Is the quality of Amazon/itunes the same as blu-ray?

Not that it  matters much...Vision is going downhill and all I hear thanks to tinitus is EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

No, most of the compression is on the audio side of things though.

No.

And the audio sucks. The bandwidth isn't there to stream uncompressed audio and visual.

HOWEVER, for 95% of Americans, maybe more, it's good enough. Today's consumerism is less concerned about actual quality, which is why Walmart sells 500 dollar 4K TVs. Most Americans don't care about the audio, which is why they have shit systems. It's why that 95% starts threads like "best 4K TV under 800 bucks", or looks for info on shit sound systems.

I fear that physical media will die a premature death because of this, and people that care about picture and sound quality will be left with no choice except shit streaming.

Sorry for mini rant. :D

Agree with everything said.  And sadly, it's the LFE track that suffers the most in the compression.

We now have an entire generation that really has never heard music.  They are streaming compressed audio and their primary listening means is a pair of ear buds.

Although given the music they listen to, that might not be a bad thing.

http://hometheaterreview.com/why-blu-ray-is-still-better-than-streaming-today/

That's an outstanding article that explains the differences for anyone to understand. I don't use streaming services because of the lower resolution (compared to Bluray and the new Bluray 4K UHD) and because streaming can be unreliable. I was at my daughter's home last week and we were watching one of those free streaming services through her X Box. The viewing experience was extremely annoying. The picture kept freezing up every 10 minutes and was slower than usual to start . She stated that they never experienced this before. Internet is nowhere near as reliable as watching a disc and the picture quality is not as good either. Never has been. Plus, why would any service (like Amazon) waste their customer's time and money by using 720p? That sucks and is just a little better than watching regular Standard Definition TV. If you're watching TV on a sub 30" screen then 720p is OK. It looks like crap on 46" and especially on my 75" Sony XBR 4K TV.

You can always setup a Plex media server, and hit a compromise between the two options.

Plus you can stream full quality media anywhere in the house.

The higher bitrate video and lossless audio of a good bluray are superior in every way.

This

It's a matter of conveinece is all. I use plex when I'm lazy but if I really want to watch a movie I pop the blue ray in. Difference is undeniable

Eta: I'm also not watching it through a $100 surround system or the tv speakers though