Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

blu ray and dvd and digital copy

dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
19,218
4,342
5045 feet above sea level
So I have a ps3 but have been very hesitant to buying blu ray movies for a multitude of factors, namely cost (25 bucks to around 12 for a movie), portability (could only play on ps3 vs my computer, laptop, friends dvd players, etc) and unable to backup to computer

The last point is what i am confused about. I have noticed some blu rays have a digital copy included. my question is

- are these digital copies implementing any drm? any downside to buying blu ray when they have these digital copies?

i have come across some movies (the dark knight on dvd) that included a digital copy only to find it is only playable with wmp...which sucks
 
Some DCs work on Macs with iTunes, and have Fairplay DRM (such as Star Trek). Others are still WMV-only (eg. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince). When buying online you really need to be careful as they often say "includes DC!" but rarely list what format it is :(
 
The only Blu-Ray that I even bothered to test out the Digital Copy for was Dark Knight, and that was a download code from iTunes. I don't know if it has DRM or not.
 
Nermal said:
Some DCs work on Macs with iTunes, and have Fairplay DRM (such as Star Trek). Others are still WMV-only (eg. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince). When buying online you really need to be careful as they often say "includes DC!" but rarely list what format it is :(
Click to expand...

Are there any movies that include both the bluray and dvd of the title?

That would be the best option for me
 
As far as I know, all Digital Copy movies have DRM; most either implement FairPlay or WMV DRM. Many also restrict the copy to one device and computer, so it is fairly limited. As far as compatibility with itunes, I would just check the physical box, if possible, to view what it works with. In my experience, many do work with iTunes.
 
digital copy is stupid as it only lasts for one year after the release of the BD. You might as well rip the BD to ur computer. get a external BD ripper. and then convert to a format that uses less space.
 
dukebound85 said:
Are there any movies that include both the bluray and dvd of the title?

That would be the best option for me
Click to expand...

"Up" and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" are two that have the regular DVD included if you buy the Blu Ray version, at least for now.

HD-DVD (sadly, I was an early adopter) used to have some titles with HD-DVD on on side of the disk and DVD on the other so it could play on anything.

Edit: Make sure to read the packaging, there are some versions of the Harry Potter Blu Ray that do not have the extra DVD.
 
Nermal said:
Some DCs work on Macs with iTunes, and have Fairplay DRM (such as Star Trek). Others are still WMV-only (eg. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince). When buying online you really need to be careful as they often say "includes DC!" but rarely list what format it is :(
Click to expand...

You should re-check your Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince as mine came with an iTunes version that you download from Warner's Web site.

The only studio that offered digital copies that weren't from iTunes was Warner Bros. However, they have since corrected that mistake with their new titles.

Digital Copies don't expire after a year. Additionally, if you accidentally purchase a Blu-ray that's over a year old with an expired code, all you have to do is e-mail customer support listed on the activation insert. And they'll send you another one. This happened with one of my Disney titles which I purchased used.

Digital Copy for iTunes is great. It gives you a properly sourced iPhone/iPod touch version of your movie. I hope Apple updates their Digital Copy program soon to support an HD version of the Blu-ray movie (Apple TV compatible). No more ripping Blu-ray's.

I feel like I'm getting a better value when they offer these bundle packages. $14.99 for Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince with the Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Copy is completely reasonable.
 
Everyone has said pretty much everything above, but here is a summary and a little rant;

Every Digital Copy of a movie has DRM, of course it does. In fact, I have seen people selling their Digital Copy codes on eBay. I never use my digital copy because I almost always get the DVD with the movie as well, and I just copy that to my computer. When BD external drives are cheaper, you can then back up those movies, but they will take up a lot of space!

There are a lot of movies that have the BluRay, DVD, and the Digital Copy of the movie. These are great bundles and the best place to buy them is on Amazon, you can get a lot of BD titles for around 15.00!

The price of BluRays are REALLY cheap! We are in the third year of the BD disc and prices are already under the 30.00 mark. When DVDs were in their 3rd year, I remember they cost about 45.00 a disc (with inflation). I don't know why so many people fuss about how BD movies are expensive. Of course they will cost more than current dvds because they have 1300 times the amount of storage a DVD has 4 to 8GB versus 25 to 50GB). Plus they always have AT LEAST 3 hours of bonus footage, AND they are encoded at a much higher rate (480i versus 1080p), I would expect a premium for getting a much higher quality movie.
 
jaw04005 said:
Ahhh. It's a AUS/NZ thing. The US version includes iTunes support.
Click to expand...

I get the same message with a UK version of HP; really annoyed, as the leaflet with the code on it, specifically mentions downloading to iTunes. I've even tried contacting WB, but have yet to get a response. Next stop, Trading Standards....
 
IscariotJ said:
I get the same message with a UK version of HP; really annoyed, as the leaflet with the code on it, specifically mentions downloading to iTunes. I've even tried contacting WB, but have yet to get a response. Next stop, Trading Standards....
Click to expand...

First of all, ignore what the pamphlet says. Don't go to the Web site (unless you want the Windows Media version.)

Go to iTunes Store and click "Redeem" in the Quick Links section.
Enter your code from the pamphlet.
 
I'll give that a go with my NZ copy when I get home. The only other DC I've tried, Star Trek, was a different process where you insert a DVD and it gets copied from there. Therefore it's almost instant and the data charges are minimal; much better than making you download the whole thing.
 
jaw04005 said:
First of all, ignore what the pamphlet says. Don't go to the Web site (unless you want the Windows Media version.)

Go to iTunes Store and click "Redeem" in the Quick Links section.
Enter your code from the pamphlet.
Click to expand...

Fails :(

I've just had an email from WB saying that I've been assigned a ticket, and my issue will be looked into. Funnily enough, the first time I did that, I received nothing. Seems the mention of Trading Standards has nudged someone into motion.

Tis a pity, this is about the 4th blu-ray I've bought in the past month or two, and it's only one not to have downloaded from iTunes. If it's a WB thing, I'll pass in future....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back