MovieBeam
Encyclopedia
MovieBeam was a video-on-demand service started by Disney
. Movies were sent wirelessly into the subscriber's home by embedding digital data (datacasting
) within local Public Broadcasting Service
(PBS) stations' analog TV (NTSC
) broadcast to deliver the movies to a set-top box
. The data was embedded using dNTSC technology licensed from Dotcast, and distributed to TV stations via National Datacast
. Up to 10 new movies were delivered to the player each week. The player also contained free movie trailers, preview
s, and other extras.
The set-top box was sold for a one-time fee ($149.99 as of August 2007). The cost of viewing a movie varied from $1.99 for older movies in standard definition to $4.99 for newer releases in HD. Movie rentals expired 24 hours after the rental period began.
The box had high-end hardware, including HDMI
, component video
outputs, and coaxial
(SPDIF) and optical
(TosLink
) digital audio
outputs. The box also had USB
and Ethernet
ports, although these were not activated in the last release of the firmware
. An HDMI or DVI
connection was required to watch HD content, which was in 720p
resolution.
MovieBeam connected to the server
s by telephone line
to trigger billing
of rented movies. The modem
may or may not have worked with VOIP lines, depending on the quality of the connection.
Disney
spun off this company in January 2006. Cisco
, Disney
and several venture capital
firms including Intel Capital, Mayfield Fund, Norwest Venture Partners
and Vantage Point Venture Partners had invested $48.5 million in MovieBeam.
On March 7, 2007, Movie Gallery
Inc acquired MovieBeam Inc. Movie Gallery at the time stated that the expected cost of acquisition, plus operating expenses for 2007, was $10 million.
On December 5, 2007, MovieBeam began calling its customers informing them that Moviebeam would be ceasing operations on December 15, 2007, and on that date MovieBeam officially shut-down service.
The main reason for failure of the service to penetrate and capture a portion of the video-on-demand market was the presumption that viewers would watch those movies that the network thought they would be interested in. The dependence on precise positioning of the reception TV antenna to obtain movies was another big problem. Differences of a centimeter or two, or poor weather conditions, could cause movies to be missed being downloaded over-the-air
. Cable TV and satellite TV set-top boxes now provide video-on-demand services with far better features than MovieBeam. The video quality of MovieBeam was greatly criticized by viewers due to excessive video compression, made necessary by using analog instead of digital TV (ATSC
). Analog TV is also to become obsolete in 2009. These and other challenges sealed the fate of this much-hyped company into a flop
of technology history.
On July 11, 2008, Valuable Group acquired MovieBeam, known for its success in rapidly building and operating numerous media and entertainment initiatives also started and runs the largest satellite-based digital cinema
network in the world.
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
. Movies were sent wirelessly into the subscriber's home by embedding digital data (datacasting
Datacasting
Datacasting is the broadcasting of data over a wide area via radio waves. It most often refers to supplemental information sent by television stations along with digital television, but may also be applied to digital signals on analog TV or radio...
) within local Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
(PBS) stations' analog TV (NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
) broadcast to deliver the movies to a set-top box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
. The data was embedded using dNTSC technology licensed from Dotcast, and distributed to TV stations via National Datacast
National Datacast
National Datacast Incorporated is a pioneer in data broadcasting.It is a for-profit subsidiary of the Public Broadcasting Service which handles datacasting on PBS TV stations throughout the United States...
. Up to 10 new movies were delivered to the player each week. The player also contained free movie trailers, preview
PREview
PREview is a requirements method which focuses on the early stage of Requirements Engineering: discovering and documenting requirements. PREview uses a Viewpoint-Oriented Approach to enable the conversion of top-level goals into requirements and constraints...
s, and other extras.
The set-top box was sold for a one-time fee ($149.99 as of August 2007). The cost of viewing a movie varied from $1.99 for older movies in standard definition to $4.99 for newer releases in HD. Movie rentals expired 24 hours after the rental period began.
