A Few Thoughts About....Blu-ray/DVD FLIPPER DISCS - Page 8

I think, Stephen, the question at hand is: what are the advantages of Universal's plan to us consumers?

Unless you think the lack of artwork, smaller cases, etc. might trickle down to the shelf cost of the product.

But it matters to some. Doug, you may be OK with a 2 sided disc, but some are not. Just because it doesn't matter to you, please remember it matters to some of us.

Personally, i have no need for a DVD to come with my Blu-ray. I do not need it as a separate disc, and i sure as hell will not buy it if it is glued to the back side of a Blu-ray. I understand, that having a DVD is desirable to you, and a few others. As for myself, if they want to force a DVD on me, with my Blu-ray, i would rather have it on another disc.

Regarles of what any of us think, or want, i wonder how the things have sold.

Just another two cents...  I don't particularly need to have a DVD copy with each Blu-ray I purchase.  That said, it can be convenient as others have said for portability, etc.  This one advantage is ruined by having the DVD copy glued to the back of the Blu-ray.  And yes, I like the cover art, I dislike feeling I must be "more careful" handling two-sided discs, and my dislike is further colored by more than my share of frustrating DVD-18 experiences.  I will admit, to that last point, that I have seen a large number of Blu-ray and DVD players load these latest Bourne discs without issue.  That (so far) does not appear to be a problem with these discs as it has been in the past for DVD-18s.  But my preference would certainly be to provide a separate DVD if at all. 

To all those flipperphobes out there who have made a blood oath to never purchase a flipper-disc, I hope Universal's combo discs are a huge success and that dual-sided discs become the standard way to release movies until the death of the DVD format.

The dual sided discs can die here, and now, if we are hoping.  :)

Quote: I'm interested in the user benefits, such as Douglas cares about

Considering the ongoing pricing of these Bourne combo discs (vs the BD-only boxset), I wonder if Universal isn't actually partially subsidizing the current run to see if they cannot win this "format war" of sorts.

_Man_

I doubt it. Universal's pricing on the U.S. box set is way out of wack -- their box set price in the U.K. is less than half the price of the one sold here.

Universal is without a doubt subsidizing these releases. There is no way this new technology is going to be cost equivalent to a standard Blu Ray pressing, let alone a two disc set. They were simply gouging on the box set.

But this is my whole point. Much of the talk here seem to assume that EVERYONE hates flippers. I suspect that the truth is that a fairly large minority hates them, and the rest, like me,  simply doesn't care one way or the other.

Doug

The benefit to me is that I have a DVD and a blu-ray in one easy convenient package, and I don't have to pay full price for another copy of the movie. I don't have to keep track of two discs, not that would really be much of an issue.

What is the advantage over a two disc (separate DVD and blu-ray) for me? Probably not much, but I see no real down side either. I personally think that complaints about flippers is much ado about nothing.

Doug

But is the flipper being tested in the UK too? If not, then the pricing there probably has little bearing on this.

If Universal intend for this to be a fair test to compare the two, I'd think they should price them same when they released the flippers.

Considering that these flippers seem to be street priced consistently lower than their other catalog releases, not just the BD-only boxset, the diff is likely not only due to price gouging on the set.

Hard to know w/ any certainty of course w/o any reliable inside source info on it. Just something that has me wondering given the context of this whole thing.

_Man_

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Merryfield  


I doubt it. Universal's pricing on the U.S. box set is way out of wack --
their box set price in the U.K. is less than half the price of the one sold
here.

Fair enough. From your, and others', comments I had understood that you particularly like the flipper over a dual disc release. You don't. You want a DVD and Blu Ray in a single pack without a price premium. I'm completely in agreement with you there. I want dual packs too, especially for TV shows.

But as there's no user benefit to flippers, I certainly can't say I like flippers and look forward to them. And if there is a nicket cost premium of a two-disc over a flipper because of that extra penny's worth of plastic, I'll pay the nickel.

 As long as the flipper disc succeeds in cutting down the aftermarket trading/selling of the DVD copy that accompanies other studios' offerings, I believe Universal will consider their approach a success.  I can't see any other reason for going the flipper route instead of the separate DVD route.  I understand some people are frustrated by this, but I'm in Douglas Monce's camp--I don't care one way or another as long as I get the DVD version if it is offered (the school I teach at is not equipped with BD (much less HD DVD) and I use films--excerpts and in total--on a regular basis, so having a DVD version available with a BD of something I use in class and enjoy personally is the ideal for me).

Well, count me as firmly entrinched in the no-flipper camp.  If Universal is going to jump on the Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack wagon, then I would 100% prefer them to follow Disney & Warner Bros. example and include a separate DVD in the package with the Blu-ray.

