News and Reviews....

    CinemaNow Download-to-Burn Service  July 2006

 By Robert Lieto

    CinemaNow the online movie seller has just unveiled a new service which will allow customers to download a movie from the internet and copy it onto a DVD that can be played on any standard DVD player. CinemaNow download-to-burn service marks a new direction for Hollywood movie studios. To claim more revenue, the studios are allowing older movies to be downloaded directly. It makes sense, No packaging, No distribution problems, No freight costs, No printing costs, No, No, No. Direct to your supplies of  DVD ROM, using your electricity, your computing resources and your CinemaNow and Broadband membership costs. 

    First offers will be 100 older films, such as 2003"s Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and 1992's Scent of a Woman. The service is expected to grow and some industry insiders believe that it could replace renters and retailers such as Blockbuster Inc.  and Netflix Inc. to consume the $24 billion home DVD business.

    For service companies like CinemaNow and Movielink, download-to-burn  is the answer to reason for their service in the first place. Even SONY pictures has concluded that the time is right and that the service will thwart piracy. Probable the main issue for the turn-a-round of the movie studios process. It was in April of this year that the studios began offering movies on a download-to-rent basis, which only existed on computers. They used a rental model in which downloads were stored for a time before being automatically deleted. The Download-to-Burn now allows the DVD to leave the computer and go directly to the TV via the DVD player. Much, much better for folks that do not have their computers linked to their TV as yet. 

    CinemaNow's service will begin Wednesday July 19, 2006 and will feature films from the home entertainment divisions of the Walt Disney Co., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Sony Corp's Sony Pictures, LionsGate Entertainment and Universal Pictures. Prices will start at $8.99, and the DVDs will have movies plus menus, games or director interviews that were a part of the original DVDs. Time to download and burn would be a few hours depending on content, broadband connections and other factors.

    The technology will allow users to burn only one copy  and software will be upgraded with encryption, copy-protection and anti-ripping features as the process progresses.

Comment .....  File sharing and downloading of TV and movies are becoming more and more. We do not see them going away, only getting more prolific, with more titles available. Our clients have been offered the convenience of having Computers built into their A/V system for many years. Being able to access the internet and download a program for viewing on your system was an exotic source in the past that now becomes a integral necessity for entertainment of family and friends. Did I mention the time and cost of a trip to the local rental store? The advantages are numerous and as always when things get too good the movie studios tweak it and sometimes ruin the basic advantages. We would caution our clients to keep an eye on the added software changes that, with out your knowing will be ever present on your computers. Also the quality of the downloaded movie will be near-DVD quality. Take into consideration the cost of your equipment and blank DVDs. We believe the whole process will only take off when the over-all cost is under the Walmart bin cost and the quality is improved. One advantage, straight out of the gate, is the sheer virtual shelf space that exists on the internet making your choices almost limitless.

Have a comment on the subject in this article, please let us know on our email page.

Past articles on the subject:

MovieBeam Has Arrived    Feb 2006

MovieLink 2.0 VOD    Sept. 2003