Starting Q4, All Disney Studio Releases To Feature BD Live

Walt Disney Studios has announced that all Disney-branded Blu-ray titles released after October will feature BD Live elements.

In May, Disney announced that the upcoming special edition release of Sleeping Beauty in October would incorporate a new technology called BD Live, which enables certain viewing options that are not possible with DVD.

BD Live connects to the Internet and allows viewers to chat with friends right on the movie screen using a mobile device (laptop, PDA, Blackberry etc) and will be able to send “movie mail”. Other functions include trivia games with other viewers in the country, new trailers and ringtones and wallpaper. The special edition release of Sleeping Beauty was to avail of BD Live but also include a DVD version of the movie so viewers could compare the two.

The idea of this is that it would encourage people to move onto Blu-ray instead of sticking with DVD, which in turn will lead to a faster transition to BD. Now, recent reports say that as of October you won’t be able to purchase a Disney Studios DVD that doesn’t incorporate the BD Live functions.

In a presentation on Monday, division president, Bob Chapek promised to add BD Live to all upcoming Disney-branded releases from the fourth quarter, Reuters Reports.

Chapek said the interactive features on Sleeping Beauty were merely the studio’s "jumping-off point of what’s to come."

According to Reuters Chapek said Disney’s goal is to "reinvent the experience of watching movies in the home ... by laying in a level of interactivity and connectivity that has never before been attempted in any format.”