Got this announcement today. We've known for a while that Disney is pushing towards an all-digital video world, where they can control at any time what movies you have access to, which ones "disappear into the vault", limit sharing and distribution, etc. No more loaning your Snow White disc to your daughter's little friend! "Disney Movies Anywhere" is the digital collection of Disney movies you've bought the license to, including the Disney discs you've previously bought and registered on the Disney site. (whether they came with a digital copy or not) "DMA" now lets you stream those movie titles you have rights to, through the DMA website or DMA app. Supposedly you can also stream them through iTunes, but I couldn't figure out how.
With the announcement, they have a limited time offer, that if you sign up and link "DMA" to your iTunes account, you get "The Incredibles" in your account too.
So, I checked it out, hoping for a good experience. Once complete, I clicked on "My Collection" in my Chrome browser, and then The Incredibles. After many seconds of loading, it started. Not horrible. But regular pauses/hiccups, occasional pixelation artifacts, and slight audio sync errors. And that's not to mention that it was nowhere close to high-def audio or video. I'm not sure, but I'd guess the video resolution was something like 480p, with maybe 120 Kbps 2-channel stereo. I coudn't find exact specs about "DMA", but in their help section, they indicate that if you're using a computer, it's possible to get 720p video, but only "SD" through the app. No mention of audio quality. http://www.disneymoviesanywhere.com/help
I had to stop the video, as I have download caps on my home internet service, with VERY expensive fees if I go over my limit. So I have to restrict the large downloads or streams I do every month.
To compare, I popped my "The Incredibles" BD into my same computer, and also with a loading time, it played straight up, full 1080p and lossless multichannel audio. No comparison--personally, I'll be sticking with my discs for regular viewing, thanks. I'm sure this will meet the needs of others, though, with different internet capabilities and access.
Unfortunately, this just reinforced that my own experience with streaming hasn't been corrected yet. So this service doesn't work for me yet, but hopefully this offer benefits somebody else for whom it does.
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