and Captain America. I haven't yet taken a look at the digital copy for either one to see what the quality level is. But I wouldn't have thought about it if I hadn't read about the issue here.

Eug · Dec 27, 2011, 12:32 AM

P.S. LoTR on BR is pristine. Nice.

P.P.S. I guess I'm behind the times, but I just got the AppleTV for Xmas and discovered it supports Netflix.ca. Great, cuz I do have that $7.99/mo Netflix subscription, and even though Netflix.ca is content poor compared to Netflix.com, there is still enough on it to justify that low cost. Mind you, I already have Netflix.ca support on one of my BR players so not a huge deal.