Difference between movies on Blu-Ray or FIOS?

1955

I'm new to all this and still haven't received all my equipment yet. The one thing I'm still waiting for is the BD35 I ordered a week ago, and I was wondering if movies played on Blu-Ray look and/or sound better than what's coming over FIOS's movie channels? I'm guessing that Blu-Ray is as good as it gets, but do the movies on HBO, Showtime and the porn (j/k) on Cinemax look and sound as good, or are they compressed or just downgraded somehow?

TIA
Ralph

Chris Gerhard

In general Blu-ray will look and sound better than anything you will receive on FiOS. It should be easily determined on even a modest HDTV you are watching Blu-ray. FiOS does compress the data considerably more than is used with Blu-ray.

Chris

fwtechwiz

There is a noticeable difference, but that's not to say the FIOS picture is bad. Most movies on the FIOS HD channels are decent, crisp, high quality pictures. Comparing FIOS to Blu-Ray, depending of course on the quality of the original film and the transfer, is like comparing a nice Lincoln stretch limo to a tricked out diamond studded Caddilac Esplanade with a hot tub!

1955

Thanks, that's what I was wondering.

HD Goofnut

Comparing HD DVD/Blu-ray to any other HD source (other than live HD broadcasts) is like comparing real grits to instant grits.

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digs5446

I know this is probably just a matter of semantics, but it's the networks that compress the data, not FiOS. Unless we are all being lied to, Verizon does not apply ANY additional compression on top of what they get from the networks.

Chris Gerhard

I don't know if that is true or not really. DirecTV and many cable companies compress the signal further but I guess I don't know about FiOS specifically so your statement is better than mine. A better statement would be the FiOS signal is compressed considerably more than a Blu-ray disc although FiOS might not be doing any further compression beyond what is received from the network.

Chris

1955

One of the reasons I switched from Directv was because I had heard that their signal is compressed more than FIOS or any other cable. Trying to get more channels and such through their satellites has always been an issue with them.

digs5446

Exactly. Even though the signal you see over FiOS is the least compressed out of all the providers (since all others add additional compression on top of what they receive from the networks since their bandwidth is nothing compared to a dedicated fiber line to the home), Blu-Ray video quality will always be better because there is far less compression to begin with. Even the best of the best FiOS HD signals for new-ish movies on movie channels such as HDNet Movies, Universal HD, TNT HD, etc are noticeably softer looking than Blu-Ray and have less vibrant colors. Definitely a huge step up from the standard def channels, but not quite Blu-Ray levels. Those "ultimate trailer shows" and "trailerama" shows on HDNet are the best looking signals I've seen coming off a film-based (i.e. not sports and digital documentaries) TV feed.

Benzodiazepine

I questioned this to my brother once,
not exactly the same question but mostly about his opinion on each.
He said that it's like watching porn movies and do it yourself.