What's with the lack of HDR/4k on digital services?

I guess there is no point because the bitrate wouldn't be enough to get a decent quality? Even today all 1080p streams stand no chance against Blu-Rays because the bitrate is so much worse. My Blu-Ray player actually has a feature that shows the current bitrate and for most BRs I own it fluctuates between 20mbit/s and 40mbit/s while some Netflix streams might don't even reach 5mbit/s.

itunes version is 4k/HDR. I have access to similar services to you and ended up just biting the bullet and buying an apple TV 4k because apple simply has more 4k/HDR content available

What's worse is Vudu does offer 4k HDR rentals, but sometimes you can only rent the 1080p version, if you want 4k HDR you have to purchase it.

They want you to buy the most expensive thing they sell, the 4K HDR Blu-Ray WB distribute themselves.

That said, iTunes sells RPO in 4K Dolby Vision.

SweetVermouth said:

I guess there is no point because the bitrate wouldn't be enough to get a decent quality? Even today all 1080p streams stand no chance against Blu-Rays because the bitrate is so much worse. My Blu-Ray player actually has a feature that shows the current bitrate and for most BRs I own it fluctuates between 20mbit/s and 40mbit/s while some Netflix streams might don't even reach 5mbit/s.

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Netflix has TV series at 4k and with Dolby Vision/HDR and they seem to work well.

Apple TV 4K.

For Ready Player One specifically I bought in on iTunes in 4K for the same price as 1080p. Just waiting for our speaker set up to arrive so we can watch it in all it's glory.

Apple TV 4K really is the best device for all around home cinema entertainment and quality.

Can't believe the PS4 Pro doesn't let you download 4K movies from the PS Store.

Dyno said:

This is something I've been trying to wrap my head around for a few days now. Having recently got a new TV I've been looking around for compatible content. My OH noticed Ready Player One was on the digital stores and since she's been wanting to watch it we were gonna grab it.

But that's when I hit this issue I'd never knew existed. Across all the apps out there I can't find a single one with the 4k hdr copy. Well I technically can but on a US only site called Vudu that won't even attempt to loaf the page in the UK.

I then noticed this is actually really common. That movies can be easily available in 4k hdr via blu ray but then only go to 1080p on digital. For RPO in particular this extends to the SOE store, Play store, Prime Store and even the Sky Store. Can anyone explain this? It seems like it would be some licensing issue but its next to impossible to really find a source one what's going on here.

I dunno if this is just a UK thing or what but it's kind of frustrating. The content clearly is out there but my only access seems to be through a blu Ray player I have no interest in owning.

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It's a Warner Bros issue.

Note that several of the sources you mention sell UHD titles from other studios in the UK.

SweetVermouth said:

I guess there is no point because the bitrate wouldn't be enough to get a decent quality? Even today all 1080p streams stand no chance against Blu-Rays because the bitrate is so much worse. My Blu-Ray player actually has a feature that shows the current bitrate and for most BRs I own it fluctuates between 20mbit/s and 40mbit/s while some Netflix streams might don't even reach 5mbit/s.

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On Netflix I get 15.32mbit/s at 4k.

Sounds like a UK thing.
Growing rapidly in the US with iTunes Store being the current leader in 4K and HDR content.

I'm really hoping they get on this soon for television broadcasts. I want to watch the premier league in 4K.

dallow_bg said:

Sounds like a UK thing.
Growing rapidly in the US with iTunes Store being the current leader in 4K and HDR content.

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Most movies on the UK iTunes Store, especially new releases, are in 4K these days. I have probably 100+ movies in 4K on the UK iTunes Store.

UK Netflix and Amazon Prime have some 4K content, mostly original stuff.

Between iTunes, Netflix and Amazon Prime I rarely have to watch anything in 1080p these days. I think the only exception is my HBO subscription through a French provider which I don't think is in 4K. I only just put their app on the Apple TV though so I could be wrong.

Like others have said, Apple TV leads the way.

When you buy (or redeem) a movie on iTunes, you get the 4K version if it's available. Any & every movie.

I just got RPO, It and Jumanji in 4K.

All of Netflix's original content is on 4K HDR since some time back. Not sure how much of their licensed content is though. And I agree, EVERYTHING should be if such a version exists.

Rakuten has a lot of films in 4k, including RPO.

It's fucking dumb that some movie studios seem to limit where you can buy their content in 4K and HDR. Disney is by far the worst offender since they do not offer their things in 4K/HDR on iTunes because they have that on Vudu in the US, but Vudu isn't fucking available where I live and I don't want multiple digital movie libraries to begin with.

Buying isn't really my thing though, I want rentals as well. Upgrades for purchases via iTunes is great, but I'm not paying 20-30$ for a one time watch movie. At this point I think redbox will rollout 4K discs before vudu/amazon digital 4K rentals are worth a damn.

