HOLLYWOOD studios will cross a significant technological and psychological frontier this week when they offer the first downloadable movies that can be legally burned to a DVD.

Four major studios struck a deal with online movie service CinemaNow to offer more than 100 mainstream titles that can be burned to a disc and played on almost any DVD player and television set. Prices start at about $US9 ($A12).

The deal was hailed as a milestone in internet distribution, giving movie fans what they have long demanded: the convenience of playing what they download on the living room TV.



The announcement also previews a likely agreement between the major studios and Apple Computer, which is expected to expand the offerings on its popular iTunes online store to include big-studio movies.

Coupled with the CinemaNow agreement, a deal with Apple would cement the internet as a viable distribution vehicle. Although studios have offered online movies since 2002, piracy fears have kept them locked to computer hard drives. That restriction has limited the market for legal downloads.

CinemaNow's service employs relatively new anti-piracy technology, which prevents the burned DVD from being recopied. Because that technology is still being tested, the initial batch of titles were described by Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff as what's left "at the video store when you arrive too late and the shelves are picked clean". Among the initial releases: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Barbershop and Scent of a Woman.

Studio executives hope that as more titles become available online, internet services will emerge as a way for movie fans to buy niche or older films that can be difficult to find at mass-market retailers.