Now you can make your own DVD copies of Hollywood movies -- legally

Hollywood movies make their way into the living room in a wide array of methods. Films can be purchased on DVD or Blu-ray discs, delivered by mail via Netflix, downloaded to a computer or portable player, or streamed to a television set using an Internet-connected device such as an AppleTV or Vudu.

Add to this digital panoply the ability to (legally) burn mainstream Hollywood movies to DVD.

Online video service CinemaNow launches a download-to-burn option that permits consumers to download a digital movie file and create a DVD that can be watched on any old DVD player. Five of the major studios -- including Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures -- have agreed to participate in a trial, according to CinemaNow.

"We think it’s important, from the point of view of consumers, to be able to get content to the TV," said David Cook, CinemaNow's president and chief operating officer.

To be sure, CinemaNow has long offered a "burn-to-DVD" feature. But compatibility problems made this a less-than-reliable option for consumers, who couldn't be sure whether the discs would play on their DVD player. Studios, meanwhile, have also been wary because these discs lack the same protection built into commercial DVDs.

The new discs from CinemaNow are similar to those DVDs purchased at a store -- and boast the same copy protection.

Sonic Solutions developed this new burn-at-home technology, dubbed Qflix, which has been more than a year in gestation as it waited for the DVD Copy Control Assn. to amend its specifications so that copy protection (known as Content Scramble System) could be added to recordable DVDs. Manufacturers also took time to ramp up.

Mark Ely, Sonic Solutions' executive vice president of strategy, said that despite the prolonged wait, and the emergence of new technologies to bring digital video to TV screens, Qflix addresses a consumer need: a way to watch digital files on the most ubiquitous movie playback device around: the DVD player.

"The DVD is this highly compatible, very flexible format," Ely said. "It can play back on the PC, play back on a set-top, or play back in your mini van. When we think about it, from a technology standpoint, really it's the ultimate portable."

To take advantage of the new Qflix technology, consumers must buy a DVD authoring drive, like those offered on most Inspiron, Studio and XPS laptops and desktops from Dell, and special discs.

Some analysts expect the new download-to-burn offering, which can take as long as two hours to complete, won't take off like a house afire, but rather appeal to the early adopter crowd.

"Today, a lot of DVD buys are impulse buys, when walking through Wal-Mart or Target," said Wade Holden, a motion picture and home video analyst with SNL Kagan. "For this service, you’ve got to sit down, sift through what’s there, and then wait for it to download, versus walking by the new release display, saying, 'Hey, I didn't know this release was out this week,' tossing it in the cart and you’re on your way."

--Dawn C. Chmielewski

Photo credit: Sonic Solutions