The news from VUDU, the Californian HD on demand outfit that offers 1,400 HD titles in its online rental catalog will cause consternation in some quarters. As of now, download-to-own goes mainstream since the company announced deals with independent studios, including First Look, Kino and Magnolia, to go Day and Date with the DVD release of their new titles.

HD titles for sale in 1080p format include the 2009 Academy Award-winning Man on Wire along with Transiberian and War, Inc. from First Look. Viewing requires the $149 VUDU box and a broadband connection, after which consumers are charged between $13.99 and $23.99 for the download. After that, they can watch as often as they like, for no exta charge - rather like a DVD in fact.

The end of packaged media has been oft predicted over the past ten years but could this be the final nail in the jigsaw of video home entertainment? [Or is a just a piece in the coffin...]

The answer might lie in the Press Release. "VUDU is the only service to offer both instant start HD and HDX, the highest quality on-demand format available anywhere," it says. "HDX with VUDU's TruFilm™ technology features a virtually artifact free 1080p picture."

Weasel words can conceal a wide difference between expectations and delivery and whereas Blu-ray can offer an 18-20 Mbit stream of almost perfect video to the largest of screens, the highest quality on-demand format will struggle to exceed 2Mbits. Or if it does, ISPs across the planet will be screaming at the supplier. Anyone comparing a well-encoded upscaled DVD (at 7 or 8 Mbits/sec) will quickly see the difference. Those betting that the downloaded HD will look better should see their optometrist soonest.

It's good news that someone cares enough to invest in any form of HD distribution and for the casual viewer, the VUDU service will no doubt look better that any clip on YouTube. However, speaking as someone who has just lost a hard drive and most of its contents, for $13.99 I would rather have several dozen lumps of polycarbonate than an inert metal box that once contained my movie collection.