Sonic Solutions, Macrovision devise retail DVD burn system

October 10, 2006

Looks
like Macrovision is is joining up with Sonic Solutions to provide a
quick way for consumers to pick and burn a DVD at the local market. How fast is
quick? 10 minutes! The resulting disc, dubbed DVD On Demand, is of
reportedly the same quality as a normal pressed DVD and comes packed with CSS
DRM that studios demand. From the press release over at Sonic:

"The solution will integrate
Macrovision's RipGuard and ACP technologies into Sonic's DVD On Demand™
technology solution, which will allow content encrypted with the
industry-standard Content Scramble System (CSS) found on mass-replicated DVDs to
be recorded directly to optical DVD media. Sonic will license the new combined
solution to video publishers and distributors."

Sonic developed the DVD-burning side of the deal while
Macrovision has supplied the copy-protection. Now together, they have
transmogrified their technologies to create DVD on demand!

Offering DVDs from kiosks could become another avenue
to distribute movies, analysts said, especially because most people are
still more comfortable with DVDs than online downloads.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see kiosks by the next holiday season,"
said Kurt Scherf, principal analyst at Parks Associates. "This is an era
of experimentation for (movie studios). They're trying to figure out what
works and who their partners are. They're testing the waters."

Corey Ferengul, Macrovision's vice president of
solutions and strategies, said he expects online retailers to be the first
to offer the service, which will allow them to sell independent, older and
lesser-known movies without needing to warehouse them.

In time, retail stores could also begin installing DVD-burning kiosks.

"We don't think it's going to replace physical DVDs in the store, but
this could change the layout of the DVD section," Ferengul said.

This would be a great idea, if the
kiosk could hold several terabytes of movies. This way, people might be able to
find hard to get films, that many retailers would be hesitant to display on
their valuable shelf space. As long ads the DVDs work as well as present pressed
forms, this should indeed compliment the inventories that are
available.

Source: SFGate