Walmart Releases UltraViolet Disc-to-Digital Service
Walmart is giving physical DVD/Blu-ray collections across the U.S. a second life by turning them into digital movies.
The home entertainment retailer announced an exclusive in-store disc-to-digital service which gives movie lovers the freedom to watch their DVD/Blu-ray collections from Internet-connected devices, including televisions, tablets, smartphones, gaming consoles and more. The service is powered by video streaming service VUDU.
Walmart partnered with Paramount Home Media Distribution, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. Starting April 16th, 2012, Walmart customers will be able to bring their DVD and Blu-ray collections to Walmart and receive digital access to their favorite titles from the partnering studios. An equal conversion for standard DVDs and Blu-ray discs will be $2. Standard DVDs can be upgraded to High-Def (HD) for $5.
"Walmart is helping America get access to their DVD library," said John Aden, executive vice president for general merchandising, Walmart U.S. "Walmart Entertainment's new disc-to-digital service will allow our customers to reconnect with the movies they already own on a variety of new devices, while preserving the investments they've made in disc purchases over the years. We believe this revolutionary in-store service will unlock new value for already-owned DVDs, and will encourage consumers to continue building physical and digital movie libraries in the future."
The process to convert previously-purchased DVD/Blu-ray movies to digital copies is simple. Users bring their movie collections from the participating studio partners - Paramount, Sony, Fox, Universal and Warner Bros. - to their local Walmart Photo Center. After creating a free VUDU account, users will be able to convert their standard DVD or Blu-ray movie for $2; or upgrade a standard DVD to an HD digital copy for $5. Walmart will authorize the digital copies and place them in users' VUDU account.
Walmart Entertainment supports UltraViolet, the movie industry's initiative currently in its beta phase that allows consumers to put their purchased movies into a cloud-based digital library and keep track of them. Walmart is able to offer customers the ability to watch and purchase UltraViolet-enabled titles directly from VUDU.
Walmart partnered with Paramount Home Media Distribution, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. Starting April 16th, 2012, Walmart customers will be able to bring their DVD and Blu-ray collections to Walmart and receive digital access to their favorite titles from the partnering studios. An equal conversion for standard DVDs and Blu-ray discs will be $2. Standard DVDs can be upgraded to High-Def (HD) for $5.
"Walmart is helping America get access to their DVD library," said John Aden, executive vice president for general merchandising, Walmart U.S. "Walmart Entertainment's new disc-to-digital service will allow our customers to reconnect with the movies they already own on a variety of new devices, while preserving the investments they've made in disc purchases over the years. We believe this revolutionary in-store service will unlock new value for already-owned DVDs, and will encourage consumers to continue building physical and digital movie libraries in the future."
The process to convert previously-purchased DVD/Blu-ray movies to digital copies is simple. Users bring their movie collections from the participating studio partners - Paramount, Sony, Fox, Universal and Warner Bros. - to their local Walmart Photo Center. After creating a free VUDU account, users will be able to convert their standard DVD or Blu-ray movie for $2; or upgrade a standard DVD to an HD digital copy for $5. Walmart will authorize the digital copies and place them in users' VUDU account.
Walmart Entertainment supports UltraViolet, the movie industry's initiative currently in its beta phase that allows consumers to put their purchased movies into a cloud-based digital library and keep track of them. Walmart is able to offer customers the ability to watch and purchase UltraViolet-enabled titles directly from VUDU.
