CinemaNow has announced their intention to offer High-Definition movie downloads in Windows Media High-Definition format. While that’s fine and dandy, right now they are limited to a selection of IMAX movies from MacGillivray Freeman Films, which isn’t the most compelling selection in the world (although I love me some documentaries, for real). The CinemaNow HD flicks are encoded at a rate of 10Mbps—that’s about the same as DVDs—with 5.1-channel surround sound with a video resolution of 720p.
Of course, you’ll have to watch them on a Windows PC (they are Windows Media files, after all), but in a surprising twist, all the films will be available on a “download-to-own” basis, so once you pay for the download your may watch it as long as you keep a copy of the file around. Unfortunately, that ‘ownership’ is almost certainly still locked by WMP10 rights-restriction, so don’t get too excited.
I don’t have a CinemaNow account anymore, so I can’t tell you how big the files are or how long it might take you to download one.
CinemaNow Premieres High-Definition Movie Downloads [eHomeUpgrade]
