New Harry Potter DVD To Come Bundled With Portable Digital Version

Last year we wrote an article on how we wished that movie studios didn't force us buy a movie in 5 different formats. I have a library of thousands of DVDs, which I now must re-buy in HD-DVD or Blu-ray, in addition to spending hours encoding them for my iPod video or iPhone or plunking down another $15 for a small extra-less digital version on iTunes. I suggested that with all this new found room on the next generation HD formats, why not include a small digital version that consumers could put on their portable video devices. And now Warner Bros Video has announced that are doing just that, but on the regular ol' fashion DVD.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be the first DVD to come bundled with multiple video formats on a single disk. However, there has been no word on whether the video will have some kind of DRM. Warner has traditionally resisted unprotcted media, so we expect them to have some restrictions. If they use DRM embedded into Windows Media Video, this could lock out non-Windows users and the whole iPod market. It's a great idea, let's just see if they execute it right.Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix hits DVD store shelves on December 11th.

source: electronista