By Eric Bangeman

One of the struggles Blu-ray's backers have faced in the format's march toward the mainstream is price. Blu-ray players are still considerably more expensive than DVD players that still look "good enough" for many HDTV owners, and Blu-ray discs retail for a few bucks more than their optical forefathers. But those Netflix customers have been able to add Blu-ray movies to their queues for no extra charge will now have to pay a $1 per month charge for the privilege.

A handful of readers sent in copies of an e-mail sent to Netflix customers Wednesday morning in which the mail rental giant announced that it would begin charging customers $1 per month for the ability to have Blu-ray movies in their queues. The new charge is effective November 5; the only way to avoid it is to remove Blu-ray access from your account.

"Dear [customer]," the e-mail begins. "As you may know, Blu-ray movies are more expensive than standard definition movies. As a result, we're going to start charging $1 a month (plus applicable taxes), in addition to your monthly membership charge, for monthly access to Blu-ray movies."

Since the end of the war between HD DVD and Blu-ray, Netflix has made a significant investment in the winning format, and its library of HD titles has grown as a result. The company's hope was that a ready supply of Blu-ray flicks would lure HD fans to the service from brick-and-mortar competitors like Blockbuster and from the nascent HD download market.

The imposition of the dollar surcharge may be an indicator that this strategy isn't working out. The availability of Blu-ray movies is a nice perk for subscribers who have run out and purchased Blu-ray players and/or PlayStation 3 consoles, but it is apparently not enough to draw in new customers. Indeed, Netflix CEO Barry McCarthy said last month that only a fraction of his company's subscribers currently rent Blu-ray discs and that the format's impact on the business is minimal. Hence, Netflix is now passing the additional costs for Blu-ray onto its subscribers.

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