Tech Tuesday – UltraViolet DVD – The big new hope in Home Entertainment?

It has happened, ULTRAVIOLET DVDs are now available, but will this service survive the test of time?

Well it is here. After months of talk it has finally launched, UltraViolet DVDs and Blu-Rays are out there for you all to buy, well if you are in USA anyway.

I was pretty sure it was going to be one of those bits of technology that never saw the light of day. But, ‘Giant Media DRM Cloud Coalition that features everyone except Apple, Amazon and Disney’ is now out there in the virtual space above our heads.

As of yesterday you were able to buy an UltraViolet version of ‘Horrible Bosses’ and ‘Green Lantern’ on DVD or Blu Ray. What this means is that not only do you have a physical copy of the film but you also get a code to a virtual copy held in a cloud available for you to stream or download to any portable device you choose, including phones, ipads, laptops etc etc.

The service is tethered through ‘Flixster’ and its APP, using your Facebook (FB is taking over the world I tell you!!) log in and code you can then gain access to your film where ever you are.

The idea in principle seems great. I mean if you buy a DVD copy then that should give you rights to privately watch the film on whatever device you choose, and how ever many times you want. As long as the studios do not start charging extra for these DVDs and Blu Rays then it could actually be a good thing.

OK it is early days, and not everyone is going to be excited about being able to watch ‘Horrible Bosses’ on there iPad as well as their TV but Warner Bros. are promising that they are fully behind the CLOUD and will be pumping many of their major releases to it in upcoming months. Sony are also promising to be adding to the available titles. Not only that but the boffins at UltraViolet are promising to make it even easier to watch your films with more devices being added to the service as the year goes on.

My concerns are as follows…

Can UltraViolet survive in this very competitive market?

With Apple and Amazon not wanting to get on board will this service just simply be squashed out when these two heavy weight flex their muscles and offer up their own CLOUD based services? But there is always the fact that the studios are on board with UltraViolet….this could be it’s saving grace

Will people still actually want to own DVDs?

It is slowly happening and we are all being plugged into the internet more and more. The Broadband speed is getting faster and enables us to access films more quickly and from more sources. So my question is this. Do we really need to have these things dusting up our shelves anymore?

Well the Studios and guys behind UltraViolet have been pretty clear in their motivation behind the service. It is here to try to bolster up the sale of optical Media. You have to own the film to have access to the cloud.

Do I really need to be able to access this on the way to work?

The thing I am trying to get my head around is this, the tech that is in place for you to watch a film that is stored on this cloud anywhere you want, in itself is a contradiction and means you do not really need the DVD at all. Also how long will it be until those ‘CODES’ will be on sale on ebay?

Have you heard of UltraViolet DVDs? Are you excited by the tech? Comment below.