Rovi Digital Copy Lets DVD and Blu-ray Owners Buy Online Versions
Digital entertainment company Rovi is announcing Rovi Digital Copy for Retailers at the IFA show in Berlin. This offering will let consumers in the U.S. and Europe turn their DVD and Blu-ray Disc libraries into electronic collections. Rovi is offering the service to retailers so that they can offer in-store conversion services.
The offering doesn't actually convert discs, however, but authorizes the owner to buy access to an UltraViolet digital copy of the same movie. Consumers will bring their discs to a participating retailer, where the discs will be inserted into a Rovi PC or Blu-ray Disc player and authorized. The consumer will then be able to purchase access to an UltraViolet version of that title that will play on UV-enabled devices including HDTVs, Blu-ray Disc players, set-top boxes, game consoles, smartphones, tablets, and computers.
In its announcement, Rovi isn't mentioning how much it will charge for the service and how much retailers will charge consumers. If this takes off, consumers might be surprised that they can't "convert" Disney titles, or that their "converted" copies won't play on Apple iOS devices, as both companies don't support UltraViolet.
If the Rovi service succeeds with retailers, it will complete with Walmart's Disc-to-Digital service, which launched in April of this year. Walmart lets people with DVDs and Blu-ray Discs purchase $2 standard definition or $5 high definition electronic versions of their movies. The Walmart service delivers UltraViolet versions and works through Vudu, which is owned by Walmart.
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