I think a lot of streaming services offer some sort of 4K upgrade pricing. [0] Doesn't seem like the requirements for netflix are even that demanding, minimum 15mbps is at least a common internet speed where I'm from.
For something like a Marvel movie, whatever. For something like Planet Earth or 2001, watching it on streaming is disappointing after owning the disc version.
I realize different encoding can be more efficient but Netflix etc still just looks worse.
If you want DolbyVision, HDR, highest resolution and bitrate, physical media is still the only option that I’m aware of. Bummed about this happening because when I’ve tried ordering Bluray from Amazon, the discs sometimes show up loose in the cases and scratched up.
When I tried out the 4k Netflix option in early 2023 I found myself wanting an option to downgrade to their 1080p encoding for a few of the shows I was watching.
I was told Netflix hired really smart people for like 300-500k/year for the express purpose of avoiding stupid shit like this.