Hulu better get that 4K specially for Castle Rock

PeterVenkman said:

Buying isn't really my thing though, I want rentals as well. Upgrades for purchases via iTunes is great, but I'm not paying 20-30$ for a one time watch movie. At this point I think redbox will rollout 4K discs before vudu/amazon digital 4K rentals are worth a damn.

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You can rent any 4K iTunes movie for the same price as the 1080p rental cost.

GMM said:

It's fucking dumb that some movie studios seem to limit where you can buy their content in 4K and HDR. Disney is by far the worst offender since they do not offer their things in 4K/HDR on iTunes because they have that on Vudu in the US, but Vudu isn't fucking available where I live and I don't want multiple digital movie libraries to begin with.

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I wonder if through Movies Anywhere, that if you buy a Disney/MCU movie on iTunes and it links to Vudu, you can stream the 4K version on Vudu on your Apple TV....?

Cookie said:

You can rent any 4K iTunes movie for the same price as the 1080p rental cost.

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That's dope, but it's the availability of 4k rentals that is killing me. Maybe it's way different on apple, but on any other platform there are plenty of movies where you can buy it in 4k, but the rental is not an option. And that's for movies that are actually on the platform - there's just an overall lack of 4k movie rental content, which doesn't make any sense.

PeterVenkman said:

Buying isn't really my thing though, I want rentals as well. Upgrades for purchases via iTunes is great, but I'm not paying 20-30$ for a one time watch movie. At this point I think redbox will rollout 4K discs before vudu/amazon digital 4K rentals are worth a damn.

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Yeah, you can rent most movies, but not when they first arrive. RPO isn't available for rent until the end of August, for instance.

I use iTunes Store on my 4k Apple TV they have tons of 4K hdr content and very competitive prices. Tons of $9.99 4K hdr content.

Dyno said:

Is this just matter of them having more options though or is there possibly some exclusivity deals going on here?

Hopefully it's the former as that's something that may change in the future I guess.

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Rakuten sell RPO and other Warner titles in UHD in the UK as noted in another post, so there's no iTunes exclusivity. Google are just being slow to do studio deals it seems, and Sky haven't rolled out UHD yet really for purchases.

Yeah I'd noticed WB seem to be a pain for it. It's generally looking like it's virtually non existent here though. Browsing the UK play store for 4k hdr brings up maybe 20 or so.

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Amazon and Rakuten are both better in the UK.

Sound good but I'm gonna guess apple don't have the store accessible from non apple devices right

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Nope.

Cookie said:

You can rent any 4K iTunes movie for the same price as the 1080p rental cost.

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You most certainly can't.

PeterVenkman said:

That's dope, but it's the availability of 4k rentals that is killing me. Maybe it's way different on apple, but on any other platform there are plenty of movies where you can buy it in 4k, but the rental is not an option. And that's for movies that are actually on the platform - there's just an overall lack of 4k movie rental content, which doesn't make any sense.

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Apple has by far the most 4K content. Virtually every movie that releases is in 4K and rentals are available two weeks after the day of release. I don't rent movies because I buy them but I'm always seeing it as an option on everything I buy.

iTunes has the biggest and best collection but then you're investing a bunch of money to be locked into Apple's ecosystem.

Rakuten TV has a decent selection in the UK too, I've not used it myself though so I don't know how it is price wise.

LosDaddie said:

I wonder if through Movies Anywhere, that if you buy a Disney/MCU movie on iTunes and it links to Vudu, you can stream the 4K version on Vudu on your Apple TV....?

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No, you just get the HD version.

You only buy the HD version from iTunes, and they provide a free upgrade on iTunes, but your account only records an HD purchase and that's all that gets passed to MA. iTunes also doesn't provide 4K versions of titles bought in HD from elsewhere.

Cookie said:

Apple has by far the most 4K content. Virtually every movie that releases is in 4K and rentals are available two weeks after the day of release. I don't rent movies because I buy them but I'm always seeing it as an option on everything I buy.

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Good to know. I've got a friend with an Apple TV, so I'll just have to have him bring it over and browse to see what it's like. Apple sucks, but 4k is 4k - I'll take it wherever I can get it right now.

Mindwipe said:

Rakuten sell RPO and other Warner titles in UHD in the UK as noted in another post, so there's no iTunes exclusivity. Google are just being slow to do studio deals it seems, and Sky haven't rolled out UHD yet really for purchases.



Amazon and Rakuten are both better in the UK.



Nope.



You most certainly can't.

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I'm looking at the button to do it right now. Why do you think that you can't?

