Want a Movie Make a Call : Coming Technology Will Bring Film Hits to Homes With Just the Punch of an 800 Number

When it’s late at night and you’re in the mood to watch some new hit movie, but you don’t want to bother going to a video store, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to choose a movie out of a catalogue, make a phone call and have that movie beamed to your VCR in minutes?

Something out of a futuristic novel?

Actually, the technology was developed two years ago. And a Denver-based company called EMC2 has a system that was introduced, with a flurry of interest, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

However, this electronic delivery system isn’t available to the public just yet. William Graven, EMC2’s founder and chairman, said the company hopes to have it on the market by the end of the year.

Here’s how it works: Choose a movie or other program from a catalogue. Call an 800 number to place your order. Your selection is transmitted digitally, via satellite or fiber-optic lines, to a tape in your digital VCR, which records it at fast speed-10 times real time. You would have a copy of an average-length movie (100 minutes) in just 10 minutes without leaving home.

Rentals of new movies would be $3, just slightly higher than the going rate at most video stores. The rental fee for older movies would be $2, and half-hour programs would run $1.

Returning the rented tape, the nuisance part of renting from a video store, would be eliminated. After a second viewing, the program automatically erases. Viewers can decide to purchase the film for a price yet to be determined, and the program could be viewed indefinitely.

For the consumer, though, the system has a major drawback. You have to buy a special VCR and antenna that cost a whopping $1,200-$1,500. “It’s not going to start out as a mass-market item,” Graven said. “That’s a number of years away.”

But that’s not the only drawback.

This special VCR for the EMC2 system is largely limited to playing back only the electronically delivered programs. It can’t play standard VHS cassettes, which means that it would be an addition to your home-entertainment unit and not a replacement for your basic VCR. According to Graven, however, it’s possible to manufacture this special VCR so that it can also tape TV shows.

Graven’s plan to have this system on the market by the end of the year may be overly optimistic. First of all, EMC2 has yet to make a deal with a manufacturer to produce the hardware. “But some companies are interested,” he said. “Something will be worked out very soon.”

Also, EMC2 hasn’t made any software arrangements yet, though Graven insisted that the company is close to announcing some licensing agreements. For home-video companies that put out movies, though, the EMC2 system has appeal. Since they’d get a share of the rental fees, the system is another source of revenue for those companies. But, Graven said his plan doesn’t call for home-video companies to receive fees for the right to use their movies. Another aspect of this electronic delivery system would please the home-video companies.

“There’s built-in anti-copy protection,” Graven explained. “Whatever is electronically delivered to the customer at home can’t be copied.” Though the EMC2 system would be a boon to consumers, part of the home-video industry would be quite happy if it were never available to the public. Undoubtedly, video store owners and companies that duplicate cassettes for the home-video market wish EMC2 nothing but the worst.

TECH TALK Q: How do you get a stuck tape out of a VCR? A: Try unplugging the machine for 20 to 30 minutes, which resets the machine’s microprocessor. Then plug the machine in and press the eject button. That sometimes works. If not, your local service center is your only recourse.