Protocall Technologies Inc (PCLI)

[ttattletell]

Info from almost 2 weeks ago says same thing:

"the quality of a download are all getting in the way of digital downloading."

Battle of the Boxes

Author: CHRIS TRIBBEY
[e-mail]
Posted: March 21, 2008

Talk to some people, and you’d think Blu-ray Disc’s time has already come and gone.

Tech-savvy movie fans, bloggers, and even some industry experts believe the format war was a moot issue anyway: Digital downloading is where the future is. But it’s not here yet, and this idea’s been around for a while. After all, cable and video on demand didn’t do away with DVD.

“People are collectors,” said Adam Gregorich with the Home Theater Forum. “They want to own the disc, not the bits on a hard drive, and not just for 24 hours.”

Bandwidth issues in American homes, licensing issues between content owners and content deliverers, ownership issues with consumers, and the quality of a download are all getting in the way of digital downloading.

“The movie industry wasn’t set up with downloads in mind,” said Rob Enderle, media analyst with The Enderle Group in San Jose, Calif.

At any discussion at industry seminars regarding movie downloads, the No. 1 problem with movie downloads is getting those pictures to the TV. While cable and satellite have been around for a while, and companies like Verizon are taking the direct route with their FiOS system, four companies have offered dedicated set-top boxes, which cater to the movie downloading experience.

Whether or not any of them will replace physical media remains to be seen.

“Not a consumer interviewed wants to buy another set-top box,” said Richard Doherty, research director for market research firm The Envisioneering Group.

Richard Bullwinkle, chief evangelist for Macrovision, said: “If I had to make a prediction, I think we’re going to see a layering effect. The best experience on a large TV is Blu-ray. None of the download boxes gives you the same experience.” Macrovision owns all four of the systems discussed here: TiVo, Xbox 360, Vudu and Apple TV.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/index.cfm?search=battle+of+the+boxes§ion=2-3&sec_id=search

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Looks like the kiosks ARE single layer:

"the industry requires on-demand services to warn customers that “this disc is expected to play back in DVD Video `play only' devices, and may not play in other DVD devices, including recorders and PC drives.” Not exactly a confidence-building message."

http://opinion.latimes.com/bitplayer/2008/03/nero-burns-a-ne.html

"PLAYBACK COMPATIBILITY OF CSS RECORDABLE DVD AND
MANDATORY CONSUMER NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
CSS Recordable DVDs will not necessarily play back in all legacy DVD devices in the
market, particularly some DVD ROM (PC) drives and some DVD recorders or
player/recorder combination devices. The DVD CCA has concluded that it is very
important to provide consumer notification about these playback compatibility
limitations."

http://www.dvdcca.org/NoticeCSSLicenseesManagedRecordingAmendment%2011-15-07.pdf