First of all I apologise as I'm no photographer which is why I've not put these in the sticky thread; perhaps someone with l33ter sk1llz yo can do some shots for that thread?

I'm seeing another submission trying to change the R1 Blade runner BD from the correct HD Slim to HD Keep, and the votes are 19:1 in favour, which is wrong. In my experience, this mistake only take place with North American profiles; I'm not trying to point fingers, I'm just saying that to the best of my knowledge, North American hi-def consumers who only buy domestic won't have encountered a HD Keep, hence the confusion. I remember there was a thread around the time the HD Keep option was added to the program with pictures to this effect, but I couldn't find it. So I've taken some pictures to try and clear this up (click to embiggen):

Here are the four main case types; left to right, we have the multidisc HD Keep, regular HD Keep, multidisc HD Slim, and regular HD Slim.





Now, the good news for all the chaps is that size doesn't matter! The HD Keep (both multi and single) is the same thickness as a regular SD case, and also in the same way, both variations are the same externally. The slim cases are only as thick as is required by the number of discs. The regular Slim is about 3/4 of the thickness of a Keep, I think, but when you have a thicker one, such as the Blade Runner example depicted, it doesn't become a Keep by that token alone.


The clasps are the giveaway; UK retail stores (and by the look of things Europe and Australia, too) use what's called the Red Tag system, which involves sticking a plastic and metal device into the openings in the middle of the clasp, preventing the case from being safely opened unless the retailer's machine is used to remove the tag before the customer takes the disc home. To the best of my knowledge, this is the reason for the very existence of the HD Keep cases, so that participating stores can continue to rely on the Red Tag for security.

Even HD Keeps with slipcovers will be compatible with the Red Tag system; the UK release of Shrooms, for example, has a cutaway in the middle of the edge of the slipcover to allow access to the Red Tag clasp.

There are some examples of HD slims that are the same thickness as an HD Keep, the only one that comes to mind is the Sarah Connor Chroncles S1 BD in the US. However, while it's difficult to describe, the long edges of the HD slims are slightly rounder then those of a HD Keep (or an SD keep, come to that). You can see this for yourself by comparing any HD Slim to any SD Keep. And of course this release also lacks the Red Tag clasp.


Multidisc HD Keep



Examples of usage: UK release of Bleak House
Not the same as: The Blade Runner set below, Sarah Connor Chronicles S1 RA; anything in North America


HD Keep

Examples of usage: UK editions of All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, Diary of the Dead etc
Not the same as: Anything in a slim; anything in North America


Multidisc HD Slim





Examples of usage: Prison Break S1 and S3, Sarah Connor Chronicles S1, Mad Men S1, Planet Earth - all US
Not the same as: The Hotel Babylon set above


HD Slim

The bread and butter case.
Examples of usage: Practically all single releases in North America; also of note is the variant with a "clip" at the opening, which I forgot to photograph. Also, by putting a disc hub in the left-hand panel, you get versions of these which hold two discs.
Not the same as: Well I think we all know this one

That's about it; if anything's unclear or dead wrong then do please point it out so I can adjust it. I'm trying to inform, not incriminate.

From all these images, HD keep is bit fatter. So, either they are all HD Slims, or anything that is not slim is a keep.

Now I don't understand at all why HD Keep was needed. 

Yeah, I wasn't keen on the split either. Maybe Elite was the wrong term, but we didn't need two :/

Quoting 8ballMax:

Quote:
Quoting NewEnglander:

Quote:
The fat cases are not slim, so, how can we have multi-disc slims? Once it's fat, it is not slim.

Unless it starts using Slim-Fast .

LMAO! 

Quoting NewEnglander:

Quote:
From all these images, HD keep is bit fatter. So, either they are all HD Slims, or anything that is not slim is a keep.

Now I don't understand at all why HD Keep was needed. 

from those images I can't see any difference.

I agree we need to get rid of these pointless differences - its a HD case. Thats all we need to know - and since any BLU ray will be in a HD case - why bother holding the case information for blu ray discs.

Am I right in saying that the spine on HD keep cases is only the height of the sleeve, whereas the spine of an HD slim case goes from top to bottom?
I'm just asking cos my copy of King Kong is in a case that is as thin as a slim case, but the spine is only the height of the sleeve and I'm not sure what kind of case it is. If it helps, I think this copy of Kong Kong came from Canada.

I'm not talking about the height of the case, only of the spine section.
If you look at the images of the open cases, the keep case "spine" is not the same height as the front or the back, but on the slim case it is.

Yes, that's right.
It looks like your Almost Famous case when opened, but it's the thickness of your Simpsons Movie case.