Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Blu Ray/DVD Combo release

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 03-31-2009, 08:55 PM:

Disney started it with their release of SLEEPING BEAUTY. I think it is a fantastic idea to package a DVD with the Blu Ray release of a movie. I knew I was going to get Blu Ray so it was a No brainer to get the the Blu Ray with the DVD of SLEEPING BEAUTY. Disney did it again with PINOCCHIO and BOLT and Fox today offered a combo BD/DVD of MARLEY AND ME.

After becoming obsessed with video tapes, laserdiscs and DVDs, I was not planning to start collecting Blu Ray at my age but when I saw the fantastic picture quality the HD video disc offers on my brother's set up before I got my own HDTV and BD player, I got hooked. I am sure there are many like me who will be eventually go to Blu Ray so the combo BD/DVD releases of new movies make a lot of sense. With the two format disc, one can play the BD in the living room or where ever the player is and the DVD can be used either in a bedroom or even in a car during a long trip.

-Claude

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-31-2009, 09:36 PM:

I would definitely prefer the BD/DVD combo thing to the the absolutely useless "digital copy" disc bullshit that populates so many other BD releases these days. I don't see any point of the "digital copy" thing other than to waste hard drive space and piss off honest customers.

The main problem with the "digital copy" discs is nearly all expire after only 6 months or so. If you didn't bother wasting a few gigs of space on your personal computer installing that "digital copy" then you're stuck with a worthless Frisbee taking up space in a BD case. That's not the case with a full blown DVD copy in the BD package. The DVD copy doesn't expire.

Disney has shown a bit of market wisdom with including DVD versions of the movie in its BD packages. Any responsible parent isn't going to let little Timmy treat an expensive Blu-ray movie disc in the same stupidly reckless manner typically directed to DVD media. The parents protect the way-cool high def BD while letting the "tricycle motor" drool all over the spare DVD, step on it, scrub kitchen counters with it or even wear the damned disc as a snow shoe. Kids are just plain stupid with movie discs. Plain and simple. I'll flip the hell out if I see someone below the age of puberty farting around with any of my movie discs, even those "cheap" DVDs. Anyone who hasn't developed pubes simply cannot be trusted with an optical disc. They're retarded for all I care. Hell, even an adult with cerebral palsy or spinal bifida will know better on handling discs with care. Little kids can't be made to give a shit about it. Even if the parent beats their little ass. They just want to break the hell out of everything. That's just how it is. With that said, Blu-ray discs and kids don't need to be in the same place. Let them eat DVD.

Of course, the parents are still stuck like hell once their brat wears out that first bonus DVD. Then they're stuck going back to Wal-Mart to shell out another $20 for another DVD for "monkey boy" to ruin. Shrewd business move on the part of Disney.

Maybe children are the ones who need to watch movies via Internet downloading. Let us adults screw around with old-school physical media.

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 04-01-2009, 05:30 AM:

So.....this "digital copy" is a downloaded DVD? I don't see the point of that! [Roll Eyes]

As for the kiddie thing, I think you're over-generalising just a tad there. I'm currently teaching my 2yo to respect DVD with some success - she hasn't destroyed one yet, not even close.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 04-01-2009, 09:03 AM:

quote:
So.....this "digital copy" is a downloaded DVD? I don't see the point of that!

It's not even that.

It's a portable video player version (ie it's got the resolution that something like an iphone and ipod touch can handle). It's not even DVD quality.

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 04-01-2009, 09:13 AM:

So what is the stated purpose of this "digital copy"?

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-01-2009, 09:40 AM:

Basically "digital copy" is a waste. It's a half-ass attempt of luring people away from illegally downloading movies from the Internet. An actual DVD being included in the Blu-ray package is a real bonus.

I'll admit to generalizing about kids and optical disc abuse, but I had to vent a little about it. In everyday situations where I'm around the children of friends or relatives I just have to keep my mouth shut and wear a poker face when I see kids handling discs very badly. If the parents want to take the "oh, let them just be kids and have their fun" route at the expense of ruining a few $60 game discs and $20 DVDs that's their deal.

