Streaming Versus Downloaded Content: Which Is Better?
There are several options when it comes to choosing a source for your home cinema content: streaming, 4K discs or a movie server system from Kaleidescape. But which is better?
Home Cinema Alliance members can advise you on creating the best experience for your home, but it’s useful to have a little knowledge up front about the different content delivery systems available.
Hard disc playback is still an option for many, particularly those with collections of DVDs or Blu-rays they want to continue enjoying. Some caution is needed here. Studios are beginning to see the cost savings of not releasing titles on Blu-ray and are instead opting for our next category of content delivery: streaming. These are the services we are all now familiar with, which have significantly changed the way people consume content over the last decade. Convenient and often packed full of exclusive content, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Paramount, Disney+ and YouTube have all played their part in making viewing more immediate.
The last category to mention is only available through professional home cinema installers and involves high-performance movie server and playback options from a brand called Kaleidescape. With its own digital movie store and hardware options to play back content, the system is designed to be state-of-the-art in terms of home movie playback. The important difference between this system and streaming is that the content is downloaded before playback. But how do these systems compare?
Delivering an immersive experience
The art of creating a good home cinema lies in getting as close as possible to the vision the creators had when producing the content. This involves delivering the best imaging and surround sound possible.
In terms of video, it’s important to understand that most sources use some kind of compression to get the image from storage to your system. The amount of data that ends up on your screen will significantly impact image quality. For comparison, the average throughput for video on a Kaleidescape system is 58 Mbps. For a 4K Blu-ray disc, it’s 48 Mbps. For Apple TV+, it comes out at 16 Mbps. Apple TV+ is usually considered the best streaming platform in terms of quality, but as you can see, it lags significantly behind the other two. With the space available on a Blu-ray disc a large amount of information can be made available. For Kaleidescape the content is downloaded (in around 10 minutes providing a strong internet signal is in place) and therefore can deliver a much larger amount of information from a locally stored server or playback device.
In case you’re wondering whether you would even notice the difference, consider the furore over the Game of Thrones episode ‘The Long Night’, when viewers complained they couldn’t see what was happening in this pivotal episode. This was in no small part down to the compression used to broadcast the content, and it’s far from a one-off.
Audio is hugely important in creating an experience that will long be remembered. Where would Jaws be without its soundtrack? Where would Star Wars be without its amazing John Williams score? All of this is before you consider the atmosphere created with skilful sound effects and mixing. Again, the amount of information available to a system and how it is delivered matters. Audio throughput from a Kaleidescape system and a 4K Blu-ray is 5.3 Mbps. Apple TV+ and Netflix deliver 768 kbps, with Amazon Prime offering 448 kbps. That’s a significant difference, and it’s even more important when you consider that streaming is often presented in 5.1 format, limiting the number of surround channels that can be delivered. Blu-ray and Kaleidescape benefit from the content not having to be streamed, so more information can be relayed.
A skilled HCA member will be able to mitigate many of these different system characteristics, but if we are going for the best performance, having more data in terms of visuals and audio is the best place to start.
Other considerations include the price of the system and access to the content. Least expensive is streaming, with playback hardware often free of charge and much of the content available for free after subscription. However, the shine has worn off recently, as much of the content now requires payment even after subscribing, and services that previously offered ad-free options have introduced ad-supported tiers or now include ad breaks more frequently.
Blu-ray discs are still a strong option, but it’s worth considering how long they will continue to be produced and how much longer manufacturers will keep making playback machines. Kaleidescape is a very strong option when it comes to quality. None of the other systems offers the same level of audio and video performance. However, the investment required is greater. It is worth noting that Kaleidescape has recently introduced more entry-level options, making access to this system more affordable.
Ultimately, our members will help you choose the right options for you, perhaps mixing two or even all three of these options to suit your family and your home. Rest assured, whatever your budget, the knowledge of an HCA member will enable you to take your home cinema experience to the next level.
