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Sonic has big plans for burning CSS encrypted DVDs

28 September 2007 0:08 by Rich "vurbal" Fiscus | 4 comments

With the offical acceptance of CSS technoloy on DVD by both the DVD Forum and DVD-CCA licensing group, responsible for CSS licensing, Sonic Solutions is moving forward with plans to offer the technology to both consumers and content vendors.

On the consumer end, the plan is for downloadable DVDs to become available online which can be burned using the company's Qflix sofftware. A lack of copy protection has long been a studio argument against distributing high quality video across the internet. Despite the fact that CSS encryption was cracked several years ago, it's the only encryption that can be used for DVDs without making them unplayable on a standard standalone DVD player.

For vendors, Sonic would like to see the technology used for on-demand burning. Unlike traditional pressed DVDs that aren't economically feasible to produce in small numbers, DVDs created with Sonic's DVD On Demand technology could theoretically be sold at a much lower cost, and even be created by automated kiosks like those currently being operated by Polar Frog. On-demand DVD burning kiosks could potentially revolutionize DVD sales because they can provide a great deal of variety while keeping inventory and shelf space to a minimum.

Sonic is also hoping to sell on-demand burning to internet retailers. Although they don't have the same kind of display issues as brick and mortar stores, like traditional retail outlets they could benefit greatly from reduced inventory.

Sonic plans to use their existing relationships with various partners to make sure the hardware required to make commercially burned CSS encrypted DVDs a reality.

Sources:
InformationWeek
Video Business

Permalink to this article

HP to provide Sony DVD Manufacturing On Demand (24 January 2008)

Ritek signs Qflix licensing agreement with Sonic (10 January 2008)

DVD-CCA files brief in appeal of Kaleidescape decision (18 December 2007)

Redbox kiosk presence expands to Walgreens stores (16 November 2007)

CinemaNow will offer CSS encrypted burning for movie downloads (7 November 2007)

Kaleidescape CEO responds to another proposed CSS amendment (3 November 2007)

CSS enabled burning is changing the face of DVD sales (28 October 2007)

DVD CCA finally approves CSS on DVD recordables (21 September 2007)

On-demand DVD burning gaining industry acceptance (14 August 2007)

Bollywood films to be available through DVD On-Demand (8 July 2007)

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MightyOne (Junior Member) 28 September 2007 7:03
I think they will need to use very high compression and perhaps a lower resolution that a standard DVD to begin with. I wouldn't think that most households are up to par with ultra high bandwidth. A 4 gig movie could take a while and with ISPs capping and charging xtra $$$ for going over a monthly cap. The movie could end up costing less, but one could be charged more in other ways...like the need to upgrade their Internet service to accommodate this. Hence the reduced resolution and need for MP4 compression or higher (when available). That said, if your going to pay for something, one might insist on the higher resolution. Compare this to mp3s. Small file, less quality in most cases on paid sites. The kiosks sounds like it would take quicker than the Downloading bit. I think the idea is there, but higher internet speeds with more consumers must be met first. A thing for the future perhaps. Just my opinion. [ + quote]
plutonash (Member) 28 September 2007 8:32
Hope there ready for failure they may sell maybe 100 of these worldwide. Also you can use mpeg4 compression for DVD so MPEg2 will be needed to be used. [ + quote]
H0bbes (Junior Member) 30 September 2007 18:36
*Originally posted by plutonash:* Also you can use mpeg4 compression for DVD so MPEg2 will be needed to be used. I think what he mistyped is that mpeg4 can't be used with dvds, and he's right. they would have to sell the DVD at half-price, as it's half the quality. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 30 September 2007 18:37
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 1 October 2007 5:00
Like i have stated before they should come up with a better encryption using a Nero based idea. [ + quote]