Warner Brothers to offer Digital Copy Redemptions?

[dunnbluray]

When searching Blu-ray.com's upcoming releases section. I'm seeing that new Warner Brother's releases are showing Digital Copy and Ultraviolet.

Does anyone know if WB has changed to offering iTune's copies as well?

[echopulse]

I looked though a couple of the listings for the films like 300 Rise of an Empire, and The Lego Movie, and yes, the details page lists UV digital copy and digital copy for both of them. But blu-ray.com also lists UV status for every Disney movie that includes Digital Copy Plus. And on the back of The Lego Movie it specifically states that iTunes copy is not included, but that UV works with iDevices. So, no, I do not think they will begin offering iTunes redemption codes. To do so would completely undermine UV.

[TheDean]

Originally Posted by dunnbluray

When searching Blu-ray.com's upcoming releases section. I'm seeing that new Warner Brother's releases are showing Digital Copy and Ultraviolet.

Does anyone know if WB has changed to offering iTune's copies as well?

that would be great but i doubt it. WB is too cheap to do that. They have too much invested in UV.

Whoever submitted those movies didn't enter enter the digital copy part of the movie they should have said yes for UV and for PSP said not included and same for digital copy PC. But its confusing so they may not be the correct assumption either. But its something like that.

[Clark Kent]

Warner Bros. is the driving force behind the creation of UltraViolet. I doubt we'll be seeing them offer iTunes.

[jblank]

Originally Posted by dunnbluray

When searching Blu-ray.com's upcoming releases section. I'm seeing that new Warner Brother's releases are showing Digital Copy and Ultraviolet.

Does anyone know if WB has changed to offering iTune's copies as well?

Oh man do I hope so. I hate UV with a passion.

[echopulse]

May I ask why?

[jblank]

Absolutely! I've got an iPhone, iPad, as does my wife and our oldest son, and as a family, we have an Apple TV, so we're an Apple family. I like the fact I have everything in one ecosystem. Secondly, UV picture quality is pitiful, while iTunes Digital Copies look great on my phone, iPad and especially on my Apple TV. Third, I think that the last thing we need is another type of digital media. We've got Google Play, iTunes Digital Copy, Amazon, and UV, and if we could somehow unify that collection, it would make things much more simple for the consumer, not to mention more confusing. I own films on ALL of those formats and I know it would be extremely nice to not have to have "X" number of apps installed, with a library here and a library there.

[echopulse]

First of all, you can't really judge the picture quality of UV, as a UV file does not exist yet. You can judge the picture quality of flixster, or vudu, or Target Ticket, but they are each separate things. Most reviews of vudu that I have seen have been excellent, even on par with iTunes.

And UV retailers such as vudu and flixster both have apps for the iPhone and iPad. Flixster is even able to play on AppleTV via Airplay. It's not ideal, but it works.

What you really want to happen is for Apple to join the UV system, then all your iTunes movies would be added to your UV account, and your UV movies would be added to iTunes. I hope it will happen one day, but I'm not counting on it. I do expect support from other big retailers though, such as Amazon Instant and Google Play.

I did write an article the other day about the Pros and Cons of UltraViolet, if you are interested.

http://widescreenadvocate.org/news.php

[jblank]

Thanks, I will definitely look at that. I guess I just wish that we could have a convergence of the digital media so that it isn't so fragmented. I know about the apps, but that doesn't really make things easier, it just gives you another way of viewing. With regards to PQ, you are right, there is no "file" per se, but downloading from Flixster and playing a movie, then downloading the same movie and playing it (at least on an iPad) shows a REMARKABLE disparity between the two, with the iTunes DC being much more representative of HD media.

[Zu Nim]

Originally Posted by jblank

With regards to PQ, you are right, there is no "file" per se, but downloading from Flixster and playing a movie, then downloading the same movie and playing it (at least on an iPad) shows a REMARKABLE disparity between the two, with the iTunes DC being much more representative of HD media.

Most of the UV clients only offer SD-quality streams on mobile devices, so the PQ will be appropriately terrible. You can find some HD streams within Flixster from Warner Bros. titles. (It always asks if you want HD or SD, but even if you say HD you can still get an SD stream if there's no HD offered.)

It's a pretty poor user experience, really. But it saves retailers a nickel per million streams, so...

Originally Posted by echopulse

I do expect support from other big retailers though, such as Amazon Instant and Google Play.

The only real reason to join UV is to increase net profits, which isn't a no-brainer for an established EST retailer. VUDU lost market share after implementing UV. I'm not saying it's causal, but it's not an endorsement.

Amazon Instant: I would've expected it more than a year ago if it was going to happen. Amazon's pushing Prime streaming pretty hard at this point. I might see this if it helped in less-established international markets, but UV isn't strong in those markets either.

Google Play: This would be a good move because Google's still not established in EST. But it's not clear to me that Google's heart is really in digital sales. Their EST channels seem like things they feel obligated to offer for competitive reasons as opposed to things they excel at or are passionate about.

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by Zu Nim

Google Play: This would be a good move because Google's still not established in EST. But it's not clear to me that Google's heart is really in digital sales. Their EST channels seem like things they feel obligated to offer for competitive reasons as opposed to things they excel at or are passionate about.

What annoys me is Google Play requires a credit card, even for free books (Google Books use to not require CC before it merged with Google Play). I do not trust Google with my credit card number. The ONLY thing I can download without having a CC on file is Android apps. Free movies, free music, free TV shows, and free books all required a credit card on file. That's complete BS.

[bsweetness]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

What annoys me is Google Play requires a credit card, even for free books (Google Books use to not require CC before it merged with Google Play). I do not trust Google with my credit card number. The ONLY thing I can download without having a CC on file is Android apps. Free movies, free music, free TV shows, and free books all required a credit card on file. That's complete BS.

I'm not a big fan of being required to have a credit card on file either if I have no plans of making purchases - by any company. That's why I have an empty pre-paid Visa gift card that I use specifically for those situations. After receiving the card initially, I registered it online so that I could use it to make online purchases. I then used the balance of the card. But after depleting the balance of the card, the card itself is still active until the expiration date passes. Generally, if you're simply adding a card to an account, no one will try to do any sort of pre-authorization (which would fail due to not having a balance). They'll just check that the information you entered is valid, and that the card is active.

[jblank]

Ya know what, that is a very good idea, because like you, I'm not a fan of mandatory credit card filings.

[mjg87]

UV is actually better quality than itunes, at least on Verizon FiOs and VUDU it is. I own some of the same content on both platforms and did a comparison. VUDU approaches blu ray pq a lot more than itunes in most cases.

But I like itunes due to the fact I have all mobile idevices, I just don't like that video can't be streamed or downloaded over LTE, so kind of makes it all moot unless I have access to wifi on the go.

[marine92104]

The reason I hate Vudu is because on MAC OSX they only offer streaming in SD - NO HD.

Doesn't matter if it's a Mac, iPad or any Apple product.

If they offered streaming & download in HD then I would support them wholeheartedly.

Until they do I do not purchase any movies that are VUDU only. So WarnerBros & any other studio just supporting VUDU I will not buy their movies.

There is no reason they can't stream in HD on Apple products that I've read they just choose not to.

No HD no $$$