Online DVD Rental Compared With Renting From Offline Stores
Online DVD rental has really exploded in the last few years, and that’s great news for movie fans. In my opinion, if you are still getting your DVD’s from your local DVD rental store, you really are missing out.
So what makes online DVD rental so special?
1. It’s Cheaper – Renting a DVD offline is more expensive because you have to pay every time you rent a DVD. Whereas with online renting, you just pay one low fee and you can rent as many DVD’s as you like. I normally cover the cost of my monthly rental fee within the first week, and then the rest of the month is basically free.
Also, if I go on holiday I can easily suspend my rental for a short period, so I’m not paying rental fees when I’m away. It’s all done at the touch of a button in my account area online.
2. The Convenience Factor – To start off with, it’s just so much more convenient to rent DVD’s online. You don’t have to waste time walking or driving to an offline DVD rental shop.
Also, I don’t know about you but whenever I go to rent a DVD offline, I can never seem to find the DVD I want. If I do find what I want, or I want an assistant to help me find it, I always seem to have to queue for ages, with some jerk at the front holding everyone up with a stupid enquiry.
When you rent DVD’s online, it’s all done in the comfort of your own home, or even on your office PC. It couldn’t be easier.
3. Much Better Choice – It doesn’t matter how big of a DVD rental store you have locally to you, their range of available titles just doesn’t compare to what you can rent online. Offline stores can’t afford to stock every title, because it’s just not viable for them.
On the flip side, online DVD rental companies are able to stock every single DVD available, so the choice of titles is so much better.
4. Independent Reviews From Other DVD Fans – When you are choosing a DVD to rent, all you normally have to go on is the front and back cover to help you decide. If you don’t recognize the title or any of the actors, it’s hard to know whether the film is going to be any good or to your taste.
When you rent a DVD online you can also read the independent ratings, and review comments from other renters like you. Personally I’ve found this feature really helpful, and it’s helped me to spot some real gems that I would have otherwise overlooked.
5. View A Video Trailer Before You Rent – The great thing about renting online is that it provides you with more options. For most of the recent movies you have the option of watching the video trailer on your computer, before you rent.
This is very cool, and a great way to find out if a movie looks like your kind of thing.
6. Reserve Hot New Titles Before They Are Released On DVD – If you missed a movie at the cinema…worry not. You can reserve new ‘pre-release’ titles before they come out, so that you’re near the front of the rental queue when they come out.
In most cases online DVD rental websites provide a whole separate section, with info on new titles coming soon. You can even reserve a movie while it’s still at the cinema. What more could you ask for?
7. Rent Those Older And Harder To Find DVD’s – If like me you like watching some of the older movies and TV shows, it can be very frustrating when your local store doesn’t keep them in stock. Ask them if they can get hold one for you, and they just stare at you like your some kind of idiot, causing them a load of undue hassle.
When you rent online you can get hold any DVD that is available. In most cases they already stock everything, but if you are after a title they haven’t currently got and it is available on DVD, they will do everything they can to get it for you a.s.a.p. Oh, and at no extra charge!
8. So Much Easier To Find The DVD You Want – What I particularly like about renting online is the ability to search and browse through the DVD database. Sure most offline DVD stores have stuff sectioned off into categories, but it doesn’t compare to online.
I’m sure you’ve been there…you can remember what the film was about, or maybe who was in it, but you can’t remember the title…that’s when renting online comes into it’s own. One click of you mouse, and you can find every DVD within a category/genre, or that has a particular actor in it, or search by director, year released or even description.
Trust me, once you start renting DVD’s online, you’ll never want to go back to the old way!
Follow this link called copying DVD if you want to learn how to copy DVDs to your computer for whenever, whereever playback!
