# Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Copy **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652 "2012-02-13T01:16:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/21 "2013-03-14T10:01:33Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > And don’t even get me started on 3D/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital copy. I can’t believe 3D Blu-Ray discs can’t be played as 2D discs. Is there a reason for this, or do they just want to make more money? > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There probably are some people who do that. So sell both paperbacks and hardcovers and let the people who want both, buy both. But don’t force that choice on them. BluRays and DVD’s should be sold separately and the people who happen to want both can buy them that way - and the rest of us don’t. I don’t get it, you mean they don’t sell them separately? Since people are saying they cost more than BD, they must be selling BD separately. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/22 "2013-03-14T10:30:17Z")
Some BluRays are sold individually, especially less popular movies or after a couple of years since initial release, but most are a combo pack, [with all or some versions included in one box](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91t42AGU92L._AA1500_.jpg), and occasionally that’s the only version you can get. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/23 "2013-03-14T13:18:00Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I can’t believe 3D Blu-Ray discs can’t be played as 2D discs. Is there a reason for this, or do they just want to make more money? That may be possible - ISTR some of my 3D blu-rays say they’re also 2D. I’ll check tonight. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > Some BluRays are sold individually, especially less popular movies or after a couple of years since initial release, but most are a combo pack, [with all or some versions included in one box](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91t42AGU92L._AA1500_.jpg), and occasionally that’s the only version you can get. The division seems to be that new releases are usually in a combo pack, there’s no way to get just the blu-ray. While re-releases of movies made before blu-ray existed are usually blu-ray only. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/24 "2013-03-14T13:27:32Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > The division seems to be that new releases are usually in a combo pack, there’s no way to get just the blu-ray. While re-releases of movies made before blu-ray existed are usually blu-ray only. I have bought about 10 Blu-Rays of very recent releases. Not a single one didn’t have the option of just buying the Blu-Ray (which is what I did). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/25 "2013-03-14T14:39:32Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I don’t get it, you mean they don’t sell them separately? Since people are saying they cost more than BD, they must be selling BD separately. Obviously, you can’t do a direct comparison. But you can figure out and compare the average cost of a bluray-only release and the average cost of a combo release. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/26 "2013-03-14T21:52:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You’ll never convince it’s anything other than greed. > > It’s like a publisher only selling a book in a “combo” edition where you have to buy both the hardcover and paperback - and claiming it’s for the convenience of readers so they can read the hardcover at home and carry the paperback around with them. > > There probably are some people who do that. So sell both paperbacks and hardcovers and let the people who want both, buy both. But don’t force that choice on them. BluRays and DVD’s should be sold separately and the people who happen to want both can buy them that way - and the rest of us don’t. Well, one man’s greed is another’s capitalist practicality! Blu-ray sales, while not in decline, are not experiencing the same explosive growth rate that previous, newly ‘default’ media formats (CDs, VHS, DVDs etc.) have always shown. Like I said, because of the whole ‘cloud’ thing Blu-rays are kind of in the same boat as CD are, owning the physical medium is becoming irrelevant now that just the content can be sold independently (and at a lower cost!) Point is, Blu-rays have to have a slightly higher profit margin to remain viable against downloadable content. So they’d be more expensive whether they contained a bonus DVD or not. And since it only costs the studios a few extra cents to include one, they do. Unfortunately, the target market for Blu-ray disc sales is becoming the same as for those ‘special edition’, extras-packed, multi-DVD sets, videophiles willing to pay a premium to own a physical copy of the high-def version with the case, booklet, and extras etc. I personally learned way back with store-bought VHS copies that me ‘owning’ them was kind of pointless because I’d never, \*\*ever \*\*watch them more than once! It’s that ‘anything possible - nothing necessary’ concept. Since I can literally watch any or all of it at any time as often as I want, I don’t ever want to! I’d surf to it playing on HBO and watch the whole thing, even though a had a copy sitting right on my shelf! And because they’re random access I found it was doubly true for DVDs! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/27 "2013-03-14T23:26:23Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I can’t believe 3D Blu-Ray discs can’t be played as 2D discs. Is there a reason for this, or do they just want to make more money? I just checked my dozen or so 3D blu-rays. All of them came with regular blu-ray and DVD. 2 of them, Avatar & Conan, have a single 3D/2D blu-ray, the rest have separate disks for 2D & 3D. I’ve never tried putting a “3D ONLY!” disk in a regular blu-ray player. > [@Pitchmeister](#): > > I have bought about 10 Blu-Rays of very recent releases. Not a single one didn’t have the option of just buying the Blu-Ray (which is what I did). Yeah, you’re completely right. I was mixing up blu-ray & 3D mentally. 3D always comes packaged with plain blu-ray and DVD, and usually digital copy. