Formats come and formats go in home video. It looks pretty much as if HD DVD is on its way out now, according to today’s report that inventor Toshiba is primed to pull the plug. (Blu-ray remains in the high-def game.) But portable digital media continue booming on the iPod and similar devices, where downloads and podcasts keep us busy watching on the go.
Now add downloads on a disc, as the Fox home entertainment folks have with their new release of “Family Guy: Blue Harvest.” The animated series’ hourlong “Star Wars” parody special arrives on DVD bearing a duplicate Digital Copy of itself that’s ready to be loaded into your computer library for transfer to iPod or Windows Media Player.
When I finally found the time to try it out, turned out I hardly needed any time at all. You put the “Blue Harvest” Digital Copy disc into the computer, type in the serial number provided in disc-case documentation, and click a button. Two minutes later, the entire show has downloaded to your hard drive (in 640-by-480 quality). Then connect your iPod to that computer, press the transfer button, and 60 seconds later, you can watch anywhere.
Without Digital Copy, you could of course rip a regular DVD’s content and translate that onto a portable device using third-party software. But that’s a pain and requires some know-how. With a Digital Copy DVD, you’ve already got the content in two consumer-friendly, guaranteed-legal formats.
Other DVDs with pod-formatted Digital Copy content include “Live Free or Die Hard” and “Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix.”
Here’s a more detailed MacWorld report on the process. And here's the official "Family Guy" version.