Blu-ray Disc buyers accessing Digital Copy twice as much as DVD buyers
By Darren Murph 
posted Jan 2nd 2009 3:41PM
posted Jan 2nd 2009 3:41PM
Ever wondered if anyone ever bothered to utilize that Digital Copy that so many films are shipping with these days? Warner Home Video did, so it engaged in a bit of research to find out who exactly was tapping in. In short, BD movie buyers accessed Digital Copy around twice as much as did DVD buyers, and it was found that the uptake rate is "measurably growing among Blu-ray consumers with successive Warner releases." Still, data shows that Digital Copy usage across the industry is still relatively rare, with title uptake across studio titles ranging between 5% and 13%. We found it particularly interesting that adding a copy of the film to a disc carried with it a substantial expense -- around $1.15 per unit -- so we wouldn't be surprised to see studios refine their strategies to ensure that consumers appreciate the addition.
I absolutely love digital copy. Since Apple refuses to include Blu-Ray support in their Macs, digital copy gives me a version of the film I can still watch on my Mac if I so choose. It's like getting the crappy $15 SD version from iTunes for free.
Agree!!
I agree, but it is a backward way of apple getting support for itunes and macs, without returning any tech love for Blu-Ray. its ridiculous!
If at Macworld, Apple doesn't start supporting Blu-Ray, i think alot of us ought to start a boycott.
get publicity for the issue. Apple needs to support this format that people want!!!
WTF! $1.15 per unit? Then get rid of it! Add a link onto the product for a free code like they do with movie tickets for a free download. That would be much cheaper than this when so few actually use it.
I don't know why they bother with a disc either. May as well print a code on the insert sleeve and let people download the movie for themselves. The weight of a DVD might not sound by much but multiply by 10 million discs and think of all the waste that entails.
yeah. they sell itunes gift cards that have pre-selected content you can buy with em (like now thats what i call christmas, or KT tunstall's album or some crap). why not just include one of those cards that only lets you download the movie you just bought. are they really making that dollar back off of people who still dont have high speed internet/patience?
Digital Copy is great, and I think well worth the additional dollar and change. If they were to make it a download there would be significantly less interest. Copying the 1.36GB file from the DVD takes long enough and not everybody has 10Mbit cable internet.
Needless to say, I look forward to having Pineapple Express on my 40-inch LCD AND my iPhone this Tuesday. =]
I can understand this. The technology adoption curve means the earlier you are on a new format the more tech savvy you are likely to be. Doesn't mean much beyond this.
my thoughts exactly
I will never use this shit. They need to include a standard DVD or nothing at all.
It still baffles me as to why Zunes don't yet support digital copy due to the DRM. I mean, they have portable .wmv file versions on the discs! What are you supposed to use this portable version for if a Zune doesn't natively support it?
Its not intended for Zunes, it is inteded for Microsoft Windows Media Player, if you read the digital copy options it says for I-Tunes, which is also compatable with IPod and Quick Time, or WMP. The reason why Zunes won't play it has everything to do with the way its been formated and write protected, which has more to do with WMP formating than anything else.
It has to do with the DRM. There are programs out there that will simply strip the DRM off the .wmv file to make it work on the Zune. But there is no native support. Regular wmv files play fine on the Zune without any conversion (unless it's HD wmv). I understand it's for WMP, but the .wmv portable versions (which are just lower resolution videos of the regular digital copy) don't even play on Windows Mobile WMP either. There are TWO wmv files on digital copy: one at DVD resolution and one at iPod/Zune screen size resolution. I've yet to find a portable device that plays the portable low res version due to DRM restrictions.
Not sure why this is supposed to be surprising, if you have the DVD you can rip it to be played back on any device you want so the need for a digital copy is not at great. With the inability to easily rip br discs (expensive br-rom drives, software and a beefy pc required) a digital copy of a br disc is obviously going to be more in demand. However lets ignore the logical explanation and just chalk it up to another great benefit of br!
I would love to use the digital copy with my blu-ray discs, but since i dont have a blu-ray drive on my pc, I'm SOL. Would be killer to include digitial copy in a future PS3 update.
The digital copy comes on a separate disc, usually DVD formatted, and not on the BD disc.
that good news i have four digtal movies dark knight,hulk,wall-e, and Narina 2Prince Caspain
I just got No Country for Old Men with a digital copy... can't imagine when I'd use since I have the BD disc anyway. I have a couple iPods I could copy it to, but I don't really watch any videos on my iPods, so there's not much point, in my case anyway.
I'll just have to start paying more attention and get the ones without the digital copy... hopefully the price will reflect its absence.
My mistake, it was Hitman that included the digital.
I'd imagine one reason for this is that if a person wants to watch a movie on their computer, they could just pop in the DVD, but not nearly as many would have a blu-ray drive on their PC, so they'd have to use the digital copy.
A few years back Sony tought me a valuable lesson.. Never insert any CD/DVD/BLU-RAY etc. that installs code on your computer. I do not blame Sony.. These guys are all the same and it could as easily have been any other company that was the first to get busted installing rootkits.
I will never use a the "Digital Copy" that is included, since I dont know what these movie exec types might decide to install next time. Instead I rip the original BD using AnyDVD HD and convert it to the resolution/bitrate I want. Is takes a little time, but it is in the format I want and it works on all units - even them not supporting DRM.
I hope there is a user friendly app being developed out there like CloneDVD so everybody can do this sometime.
I have a question about the digital copies on other discs, do they have an expiration date on them like the DC that came with Resident Evil: Extinction?
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/12/27/poll-did-you-go-blu-in-2008/comments/16315052/
The first half of that comment is irrelevant, but what I'm getting at is in there.