Audio Video News

Proving that no good deed goes unpunished, cutting-edge videophiles who rent Blu-ray discs from Netflix will be charged extra. High res equals high price.

The news came in a conference call via Marketwatch. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says his company will charge "a modest premium." The reason, he adds, is that "purchasing Blu-ray DVDs [sic] costs more, both at retail and wholesale, than standard-definition DVDs. Consumers are used to paying more for high-definition content."

Remember when the HD DVD people told us their discs cost less than Blu-ray because they used the same manufacturing process as standard-def DVD? Remember how Blu-ray discs needed a special scratch-proof coating? Oh, never mind.

In other Netflix-related news, the company now says its forthcoming download service will involve as many as four partners. One, announced long ago, is LG. Netflix isn't ready to say who the others are.