Blu-ray/DVD combo disc (2009 – early 2010s)

In the early days of the Blu-ray Disc, a few discs were released that offered the full movie in both DVD-Video and Blu-ray formats on the same disc. The disc essentially consists of a Blu-ray Disc and a DVD disc glued together to create a double-sided disc, packaged in a standard Blu-ray Disc case. These discs, sometimes called ‘flipper’ discs, had very small centre labels and were prone to fingerprints.

Universal Studio seems to have been the first to release a Blu-ray/DVD combo disc, with the Bourne Trilogy films. It meant, for instance, that people could watch the Blu-ray version at home, and the DVD on a portable DVD player or at a friend’s house that didn’t have a Blu-ray player.

The idea wasn’t entirely new, with the HD DVD/DVD Combo Format disc doing the same thing in 2006, to try and boost sales.

The idea doesn’t seem to have become widespread, and combo packs with both versions on separate discs became more popular.

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