I noticed a lot of Universal Blu-rays have U-Control listed in other features. Should we consider this a feature?

U-Control was another "feature" I had no idea what it is... but based on your explanation I would say no.

Quoting Addicted2DVD:

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U-Control was another "feature" I had no idea what it is... but based on your explanation I would say no.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP3ll4URLUI

Is it helpful to make a distinction between "vendor specific" vs "industry wide" or "vendor neutral"?

If so, I would guess that vendor specific features would not be treated as database elements, but could be optionally noted as data.

Are there major exceptions that would break that rule?

(Of course there are many vendor created technologies that have been adopted by the industry)

To me, it depends on what the content actually is. If U-Control on a given disc consists of an audio commentary, I'd rather tick the "Commentary" checkbox than listing what Universal happens to call it in the "Other Features" field. Similarly, if there's some "Picture-in-Picture" content, I'd rather tick the "Picture-in-Picture" checkbox than listing what Universal happens to call it in the "Other Features" field. And so on. To me, it's about what features there actually are, not how the distributor describes them.

Seeing as the actual U-Control content wildly varies from disc to disc, listing "U-Control" in the "Other Features" field tells me absolutely nothing. I don't need (nor want!) to track vendor-specific marketing babble, I want to track the actual features that are there, using generic terms. That, by the way, is the whole idea behind the features checkboxes we have...

In my experience, it's like a second Special Features-menu, one specific for features that you can access while playing the film. The "stand-alone" features are in the normal Special Features-menu, and those that run alongside the film are listed under the U-Control banner. So yeah, it does give access to special features that aren't listed in the other Special Features-menu, but that doesn't change that it should be about what features there actually are, not about how a certain distributor calls them.

Again: listing the term "U-Control" in the "Other Features" field tells us nothing, as the actual content differs from disc to disc. It's merely an umbrella term for one or more features that you can access while playing the film - be it audio commentaries, trivia tracks or picture-in-picture content. IMHO, we should track those as Trivia Tracks, Commentaries and Picture-in-Picture content, not by the name Universal gave to that particular menu section.

Those that feel "U-Control" should be listed in the "Other Features" field - would you feel the same if Universal didn't give it a fancy name, but if that menu section was simply called "Bonus Features That Run Alongside the Film"? Because that's really all it is.

Thanks for the extended explanation Tim... I am back to my original opinion of No.

Quoting Ace_of_Sevens:

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I noticed a lot of Universal Blu-rays have U-Control listed in other features. Should we consider this a feature?

Quoting Ace_of_Sevens:

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I think no. It's just Universal's name for their menu system, not really a feature, even if Universal seems to think it is.

I agree with you – it's a variation on the main menu, which isn't classified as a feature.