Disney Testing Self-Destructing DVDs

LOS ANGELES -- If Walt Disney Co. gets its wish, an experimental type of DVD will begin flying off store shelves this week -- and self-destructing 48 hours later. Disney movies on disposable DVDs are set to arrive in convenience stores and other outlets in a four-city test of whether Americans will pick up a limited-life DVD rather than dropping by a video rental store. So far, Phillips 66, Circle K, CVS and Walgreens are some of the chains participating.

The red DVDs turn an unreadable black 48 hours after their packages are opened, exposing them to oxygen,which reacts with the disc in a process similar to how Polaroid film develops. The DVDs, which are being distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Disney's home video unit, will carry a suggested price of $6.99, according to an Associated Press report.

The advantage to the disposable DVD format -- known as EZ-D -- is that such discs can be sold anywhere and never need to be returned, potentially making any retailer a competitor with Blockbuster Inc.

Stores in Austin, Texas; Peoria/Bloomington, Ill.; Charleston, S.C.; and Kansas City, Mo. will be among the first to test the new DVD format, the report said.
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