With the software, retailers could download specific films requested by customers, who can place their orders online. The DVDs would then be delivered by mail or picked up at in-store kiosks similar to those used to print photos from digital cameras, said Kurt Scherf, an analyst at Parks Associates.

"Because of shelf space limits, retailers can't stock all the titles consumers want," said Scherf. "This would let retailers stock the titles that sell the most and still have a kiosk that could provide thousands of more films."

Macrovision and Sonic said they were negotiating with several retailers and hoped to announce agreements by the end of next quarter.

The software could also be beneficial to movie studios. Only 25% of titles in studio vaults are made available on DVD because three-quarters of the films wouldn't attract enough buyers, Scherf said.

From the article "Software Provides DVDs on Demand."

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