Personally, I do like the idea of having both a Blu-ray & a DVD available in the same package as it does allow for more flexibility in the playing of the film.  My household, for example, has mulitple dvd players (including portable ones) while we currently only have one blu-ray player.  Before we had the blu-ray player, Disney's introduction of the combo-pack allowed me to start picking up the blu-ray version while still being able to watch the film with the included standard dvd.  Even now with the blu-ray player, I still weigh whether to purchase the dvd or blu-ray version of the film, but having a combo pack available for the film makes it an easy decision.

But as to the idea of a blu-ray/dvd flipper, just don't like it.  First off, I've just had too many issues with flippers.  Granted those were with tv shows, not films, but still I can't say as I've really had any issues with single-sided discs.  But even if we say these new flippers will play 100% perfectly, I still wouldn't like 'em for reasons that others have already posted about, namely smudging & scratching.  It is just far too easy to get fingerprint smudges & scratches on flippers.  With single-sided discs, you have a protected side to make handling the disc easier; a flipper eliminates this.  Of course, as others have also mentioned, a flipper also eliminates disc artwork, which I do like seeing on my discs, although I see that as a minor issue compared to the smudging/scratching issue. 

So, while I can say without a doubt that I would be purchasing Disney & Warner Bros. films on a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, I can't say the same about Universal.  I'd actually be more inclined to purchase their film on standard dvd to avoid the flipper and have a single-sided disc.

Interesting comparative note:  Disney is even offering a choice of BD or DVD packaging for their Toy Story combos.

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1265012156/ref=sr_nr_i_0?ie=UTF8&rs=&keywords=toy%20story%20blu-ray&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Atoy%20story%20blu-ray%2Ci%3Advd

They did the same thing with their Snow White combos, Paul:

 

Which, of course, lead to the inevitable complaints, "why does the other guy get the GOOD artwork with his cover?!?" 

According to Home Media Magazine Summit is now going to be doing this on at least a few upcoming titles: Ghost Writer and Furry Vengeance

I can see why they do this but i would miss the artwork on the discs. If they are going to do this i would prefer they stick the extra content on the DVD side ( assuming it's SD ) and leave the BD side for the entire movie.

 

Mostly though i would miss the artwork.

Let's boycott please!

Can we have printed artwork over the DVD side of it instead?

My apologies if this post is in the wrong area, it's the first thread that popped up when I searched for information on the Universal Blu-Ray/DVD flippers and I'm a little frantic right now.

 

Over the weekend my friend Jim brought over his flipper of Out of Africa. He had heard of it's DNR issues and thought the disc "okay" on his 34 inch Sony. He wanted to compare the picture on my 50 inch Panasonic. I put the disc in my DMP-BD 35 and..............nothing. We flipped the disc and the DVD side played just fine. I did a firmware update, put the Blu side back in and..................again, nothing. Jim went and got his one other flipper, The Jackal. The result was the same.

 

Has anyone here had this issue and somehow overcome it? I don't know if this matters but my player is not connected to the internet. Any advice you can offer is very much appreciated.

 

Steve

You may need a firmware update for your player.

Unfortunately Scott I did do an update, and still the two "flippers" wouldn't play.

Hmm.  Thats odd.  I don't have a BD-35, but I have a BD30 and a BD50 and I have had no problem playing flippers, but I haven't tried either of these titles, only the Bourne films.  I think I have the Jackal, so I will have to try it. 

 

Thanks for your input Adam. My cousin has the DMP-BD55 and suggests I go to her place and try them on her player. I realize that "flippers" are only a fraction of the number of discs out there, but it just frustrates me that some movies (like the Bourne films which I really like) might be off limits to me because of some technical glitch. 
 

 

The Bourne films can be had on BD w/out flippers.  The original Bourne Trilogy BD set does not use flippers, but is probably a bit more expensive than the separate flipper version.  And the (usually less expensive) region-free UK version also does not use flippers -- you can import that set via Amazon UK for something like £17 (or ~$27USD) right now:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001XCWPAM/ref=s9_ri_gw_t3?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=right-5&pf_rd_r=03WTJX7P1S2TMY21EEV1&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=473614953&pf_rd_i=468294

 

The several other Universal flippers so far do not have that same option at least in the US, but maybe the UK version is non-flipper (and region-free), so you can try checking those out instead.

 

_Man_

I played Out of Africa on the Panasonic BD-80 with no problems. Now, the BD-80 is the next generation after the 35, but I haven't had trouble with any of the flippers I've bought.

Speaking of flippers, Leo just reviewed The Diplomat.  It is ONLY available on BD/DVD flipper.  There is no DVD only version.

 

Are you sure it's a flipper?  Doesn't sound like it to me -- and it's not a Universal release either.

 

_Man_