Filed under: iPod Family, Video
iPod Video Content on Blu-Ray Discs?
iPodHub is reporting that Apple is asking
movie studios to put video iPod-compatible content on upcoming Blu-ray discs. Apple wants to ensure that there will be
a substantial library of content for their existing and future video iPods. Blu-ray discs will hold up to 50GB of data,
which should provide enough capacity to include even full-length movies in a video iPod format. Seeing as Apple's
already in the Blu-ray camp along with Sony and Disney, this certainly falls within the realm of possibility.[via Digg]
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ralph said 12:21PM on 4-25-2006
Sony backing a format is like giving it the kiss of death. They make killer equipment but they haven't had a staying hit since the CD, essentially.
Reply
David said 12:35PM on 4-25-2006
that'd be neato!
Reply
Austin said 12:47PM on 4-25-2006
"even full length movies?" i have a 30gb iPod and i have like 4 movies on it, plus about 1500 songs and 15000 pictures. this thing could hold an entire iPod's worth.
Reply
Joe said 1:05PM on 4-25-2006
50BG of storage. Now that's news to me. I guess I need to get online a little more since I've never heard of these blu-ray discs. Gotta love technology.
Reply
Jon H said 1:22PM on 4-25-2006
"Blu-ray discs will hold up to 50GB of data, which should provide enough capacity to include even full-length movies in a video iPod format."
Er, why is Blu-ray needed? A regular DVD has more than enough space for a full-length movie in full resolution, let alone weensy little iPod format.
Blu-ray is only needed for HD, which is far higher resolution than iPods. There'd be little point shipping an iPod movie on Blu-Ray, with 48 GB of unused space.
The only way this *would* make sense would be if Apple were trying to get studios to include an iPod-format video on the disc *along with* the regular format video - so that you could watch on your TV at full res, or load the iPod video onto iTunes and thus onto the iPod.
Reply
splurge said 1:40PM on 4-25-2006
*jon h* *i reckon* you may have *just* hit the *nail on the head* with that *fine* bit of supposition
Reply
Jacob Varghese said 2:13PM on 4-25-2006
This is a great idea.
This will definitely encourage people to purchase new video-enabled ipods.
Jon H is right. This does need to be included with all DVDs that are produced and not just Blue-ray discs.
Reply
Ian Charles said 2:19PM on 4-25-2006
BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Sod you apple
Reply
SlammaJamma said 2:41PM on 4-25-2006
THis is absolutely the neatest thing I think i've heard in a while. I am all for this... THE ONLY thing i could see as a downfall to this is that if places like Blockbuster etc. carry Blu-Ray then people could just rent the BD movie and have it on their iPod forever... and i KNOW the studios dont want that. THey would have to come up with a way to only allow it for people who have purchased the movie. maybe a code in the Bluray box that lets them get it from the studio website... or perhaps a second disc in the box that has the iPod format movie on it. But i dont think theyre gonna let it be rentable, and then transferrable....
Good thinking though
Reply
Jason said 2:44PM on 4-25-2006
This would be _fantastic_. The days of using semi-legal apps just to watch the content I legally own may soon be over.
I've been undecided on the whole Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD issue, but if Apple can pull this off, the next gen optical disc wars are over in my mind. Similar to the concept of packing DVDs with UMDs, I'd gladly pay a premium to own an HD and a mobile copy of the movies I own.
This would also most likely establish the iPod's codecs and bitrates as industry standards for portable video. Every portable media player uses access to content as a selling point and they'd be silly not to conform with a pre-packaged standard.
Reply
Jason said 2:54PM on 4-25-2006
SlammaJamma,
Good point. Perhaps an insert could be included with each disc that has a license code written on it that you would enter into your iTunes account, which would store all your licenses. This would work because rental stores like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video only include the dvd cover, not the inserts.
The studios can limit how many iTunes accounts you can tie each code to. This would all require some cooperation among Apple and the content studios, but isn't that what the BDA is all about? ;)
Reply
Jeem said 3:04PM on 4-25-2006
Has anyone else noticed how the TD Banknorth banner ad is seriously slowing down TUAW page loads?
Reply
Ralph said 4:25PM on 4-25-2006
#13; I'd almost go for paying a fee to this site if I never had to read the words SHE MARRIED HIM?!?! AND THEY'VE GOT 7 KIDS!?!?!?! again.
Reply
Brendan said 4:48PM on 4-25-2006
This site is gone slower than slow recently!! Sooo slooooww. It takes a week to post a bloomin' comment!
The Blue Ray thing is really cool though.
Reply
Reg said 7:28PM on 4-25-2006
Something no one's mentioned yet:
Copy protection...
Blu-Ray and HD-DVD include a new level of copy protection (AACS) that is potentially harder to crack than CSS was for DVD.
With DVD it is extremely easy to rip a movie into iPod format. (Handbrake is probably the best tool on the Mac for this.)
But unless someone like Jon Lech Johansen aka 'DVD Jon' is polishing up the next release of DeCSS, it will be much harder to rip HD-DVD/Blu-Ray content into another format.
It's possible Apple knows that this copy protection will make it harder to source video for the iPod, and is trying to provide an alternate means.
(By the way, DVD Jon seems to have been very quiet since his employment by Michael Robertson for MP3Tunes and Oboe. I hope he hasn't gone "respectable!" JHymn - which is based on his cracks - desperately needs an update to bypass iTunes 6 store written DRM.)
Reply