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Since the arrival of digital music downloads in the consumer market, focus has been on how to deliver video content whilst minimising the risk of illegal piracy and other copyright issues. The new Holy Grail in the digital realm is to find a way to deliver video content to every medium possible. It is already possible to get your favourite videos and movies though the Internet, on DVDs and more recently, on video-enabled mobile phones. Unquestionably, DVDs are currently the main vehicle by which movies get delivered, and there is no doubt at all that it will be a very hard medium to replace. However, with the launch of the Playstation Portable (PSP), the video consumer audience is to be introduced to yet another format, the Universal Media Disc (UMD). The PSP, with its superb 16x9 widescreen 4.3" TFT LCD screen, holds a great deal of potential when it comes to movies on the move and may well become the next big thing for displaying movies on the move. Although designed primarily as a gaming machine, the PSP has also been built with the ability to display photos, play audio MP3s and also movies. In the past, Sony has not been overly successful in pushing new formats. Take for example, the company's Beta and Minidisc. Neither really gained recognition even though they may have been superior choices for consumers at the time. With UMD, Sony hopes to eradicate those memories and launch what it hopes will become a viable format for games, movies and more .It is now a simple matter of delivering the content that users want in a timely fashion. Fortunately Sony already has to hand an impressive library of movies from their own Columbia Pictures. Ultimately, the success of UMD as a multi-format medium lies in its universal acceptance and support by the major players in the industry. Without this even a quality product would never succeed. This has been a stumbling point for previous launches. In 1999 Sega launched the first of the next-generation gaming consoles, the Dreamcast. This was a full year before Sony’s launch of the Playstation 2 and two years before Nintendo and Microsoft gave us the Gamecube and XBox. However, Sega lacked backing from game producers -- notably Electronic Arts (EA) -- and without this support, the Sega Dreamcast, which actually started out with a strong line-up of games, lost a significant amount of its market share when the PS2 was launched a year later. With this in mind, Sony's quest to make UMD a widely accepted format lies in its ability to draw interest from other movie studios to release their movies on UMD. Before the PSP was even launched, Sony had substantial backing form the likes of Disney, giving UMD the critically needed credibility that it requires for success. With this backing in place and Sony’s substantial back catalogue of movie content, it may just be a matter of time before other major studios follow suit. It has already been reported that 20th Century Fox is interested in UMD, and both Universal and Paramount are also considering pledging their support. It appears that things may be falling nicely into place for Sony’s UMD. There are however some disadvantages of UMD as a movie delivery format. A primary issue is the disc space limitation that prohibits the addition of bonus features for movies that are longer than two hours. To be fair, to a certain extent this issue already effects the DVD format and is why you see 2-disc DVD sets, one for the movie and the other for special features. Perhaps this has been the driving force for the other replacement formats on the horizon. Secondly, recreating readily available features from DVD releases does not make the purchase of a UMD any more attractive than a DVD. UMD-specific features might be helpful in jumpstarting the format's acceptance. Thirdly, price is an issue. If UMD movies can be produced cheaply this will also help to drive its success. The PSP's excellent LCD screen is undeniable and this should aid the use of UMD as a movie medium. Clearly one downside is the small size of the screen, all 4.3 inches of it. However, the PSP's size and mobility and crystal clear images may persuade some to give it a try. As for the audio quality, the PSP's two tiny speakers offer a somewhat respectable rendition of the movies' various soundtracks. In order to fully experience the audio effects from movies, you will probably need to have a good pair of headphones handy. Ultimately, gamers will buy the PSP specifically for its games. Having movies available as an option may just be the icing on the cake.
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UMD Blog 
