Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

I'm curious about "digital copies"

mallbritton

mallbritton

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 26, 2006
1,063
369
So as the title of the thread say I'm curious about the new "digital copies" some movie studios have started including on some commercial DVDs.

What are the specs on them? I'm assuming they have Apple's FairPlay on them. What bit rate are they? Do they have Dolby Digital 5.1 sound or are they Dolby Pro Logic II like the videos you can get from the iTunes store?

I'm making an educated guess that the digital copy files have similar specs to the video we can buy from the iTunes store, but I don't know. So any information someone might have about them I would be interested in knowing.

Regards,
Michael
 
I have a few digital copies, some are made for PC only which I guess are from the Walmart days. I have not loaded them. I have a few 'for ipod' that were public domain movies, old black & white Hitchcock, and they were just little QT rips and work fine. I have not tried the current versions, like with Cloverfield, yet.
 
I'm asking about the digital copies that movie studios are now starting to include on a physical DVD, such as with the movie Juno.

This is an iTunes compatible, pre-encoded, digital copy of the movie that is already on the disc.

Regards,
Michael
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
The digital copy on the Family Guy Blue Harvest (Star Wars) DVD turned out to just be a code for a free iTunes download of the episode.
 
mallbritton said:
According to this it is a physical file on an actual disk. Not a download from the iTunes Store.

This Apple KB article also says the digital copy is on a disc, not a download.

Regards,
Michael
Click to expand...

Correct. The file included on the disc is hidden and it's an encrypted format. That's why you have to log into iTunes, enter your special code and account information and then it will copy the file to your Library as the protected m4v. At first glance, it looks like just a link to the iTunes Music Store and it LOOKS like it's downloading but, it's actually just copying from the disc.
 
So does anyone actually have one of these things, or are we all too cool to buy them? :)

Regards,
Michael
 
My Blu-Ray copy of Hitman includes a second DVD with an iTunes Digital Copy of the movie. Works great on my Apple TV and my iPhone.

I'd really like to see all studios do this for all movies.
 
xraydoc said:
My Blu-Ray copy of Hitman includes a second DVD with an iTunes Digital Copy of the movie. Works great on my Apple TV and my iPhone.

I'd really like to see all studios do this for all movies.
Click to expand...

You actually PAID for Hitman? I got it from iTunes for free because someone at Apple made a mistake... hehe. I haven't watched it yet, but people say it's a terrible movie.
 
mallbritton said:
So does anyone actually have one of these things, or all we too cool to buy them? :)

Regards,
Michael
Click to expand...

I have the digital copy of Juno and it's exactly like an iTunes Music Store purchased video. Same encoding, works on ALL video enabled iPods (Yes, even the 5th Gen) and it's anamorphic widescreen.
 
TheSpaz said:
I have the digital copy of Juno and it's exactly like an iTunes Music Store purchased video. Same encoding, works on ALL video enabled iPods (Yes, even the 5th Gen) and it's anamorphic widescreen.
Click to expand...

Thank you! That is the information I was looking for.

Regards,
Michael
 
xraydoc said:
I'd really like to see all studios do this for all movies.
Click to expand...

Indeed. I haven't bought one simply because I haven't bought a new DVD in a while, but I like the idea. I hope that in the future they start including the DD 5.1 sound track in addition to the Dolby Pro Logic II in the files as well. But I think that might be just wishful thinking on my part.

Regards,
Michael
 
ftaok said:
I was under the impression that iTunes movies were not anamorphic and limited to 640xwhatever. Has something changed?
Click to expand...

Indeed. Movies are now Anamporphic. Check 'em out. My Juno movie is 853x461 and my Hitman movie (from iTunes) is 853x365. However, I don't think ALL movies on iTunes are anamorphic because the movie Bandits is only 640 wide.
 
TheSpaz said:
Indeed. Movies are now Anamporphic. Check 'em out. My Juno movie is 853x461 and my Hitman movie (from iTunes) is 853x365. However, I don't think ALL movies on iTunes are anamorphic because the movie Bandits is only 640 wide.
Click to expand...

That's good news. I wonder how you would find out what the resolution is prior to purchase.

Also, iPods are limited to 640xwhatever .... so do they work with these 853 wide movies?

ft
 
ftaok said:
That's good news. I wonder how you would find out what the resolution is prior to purchase.

Also, iPods are limited to 640xwhatever .... so do they work with these 853 wide movies?

ft
Click to expand...

Actually... the funny thing is... the iPods are NOT limited to 640 wide... they're limited to 480 HIGH. I always thought that the iPods could not play anything wider than 640 but, that's just not true because my 5th Gen iPod can play the Juno digital copy and my iPod touch can play it also. I'm not sure how it works exactly... I just know that it does indeed work. My Mom watched Juno on my original 5th Gen iPod connected to her TV and it worked great.
 
TheSpaz said:
Actually... the funny thing is... the iPods are NOT limited to 640 wide... they're limited to 480 HIGH. I always thought that the iPods could not play anything wider than 640 but, that's just not true because my 5th Gen iPod can play the Juno digital copy and my iPod touch can play it also. I'm not sure how it works exactly... I just know that it does indeed work. My Mom watched Juno on my original 5th Gen iPod connected to her TV and it worked great.
Click to expand...
That's really cool (what's not cool is Apple's tech specs stating otherwise). I guess that I can encode my videos at the aTV resolution of 853x480 (for DVD rips) and they'll play on a touch. HD material would still need two separate copies (one for aTV and one for the touch).

Mind you that I have neither an aTV or a touch, but both are on my wishlist.

ft
 
I bought Juno on Blu-ray disc and it came with a separate DVD disc with Digital Copy on it. I really like the idea of Digital Copy.

Interestingly, the printed material on the disc mentioned something like Windows Meida Player and ZUNE. I guess it's not tied to iPod/iTunes in the end.
 
I want to get one just to see how the quality is. I've never purchased video from iTunes (mostly because I'm in Canada and we've only recently got TV eps) and all of my content is ripped from my DVDs. When I rip I use the highest quality possible for the AppleTV and don't worry about compatibility with my iPhone/Pod. I've always read that the iTunes videos looks fine but that they could be better. If that's the case I'd rather spend the time to rip and convert the DVD myself. Even if the video is sub-par it still is a move in the right direction, I'm really happy that it's starting to become more and more of an option.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back