USHE Press Release: Universal Studios Introduces Revolutionary New Blu-Ray Hi-Def and DVD... - Page 2

^ OK then, I'll re-posit now assuming $5 is too much for a DVD of something you want. Do you think this combo format will be the optimum way to own either the DVD or the BD? As opposed to including the DVD in the package?

Now, if this was like hybrid SACD/CD where there was only one side, I'd have a completely different opinion. Edit: to be fair, I've never had problems with flippers of any sort (audio or video) except for one DVD-18, which a replacement fixed, and they all still play. I just really don't prefer them...
Edited by CraigF - 12/1/09 at 4:20pm

As I said previously, yes, I think a single dual-format disc is preferable to having to choose one or the other, or to owning both on separate discs, assuming the cost is kept reasonable and notwithstanding the difficulties some people have with the small print on the label.

Honestly I do not understand what the big deal is.  Everyone is getting histerical over something as minor as this?   I think other studios will follow Universal in this so they could phase out Single Standard DVD's alltogether.  The costs for including the DVD version along with the BD is cheaper than re-pressing, packinging and distributing them by themselves.  DVD's are not profitable as a single entity anymore.  Warner also produced HD DVD/DVD Combos, and could possibly follow with BD/DVD combos.

I don't see anyone getting "histerical" here. People are airing concerns, that's all. If you don't think it's a big deal, well, that's great. There are others who don't share your opinion.

By the way, DVDs are not proftable as a single entity anymore? Oh really?

 I had plenty of problems with DVD-18s. Cant say i care for any double sided discs. I will be in the no sale crowd if my choice is a combo disc. If i want a damn DVD id buy a DVD. Give me Blu-ray, or nothing!

 "For the first time ever, consumers will have the ability to choose between Blu-ray™ and DVD formats, simply by flipping a single disc."

Universal, how about dropping U-Control so we can access special features from the BD menu rather than "hidden" inside the feature where we have to watch the entire movie to see it?   (see:  "The Thing" BD and tons of other Universal BD).

I would prefer choosing that feature over choosing to flip a disc. 

I hope this time they're willing to put a label on BOTH SIDES of the disc!  I have every HD-DVD combo title released in the US, and not a single one of them has any printing whatsoever on the standard DVD side.  It looks really awkward putting what looks like an upside-down disc in your player.  A lot of companies (including Universal) have been putting out 2-sided standard DVDs with no printing on side 2 either, and that looks really bad- there's already been enough complaints about the small printing, and then they decide to do THAT?  I've liked 2-sided DVDs since the format first came out, but these just look cheap.

The problem discs Universal has put out in the past were all made by Technicolor in Mexico- since there's no printing on side 2 you can easily tell who manufactured them- many even have "Made in Mexico" printed on the inner ring near the barcodes and numbers.  The better ones are made by Deluxe, which is possibly in Taiwan but not sure.  The Technicolor discs are pretty bad- I went through THREE copies of "Casino" before I got one that played glitch-free, and I also had to send back "The Blues Brothers" after finding out one side was bad after having it a couple years.  Last time I played season 1 of "Emergency" I got some glitching on one side too, which went away after I cleaned the disc; that played fine when I first got it.  "The Emperor's Club", a 1-sided title from the same manufacturer was also defective when I first watched it- kind of ruined the movie since I had to take it back to the store the next day then wait to see how the movie ended!

I also ask that they not price these higher than standard Blu-Ray discs- the DVD copy is an extra, but not one I'd pay extra for.  (Same goes with 'digital copies', though I haven't gotten any titles yet that have those.)

My objections to this dual-sided format are of a technical nature.

1. I hope the flippers support dual layers on the BD side. The format moniker BD-59 implies to me that it is a BD5 (single layer) bonded to a DVD9 (dual layer). If this format only supports single layer BD sides, it will certainly be a step backwards. In the quest for the best-of-both, I'm afraid there may be compromises to the BD quality.

