Choosing a movie to watch at home used to be simple. You went to your local video store on a Tuesday and checked the new-releases wall. Usually, all the copies were rented out already, so you grabbed some inferior alternative and headed to the register. After settling your late fees, you ran home with your videotape or disc and hoped it played without jamming or skipping. Two days later, you could go back and hope to score the new release—the one you had wanted on the previous visit. So, you chat up the clerk while waiting for someone to return a copy.

Today, content selection and delivery are vastly different than they were in those dark ages. In the era of on-demand cable, Redbox kiosks, Netflix, and iTunes—not to mention the ubiquitous bargain bins full of five-dollar films—myriad movies are a mouse click (or short drive) away. However, pricing, quality, and availability of content vary widely. Here are 11 ways to watch movies at home. I know there are many more out there, so feel free to add to the list in the comments.

1. Blu-ray—1080p video and uncompressed multi-channel audio in various formats, including Dolby Atmos. Vast catalog or content, discs widely available in stores, rental kiosks, and by mail. Pricing varies depending on title, release date, and features; 3D Blu-ray can cost $30-40 for a new release, bargain-bin Blu-ray s only cost a few bucks each. The reference for 1080p viewing at home, many Blu-ray players sell for under $100.

2. DVD—480p video and compressed multi-channel audio; the older, lower-resolution ancestor of Blu-ray . Catalog is truly enormous—several times larger than Blu-ray's—with a sizeable used market. Discs are widely available in stores, rental kiosks, and by mail. DVD players are inexpensive, and you don't need an HDTV. DVDs work in Blu-ray players as well. New releases on DVD cost around $15 each.

3. Netflix—A dominant force in streaming media . Catalog excludes new releases, and it changes over time, but the price is right—standard definition is $8/month, HD costs $9/month, and UHD is $12/month for as many titles as you want. UHD/4K selection is small at this point. Picture and sound quality varies by available bandwidth and network traffic. The Netflix app is on devices ranging from set-top boxes and streaming sticks to TVs, smartphones, tablets, Blu-ray players, and video-game consoles.

4. Amazon Instant Video—HD streams are high quality, and UHD/4K content is beginning to show up. A large selection of movies—including new releases—for rent and sale. Some content is free to stream with a paid Prime membership. Amazon's app is found on a wide variety of devices including the company's FireTV , and new releases are usually $5 to rent and $15-$20 to purchase.

5. Cable/satellite video-on-demand (VOD)—New releases often cost a few bucks more to rent or buy than online options, but the bandwidth for content delivery comes from the cable or satellite service, as opposed to Internet broadband. VOD is a reliable way to rent a movie, but if you don't have cable or satellite service, it's not an option.

6. Vudu—Rentals and purchases, but no flat-rate subscription plan. Depending on your device, Vudu lets you download a movie and watch it later. HDX format offers very high-quality 1080p streaming; some movies are available in 3D. UHD/4K with HDR is coming to Vudu this fall in the form of Dolby Vision. Prices are typically $5 to rent and $15-$30 to purchase.

7. Apple's iTunes—Uses a lower bitrate than its direct competitors, and audio is limited to Dolby Digital. You can download movies to PCs, Macs, iPads , iPods, and iPhones, and the Apple TV set-top box streams iTunes movies. Notably, competing devices like Roku and FireTV can't play iTunes movie rentals and downloads, nor can any smart TVs or app-equipped Blu-ray players—you need an Apple device or iTunes on a PC. Pricing for new releases is typically $5 to rent and $15-$20 to purchase.

8. Kaleidescape—A unique hybrid of online delivery and Blu-ray quality. Online store accessible using the company's pricey and proprietary devices. The Alto sells for $2500 and stores approximately 100 digital downloads that are exact copies of what you get on Blu-ray , including uncompressed audio formats such as DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby Atmos. No streaming or rentals—only downloads. Purchases are tied to UltraViolet licensing; the Kaleidescape store recognizes existing UltraViolet movie purchases. If you have a collection of Vudu HDX titles, they are free to download from the Kaleidescape store—as long as you own an Alto . Movies purchased from the Kaleidescape store come with an UltraViolet license of their own for streaming on a service like Vudu. Many new releases sell for $15 each.

9. Samsung UHD Video Pack—An external USB hard-disk drive and media server for the company's top-tier TVs; provides access to UHD/HDR content you currently cannot get anywhere else. Only works with Samsung TVs , and the selection of HDR films is over 1000 times smaller than what's available on Blu-ray; the selection of non-HDR UHD/4K movies is a bit larger. This is a local storage device, so the quality and reliability of playback is extremely high. Bitrates used for the UHD/4K HDR content—around 100 Mbps—are not yet available to most people. Scott Wilkinson recently wrote about how impressive the HDR content looks on Samsung's latest flagship TV, the JS9500.

10. Ultraflix—UHD/4K streaming with app on Samsung, Vizio , and Sony UHDTVs as well as the Ultraflix Nuvola NP-1 player, Mac OS X, and various Android/Google devices that support UHD/4K. Movie selection is minuscule, with 44 films currently available and seven titles coming soon. UHD movie rentals are $10.

11. Ultra HD Blu-ray—Not available yet, but it will be soon. Will likely provide the highest quality audio-visual experience consumers can get. Pricing of players and media is unknown, but it's sure to be high at first. One question is whether Redbox and Netflix will embrace the format, or if the days of disc rental and mail-order subscriptions are coming to an end.