It’s a degree of security that the modern streaming world, for all its up-to-the-second convenience, just cannot match. No matter what happens to the digital rights of your favorite film now or years in the future, you will be able to put your disc in a player and go.
Movies Anywhere is a free app that you can download on your iOS or Android devices it’s also available on most smart TV platforms including Android TV, Chromecast, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.īut best of all, if you have a physical Blu-Ray, you never have to worry about your favorite movies “leaving” the streaming service where you watch them. Movies Anywhere also acts as a resting place for the movies and shows you’ve purchased from other streaming services, like iTunes, Amazon Video and Google Play, and aggregate them with the digital copies of your Blu-Rays or DVDs so that everything is in one place.
A few years ago a bunch of Hollywood studios launched Movies Anywhere, a free movie streaming service (similar to Netflix) that lets you enter a redeem code that comes with a purchased Blu-rays and DVDs, and then you can watch that digital copy whenever you want. With physical media like a Blu-Ray or a DVD, you’re much more limited, needing both the disc and a media player to play it. One of streaming’s biggest advantages is that it allows you to watch a movie or show pretty much anywhere you want and on any device. A Blu-Ray is forever, and it comes with a digital copy too.
A Blu-ray disc obviously doesn’t rely on the internet, so its quality is always perfect even if the internet is completely down. If your home’s internet speed and bandwidth aren’t up to snuff - or there is a lot of congestion in your region when you are looking to stream - your video might not be in its highest resolution or it might hit you with a bunch of pauses and load screens while you’re watching. The difference is that a 4K stream requires a connection that is not only fast in general, but fast when you want to watch your movie. Most streaming services offer shows and movies in 4K resolution, and the newest streamers (like the Apple TV 4K and Xbox One X) are also able to play 4K content as well, which is the same as what you’ll get out of an Ultra HD Blu-ray (and which is better than an older HD Blu-ray). Streaming quality is not.Ī Blu-Ray’s quality isn’t necessarily better than what you can stream these days. However, some DVD players allow you to switch between regions up to five times before it becomes region locked.6 Tricks All Sonos Owners Should Know The quality of Blu-Ray is guaranteed. Unfortunately, it is not possible to change the region of a specific DVD. Q: How Do You Change the Region on a DVD? If you need to play discs from around the world, you'll need to buy a model that explicitly states is region-free or multi-region. Incredibly, most DVD players still only support discs from specific regions.
Plus, you can purchase the cheapest copy of a movie or series, if it's less expensive in another country. Frequent travelers can pick up a DVD or Blu-Ray from anywhere and are guaranteed it will play.Ī region-free player is also an excellent investment for fans of foreign films and shows. Yet the advantages outweigh the price jump. A region-free DVD player retails for about the same price as a region-locked Blu-ray player. The problem is that a region-free DVD or Blu-Ray player costs a premium. Moreover, most DVDs remain region-locked. While Blu-Ray discs are more commonly released as region-free or all-region, not all Blu-ray discs are region-free.
For instance, DVDs from North America come encoded as Region 1 DVDs and Region A Blu-Rays. FAQ Q: Why Buy a Region-Free DVD or Blu-ray Player?Ī region-free DVD or Blu-Ray player ensures complete physical media compatibility.