HDTV and Home Theater Podcast #244 - New DirecTV Features and the new High Definition movie war, downloads vs. discs

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The HT Guys
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HDTV and Home Theater Podcast #244 - New DirecTV Features and the new High Definition movie war, downloads vs. discs

Post by The HT Guys »

There's lots of news and email to discuss, including the "Save HD DVD" petition. Will it work to slow the momentum Blu-ray is building? And DirecTV has some new features that aren't new to the market, but new for DirecTV subscribers, so we'll use them to get into deeper discussions on High Definition movies, specifically downloads versus discs....

[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/podcast/2008/01/hdtv_and_home_theater_podcast_244_-_new_directv_features_and_the_new_high_definition_movie_war_downloads_vs_discs.php]Read the complete Show Notes[/url]
akirby
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Post by akirby »

Regarding the on demand HD movies - aren't these the same ones that are available for PPV in HD? The ones I saw were (and cost the same IIRC). If so it would be faster to simply purchase and record the next available PPV showing.

Also - the download speed would depend on your internet connection speed. I don't think it uses the satellite, although I could be wrong.

I used on demand to download the first few episodes of Weeds on Showtime and it worked great. Only took a few minutes for each episode.
Shane
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Post by Shane »

There are a couple of new services coming out that are a little bit different than the rest:

One is VUDU. This is a $295 set-top-box that utilizes peer-to-peer (P2P) to download movies. Glossing over the technical, it allows instant viewing of HD movies while it downloads. The movie source (for HD) is 1080p and it supports DD+ audio.

The second is XStreamHD, which will launch here in the US this fall. This is a hybrid delivery service, most of which comes in over satellite and the rest via internet connection. It will support 100Mbit/s 1080p and DTS HD Master Audio. Exact pricing is still unknown other than a $399 price tag for the hardware.

Each of these plan on offering much more than current PPV offerings and extend well into catalog content for all major studios.

I have an article publishing early next week outlining all of the current video download services currently available.

Enjoy,

- Shane
Publisher, HDTV Magazine
Your Guide to High Definition Television
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