HD movie downloads now on LG BluRay players, TVs

Dan Warne
26 August 2010, 1:58 PM


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Finally, LG and Telstra have come up with a good reason for people to buy BluRay players -- and it has nothing to do with BluRay discs!


If you've held off buying a BluRay player because there's no future in physical discs, LG and Telstra have the perfect reason to finally buy one -- HD movie downloads.

The movies will come from BigPond Movies and will cost $6.99 for 48 hours of viewing. Viewing must begin within seven days from download. This compares favourably to the iTunes download store, which only provides 24 hours to view a title -- though it does allow movies to be stored for up to 30 days before you watch them.

BigPond Movies has now got a vastly expanded catalogue of titles (way better than the paltry selection that was there when it first launched as a Windows PC-only service.)

Telstra's own $299 T-Box doesn't even have the HD movie downloads capability yet -- though that's coming within a month or so.

To access the service you need to have an LG "Netcast" enabled TV or BluRay player. We confirmed with LG this morning that even the $229 BD560 BluRay player supports BigPond HD movie downloads.

BigPond HD Movies downloaded on BigPond connections are unmetered, so the usage is not counted towards the monthly usage limits -- though with the bizarrely massive download allowances now available through many ADSL/Cable ISPs (up to a terabyte with iiNet, or 1.1TB with Primus) this is less of an issue.

However, for BigPond Wireless customers it's a big deal -- since allowances are still relatively small on those plans, this is a great way to get HD movies piped into your home if you can't get a decent wired connection at home. (Of course, the speed of downloading an HD movie over 3G might not be so crash hot...)


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Tin (User):

What's with these download rentals? I'm not interested in paying to download movies until they are keepers. $7 for an unprotected MPEG4 movie, and I'd download it.

I wouldn't even pay $1 for a 2 day protected thing I can only watch on certain devices.

26 August 2010, 3:04 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Dan Warne (Regular user):

Would you pay money for a rental movie from a video store though? If not, fair enough. If you would, then I think you're probably being a bit idealistic -- they're replicating the video rental store hire model in a digital form here, not trying to provide something dramatically broader.

26 August 2010, 3:37 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Jeff (New user):

Quoting Dan Warne:
they're replicating the video rental store hire model in a digital form here, not trying to provide something dramatically broader.

$7 for one downloaded rental... or 7 from the video store (only sd, but unless it was designed for hd, there's very little difference) for the same price (and 10 days to watch them)? I know which I'd be doing...

26 August 2010, 5:26 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Dan Warne (Regular user):

Yeah, good point. Though the "10 DVDs for $7" deals are designed to trap you into late fees which are usually at the "standard rates" of $6 per night or whatever. But I agree that the digital content economy lacks many of the benefits of the physical media one such as being able to lend box sets to your friends easily, buy them cheaply off eBay etc.

26 August 2010, 5:42 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Jeff (New user):

Quoting Dan Warne:
Though the "10 DVDs for $7" deals

It was 7 dvds for $7 (i.e. $1 each (the standard price when you get 6 or more)) and you get 10 days in which to watch them. That only applies to the standard 'weekly' movies though. The new to weekly ones are just 7 days, though the price is the same.

The new releases are more expensive - usually around $3 each, depending on the deal, for 1-3 days, but still better than the $7 for 2 days.

Quoting Dan Warne:
But I agree that the digital content economy lacks many of the benefits of the physical media one such as being able to lend box sets to your friends easily, buy them cheaply off eBay etc.

They need to forget the whole drm idea. I know the idea appeals to the studios, but the simple fact is it doesn't work. All drm does is cause pain for the legitimate users and in fact encourages piracy, simply because using a pirated version is so much easier - whenever I buy a game or dvd, the first thing I do download the crack if it's a game, or rip it to my hdd just so I don't have to deal with the hassle the drm gives me.

The only way drm will ever work is if it's completly transparent and to date, nothing has even come close to that. Even the new drm the ieee is working on to give digital copies the properties of physical media isn't going to work, simply because it's not transparent to the user - until they come up with a way to do that, drm simply isn't going to be effective.

26 August 2010, 7:25 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

Quoting Dan Warne:
Would you pay money for a rental movie from a video store though?

As a general rule, no. I like to buy DVDs rather than rent. That way if I end up unable to watch it at the time, I can watch it later. Or if I like it, I have a copy to watch whenever I want.

26 August 2010, 6:18 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

ceramicbowl (New user):

Lg BD560 Player is not compatable with Bigpond Movies, or HD movies. i just bought one cause you guys said that it does. when i called lg to find out how, they said that it is incompatable with bigpond tv, HD etc
Thank you very much APC i just wasted my money!!!!

23 September 2010, 5:27 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Dan Warne (Regular user):

I'm really sorry and annoyed to hear that CeramicBowl. The story was written based on an email from LG's PR spokesman that specifically confirmed that the 560 was compatible with BigPond Movies. I've emailed him and asked him to sort out a solution for you -- I'm sure LG will resolve your problem since it's clearly a marketing mistake at their end. Can you email me your details so I can pass them on to the PR? You can reach me at dan@danwarnemail.com.

24 September 2010, 11:35 AM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Disco (New user):

Great I just bought one today too. I already had a Sony Blu Ray but shoved it aside so I can get Bigpond movies and Bigpond racing on my tv. Are you telling me now it doesn't do it?
Can I return it to Jb HiFi for a refund then?
regards, Paul

02 October 2010, 4:02 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

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