San Francisco - The major film studios have approved new technology that will allow retailers to burn DVDs on-demand from kiosks stocked with thousands more titles than would fit on their store shelves, the Financial Times reported.

Approved by the DVD Forum, which represents major studios as well as hardware and software firms, the "DVD Download" format includes the copy-protection found on pre-recorded DVDs.

The kiosks, from providers including Lucidiom, MOD Systems, Polar Frog Digital, TitleMatch and YesVideo, will also print disc and case cover labels for consumers.

Sonic Solutions, whose Qflix technology can enable kiosks to sell movies via DVD Download, told FT it is working with retailer Walgreens.

"In the next three to four years, we expect 15-20 per cent of DVDs will become on-demand rather than being displayed on retailers' shelves," Mark Ely, head of Sonic's corporate strategy, told FT.

Related Links:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ec364e08-b490-11db-b707-0000779e2340.html
http://www.dvdforum.org