Netflix's Originals and some TV shows are 4K
Amazon's Originals and some movies are 4K
Vudu has a decent selection
iTunes has a real good selection
Sod the rest

KingSnake said:

Netflix has TV series at 4k and with Dolby Vision/HDR and they seem to work well.

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TV shows tend to be a lot more static than movies. It's when there's a lot of movement at once that streamed video starts to look bad.

LosDaddie said:

I wonder if through Movies Anywhere, that if you buy a Disney/MCU movie on iTunes and it links to Vudu, you can stream the 4K version on Vudu on your Apple TV....?

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I've been trying to find that out too. On Vudu's app and site, Deadpool seems capped at 1080, even if you buy the UHD/BR/DIGI pack

Dyno said:

Sound good but I'm gonna guess apple don't have the store accessible from non apple devices right

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You already know the answer to that.

But it might be possible to have your PC hooked up to your TV and use iTunes.

No one can settle on a price, probably. How much more do you charge? I feel like most people would be happy and satisfied with good old HD. So the price would have to be good enough to entice people to buy/rent the 4K version. The people that really really care about 4K and picture quality are going to be buying it physical anyway. So the only advantage digital 4K HDR would have is for titles that aren't going to get a physical release.

Youtube 4k content is sparse, but what is there looks great.

LosDaddie said:

You already know the answer to that.

But it might be possible to have your PC hooked up to your TV and use iTunes.

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It isn't. iTunes UHD content can only be played back on an Apple TV, not a Mac or PC.

There are many digital films available in 4K and HDR. iTunes has them, Google Play supports movies in 4K, etc. I recently picked up a 4K digital version of Ready Player One.

Protome said:

iTunes has the biggest and best collection but then you're investing a bunch of money to be locked into Apple's ecosystem.

Rakuten TV has a decent selection in the UK too, I've not used it myself though so I don't know how it is price wise.

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Not with Movies Anywhere now.

shanafan said:

Not with Movies Anywhere now.

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They added UK support?

Found this Google Doc list on a BluRay forum of where and how to redeem 4K codes for 4K playback. I hope it's helpful

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZsJkCX4DIv2oeCKQ7zp2ArkR1qKEXCUuCMBbUtHtmh4/htmlview

Mindwipe said:

No, you just get the HD version.

You only buy the HD version from iTunes, and they provide a free upgrade on iTunes, but your account only records an HD purchase and that's all that gets passed to MA. iTunes also doesn't provide 4K versions of titles bought in HD from elsewhere.

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Damn. Thanks for the reply.

I really wish Disney/Marvel would stop with their bullshit and upgrade iTunes to 4K.

it's a UK thing. iTunes in the US I believe is currently in the lead with almost 600 4K movies (most in some sort of HDR)

https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1505495519

edit - two interesting things. First, I didn't realize that iTunes was almost at 600 (581 according to Excel). Second, looking at the comments, it seems that a bunch of previously non-HDR movies were upgraded to HDR. Die Hard's 4K transfer is AMAZING and was worth every penny even without HDR.. actually not sure how I feel about HDR being added. Same with Predator. a lot of the 80s 4K transfers are amazing and IMHO didn't even need HDR.

Fortunately with Apple TV you can just force your box to SDR if you don't want HDR processing on classic movies (some look great, like Blade Runner. Some IMHO look off, like Ghostbusters)

LosDaddie said:

Damn. Thanks for the reply.

I really wish Disney/Marvel would stop with their bullshit and upgrade iTunes to 4K.

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at this moment I'm fine with needing to buy ONLY Disney on Vudu... yeah it's $5 more.. and yeah I'm part of the problem keeping it off of iTunes.. but Disney HDR is great and eventually they'll cave to apple.

also per the seeming agreement with Movies Anywhere, when Disney UHD does come to iTunes, all of my Vudu Disney UHD purchases should transfer in UHD to iTunes. The dozen or so UHD movies I've bought on Vudu (sales and credits) all transferred over with UHD versions on iTunes.

Thats why I "bought" an Apple TV 4k( Direct Tv now 3 months, get Apple TV 4k for free deal) I know this doesn't apply to people outside the us, but I understand where you're coming from OP with the lack of options. Going a step further in the states, it will be a wrap once Redbox starts offering 4k UHD disk to rent across the nation instead of select markets. Combined with my X getting DV support, the future is looking bright! Apple TV 4k's quality + HDR has been awesome, and I do recommend it to anyone with a 4k HDR tv, especially IF you go online and buy peoples Digital copies off them for super cheap :)

Bought an Apple TV4k last week for this and haven't looked back. Great device and films look great and same price for 4K as 1080p. Shame no Disney in 4k but that will come.

I've got a couple of Nvidia shield TVs,Netflix and prime...still lack content to be honest

Apple tv is what you're looking for.