Can Internet Video on Demand actually deliver?

High expectations of quality

A key factor in the triumph of the MP3 digital music format over SACD and DVD Audio is consumers' preference for versatility over quality. Indeed, a solid case can be made that the common use of music as a background to a variety of activities (driving, working out, housework &) increases the value of convenience, portability and versatility, and decreases the value of musical fidelity (irrelevant in an uncontrolled, potentially noisy environment).

But movies are arguably different. Unlike listening to music, watching a movie is a full-time activity, and captures the full attention of the viewer; besides, picture quality has not yet reached the limit of the human eye. Under those conditions, visual quality remains relevant.

The ongoing transition towards high-definition televisions strengthens the importance of picture quality, because increasing screen sizes and the digital nature of display technology magnify picture defects. This is where physical formats (especially Blu-Ray) shine, and Internet Video on Demand fails.

Indeed, most downloaded movies show glaring compression artifacts and blockiness on anything larger than a computer screen, let alone a 50" high-definition flat-screen TV – whereas Blu-Ray movies are rendered in 1080p perfection.

Next page: The structural advantage of DVD/Blu-Ray over Internet Video on Demand


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