PS3 Owner’s Survey Seeks Opinions on Possible Future HD Movies “On Demand”
- Scribbled on September 19th, 2007 by S Holmes
- Filed in Blu-Ray/HD-DVD, PlayStation Network, Rumor Mill, Sony PlayStation 3
Sony sent a survey to PS3 owners today titled “Spotlight on Blu-ray.” The survey questions owners about their use of the PS3 as a Blu-ray player and their purchases of Blu-ray movies. But tucked into the survey was one question that may show just where Sony is in their plan for the PS3 as a digital media center:
Are you interested in HD movies on demand via PS3?
Although Sony’s intention to provide HD movie downloads really isn’t much of a surprise, this survey does raise two interesting questions:
1) What exactly does “On Demand” mean? As far as cable TV providers are concerned, “On Demand” means instant access to movies (e.g. no waiting for downloads). But for Sony, does this simply mean available for download similar to Xbox Live? We all know that movie downloads via Xbox Live are hardly “On Demand,” which is expected given the large file sizes for movies. But if Sony truly does mean “On Demand” as we’ve become accustomed to, then what might they be planning for implementation of this service?
2) If Sony is simply measuring the interest in HD movie downloads via the PS3, is it reasonable to assume that the service is nowhere near as close to becoming a reality as many people might have expected (including myself)?
Only time will tell…
September 19th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I think by “On Demand”, they mean the setup Microsoft has in the Marketplace. Download a movie that has a time limit.
September 19th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
I’m sure they do. But I can see the term “On Demand” causing some fanboy flame wars if it takes 8 hours to download a movie. So, I gotta wonder if they have something else up their sleeve.
September 19th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
do realize that on xbox live video marketplace you don’t have to finish downloading the movie to watch the movie. it does a buffer thing and based on your connection speed, it’ll actually let you start watching when enough has been downloaded for you to watch straight through.
i’m on verizon fios and watching an SD movie from the service only takes about 30 seconds of buffering. HD movies are roughly 4-5 times bigger so on my connection about 2-3 minutes?
not exactly “on demand” but definitely not “8 hours”