subject: How To Rent Films Via Tv [print this page] It's become possible to rent movies via TV in the past few years and there have never been so many options - so which one should you choose?
For example, many DVD rental by post companies have started to do deals with companies that manage this service in order to make it possible.
Widevine are relatively unknown but their deal with UK-based company Lovefilm could change the way its members watch and rent films forever and turn online streaming from illegal pastime to everyday, legal reality.
Widevine are an American company who are considered to be experts in digital rights management (DRM). Put simply, Widevine implement its technology into a number of devices including televisions and Blu ray players.
Under the new deal, owners of this new technology implemented with Widevine's technology will be able to use LoveFilm's service streaming films direct to their TV.
This deal will signal a move towards streaming films for LoveFilm which found fame offering DVD rental by post doing away with pesky late fees. Yet currently Lovefilm's streaming library is relatively sparse (just over 4000 films) compared with over 60,000 films available to rent via DVD or BluRay.
There is no doubt that companies will have to increase their streaming libraries to help take advantage of Widevine's technology as well as convincing customers to shell out a bit extra every month to gain access to the films.
Although it should be said that many streaming libraries are still free to all members of this or that DVD rental company it's also worth noting that there are some restrictions on this service and others are available.
For example, at the moment the about service is only available with certain televisions which come with an internet connection enabled and a number of branded apps installed or able to be installed by users.
That restricts the number of customers somewhat.
On the other hand, it's perfectly possible to rent films on television with a number of subscriber-based cable services and set top box services.
Cable and satellite TV often allows users to buy films directly by entering a pin and topping up an account with money to be used as payment for this.
Set top services work by the television owner buying a box for a freeview service and then subsequently buying the content online where it can be downloaded to the digital box by the company.
However, renting by TV still has nowhere near the high quality demanded by people looking for, say, blu ray rental which is in high definition and can only be enjoyed with a special blu ray player and television.
