Blu-ray Covers, DVD Covers, Game Covers...

**rickssg** · 06-25-2009, 11:30 AM

OK, so either the studio marketing guys are clueless or I am. I just got a blu-ray player in February, and I have been slowly buying some blu-ray discs. I bought Pinocchio when it came out on blu-ray, but it was only available as a blu-ray/DVD combo. Same for Inkheart, which just came out, and also for Snow White, out later this year. My question is: if I have a blu-ray player (and I wouldn't buy the blu-ray disc if I didn't), then why in the world do I need a DVD version of the movie? What are they thinking?

leo1963 · 06-25-2009, 05:39 PM

I notice that too and I'm just as clueless. It might be another way to get more money out of us.

**ApolloOne** · 06-29-2009, 10:24 AM

Maybe it's my perspective as a parent, but I think it's because most kids don't have Blu-ray players. If a child wants to watch the movie in their room or at a sleepover or wherever, they can't play the BD in their DVD player.

I think it's quite a thoughtful idea on the studios' part.

**rickssg** · 06-29-2009, 11:20 AM

OK, but if the studio was really thoughtful, they would offer a BD-only version, a DVD-only version, and a BD-DVD combo version. And they would price them something like this:

DVD: $15.00
BD: $ 20.00
Combo: $30.00

For the titles I mentioned, if I want BD, then my only choice is the combo. And if I don't want the DVD, then too bad (so far I have just been giving away the DVDs to siblings - so I guess it's nice that the studios are making me buy stuff I don't want so that my siblings can have free DVDs - and I realize that the studios don't actually make me buy anything, but to get what I want, I have to also get what I don't want).

**gbk33** · 06-29-2009, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApolloOne

Maybe it's my perspective as a parent, but I think it's because most kids don't have Blu-ray players. If a child wants to watch the movie in their room or at a sleepover or wherever, they can't play the BD in their DVD player.

I think it's quite a thoughtful idea on the studios' part.

I was thinking the same thing....but I see your point rickssg

**Hailstorm** · 11-04-2009, 08:15 PM

Blu-ray combo packs give you the same quality enhanced DVD as the Blu-ray, only in DVD format. No it is not 1080P, is is still DVD 480P but the quality of the picture is allot better than what we purchased earlier. I hate it when you only get a Blu-ray disc and Digital copy, I send the digital copies to my daughter for her to put in the compute for grand kids.

**rickssg** · 11-06-2009, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hailstorm

Blu-ray combo packs give you the same quality enhanced DVD as the Blu-ray, only in DVD format. No it is not 1080P, is is still DVD 480P but the quality of the picture is allot better than what we purchased earlier. I hate it when you only get a Blu-ray disc and Digital copy, I send the digital copies to my daughter for her to put in the compute for grand kids.

Are you saying that if I buy the DVD-only release, then the picture quality on that disc will be inferior to the quality on the DVD that is included in the combo pack? Is this true even for new releases (e.g., "Up")? Because if that's true then the studios are acting shadier than I already thought they were.

And I still stand by my original statement that combo packs are fine as an option, but I would also like to see a blu-only option as well as a DVD-only option.

It all got even more confusing when I recently went to Walmart to buy Snow White on blu-ray. There was the standard DVD-only 2-disc package, a blu-ray combo pack that included a DVD of the film, and a DVD-combo pack that included a blu-ray of the film. Each of the two latter packages has three discs, and in each case two of the discs are blu-ray and one is a DVD. The blu-ray+DVD comes in a three-disc blu-ray case, and the DVD+blu-ray comes in a 3-disc DVD case. And although both are currently the same price on Amazon, at the time at Walmart the blu-ray+DVD was $20 and the DVD+blu-ray was $25. The only difference that I found after looking closely at the backs of both packages is that the DVD in the DVD+blu-ray package had more special features on it than the DVD in the blu-ray+DVD package. The blu-ray discs are apparently identical between the two sets. They are on Amazon here and here. However, only the first product picture is accurate on the blu-ray+DVD page. Someone uploaded customer images of the DVD+blu-ray set and Amazon put those pictures up for both products.

Concerning digital copies, they are even more worthless than including a DVD with the blu-ray whether you want it or not. If I want to watch the movie on my computer, I'll just put the DVD in the DVD drive and play it. If I want to watch the movie on my iPod, then I'm stupid because that screen is ridiculously small. (And let's be honest: the copy of the movie on the DVD is digital, and so is the one on the blu-ray. Calling the "save-it-to-your-computer" version a "digital copy" is like telling someone to wear shoes instead of sneakers.)

**Hailstorm** · 11-06-2009, 07:54 PM

What I am saying is the picture quality is allot better than the picture quality of the same DVD if you have any older dvds of the same movie, I.E. Pinocchio came out as a Limited Edition years ago, now it's a 70th Anniversary Edition and the picture quality is over all better looking than the one from before. If you happen upon Bolt in Blu-ray format it comes with one of each type of disc, a blu-ray, a DVD and a digital copy Then we won't even go to the Wall E Blu-ray, to many options with that set and now UP and Monsters, Inc. will have 4 discs, most likely they will be 2 blu-ray discs, one DVD and one Digital in each set. It seems everyone is giving you a digital copy now since allot of the younger generation now watches movies on their iPods. Like I said I send them to my daughter and she puts them on the computer so they can watch them on the big screen without fear of getting the disc scratched by the kids.

**rickssg** · 11-10-2009, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hailstorm

What I am saying is the picture quality is allot better than the picture quality of the same DVD if you have any older dvds of the same movie, I.E. Pinocchio came out as a Limited Edition years ago, now it's a 70th Anniversary Edition and the picture quality is over all better looking than the one from before. If you happen upon Bolt in Blu-ray format it comes with one of each type of disc, a blu-ray, a DVD and a digital copy Then we won't even go to the Wall E Blu-ray, to many options with that set and now UP and Monsters, Inc. will have 4 discs, most likely they will be 2 blu-ray discs, one DVD and one Digital in each set. It seems everyone is giving you a digital copy now since allot of the younger generation now watches movies on their iPods. Like I said I send them to my daughter and she puts them on the computer so they can watch them on the big screen without fear of getting the disc scratched by the kids.

OK, so let's take the recent release of Snow White as an example. Snow White is released on blu-ray. It had been previously released on DVD. So the DVD that comes with the blu-ray has better quality than the previously released DVD. However, in conjunction with the blu-ray release, there is a simultaneous DVD re-release. The DVD in the DVD-only re-release is presumably the same quality as the DVD included with the blu-ray. So if you want a better DVD, you can still get it without buying blu-ray.

All of this is really beside my original point, however. As I said, I am fine with combo packs. What bothers me is the lack of blu-ray only packs. If I want just the DVD, I can buy just the DVD. But if I want blu-ray, I have to buy a combo pack. Why not offer a blu-ray only pack for a little less than the price of the combo pack? Do the studios not realize that most of those DVDs that they are so proud to include end up here?

Of course, I should be careful what I wish for. If the studios do actually start releasing blu-only along with the combo pack, it's likely that the blu-only will cost the same as what the combo pack costs now, and the combo price will be jacked up (and by "jacked up" I mean "increased," not "fubar").

**ApolloOne** · 11-10-2009, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickssg

Do the studios not realize that most of those DVDs that they are so proud to include end up here?

It's funny, but before I clicked that link, I was imagining it would take me to a picture of a steamy, seagull-covered landfill!