Sony to Add HD VOD to PS3

[Poke]

Sony to Add HD VOD to PS3

But the service will first be offered in Japan.
By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (December 2, 2007) -- Sony says that early next year it will launch a HD On Demand service on the PlayStation 3.

That's according to an article by Variety Magazine.

The service will be launched in Japan, but there have been rumors for months that Sony plans to offer HD VOD on the PS3 across the globe next year.

The company is looking to counter Microsoft's XBox 360 which offers high-def movie and TV shows downloads. The XBox 360 system can also be connected to an HD DVD player so a PS3 HD VOD service would level the playing field.

Variety reports that PS3 owners in Japan with Internet access will be able to download content on the console's hard drive.

However, the initial offerings will be racing-related video to help promote the PS3's new Gran Turismo 5 Prologue game, scheduled for launch later this month.

The company is expected to expand the service soon after launch.

 

[hbk409]

i wonder what resolution these would be and what the effect will be on the blu-ray/hd dvd market.

 

[diogen]

I think it will be in line what XBox-Live is offering: 720p, ~8Mbps with the resulting file for a 2h movie under DL DVD size.

What can be even more interesting is the DRM those movies will be wrapped into. Since the hard drive is user replaceable, would be nice if you could detach the drive with the movies and play them on a PC. Or burn onto a DVD to play back later. Considering even HD/BD will eventually get Managed Copy (most probably with the final AACS license), these movies might have it, too.

Sony's DRM obsession leaves this option low odds, but who knows...

Diogen.

 

[ONUOsFan]

i wonder what resolution these would be and what the effect will be on the blu-ray/hd dvd market.

Depends on what they're trying to do, I guess. Most/all videos available on the PSN now are 1080p, but they're short clips - no more than 5-10 minutes. If you wanted to do a 2 hour movie, it would be a hefty download size for a system with (at most) an 80 GB HD, not to mention the time it would take to download for most of us.

 

[Poke]

More Info..

Sony’s video download plans another step in quest for living room dominance

Sony wants to own your living room. The PlayStation 3 is ostensibly a video game console first and foremost, but Sony packed in Spider-Man 3 on Blu-ray with the new 40GB systems instead of a game. In doing so, Sony sent a message: it's serious about the PlayStation being the cornerstone of your home theater. Selling Blu-ray discs for use on the system is only one part of that strategy, however, and now Sony has released more information about another part of its plan: a for-pay video download service.


The video downloads will begin in Japan on December 6, starting with BBC-fueled car-related content in honor of Gran Turismo 5. This will most likely be the Top Gear content already announced for the game. The video downloads will begin at $1.85, which is competitive with Microsoft's $2 price for standard definition content. Microsoft does charge $3 for high definition content, however, and it is unknown what quality options Sony will offer on its service. When someone tells you where prices start, it's rarely clear where prices will end.

The news isn't surprising, Sony has been in talks to bring on-demand video downloads to Korea for quite a while, and with Microsoft enjoying a wide selection of content on its video marketplace—including Disney movies—this is something Sony has to offer if it wishes to stay competitive. Microsoft has already moved into plans for an IPTV service, so Sony has some catching up to do. Sony does enjoy the great advantage of owning plenty of video and music content through its own studios; it would be a trivial thing to launch the service with piles of Sony's own content. Sony has also offered game and video trailers since the launch of the PS3, but these so far have been short and free.

If the video on-demand service takes off with a solid amount of content and competitive prices, the PlayStation 3 will look even more like a set-top box than it does now. With modern consoles, gaming is just the beginning, and Sony wants a piece of the content-delivery action. There is no information about when North America will get video downloads for the PlayStation 3, but Sony knows that every day it puts off launching the service, Microsoft is gaining traction.