Sonic Solutions has been cooperating with optical disc drive maker Lite-On IT, blank disc maker Ritek and IC design house MediaTek, to promote Qflix, a technology which uses CSS (Content Scramble System) to encrypt movies and video content for sale over the Internet.
The cooperation is through the Qflix licensing program established jointly by Sonic and Pioneer. Qflix movies on demand can be downloaded online and, in order to protect against piracy, can only be recorded onto Qflix DVD discs using Qflix-enabled DVD burners, Ling indicated.
Lite-On IT has begun shipments of external Qflix-enabled DVD burners to the US retail market and is negotiating cooperation with PC vendors for built-in models. Qflix chipsets used in such burners are produced by MediaTek, Ling pointed out. Ritek has also started production of blank Qflix DVD discs, Ling said. MediaTek, in addition, is developing advanced Qflix chipsets for Blu-ray Disc playback, with supply to begin in September 2008, Ling noted.
In the US market, 15-20% of movie DVD discs are unable to be sold and are thus returned by the store operators while 30% of consumers are unable to find movies they want at retail stores, Ling indicated. The Qflix service allows consumers to burn the movies they select online and thus retail stores need not maintain a large inventory of DVDs, Ling pointed out. Sonic has cooperated with retail stores in the US to provide them with Qflix kiosks offering burning service at stores, Ling added.
Ling forecast a global demand for 50 million home-use Qflix-enabled DVD burners and 100 million Qflix DVD discs in 2011.
Story source:
digitimes.com.
Comments