The box had high-end hardware, including HDMI
High-Definition Multimedia Interface
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
, component video
Component video
Component video is a video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals...
outputs, and coaxial
Coaxial cable
Coaxial cable, or coax, has an inner conductor surrounded by a flexible, tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield. The term coaxial comes from the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing the same geometric axis...
(SPDIF) and optical
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
(TosLink
TOSLINK
TOSLINK is a standardized optical fiber connection system. Also known generically as an "optical audio cable," its most common use is in consumer audio equipment , where it carries a digital audio stream from components such as MiniDisc, CD and DVD players, DAT recorders, computers, and modern...
) digital audio
Digital audio
Digital audio is sound reproduction using pulse-code modulation and digital signals. Digital audio systems include analog-to-digital conversion , digital-to-analog conversion , digital storage, processing and transmission components...
outputs. The box also had USB
Universal Serial Bus
USB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....
and Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
ports, although these were not activated in the last release of the firmware
Firmware
In electronic systems and computing, firmware is a term often used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs and/or data structures that internally control various electronic devices...
. An HDMI or DVI
Digital Visual Interface
The Digital Visual Interface is a video interface standard covering the transmission of video between a source device and a display device. The DVI standard has achieved widespread acceptance in the PC industry, both in desktop PCs and monitors...
connection was required to watch HD content, which was in 720p
720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
resolution.
MovieBeam connected to the server
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
s by telephone line
Telephone line
A telephone line or telephone circuit is a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system...
to trigger billing
Bill (payment)
A bill or invoice is a document requesting payment for an order previously supplied. Presentation of a bill is common practice on the part of credit card companies, utilities, and other service providers...
of rented movies. The modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
may or may not have worked with VOIP lines, depending on the quality of the connection.
Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
spun off this company in January 2006. Cisco
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
, Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
and several venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
firms including Intel Capital, Mayfield Fund, Norwest Venture Partners
Norwest venture partners
Norwest Venture Partners is a global, multi-stage investment firm focused on investments in early to late stage venture and growth equity investments in U.S...
and Vantage Point Venture Partners had invested $48.5 million in MovieBeam.
On March 7, 2007, Movie Gallery
Movie Gallery
Movie Gallery, Inc. was the second largest movie and game rental company in the United States, behind Blockbuster Video. The company rented and sold Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, VHS tapes, and video games...
Inc acquired MovieBeam Inc. Movie Gallery at the time stated that the expected cost of acquisition, plus operating expenses for 2007, was $10 million.
On December 5, 2007, MovieBeam began calling its customers informing them that Moviebeam would be ceasing operations on December 15, 2007, and on that date MovieBeam officially shut-down service.
The main reason for failure of the service to penetrate and capture a portion of the video-on-demand market was the presumption that viewers would watch those movies that the network thought they would be interested in. The dependence on precise positioning of the reception TV antenna to obtain movies was another big problem. Differences of a centimeter or two, or poor weather conditions, could cause movies to be missed being downloaded over-the-air
Over-the-air
Over-the-air has several meanings, depending on context. *Generally, over-the-air is synonymous for wireless.*Specifically, over-the-air can have the following meanings or is used in the following contexts:...
. Cable TV and satellite TV set-top boxes now provide video-on-demand services with far better features than MovieBeam. The video quality of MovieBeam was greatly criticized by viewers due to excessive video compression, made necessary by using analog instead of digital TV (ATSC
ATSC
ATSC standards are a set of standards developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable, and satellite networks....
). Analog TV is also to become obsolete in 2009. These and other challenges sealed the fate of this much-hyped company into a flop
Flop
- Terms :*Flop, a box office bomb in the entertainment world*Flop, as verb or noun, referring to flophouse, cheap rooms in a transients' hotel*Flop , a poker term describing the first three cards dealt to the board...
of technology history.
On July 11, 2008, Valuable Group acquired MovieBeam, known for its success in rapidly building and operating numerous media and entertainment initiatives also started and runs the largest satellite-based digital cinema
Digital cinema
Digital cinema refers to the use of digital technology to distribute and project motion pictures. A movie can be distributed via hard drives, optical disks or satellite and projected using a digital projector instead of a conventional film projector...
network in the world.