2. Playback compatibility with all players is paramount. I remain skeptical.

A single layer BD is a BD-25, not a BD5. :) I'd say it's 50 (dual layer BD) + 9 (dual layer DVD)=59

This is the worst idea any studio has had, since the Universal 'HD-DVD / DVD' combo. Why don't they just simply include a seperate DVD version in the package, ala Disney? How complicated can that be? Even cost wise the seperate DVD will probably cost less than the untried BD59 discs. A single DVD does not cost more than 10 cents and I am sure a BD59 will cost atleast more than that compared to a BD50.

There's case costs, too. And then people would be able to sell/give away that extra disc, whereas with the flippers they would have to buy another copy. (It's probably more the latter than the former, admittedly. :))

Not a fan of this. Wish it would go away. Things are great with Blu-ray discs in their current form, no need to mess it up.

NOOOOOOOOOOO

Well at least Universal found a way to get me to save money. I love the Disney way for Bolt and UP and others. But any BD flipper will instantly go from Must-Buy to definite NO-Buy for me.

As long as it's only the DVD side of it that will skip, stutter, and fail, it's ok with me.

Actually, there is a BD/DVD hybrid disc, we just have not seen them here in the US (yet).

I was just at my father's over the holiday weekend, tuning up his HDTV and Sony Blu-ray player, and it had an option of which layer to read on a BD/DVD hybrid disc.

If I had a choice between a flipper and a hybrid disc, I would choose the hybrid.

^ Nice. I hadn't heard of those. I don't have those layer choice options on my BD players, but I guess it could be added. Do you know if it's a hybrid dual layer BD and a dual layer DVD? I could see a single layer of each on a hybrid not being a problem, but once you get to 3 layers of either format I dunno...which of course is the advantage of the Uni method.

Edit: hmmm, I speculated that the combo format might spur sales of The Bourne Trilogy regular BDs. From amazon today, where this box has been on my wishlist for a looong time, I see that not only has the price gone up very substantially from what it's been for a long time, but so has its sales position much improved very lately. A vote of confidence?
Edited by CraigF - 12/3/09 at 2:26pm

I mean DVDs which worked fine originally simply dying for no apparent reason other than faulty manufacturing. So far I've had more than a dozen that I know of. These discs are VERY carefully handled, and promptly returned to their cases after viewing. This is not a case of abusing DVDs. The more complex the manufacturing process, the more likely that discs will fail in the future.

 Die flipper.

Maybe it's all actually just Universal's new marketing scare tactic to get people to buy the existing BD inventory (and at a higher price to boot).  Maybe these flippers are actually just vaporware -- certainly, I hope they never get beyond this initial (trial?) run w/ the Bourne Trilogy (and I already own the box set myself).

_Man_

^ I was too cheap to buy it before...and now...double whammy. The DVDs aren't exactly chopped liver, and though I'm sure the BDs are much superior, there is lots of new BD content I don't have in any form, and that stuff gets my buying priority. I was thinking $40 for the BT BDs would be a buy-in for me, but at a list price of $120 (!!) that didn't happen.

just last night i got flipper from netflix, full screen one side, wide the other, so i had to turn on the main light in the room, read the ring, 'widescreen version on opposite side' so i turn it over to the correct side and put it in, close tray and sit down. movie starts, its the full screen side. So i have to get up, eject the disk and flip it over to restart the entire process.

THIS is why i wont buy any flippers and hate them, along with the prior reason i said that i like artwork as a place to put your fingers as you are getting a disk out of a case with a deathgrip ring instead of covering it in prints.

I actually got into the habit of giving any new DVDs a little shake in the store before taking them home.  On several occassions over the years, I've opened a brand new DVD only to discover it's little holder thingy broke a finger or two and the disc slipped off the hub.  Sliding around in the case over the broken hub created a number of nasty scratches that affected playback as soon as I got the disc home.

Any rattling that I hear in an unopened package is returned immediately.

Not being funny, but we've now got two threads with people posting the same thing (i.e. they don't like flippers, for various reasons). Can a mod please decide which one should be the ongoing thread and lock the other so that the (very valid) discussion is kept in one place?

AFAIK BD players use two lasers, one for BD (blue) and one for DVD (red).

That would be an expensive proposition, if it turns out to be the case.