Ultra, the 4K streaming service from Sony Pictures, went live yesterday for Sony’s 2016 fleet of Android 4K TVs which includes the X850D, X930D, and X940D. Now Jake Winett, VP of consumer services and advanced platforms for SPHE, is revealing a few additional details about the service like interactive bonuses.

 Consumers can expect more or less a parity experience. I would say the one differentiator with digital is that we can be a little more dynamic with the content, with [the ability to add] additional content that becomes available to an extras package down the line, whereas with a disc it’s fixed. We also have a feature that will come with some movies, coming a little bit later after launch, [one] which adds a fun layer of interactivity. While someone is watching the movie they can get an indication that there’s a [bonus] specific [to a] piece of content. That can be a bit of trivia, it can be a digital effects deconstruction scene, things like that. We think that will be interesting for consumers. 

The biggest challenge Sony is going to face is consumer trust. For three years now, Sony has been shipping 4K TVs and none of those sets can take advantage of Ultra which is a shame. Adding to that, as it stands, Sony Pictures is the only company onboard with Ultra, seeing how it’s a Sony app and the service isn’t available on any other TV. If you own two different branded 4K TVs, even if they are 2016 models, you’ll only be able to watch your purchased movie on one of them. And those expensive 4K media server boxes from Sony? Forget about them as they’re not compatible with the service either.

According to Sony, these:

 UltraViolet-enabled films [will be] available for purchase for $30 each. 

Let’s talk more after the jump.

I don’t know about you but if I’m spending that much money on a movie, I sure as hell would like some flexibility on it. Sure there isn’t a ton of 4K TVs roaming around but that’s purely an inevitability. The brilliance of a service like Netflix is that their app is available on nearly every box possible and the intimacy of purchasing from iTunes is that not only are your purchase available on every iOS device you own, but you can easily connect an Apple TV to any screen and enjoy your purchased content. Seeing how limited the current offering and scope of Ultra is, it’s unlikely that Sony will gain much traction as it’s left as a means for only the wealthy.

So while interactive bonuses are nice – and I’m glad Sony Pictures is looking into it – it’s not going to be the deciding factor for many. Instead, they’ll base their use of the 4K streaming service on ease of use and availability. After all, Blu-ray brought the promise of connected and Java powered behind-the-scenes material that would expand over time. Some titles even included games which in the end turned out to be mostly gimmicks.

Discuss:

Would you be more willing to go digital with your movie purchases if more behind-the-scenes and interactive bonus content was offered?

[Via MESA]