Will the DVD go the way of the old-timey video cassette? If it does, one culprit will be online downloads.

	Daniel Marsula, Post-Gazette Click illuistration for larger image.

Movie viewers with a high-speed Internet connection can skip the trip to the rental store when they want to watch a movie at home. And now, they can buy some new and classic films online, too.

In an increasingly on-demand, instant-gratification entertainment culture, people can buy a movie online and have it delivered to their PC or laptop in an hour or so.

The technology has been around for a while -- movie download-to-own services launched in 2004. But 2006 was the year the major Hollywood studios -- including Warner Bros., Disney, Sony Pictures, MGM and others -- began to release movies, including new ones, for online purchase in a big way. One reason is that the movie industry saw what file sharing and illegal downloads did to the recording industry and didn't want to suffer the same financial fate.

Some new releases -- depending on the studio -- are available for sale online the same day they come out for sale on DVD.

Two sites are in the forefront of the legal movie download business: CinemaNow and Movielink. Having the studios come aboard was a major step forward for those companies.

"We have been in business with the studios for several years, but only on a rental basis," says CinemaNow president Bruce Eisen. "We have heard from our users that they are interested in a download-to-own model, so we are pleased that the studios have authorized this method of distribution."

How to download

Both services are easy to navigate and use. Start by going to their Web sites -- cinemanow.com or movielink.com -- where you will find capsule descriptions and running times of the films available. There are new and old movies, classed by genre -- action, comedy, family, sci-fi and more -- along with TV shows and free movie trailers. New selections are added on a weekly basis.

Windows only: At present, these two services are available only to computer users on the widely used Windows platform.

For CinemaNow, one needs the Windows XP operating system, Internet Explorer 6.0 and Windows Media Player 10.

Movielink works only with Windows 2000 or XP, and Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. The Movielink service is so Windows-exclusive that you can't even browse the Web site with anything other than a Windows operating system and an Internet Explorer browser.

Making a connection: For both, a high-speed cable or DSL connection is needed, with a speed of 300K or more per second.

Rent or buy: Once you've set up an account, you can search either site for the movie you want, and hit the "rent" or "buy" button. Make sure to have plenty of free memory available, because these files are pretty large.

The downloaded films can be watched on a PC or a laptop, or by connecting the computer to the TV. The viewer can start watching on the computer during the download process.

Purchased movie files can be copied onto a disc for backup purposes but can't be burned onto a DVD to watch on a DVD player. Some purchase conditions are different from others, depending on what the content providers establish as terms of use. With some, the movie can be played on up to three personal computers or laptops; with others, only one.

Rentals can be watched within a 24-hour viewing period, which starts when you hit the play button. They can be watched unlimited times within that period.

Cost: Movie prices range from $9.95 to $19.95 on CinemaNow. Rentals are comparable to what you'd pay in a store -- $2.99 for older films, $3.99 for new releases.

Movielink's rentals start at 99 cents. Most are around $3 to $4. Movie prices start at $8.99, with most in the $19.99 neighborhood one would expect at a brick-and-mortar DVD outlet.

Test drive: A download at the CinemaNow service went smoothly -- Woody Allen's "Manhattan" downloaded in less than an hour with a DSL connection. The picture and sound quality on a standard computer monitor was quite good. The film was in letterbox, so all those sweeping shots of the New York skyline still looked great, even on a computer screen. Some users have reported that the picture quality is less than DVD quality if viewed on a TV screen instead. Although both Movielink and CinemaNow specify Windows Media Player, this download also worked on Real Player.

Ups and downs of download

The legal movie download business is still a work in progress. Some users have reported longer download times -- up to four hours, as opposed to the 30 to 90 minutes estimated by the download services.

As it was with music downloads, the pioneering users of these services are the technologically savvy. CinemaNow viewers are "mostly early adaptors and, of course, the early adaptors who are big movie fans," Eisen says.

Movie viewers who buy and rent DVDs for the extra features will still find it worth their time to make a trip outside of the house. Movie downloads don't have the extras that people buy DVDs for -- the interviews, commentary, background, extra footage and outtakes.

The debut of legal movie downloads adds another option to the movie watcher's growing array of choices.

Among those other options are numerous online rental sites, such as Vongo, a new subscription download service from Starz Entertainment Group, and online services such as Netflix, where subscribers submit a wish list of movies, which are mailed to them.

Digital cable subscribers can bypass the computer and Internet entirely and watch a selection of new and older films and some TV shows through the On Demand option. Some are free, there's no waiting to download, and there are no software requirements.

Future plans for the online movie business include expanded content and the ability to work on other platforms, such as the iPod. Movielink is exploring enhancements such as HD content and the ability to transfer to portable players and burn files to DVD, while Apple Computer is in talks with studios to offer movie downloads on its popular iTunes Music Store.

These developments may make movie downloads a more formidable competitor to the DVD store -- and to the theater box office itself.