A Few Thoughts About....Blu-ray/DVD FLIPPER DISCS (1 Viewer)

[Felix Martinez]

Great to hear the good news re: playability, as anything otherwise would IMHO be a blow to Blu-ray adoption. We don't need any more playability/compatibility issues.

I still like the WB and Disney solution better. And since I have no need for a DVD, I'll buy a non-flipper whenever possible.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I haven't yet tried the BD/DVD flippers, but I have a lot of the HD DVD/DVD flippers and they all work fine (I did have trouble with early pressings of WE ARE MARSHALL as I recall, but eventually got a good one).

I don't care about disc art one whit. The convenience of a single disc far outweighs that concern AFAIAC.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Originally Posted by Mike Frezon /forum/thread/297010/a-few-thoughts-about-blu-ray-dvd-flipper-discs/30#post_3649521



Plus, we expect there will still be DVD-only releases under this plan...don't we? I know that's the expectation under the WHV model of combo-packs.

I'm not sure we should assume that.

Right now the studios are not happy with the pricing of DVD. They would like it to be above $20 per movie and $25 or more would be much better. If there is only one option, the DVD/BD flipper, then 99% of people buying movies are going to be paying more for the movie. This is a planned effort along with delaying new releases to Netflix and Redbox, to boost the revenue of films on home video.

The studios were very unhappy that retailers were using BD as a loss leader this last Christmas. BD was supposed to allow them to raise prices, but the format hasn't taken off quite as well as they had hoped, so now they have to get the price of DVDs up.

Personally I would think if they were smart, they would start trying to find ways to reduce the cost of move production. If they could get the average budget down around 50 million per movie, it would be much easier to make a profit.

Doug

 

[Adam Gregorich]

The studios were very unhappy that retailers were using BD as a loss leader this last Christmas.

I don't know if they really care. They made their money on the sale to the retailer. If it drives adoption that's probably a good thing. It has been hard on me adjusting to post holiday BD prices though.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Originally Posted by Adam Gregorich /forum/thread/297010/a-few-thoughts-about-blu-ray-dvd-flipper-discs/60#post_3649686
I don't know if they really care. They made their money on the sale to the retailer. If it drives adoption that's probably a good thing. It has been hard on me adjusting to post holiday BD prices though.

I agree with you. I like the lower prices also and I thing they need to stay there if blu-ray is to become a main stream product. I just think the studios are looking at this from the wrong angle. If they were to cut costs, they would make more money.
Doug

 

[Douglas R]

Retailers are a major part of this issue. Studios/distributors will be aware of retailers concerns about shelf space because at the moment stores are having to provide space for both DVD and Blu-ray discs. Retailers would like nothing better than to have just one disc of a title on shelves instead of two. It’s back to the VHS/DVD and the Blu-ray HD-DVD situation. It’s inevitable that the industry will want to move as fast as possible to get rid of duplication. If I only had a DVD player I would be happy to have a Blu-ray version of a film on the same disc because I would probably have to upgrade in time.

 

[RickER]

Yes, you may want to upgrade to Blu some day. But chances are, you already own the Bourne movies on DVD...so why would you want it again on DVD?
Universal, like FOX doesn't miss a trick on price. If they can charge more, they will.

 

[Douglas R]

Originally Posted by RickER /forum/thread/297010/a-few-thoughts-about-blu-ray-dvd-flipper-discs/60#post_3649862
Yes, you may want to upgrade to Blu some day. But chances are, you already own the Bourne movies on DVD...so why would you want it again on DVD?

That's just one film. If the latest blockbuster comes out on a DVD/Blu-ray flipper and someone doesn't have a Blu-ray player, why would they not prefer to have the dual disc thereby covering themselves for the future?

 

[Jason Charlton]

If the driving factor here is trying to push consumers away from DVD to full BR adoption, then I really think they're going to fail.

Blu-Ray simply came along too soon after DVD achieved mass market penetration. Now, before BR even gets a foothold in consumer's homes, we're talking BR3D already - time to upgrade your player and TV again. Most "Joe Six-Pack" consumers resisted switching to Blu not only because they wanted prices to come down, but because they wanted to make sure it was going to stick around long enough to make a serious investment in it. Things like BR3D are just going to make them even more hesitant to make the change.

DVD as a platform is so entrenched in consumer's homes that it's simply not going away any time soon. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that both platforms are going to have to co-exist for many years.

The best way to promote adoption is to clearly differentiate the products and make it very easy for consumers to see that there's added value in the Blu-Ray product. Let's face it, people in forums like this can appreciate the enhanced audio and video quality that Blu-Ray provides, and that -- on it's own -- was reason enough for many of us to make the switch. But for many people out there (especially those that don't have full-blown surround sound systems), A/V quality alone isn't compelling enough for them to change.