The most common thing I see kids (and quite a few adults) do with discs is get the things out of their cases and laid out all over a table. Some of the younger ones do that so they can admire the artwork on the discs, but the playing surface is making contact with a wooden coffee table. Horseplay and kids go hand in hand. So when the boys are wrestling around for a controller or something those bare discs are at high risk of getting damaged. "Oops, I didn't know that was there. Mom, I need a new game for my PS2!" It's not a big deal if the parents are well off, but plenty of the parents I know can't cough up $20-$60 all the time to replace damaged discs.

Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 04-01-2009, 10:29 AM:

quote: Bobby Henderson
I'll flip the hell out if I see someone below the age of puberty farting around with any of my movie discs, even those "cheap" DVDs. Anyone who hasn't developed pubes simply cannot be trusted with an optical disc. They're retarded for all I care. Hell, even an adult with cerebral palsy or spinal bifida will know better on handling discs with care. Little kids can't be made to give a shit about it. Even if the parent beats their little ass.

Bob - will you be my daddy?

Don't apologize...that's one of the funniest posts I've read in a very long time. Bet your a South Park fan.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 04-01-2009, 11:20 AM:

quote: Stu Jamieson
So what is the stated purpose of this "digital copy"?

Since people are lazy... it lets you get a copy you can take with you on a trip without actually ripping the movie and having the software do the conversion for you.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-01-2009, 12:04 PM:

Funny thing is a DVD works much easier in that regard. A "digital copy" disc isn't going to play in the SUV's back seat DVD player to keep the kids occupied on a road trip. Obviously Disney figured out that point some time ago.

quote: Joe Tommassello
Bet your a South Park fan.

Yep. I'm crossing my fingers for Dish Network to add Comedy Central HD today. Being an "HD Absolute" customers I wasn't getting CC at all and had to watch the last few episodes of South Park via the Internet. Now I might be able to see the newest episodes in HD. Sweet.

[ 04-01-2009, 01:20 PM: Message edited by: Bobby Henderson ]

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 04-01-2009, 02:15 PM:

quote: Bobby Henderson
Funny thing is a DVD works much easier in that regard.

Wait... what? I was saying that the "digital copy" is for people who are too lazy to rip a DVD/blu-ray and convert the video, but still want to watch it on their Ipod.

Now, they could make a DVD copy, have it not basic (lacking some special features since they're on the other disc anyway), and have a separate data file of this digital copy. That would be more useful than a disc exclusively for a "digital copy."

And I hate them calling it a digital copy. They should call it what it is: a copy compatible with ipods.

Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 04-01-2009, 02:38 PM:

Bob - I don't get CC in HD either. I have ranted about Comcast in the past so I won't get into it again. They do, however, have this season's South Park episodes in HD when they show up "On Demand" about a week after the initial broadcast. They look incredible too. After seeing it in widescreen it looks horrible in 4:3. Who is "the Coon"???

I am not sure but I think my blu-ray of "A Time To Kill" had a digital copy with it. What's up with that? A standard DVD that you don't have to flip would have been nice.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 04-01-2009, 02:58 PM:

Being the iPod freak that I am, I thought the original concept of a digital copy for my portable devise would be real cool. After I had downloaded a movie on to my 16 gb iPod Touch and watched bits and pieces of it from time to time, I realized the amount of space the movie is taking up could be better used for More music downloads so I erased it. The idea of having a digital copy of a movie is good only if it did not not have an expiration period. If a can download a movie or two and take them with me to watch during a trip say beyond the current expiration period, I will be in favor of digital copies. As the way things are, I think Digital Copies of movies is a very lame idea and I am not in favor of it.

-Claude

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-01-2009, 06:20 PM:

Here's how I think "digital copy" should be done.

1. The disc should primarily function as a standard DVD, playable in any DVD Video-compatible device.

2. A certain amount of space on the disc should be reserved for a lower resolution "digital copy" people can load onto their iPods, PSPs, PCs or Macs via some sort of cross-platform compatible application (or just make it work and validate itself through iTunes and Windows Media Player).

3. The low res "digital copy" should never expire. If you lose the copy via a dead iPod or something you should be able to reinstall the copy onto a new iPod just by using the included serial number.

I don't think Hollywood studios are going to get very many participants in the digital copy feature with certain Blu-ray and DVD releases until they do something along the lines of what I am suggesting. It should be fairly easy for them to deliver on this. Multi-session music CDs and DVDs have been around for a long time.