During yesterday's Macworld keynote, Steve Jobs announced that Twentieth Century Fox would be the first movie studio to implement its Digital Copy DRM technology on Fox's DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. The first DVD to feature this technology is "Family Guy Presents Blue Harvest", which is now availalble for sale.

So how does it work? I was curious. So for you, my readers, I forked out $12.99 + 7.75% CA tax to buy the DVD from my local Target just to demonstrate this technology . Anything for you, my friends.

So here is how it works. There are two discs available in the box: one is a regular DVD, the other is a DRM-encoded digital copy of that DVD. Inside the box, you would find a DVD insert that has instructions on how to use transfer the movie on the "digital copy" disc to your computer. There are two sides to this insert: one is the instruction for PC, the other is the instruction for Mac. The insert also has a serial number imprinted on it; you need this number in order to copy the movie file.

Once the "digital copy" disc is inserted, the content is disc shows an iTunes icon with the name "Double-click to transfer movie to iTunes". Depending whether you are using a Mac or a PC, the transfer experience differs slightly from one another.

On a Mac, when double-clicked, it launches iTunes and takes you to a screen to enter the serial number. Once the serial number is entered, you just hit "Redeem" to start the transfer process. The process is very much like when you enter a code to redeem song credits from an iTunes Gift Card.

On a PC, however, once the disc is inserted, a window would come up prompting you if you want to transfer the movie to iTunes or to Windows Media Player. If you choose iTunes, then the whole redeeming process as described above applies. If you choose Windows Media Player, then another screen comes up asking for the serial number and the folder you would like to copy the movie file to.

The movie transfer itself takes only a few seconds. iTunes actually uses the term "downloading" when transferring the movie file from the disc. This is quite misleading because I thought the movie would be downloaded from an online source. This isn't the case. It is merely copying the movie file from the disc to the computer.

After it is done transferring, the movie looks exactly like other movies that you downloaded from the iTunes Store. You can sync the movie to your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV just like you do other movies. It has the same restrictions as the movies you downloaded from the online store.

So that's it. All that for $12.99 + tax.

[Update]The image quality of the digital copy is comparable to the DVD counterpart. They both have the same resolution. The digital copy does look a little darker though, at least from the screen shot I took comparing the two.  The screenshot below compares the two version.  The one on top is from the DVD; bottom is the digital copy.

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Comments (17)

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written by Chad Wright , January 16, 2008

What's the image quality like? This would get me buying DVDs again. I'm so tired of ripping my 500 disc collection that I've stopped buying DVDs until I get it done. I start purchasing again if it was this easy to get them into iTunes.

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written by Luck Kanthatham , January 16, 2008

I just updated the article with a screen shot comparing the two. I hope this helps.

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written by ItIsMe , January 17, 2008

Great article, and thanks for showing a comparison of picture quality! I was wondering, what is the bitrate for the movie and its audio and in what formats are they encoded?

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written by Yashin , January 17, 2008

Nice article, thanks.

I wonder if these discs are exclusive to the US, or DVD Region 1. Is the iTunes account used to verify location? If my PC DVD drive here in the UK is set to region free, will I be able to import this DVD and use the Digital Copy in iTunes?

I realise you can't neccessarily answer this, but I thought I'd throw the questions out there.

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written by Andy S. , January 17, 2008

Are you allowed to transfer the video to your Mac/PC multiple times? For instance, if I delete the movie from my hard drive at some point, and then want to add it back to my iTunes library a few months later, could I do so? Or can the serial number only be "redeemed" once? What if I replace my computer with a new one? Is the video tied to the iTunes account, or to the Mac/PC?

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written by Tib , January 17, 2008

So what is the size of the file once it has been "downloaded"?

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written by Luck Kanthatham , January 17, 2008

Let's see if I can just answer those questions all in one comment.

