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MarketWatch: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will make certain niche titles in its library such as classic TV shows and foreign films available on DVD through a Hewlett-Packard service that manufactures the discs on demand, the companies said Thursday.

The service will allow to offer a broader range of content to consumers, without incurring high production and distribution costs that would make the release of more-obscure titles unprofitable.

“We know there is strong consumer demand for these titles, and by working with H-P we can monetize our deep product library … without a significant investment in inventory,” said David Bishop, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, in a statement.
Typically, DVDs are sent in large quantities to retailers, who then return portions of the discs that haven’t been sold. Increasing limitations in shelf space and gluts of inventory within certain categories can lead to quicker returns, hampering the profitability of a given release. H-P’s manufactured-on-demand service is used to produce a DVD of any movie, TV show or other video content, regardless of niche or popularity. For studios and retailers, it can cut inventory, packaging and return costs.

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PC Pro: HP has entered the high-definition optical disc foray, on the side of HD DVD. Their latest external drive, the HD100, can read HD DVD-ROM, DVDR/RW and R double-layer discs. It can also read CDR/RW and CD-ROM discs. The drives should be available in Europe mid-December with recommended retail pricing of around €580 and they will be bundled with Cyberlink playback software. The HD100 is actually a Lite-On device, but HP has been branding its products since early 2005.

When it comes to HD DVD products, Toshiba is already pushing ahead, unveiling its second-generation machines – the HD-XF2 and HD-XA2 players – in Japan earlier this month. This is unsurprising given its leadership of the HD DVD cause.

The likes of Sony, Samsung, Philips and Apple are lined up behind Blu-ray blue laser technology, with NEC, Intel and Microsoft among those joining HP in the rival HD DVD camp.

In the ongoing battle for hearts, minds and wallets, the HD DVD camp recently received backing from an important American source. The American Independent Media Manufacturers Association (AIMMA), comprising senior executives from 37 media manufacturing companies, voted in October to back HD DVD over Blu-ray as its preferred next-generation optical disc format.

HP boasts that more than 100 HD DVD movie titles have now been released by Hollywood movie studios, offering playback at a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels.

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