dvd

Netflix has a love-hate relationship with DVDs, and this month it appears that discs are back in favor.

The Web's top video-rental service posted a short note to its blog yesterday, notifying customers that Netflix has simplified the process of signing up for the $8 DVD-only rental plan. The company again appears to be tipping its hat to DVDs or else why bother streamlining the sign-up process.

"Starting today, our DVD and Blu-Ray loving audience can now easily sign up for a DVD only plan," the company wrote. "Starting at just $7.99/month, you can … Read more

Think DVDs are on the way out? Maybe so, but DVD collections will likely live on for quite some time. All the more reason to make backup copies of your movies, as a scratched disc is a ruined disc.

Until tomorrow, you can get BDlot DVD Clone Ultimate free of charge. Use license code BU-TUUXTGUJ-FBIFHU to register the program, which normally sells for $29.95.

Update: Some users are reporting that the activation code doesn't work. I'm not sure why, as it worked fine for me. Make sure you don't have any spaces before or after the … Read more

You'll have to keep dusting off those stacks and shelves of DVDs for the foreseeable future--and maybe forever.

Kaleidescape, a company that has long sought to help consumers create copies of their DVDs and store the digital files to a media server, has lost another legal battle.

In 2004, the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) sued Kaleidescape. That group, which includes all the major Hollywood studios and some consumer electronics companies, licenses the anticopying protections on DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

The DVD CCA accused Kaleidescape of violating the terms of the CCA license when it began releasing servers … Read more

PowerDVD version 12 Ultra is here, and it brings with it increased 3D support and improved playback controls. At the same time, it changes its game a bit by offering tools for organizing and managing all of your media across devices. Now you can use your desktop PC as a server for all of your content, and with PowerDVD Mobile, you can browse and play that content from anywhere.

PowerDVD's bread and butter has always been its movie playback capabilities, and with version 12 that hasn't changed. The program can still play DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and an impressive … Read more

CyberLink, maker of some of the most popular multimedia software titles for Windows, today released a massive update to its PowerDVD line.

PowerDVD version 12 Ultra brings with it increased 3D support and improved playback controls. At the same time, it switches its game up by offering tools for organizing and managing all of your media. Now you can use your desktop PC as a server for all of your content (regardless of type), and with PowerDVD Mobile 4 for Ultra, browse and play that content from any of your supported Android devices.

PowerDVD's bread and butter has always … Read more

High-resolution formats like Blu-ray, DVD-Audio, SACD, and LP are all capable of delivering superb sound quality, but having music in those formats doesn't automatically guarantee great sound. The recording itself would first have to sound great, or to put it another way, a great sounding MP3 would sound better than a heavily compressed and studio processed 192-kHz/24-bit Master Audio Blu-ray.

Worrying about what sounds better--FLAC, WAV, or AIFF files--is a total waste of time if you're listening to an Adele or Black Keys album: the music's processing levels are so extreme, there's nothing for … Read more

Hawaii might monitor all Web browsing, a Spotify app takes aim at Pandora, and Netflix's CEO expects DVD subscriber numbers to dwindle every quarter.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Jeez, Reed, don't sugarcoat it. Tell us what you really think of the DVD's future.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who has sent mixed signals for the past year about whether the company was committed to DVDs for the long term and whether he believed discs still had a long life left, sounded a very loud death knell today for the format.

During the company's earnings call to discuss fourth-quarter earnings, BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield pointed out that Hastings had sounded much more optimistic last year about DVDs and was now making comments that suggested the company was … Read more

The headlines from CES about Hollywood's digital efforts are likely to make readers believe that the major film studios are fixated on selling movies instead of renting.

Readers might also have the impression that the studios' strategy on UltraViolet (UV), the plan to promote the use of digital lockers, was hurt by Netflix's decision to drop participation in UV.

Both are true to a point but much more nuanced.

I wrote this week that Netflix decided not to renew its membership in the consortium behind UV and some pundits are taking it as a sign that UV is … Read more