Even more options

On the heels of my discovery of the Redbox dvd rental stations at McDonald's I recieved my new issue of PC Magazine. What timing for this issue to come as it has a good article on using broadband movie download sites. So, with the ever expanding arena of digital cinema what better time to discuss movie downloads.

While movies and television shows have been available for download for a while, linking that file on your computer to playing on your TV hasn't been an option; until now. Now with Microsoft Media Center, XBOX 360, Apple TV, and others I know I'm not even aware of ,playing that movie you downloaded on your computer on your TV is fairly simple.

Still with all the services to download movies, either by "renting" them or buying them, it's a pain in the butt to find what you want, when you want, in the quality you want. Not all studios work with certain sites and some titles expire after a few weeks, so the consumer is left having to hop between a few services to find what they desire. Facing these issues it's no wonder piracy is still the most popular, yet illegal, option. And, as was so well put in PC Mag, it would only take the combination of Hollywood and a service to offer the greatest selection and best usability to conquer this market. So, until these issues are worked out, all the gadgets to take content from the computer to the TV are just novelty.

A drive-thru McMovie?

Okay, maybe I'm behind the curve as my television watching has been cut back dramatically, but have you heard McDonald's now rents movies? I know, I thought I was seeing tings too, but believe it. This new system called the "Redbox" is appropriately a big red box vending machine where you pay $1 for one night of movie bliss. You can return the dvd to any other Redbox location you please.

I haven't actually seen a Redbox yet, but it seems like a novel idea. One dollar for one night, seems a fair price and since the box uses McDonald's locations it has endless possibilities for growth. However, since the system relies on physical disks you might be out of luck more than not. Also, with limited space it would seem the number of titles available would be minimal. Still, anything that chips away at the high prices charged by typical brick and mortar rental stores makes me happy.

Blu-Ray taking the lead

Last time I posted about the battle between HD DVD and Blu-Ray DVD it seemed the war would be a long and ardous one. However, upon a recent trip to the local video rental gallery it is fairly clear Blu-Ray has taken a huge lead in the format battle. Of the approximately 30 High Definition DVDs only six were HD DVD, and the rest Blu-Ray. As an owner of a HD DVD player it is frustrating to see a movie come out in HD only to find it is only in Blu-Ray. So, if you are looking to take the next step up in a dvd player you should probably give most of your consideration to a Blu-Ray player, or better yet wait for the price to drop on the combo player and have the best of both.

Didn't I mention this a month ago?

Well, well, it seems sometimes I do know what I'm talking about. Starting in 2008 all AMC, Cinemark, and Regal cinemas will begin the transformation to digital cinema projectors. This marks a major shift to digital projection for major theaters, while mostly indepedent theaters had been making the change until now. "The idea is to drive costs down and push delivery toward a commodity price," said Warner Bros. exec VP of distribution and technology operations Darcy Antonellis while speaking to Variety. As consumers we can hope these price savings will be passed on to us. Now if we could only stay away from the concession stand.