Do you have a Blu-ray player yet? Do you want one but are just waiting for the prices to drop further? If so what do you do when you want to buy a new film? You can’t buy the Blu-ray version yet as you don’t have a player, but you want to buy the film, so it has to be the DVD version. But it looks so nice in HD… What to do? The good news is that Universal Studios has announced a new hybrid dual-format disc which contains both the Blu-ray and DVD versions of the film.
On one side will be the Blu-ray film and on the other the DVD. The idea is that you can buy this disc now and watch it on your DVD player and when you eventually upgrade to Blu-ray (which face it, you will in the end) then you have the Blu-ray version too. The key here (according to Universal Studios at least) is convenience and viewing flexibility.
Dubbed the ‘flipper’ disc, they will become available on January 19, 2010 (in the USA at first) with the release of The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum (individually not as a trilogy/box set).
The films will be the same on both sides (along wit the bonus features), but the Blu-ray version will have extra features such as U-Control (which allows you to delve into the making of the film with the click of the remote without ever leaving the movie) and BD-Live (which allows Blu-ray players with a connection to the net to access exclusive interactive applications that allows you to communicate with friends and family while watching the film).
The big question is of course price. At the moment the top Blu-ray films costs around £16 or £17 (from Amazon.co.uk) whereas the top DVD films cost around £9 or £10. If Universal price them as the same as DVD’s then clearly this is a winning idea. But of course they can’t because then all their other Blu-ray titles look expensive. But if they price them the same as Blu-ray titles then why would I buy one?
Let me know what you think? Will you buy these titles? Also did you notice I didn’t include any puns about the 1996 Dolphin adventure ‘Flipper’… Great restraint on my part, me thinks!
2 thoughts on “New Dual Format Blu-ray/DVD Discs Announced by Universal”
I would buy these. Im reluctant to give up my dvd collection and start over again but a dual format option would cushion the blow a little, making me more inclined to buy blu-ray discs.
I agree with Kim Wong. We have a dvd collection and four dvd players in our house and I really don’t want to buy four Blu Ray players or two lots of films!