Details on the digital copy version of the file:
Kind: Protected MPEG-4 video file
Size: 496mb
Bit Rate: 124 kbps
Profile: Low Complexity (I have no idea what that means)
Channels: Stereo
FairPlay version: 2
Total Bit Rate: 1451 kbps
Video Dimensions: 640x480
Video codec: H.264
Audio codec: AAC

Andy S., after I redeemed the DVD on my iMac, I took it over to my MacBook Pro and was able to redeem it there too with the same iTunes account. So this means that the movie is tied to the account rather than the computer. I have no idea if I can use another account to redeem the same DVD. It would be nice in case I want to sell the DVD.

Yashin, iTunes account was needed to redeem the digital copy. However, I noticed that on the PC, you have the option of copying the movie to Windows Media Player. In that case, you probably don't need to have an iTunes account. I'll have to verify that though.

As far as region-related questions, I don't think I can answer those. I apologize.

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written by Kyle Mahaney , January 17, 2008

Low Complexity is a variant of AAC, AAC-LC. It is pretty much the stranded AAC format these days.

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written by Luck Kanthatham , January 17, 2008

Thanks, Kyle.

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written by Lou , January 18, 2008

Is the movie subtitled/captioned (Closed Captioned or subtitled)? Can you see captions when you play it? I know QuickTime Player has an option for "Show Subtitles when available".

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written by Luck Kanthatham , January 18, 2008

Lou, I did not see the subtitle icon showing when the movie was playing. I did turn the "Show Subtitles when Available" on for iTunes.

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written by Sammyfan , January 19, 2008

When I first got my ATV I noticed this darker tinge to my ripped DVD playback, even though the resolution was the same. It turned out to be mostly a problem of adjusting the picture on the TV. You see many, if not most, HDTV's have to have each input adjusted separately. For my Samsung there was a set of starting adjustment numbers listed at AVS Forum by a kind-hearted IFS tech. So I went through each input and made the basic adjustments and saw immediate improvement. Later, I was very disappointed in ATV's performance until I remembered, "Oops, gotta do that input, too!"

I was not so lucky when I moved ATV to the Olevia 532H in my bedroom. I had to make adjustments based on my reaction to the picture until I can remember to pick up HD Digital Video Essentials (I tried my old Avia and Sound and Vision tune-up discs with some success). But the problem is that this tuning will only be for my DVD player. Each device connected to your TV will be a little different in it's "reaction" to your adjustment. And ATV seems to be very different.

You should make a few contrast/brightness/color adjustments if you feel brave enough to do so, but each adjustment causes a reaction in another adjustment, so some back and forth may be required. If the situation gets really out of control you can always revert back to the default settings. Oh, yes, the first thing to do is get the TV out of "torch" mode. Most TV's will have some variation of a "Store" or "Home" preference. Switch to "Home" to avoid eye-watering headaches (TV's are set up extra-bright to pop at the store). If there's a Movie mode try that for quick improvement.

When I get my own HDDVE I may Handbrake it and try playing it through ATV to make the adjustments to the ATV input. Has anybody tried this with success or is it a dumb idea?

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written by some guy , January 22, 2008

Blue Harvest isn't the first movie with a Digital Copy, just the first one that was promoted by FOX.

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written by Luck Kanthatham , January 23, 2008

Thanks for the info.

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written by sourpuss , March 07, 2008

496 Mbyte of MPEG-4 at 1451 kbit/s isn't going to have the same image quality as a DVD! Fine if you're looking on your notebook computer but on Apple TV to a 720p 40-inch screen? I don't believe it.

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written by xja , April 20, 2008

This is a reply to Sourpuss's comment. If you have a 720p 40in screen, why whould you wanna watch the digital copy of your movie on it? Use the damn DVD that came with your digital copy!!!!

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written by rman , June 20, 2008

im screwed i think well i hope not but i got the digital copy of i am legend and i didnt get the choice of itunes so i downloaded it to media player now i cant transfer it to itunes to put on my ipod touch.

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