WATCH out for pirated DVDs being passed off as the more expensive Blu-ray discs.

These fake Blu-ray discs come in the same blue packaging as the real deal and are labelled as Blu-rays.

Digital Life has been seeing a rise in complaints about such discs traded in forums and auctions sites. According to reports by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) in the United States, the products originate from China. Last November, it estimated that these products could account for 10 per cent of the US$224 million (S$335 million) lost to piracy in China within the next six months.

Bootleg titles of hits like National Treasure and The Dark Knight are being sold online, in Malaysia and China, says the MPA. The hot copies have yet to make their way here.

However, users on auction sites like eBay and forums like XtremePlace have started posting warnings about such items sold online.

'Such discs have a lower resolution and people might be duped into buying them,' warns MPA spokesman Edward Neubronner.

It is hard to differentiate between the dud and the real thing because like the genuine article, the pirated Blu-ray discs will not work on regular DVD players but only on Blu-ray players.

This might lull buyers into thinking they have bought the real thing.

This is because the discs are made using the AVCHD format, which offers video quality of up to 720p. True Blu-ray definition offers up to 1,080p.

Some Blu-ray machines like the PlayStation 3 can decode AVCHD video but not traditional DVD machines, which helps with the illusion of the fake merchandise.

Currently, local retailers are selling legitimate Blu-ray movies at between $39.90 and $69.90, while online retailers like Amazon.com price them from US$15.

The prices for the faux Blu-rays can be priced $10 to $20 cheaper and not at the bootleg pricing of $10. This also gives a false sense of assurance.

One reason why pirates are able to pull this off is because consumers are not aware that media like DVD, VCD and Blu-ray are merely disc formats and not representative of a movie's video and audio quality.

One can liken this to using a mobile phone to film a clip and transferring it to a DVD. The process will not transform the recorded footage to a higher quality.

Even with legitimate DVD movies sold in stores, not all contain the same high-quality content, even if the movie title is the same.

This is because different materials have been used to make the DVDs (see other story).

One of the more recent complaints is the local DVD version of the Jackie Chan and Jet Li action flick, The Forbidden Kingdom.

While it was released several weeks before the US version, it had limited special features and contained only 2.0 stereo sound.

The US version features 5.1 audio and comes with a bonus disc that includes a digital copy of the movie.

DVDs for Asia contain less information than its US counterparts because of the capacity of the DVDs.

When major studios replicate DVDs for Asia, they produce them for the whole region, which explains why some local DVDs contain multiple languages and subtitles.

By Sherwin Loh

'Local DVDs include at least two languages and six types of subtitles. However, there's only one English audio in US DVDs,' says Jeremy Ong, product director for Scorpio East, the local distributor of Disney and Village Roadshow titles.

'Hence, if it's a capacity issue, I believe 2.0 sound is the alternative.'

Still, the studios do ensure that major releases like Lost and Ratatouille contain 5.1 audio.

sherwinl@sph.com.sg

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.