Movies coming to an SD card near you

Posted Friday, January 9, 2009 at 5:31 PM Central

by John Couture

News out of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) today indicates that movies might soon be available in a new format. Video Business is reporting that Warner Bros. and Paramount are the first major studios to step on-board the fledgling download to SD card business.

Secure Digital (SD) is a memory card format created for use in portable electronic devices such as digital cameras, laptops, cell phones, etc. The company behind the new business model envisions that movies would be downloaded to SD cards via kiosks in retail stores and then played back on special set-top boxes equipped with SD slots.

The information is sparse right now and there is no confirmation, but it is expected that the downloads would adhere to the same strict DRM as both digital downloads and DVD burning kiosks. If that's the case, then a set-top box or a computer or other device with Internet connectivity would be needed to provide the DRM key. In other words, TVs with existing SD slots primarily intended to playback digital pictures probably won't be able to play these movies natively.

The rollout of the first SD kiosks could begin as soon as later this year. What do you think of this new medium for packaging movies? Is there an alternate medium that you would like to see movies appear on?