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/28 "2013-03-14T23:57:32Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I can’t believe 3D Blu-Ray discs can’t be played as 2D discs. Is there a reason for this, or do they just want to make more money? I can believe it. A 3D movie is going to take roughly twice as much room on a disc as a 2D movie (roughly because the audio portion won’t double in size) and in most cases probably wouldn’t leave enough room for the 2D version (at least not in the bitrate people would find acceptable for image quality). You may ask “can’t they just show one of the two images (just the left or just the right) when showing 2D” and while I don’t know if that’s technologically possible on existing blurays and players, it certainly wouldn’t be quite the same as showing an actual 2D cut of the movie. At least some stuff you would normally be seeing would be off to the side in the image you’re not seeing and would wind up missing. For some movies this might turn out okay for others it might be worse than the old pan and scan problem. ---
**Author:** ![JayRx1981](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@JayRx1981](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayRx1981)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/29 "2013-03-15T00:02:36Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I just checked my dozen or so 3D blu-rays. All of them came with regular blu-ray and DVD. 2 of them, Avatar & Conan, have a single 3D/2D blu-ray, the rest have separate disks for 2D & 3D. I’ve never tried putting a “3D ONLY!” disk in a regular blu-ray player. In theory, they should actually still play in a 2D only player. Standards-meeting 3D Blu-rays don’t actually encode both the left and the right frames sequentially in the video file(s) on the disc. Instead, only one eye’s perspective is encoded into the disc’s main video file. The other eye gets recreated using information in delta files in a sub-directory known as the SSIF directory and those frames are then inserted into the movie playback on the fly by a 3D capable player. A 2D player should just ignore the SSIF sub-directory altogether and playback the one eye’s perspective, which is likely indistinguishable from the 2D Blu-ray’s video file. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/30 "2013-03-15T03:18:37Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I can believe it. A 3D movie is going to take roughly twice as much room on a disc as a 2D movie (roughly because the audio portion won’t double in size) and in most cases probably wouldn’t leave enough room for the 2D version (at least not in the bitrate people would find acceptable for image quality). Is that true? For stereo audio compression I know it’s not. They encode 1 track and the differences, not 2 tracks. I know playing only 1 stream from 3D may not be as good as a real 2D video, but to not have that option seems ridiculous. From what I’ve heard, 2D players can’t play 3D discs. I hope that’s wrong. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/31 "2013-03-15T05:07:29Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > From what I’ve heard, 2D players can’t play 3D discs. I hope that’s wrong. I just watched _Dredd_, and it had the “3D or 2D” option in the menu. I don’t have a 3D player so I’m not sure what would’ve happened if I picked the 3D one. My TV is 3D compatible though. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/32 "2013-03-15T05:45:55Z")
There’s conflicting information when I search. It seems to depend on the individual discs, some studios disable 2D mode on their 3D discs. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/33 "2013-03-15T14:41:27Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Well, one man’s greed is another’s capitalist practicality! Blu-ray sales, while not in decline, are not experiencing the same explosive growth rate that previous, newly ‘default’ media formats (CDs, VHS, DVDs etc.) have always shown. Like I said, because of the whole ‘cloud’ thing Blu-rays are kind of in the same boat as CD are, owning the physical medium is becoming irrelevant now that just the content can be sold independently (and at a lower cost!) Perhaps. Or maybe you’ve got the tail wagging the dog. You note that other media were sold as a single format and sold better than BluRays are. You suggest poor sales is the reason BluRays have to be sold as a combined format. I’d suggest that being sold as a combined format might be the reason why BluRays have poor sales. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/34 "2013-03-15T14:54:09Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > I have bought about 10 Blu-Rays of very recent releases. Not a single one didn’t have the option of just buying the Blu-Ray (which is what I did). Recent or upcoming releases that are not available in a single BluRay edition: Argo Breaking Dawn Cloud Atlas Django Unchained Flight Frankenweenie Hansel & Gretel Hitchcock The Hobbit Hotel Transylvania Jack Reacher Killing Them Softly Les Miserables Life of Pi Lincoln Red Dawn Rise of the Guardians Silver Linings Playbook Skyfall This Is 40 Wreck-It Ralph Zero Dark Thirty ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/35 "2013-03-15T17:55:54Z")
I suppose the problem is just that - some movies are sold as DVD, some a BluRay. The market is in transition. while some movies may be visually spectacular and SHOULD be watched on BluRay (Avatar, for example), for many others, who cares? Do you need “Meet the Fokkers” in hi-def to truly enjoy it? (Assuming that’s possible) If not, why would you pay a premium when DVD is cheaper? So, between the people who haven’t upgraded yet, and the people who don’t see the extra value for that movie, the ones who think upconverted is just fine, the people who get their movies from Netflix or otherwise online, and the people who would like it on BluRay but need a copy for the minivan DVD player… No surprise BR-only sales are not taking off. Plus, people probably see the value of paying more when the package includes an extra disk… even though that disk probably cost less than a dollar. So I think it’s a chicken and egg scenario - people are more likely to spend extra if it includes 2 disks; if they don’t get DVD also, they probably find DVD-only more practical and cheaper… 2 options are simpler and easier to stock in-store than 3 options. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/36 "2013-03-15T18:09:18Z")