 

[EnricoE]

i can understand why universal (or any other studio in the future) might wanna release these kinda disks. if the studio(s) give us a choice of combo or non-combo then everything is fine. but if they choose only to release combo then it's good bye. i will not support these combo releases, not a single one!!!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Originally Posted by Douglas R /forum/thread/297010/a-few-thoughts-about-blu-ray-dvd-flipper-discs/60#post_3649880
That's just one film. If the latest blockbuster comes out on a DVD/Blu-ray flipper and someone doesn't have a Blu-ray player, why would they not prefer to have the dual disc thereby covering themselves for the future?

Because the cost of the BD/DVD combo is going to be more expensive than the price of a DVD-only package. Price will win every time with a mass market format.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by Scott Merryfield /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Because the cost of the BD/DVD combo is going to be more expensive than the price of a DVD-only package. Price will win every time with a mass market format.

Bingo, give that man a cigar!
Crawdaddy

 

[Adam Gregorich]

This is all speculation as we haven't seen how Universal will be using these combo discs going forward. Will there be just one SKU for future new releases? Will they use different release windows (like Disney did with Snow White). Those are strategies that make the DVD to DVD/BD combo price comparisons irrelevant. No one from Universal has talked strategy, but it seems to me that they are testing the waters with this release.

 

[JonZ]

My main concern with flippers is price and that the bluray side might get damaged.


I would prefer seperate discs like WB has been doing. Allows me to use whatever version I need when travelling or whatever.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Keep in mind the BD side is a "regular" BD disc so it has the super secret super hard coating on it.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Of note: Best Buy and Future Shop in Canada have the single disc releases of the Bourne films advertised this week for $19.99 each. The artwork they're using makes no mention of whether these are flippers or not. EDIT: consultation of the respective websites indicates these are the combo discs. I could care less whether they're flippers or not, but this seems to fly in the face of arguments that the disc prices are going to be higher, as BB/FS routinely charge $26.99-$32.99 for BD titles, combo or no. As well, the current retail for the box set on BD, which is BD only, is $89.99 The only way I could afford to buy titles like UP and Monsters, Inc. was with coupons either on package or online. If the reduction in cost is directly related to the cost of producing and silk-screening artwork for individual discs, I have no quarrel with these releases, especially now that both Ron and Bill Hunt have weighed in and indicated that the titles appear to be glitch-free.

 

[Robin9]

Originally Posted by Jason Charlton /forum/thread/297010/a-few-thoughts-about-blu-ray-dvd-flipper-discs/30#post_3649472
How does giving away the "new" technology with the old (which is how DVD holdouts view such combo packs) encourage anyone to leave DVD? .

Simple. Sooner or later, DVD players will die and have to be replaced. If people already have some Blu-rays lying idle, they'll buy a Blu-ray player. If they only have DVDs they'll buy a DVD player.
I've never had a problem with "flippers" nor with audio discs with a CD on one side and an SACD on the other.

I agree that in general this new "flipper" idea is a solution in search of a problem but there is one small area where it would be perfect: those forgotten Universal catalogue movies that have not yet been issued on DVD in Region 1.

EXAMPLE: A Time To Love And A Time To Die is a Douglas Sirk movie that is on DVD in Region 2 and according to Internet buzz, e.g. DVD Beaver, is from good elements. If Universal issued a DVD/Blu-ray flipper of this movie, people like me would buy it for the Blu-ray and DVD stalwarts would buy it for the SD side. No conflict and no double dipping at all.

What Universal should do is get this forum to do a poll of which Universal catalogue movies people want most on disc, either Blu-ray or SD.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

FWIW: My father just bought a BD deck. He doesn't own any BDs (and doesn't buy many DVDs -- he usually rents at Blockbuster). His main concern when buying it was actually upconverting regular DVDs. He has a decent-sized HD set but a very old DVD player that doesn't even do progressive scan, let alone upconversion. So rather than buy a $50 upconverting DVD player, he went ahead and bought a $110 BD player.

I'm sure he'll rent BDs now, but I doubt he would have bought the player just for that. So that's another angle for people considering making the jump to BD. If my dad had some DVD/BD flipper discs on his shelf, that would have provided even more impetus to upgrade.

 

[CraigF]

These are catalog titles. It's tough even in Canada to get much more than $20 for them on BD. $15 is pretty common a month or so after release. See Fight Club as a great BD for $13 shortly after release...that's how to move catalog, and will "convert" people to BD as well as any method.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen_J_H
Of note: Best Buy and Future Shop in Canada have the single disc releases of the Bourne films advertised this week for $19.99 each. The artwork they're using makes no mention of whether these are flippers or not. EDIT: consultation of the respective websites indicates these are the combo discs. I could care less whether they're flippers or not, but this seems to fly in the face of arguments that the disc prices are going to be higher, as BB/FS routinely charge $26.99-$32.99 for BD titles, combo or no.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Fair enough, but when people see that the BD-only discs are $90 for the set vs. $20 each individually, that's going to move units too.