By Berti Kolbow Jun 10, 2007, 14:30 GMT
Stuttgart - When the weather outside is frightful, watching videos at night can be delightful. The internet would seem to be a perfect alternative to mediocre network or cable programming: special online portals allow home users to order, download, and watch the movie of their choice, completely legal and for only a few dollars. Video on Demand (VoD) is how the industry refers to that kind of viewing.
The promise is all the joy of film without having to leave your house. In practice, however, VoD isn't ready to displace the video store quite yet.
'The catalogue of films and the service are often unimpressive,' says Wolfgang Boos from Stuttgart-based connect magazine. The latest edition of his magazine reviewed six VoD providers. In many cases the companies each listed significantly more than 1,000 films. Yet there were few if any blockbusters in that mixture.
Another thing to remember is that home viewing does not necessarily mean viewing on television. Only a few of the services offer subsidised set-top boxes to allow films from the internet to be played back on TVs without the computer being turned on. Buying the boxes directly at an electronics shop is both expensive and complicated.
While it is possible to link the computer to the television with a cable or to simply watch the video directly on the laptop or PC, those options tend to be uncomfortable, says Peter Knaak, technology expert for the German consumer testing organisation Stiftung Warentest in Berlin.
Another factor is that video services offered by ISPs like Hansenet, T-Online, and EWE Tel are only available for each company's own Internet customers. By contrast, portals like maxdome, Arcor VoD, One4Movie, in2movies, RTL NOW!, and Premiere Internet TV are open to all.
The films reach the viewers in different ways. The file is either downloaded in its entirety or viewed streaming. In some cases, the user can choose which option is preferable. Those looking to download the movie must have sufficient hard drive space and be willing to wait while the file downloads in its entirety - a lengthy process in some cases. The streaming process, to this point the more common one, allows the viewer to start watching the moment the signal starts pouring into the data line.
Image quality corresponds in the worst case to the VHS standard, Peter Knaak notes. Yet even in the best of cases it doesn't manage DVD quality either. All the same, image quality is fundamentally acceptable, Wolfgang Boos acknowledges.
A one-time download of a movie usually costs between 1 and 4 dollars, with the film available for viewing as often as desired within a 24-hour span. For many people, those prices are often higher than at the local video store. maxdome, One4Movie and RTL NOW! All offer monthly subscription packets for those who watch more often.
Another option comes from in2movies, which sells its films at commercial DVD prices but allows them to be retained - a retailing model known as download-to-own. None of the processes allow for the video files to be burned for DVD player use.
The dearth of big-name movies is not the only problem for the VoD portals. User friendliness or the lack thereof is another significant factor, a study by the Munich-based marketing research firm facit digital found.
Flaws in the search function and page navigation spoiled the experience for all four of the services tested. Peter Knaak advises potential VoD users to try out one of the freely accessible services, as they do not charge a membership fee.
Your Talkback on this Story