Video On Demand is quickly becoming the new standard for video rentals. Video On Demand also know as VOD was originally introduced by cable companies as a more flexible pay-per-view service. Now it has boomed into a huge market that has taken the traditional disc based rental services by surprise. Companies like Blockbuster did not foresee the huge shift to VOD in such a short period of time. Blu-ray peaked consumer interest in 2008 and has been on a slow steady decline while VOD is quickly gaining steam. As these services become more available VOD is sure to replace all disc based mediums sometime in the future. 

Many cable companies offer VOD service to their digital cable subscribers. Netflix, Amazon, Blockbuster, and Apple all offer popular VOD services. These services are available through many set top boxes, Blu-ray players, and media center PCs. There are hundreds of devices to choose that can deliver these services. Netflix, Amazon, and Blockbuster use a host of devices including: standalone set-top boxes, DVRs such as TiVo  gaming consoles such as PS3 and X-Box 360 and most new Blu-ray players. Each one of these services provides a large library of content.

Netflix has a large library of “Instant” movies which any current Netflix subscriber has access to. Their monthly fee covers this VOD service so that the customer does not have to pay for each rental. The only downside is that new releases are rarely available in Netflix’s instant library.

Amazon and Blockbuster allow customers to rent video on demand for a small fee, usually between three and five dollars. They also allow you to purchase movies and store them on your hard drive. The upside to paying per rental is the ability to access much more content including new releases. 

Apple uses the proprietary Apple TV. Their rental system is very much the same as the Amazon and Blockbuster systems however they also allow the purchase of music, and they have one of the largest VOD content libraries. This allows them to more closely monitor the content. The upside to this method is that it allows you to link rentals or purchases to your PC so that the videos may be watched on the go via iPod. The apple tv also gives you the unique ability to link your entire iTunes library to your television allowing you to watch whatever you have on your PC. Even the digital copies of movies that are being packaged with blu rays can be viewed on Apple TV.

Consumers who have not experienced the technology first hand usually question the quality of streaming video. While most of the HD rentals the on demand services have to offer are not quite Blu-ray Quality the added convenience outweighs the slight loss in quality for most consumers. However as the infrastructure in the country grows we will have the bandwidth to accommodate full 1080P streaming video which will make Blu-ray obsolete.

So what do you do with all your discs that you already own? Media centers solve that problem effortlessly. Drop a disc in and you are done. The media center stores it on your hard drive and downloads movie data and even cover art from the internet. You can have the full quality feature film, with all menus and special features in tact stored on a drive without ever having to load a physical disc again. Crestron, VidaBox and a host of other companies have come out with high end media servers that allow for distribution of stored audio and video throughout homes with ease. These devices also have access to all of the streaming services that are mentioned above.

Blu-ray was born less than half a decade ago and already the streaming format has gained widespread acceptance as the next standard in media delivery. Streaming media is moving as quickly as it can into our homes and hearts as a convenient, high quality, low cost alternative to the disc.

COOL LINKS

• Crestron ADMS
• Netflix Streaming
• Apple TV
• Vidabox