When they say “digital copy” do they mean an Ultraviolet code, or is the digital copy playable on a PC actually included on one of the disks? If so, what format is it? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/37 "2013-03-15T20:32:07Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I suppose the problem is just that - some movies are sold as DVD, some a BluRay. The market is in transition. while some movies may be visually spectacular and SHOULD be watched on BluRay (Avatar, for example), for many others, who cares? Do you need “Meet the Fokkers” in hi-def to truly enjoy it? (Assuming that’s possible) If not, why would you pay a premium when DVD is cheaper? > > So, between the people who haven’t upgraded yet, and the people who don’t see the extra value for that movie, the ones who think upconverted is just fine, the people who get their movies from Netflix or otherwise online, and the people who would like it on BluRay but need a copy for the minivan DVD player… No surprise BR-only sales are not taking off. > > Plus, people probably see the value of paying more when the package includes an extra disk… even though that disk probably cost less than a dollar. So I think it’s a chicken and egg scenario - people are more likely to spend extra if it includes 2 disks; if they don’t get DVD also, they probably find DVD-only more practical and cheaper… 2 options are simpler and easier to stock in-store than 3 options. Do you really believe that? Do you think DVD sales would have been as good if DVD’s had been sold in “combo packs” with the videotape version of the movie? And do you really feel that BluRay is the _third_ option? I think it’s pretty obviously the second option. DVD is first; BluRay is second; and DVD/BluRay combo is third. And if an option has to be tossed out, you get rid of the combo packs. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/38 "2013-03-17T00:54:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Perhaps. Or maybe you’ve got the tail wagging the dog. > > You note that other media were sold as a single format and sold better than BluRays are. You suggest poor sales is the reason BluRays have to be sold as a combined format. I’d suggest that being sold as a combined format might be the reason why BluRays have poor sales. Well, I seriously doubt that the studios would be so stupid as to ‘price themselves out of the market’. Like I said, Blu-ray sales’ growth is slowing because all people ever wanted to own was the ‘content’, and now technology has finally reached a tipping point where that’s just as easy or easier and cheap or cheaper without having to go out to a store and purchase a physical medium. So the market for Blu-ray discs has had to adapt and offer more than just an HD copy of the film. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/39 "2013-03-18T12:18:09Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > When they say “digital copy” do they mean an Ultraviolet code, or is the digital copy playable on a PC actually included on one of the disks? If so, what format is it? Either, or both. Sometimes it’s an Ultraviolet code, sometimes it’s a separate disk (which still has a code which needs to be validated on a website), sometimes it’s an iTunes or Android code for downloading the movie. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652/40 "2013-03-18T13:01:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Do you really believe that? Do you think DVD sales would have been as good if DVD’s had been sold in “combo packs” with the videotape version of the movie? > > And do you really feel that BluRay is the _third_ option? I think it’s pretty obviously the second option. DVD is first; BluRay is second; and DVD/BluRay combo is third. And if an option has to be tossed out, you get rid of the combo packs. The difference is the _difference_. There’s no comparison between DVD and VHS. (Until DVD I never understood the logic of letterbox movies - a VHS movie looked barely good enough in full screen.) DVD was a quantum leap up in picture quality, convenience, and durability. As a result, it was the fastest media conversion ever, and VHS pretty much disappeared - especially once DVRs were available. Blu-Ray is a victim of DVD’s success. As another comment says, some people can’t tell the difference. Some movies, who cares about the extra quality. WIth up-converting, the quality difference is even harder to spot. BR is not the same quantum leap. I would pay $10 more to own a DVD vs. VHS. I would not pay $5 more to own BR vs. DVD unless the movie was a visual spectacular. Nobody wanted to rush out and buy a BR replacement for a DVD player back when they were $400 vs. $39.95. As a result, the conversion to BR is much slower, and may not even be complete before the next version comes along. It did not help that the HD had its own VHS-vs-Beta battle for the first few years. With slow conversion, and a lot of key legacy devices, sales are going to be split. It’s a vicious cycle. If the downstairs player is BR but upstairs in the kids room is DVD, what format do you buy? If the car is DVD and you want to keep the kids occupied, what format do you buy? DVD from VHS was a quantum leap. CD from vinyl was a quantum leap. Cassette from reel-to-reel was a quantum leap. MP3 (and AVI) are a quantum leap in portability and convenience (and price…). All these were a victim of their own success. Once the output and convenience are “good enough” what can you do to improve upon it? The follow-on techs all flopped to some extent because the original was much “good enough”. Another issue is the moeny from library replacement. If I had Monty Python or Casablanca or Star Wars on VHS, I ran out and re-bought it on DVD. (As I did with vinyl to CD). DVD and CD benefited from this phenomenon and misread it for on-going market size. Very few people run out and replace their Meet the Fokkers DVD with Blu-Ray. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blu-ray-dvd-and-digital-copy/612652.md?page=3)