Universal has unveiled its latest Blu-ray plans and it looks like the company is harking back to 1997, with the launch of flipper discs.
'Flipper' is a dirty word in DVD circles, as it harks back to a time when a movie would be spread over two sides of a DVD, meaning you had to flip over half-way through a film to finish watching it.
Luckily there will be none of that this time around, as Universal is putting a DVD version of the movie on one side and a Blu-ray version of the same film on the other.
In a time when movie distributors feel the need to give away a separate disc for 'digital copies', it does make sense that Universal would want to save on creating unnecessary discs but flipper discs, really?
Future proof
"Universal's flipper discs are the perfect way for consumers to future-proof their collections while still enjoying their favourite movies on all their existing DVD players," said Craig Kornblau, President of Universal Studios Home Entertainment – who probably never had the joy of using past flipper discs.
"The flipper disc offers an easy way for viewers to convert to Blu-ray now or at any time in the future, confident in the fact they will be able to experience their home entertainment purchases in the highest quality picture and sound when they do."
There's no UK release date for the discs (we're hoping never) but those in the US will be able to purchase the dual format from 19 January 2010, with titles like The Bourne Trilogy getting the flipper treatment.
Via Gizmodo
Your comments (5) Click to add a new comment
lovemovies68
December 9th 2009
5. Dear God NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! WHY?????? Please keep them in the US only. We here in the UK are happy with getting the 3 discs combo.
Thank you and God Bless!! :-}
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agentcool
December 2nd 2009
4. Not these again! Universal (and Warner) were obsessed with ploughing these out on the HD DVD format and they were plagued with playback issues. Luckily, they never made it to UK shores (except for one or two releases). Hopefully, the same will apply this time...
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watcherzero
December 2nd 2009
3. Tech89, it stops them having to sell a seperate Blu-ray and DVD copy for those without blu-ray. Not a major problem on big releases but on indie or limited release titles it would consolidate two releases into one.
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yashin
December 2nd 2009
2. Great, that means we can all rip a DRM-free digital copy of our Blu-Ray purchases (for personal use, of course).
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tech89
December 2nd 2009
1. I can understand the logic of it if Blu-ray players played only blu-ray, but don't blu-ray players have dvd compatibility already?
It would be a long time before they got rid of the dvd compatibility on blu-ray players, seeing as the amount of dvds out there is huge.
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