Ben Adams is a big movie fan and a regular renter of DVD’s online. To help you choose the right rental service for you, check out Ben’s independent review and rating of the leading online DVD rental websites at: Online DVD Rental Compared
LCD Screens Transforming Digital Signage and Advertising in Restaurants and Retail Stores
It is not hard to understand why LCD displays screens are rapidly being adopted by retail stores and restaurants. InfoTrends conducted a digital signage study where they polled consumers and found that “digital signage displays have a 47.7% effectiveness on brand awareness, increase the average purchase amount by 29.5%, create a 31.8% upswing in overall sales volumes, generate a 32.8% growth in repeat buyers and generate 32.8% more in-store traffic”. LCD display screens are being used by restaurants for displaying the menu and entertainment, by garment and clothing retail stores to show videos of fashion shows and to showcase various products, and by automobile dealers as video walls to provide the feel of the car on the road and to keep the customer occupied as they wait for sales agent or other people.
LCD Display Usage in Restaurants: When visiting KFC Hyderabad (India), what grabs your attention is not so much the smell of food but the vibrant colours of the four 42-inch LCD display panels which serves as the overhead menu board. KFC Hyderabad sought the help of Sharp Business Systems India (http://www.sbsil.com) to set up the digital signage solution. LCD digital menus can be maintained from a remote central location or a local PC set up in the store. The benefit of remote central management is that menu, promotions, video, pricing and other items displayed on the LCD displays in the retail outlet can be managed from one central location to provide consistency and to make sure that the changes are made consistently across all stores at the same time. Consumers receive dynamic previews of the offering with potential for positive impact on sales. If restaurants have the networked point-of-sale cash registers collecting time based purchased data, marketing can get instantaneous feedback on how different promotions and pricing are having impact on sales. Restaurants are also using LCD displays as televisions to spruce up the restaurant atmosphere. It is now a common expectation to have LCD TVs in restaurants that show the local sports or the news.
LCD Display Usage in Showrooms: Whether it is women clothing store, automobile showroom, convenient store or a department store, LCD displays are appearing in all these locations. A typical store has up to four LCD displays per site. InfoTrends study showed that business that had installed displays in their showroom, predominantly expected the display usage in their showrooms to increase. To grab and hold consumer attention, retailers are using LCD displays in a video-wall format or in a daisy chain format along with stand alone units. The content could be a mixture of video along with text or a combination. The goal is to target specific customers with specific information and this information may change with the time of the day – creating a retail company-owned, closed-circuit television network that runs nothing but the retail company programming.
Why do Retail Businesses Select LCD Displays vs. Plasma Displays? There are a number of reasons why retailers and restaurants are selecting LCD display over plasma displays.
· Fan-less Architecture of LCDs: LCD displays do not have a fan potentially resulting in less noise and distraction. This is less of an issue with newer higher end plasma displays, however it is worthwhile to keep track as you evaluate the two options.
· Rugged Design of LCDs: LCD displays are closed-box units and more rugged. There is less chance of oil fumes, dust or other elements getting into the unit and reducing the life of the unit.
· Resolution and Picture Quality: (A) Video resolution on LCD displays and plasma display are comparable but computer data is better observed on LCD displays. (B) LCDs are better to view in ambient light or in brightly lit rooms. As businesses usually work during the day in ambient light, LCDs are more desirable for most business applications. (C) Plasma manufacturers have made much of their viewing angles. However with new LCDs the view angles are 176°. There is not much difference between the two technologies in viewing angle. (D) There have been concerns with burn-in for Plasma screens especially for static images. However, many Plasma manufacturers have improved their anti-burn in technology. There are no burn-in issues with LCD screens.
· Life of the Display Unit: LCDs can be operated 24×7 for 50,000+ hours equivalent to 5+ years of continuous viewing. Plasma, on the other hand, typically has a half life of 30,000 hours. At half life, the phosphors in a plasma screen will glow half as brightly as they did when the set was new. There is no way to replace these gases; the display simply continues to become dimmer with use. An LCD TV will last as long as its backlight – and in many models the backlight bulbs can be easily replaced!
· Power Consumption: Plasma TVs use more power than LCD – twice as much Technology for both plasma and LCD display continues to change. Be sure to check updates to the technology for apple to apple comparison
More details about the LCD and plasma displays visit http://lcddisplay.sbsil.com
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Mohit is a regular article contributor on many topics.He has vast exposure in writing articles on various topics like LCD technology,LCD Displays,Plasma Displays etc.