Is Online Delivery Acceptable for Home Theater Use?

2013 is shaping up to be a landmark year for home-theater enthusiasts—in particular, the sound and image quality of Blu-ray is finally being challenged by downloadable and streaming formats. When it comes to new releases, two of the most popular sources for online-distributed movies are Apple's iTunes and Wal-Mart's Vudu. Both services offer new-release feature films for rent and purchase, sometimes before they are available on Blu-ray. iTunes HD is offered with 720p and 1080p video and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, while Vudu HDX provides 1080p video with Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 sound. Blu-ray remains the gold standard for picture and sound quality with up to 7.1 channels of uncompressed audio and a much higher video bitrate compared to iTunes HD and Vudu HDX.



The question: Are the latest HD formats from iTunes and Vudu good enough for use in a home-theater (HT) environment, where a large calibrated screen and a competent surround-sound audio system can reveal subtle flaws in a movie's presentation?

iTunes HD and Vudu HDX are totally acceptable for HT use
iTunes HD and Vudu HDX are barely acceptable for HT use
Vudu HDX and Blu-ray are acceptable for HT use, iTunes HD is not
iTunes HD and Blu-ray are acceptable for HT use, Vudu HDX is not
Blu-ray is acceptable for HT use, iTunes HD and Vudu HDX are not
Edited by imagic - 3/10/13 at 6:49pm

You guys only get 1 vote each. Let's see what other people think.

Polls like this one are inherently unscientific in the sense that they draw from personal experience. As with other opinion polls, a large response is still technically interesting, and once the votes get into the hundreds the margin of error drops to single-digit percentages, adding credibility to the admittedly subjective results. I am doing this for journalistic purposes, a truly scientific poll would be too long and boring. Buckaroo Banzai is one of the best movies of all time, BTW.
Edited by imagic - 3/8/13 at 8:31am

As it stands it's just a patent filing, but it looks like Apple is working on that issue as well: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57573080-37/apple-could-let-you-sell-your-itunes-content-to-other-people/

iTunes HD movie files are also downloadable, to iTunes on a Mac/PC/iPad. You can't download Vudu with all devices; with a TV, Blu-ray app or with a Roku, you have to stream Vudu just like Apple TV. Vudu on a Mac or PC is quite limited; it is stereo-only, no surround sound. OK for headphones, not home theater which is sad because Vudu seems like a decent match for home theater PC.
Edited by imagic - 3/8/13 at 12:27am

One thing is for sure, Blu-ray is untouchable when it comes to 3D. For 2D film I think it's getting to the point there the online delivery versions are free of obvious issues but Blu-ray holds more texture in the images and in the sound, and for some people the physical disc holds more value as well. I also think it varies from movie to movie, I've only recently begun comparisons between the three formats using actual movies and so far the results are different and intriguing each time. As for streaming vs. download; I have no issues, but my internet is many times faster than what's needed for the highest-quality streaming. In my recent comparison of frame grabs from Life of Pi, I explained that I directly compared Vudu HDX streaming and download frame grabs. There was no difference in quality, so it's only a question of bandwidth.

That's one of the issues I wonder about, with iTunes "Life of Pi" has been available online for over two weeks, but the Blu-ray is still four days away from release. So, in the context of the Academy Awards, for three full weeks the "best available format" has been and is exclusively an online-deliverable format. Throughout the year there will be other movies offered through a similar arrangement. Can timing and availability trump ultimate quality?
Edited by imagic - 3/8/13 at 6:45am

Back in the day (i.e. 1989) I worked at a seriously old-school movie theater. I changed the marquee, I made the popcorn. I collected the tickets, I adjusted the screen aspect and I carried the darned movies up the stairs to the projection booth. The funny thing about movies back in the day, they looked best on premier night and from there on it was all downhill - scratches and dust and splices all show up promptly, because most movie theaters did not maintain immaculate facilities. Digital projection in movie theaters has ended the degradation effect, so now it's potentially better to go to a movie a few weeks after the premier because there's a good chance the theater will be empty, but the movie will look and sound the same as it did on premier night. Blu-ray is very much like that when it comes to rentals, the further you get from release day, the sketchier the discs become. Online delivery - and specifically downloads - eliminate that degradation, so at least for rentals it's possible to spend only a few bucks to watch a movie in 1080p with no chance of the movie skipping. A new, purchased Blu-ray is a different story and typically offers the same movie as free downloads, so if ownership is the plan then often Blu-ray is a no-brainier... but not always. I have that every movie is a "must buy", online delivery of rentals allowed me to supplement my Blu-ray collection with movies that really looked and sounded great but that I'd only want to watch once and where the small differences in quality just didn't matter that much.

Any chance you could elaborate on that? Do you mean the Vudu HDX version eliminated the aspect ratio switching, or was it impossible to see the additional detail IMAX renders unless you watch the Blu-ray? Was it both those things? Vudu HDX did not simply omit 72 minutes of the movie, which is how much IMAX footage is used in "The Dark Knight Rises".
Edited by imagic - 3/8/13 at 8:32am

Price, convenience and availability should also be factored into the decision. Is it really beyond the pale to rent a movie through an online service? I'm not sure it is the case anymore, certainly one year ago the quality was not there.
Edited by imagic - 3/8/13 at 11:54am