InterActual DVD-ROM use soars

InterActual, a subsidiary of Sonic Solutions and the leading provider of ROM and bonus feature capabilities for DVD, have announced that worldwide use of its DVD player technology exceeded 22 million unique installations in the quarter ending March 31, 2004.
This impressive growth, doubled from under 11 million users at the end of the same quarter in 2003, can be attributed to greater exposure from the expanding collection of InterActual-enhanced Hollywood DVD titles and the continued strong growth of DVD-equipped computers in the home. The adoption of InterActual’s software developer kit (SDK) by DVD player software makers also contributed to the increased InterActual online usage.
Included on over 1000 of Hollywood’s biggest DVD titles to date, InterActual’s playback platform has become the industry standard technology for connecting DVD with the Internet and advanced PC bonus materials such as custom games, synchronized script-to-screen features, downloadables, commentary digests, and image galleries. Ten of the top 12 DVD titles of 2003 used InterActual for enhanced computer playback, including ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’, ‘Seabiscuit’, and ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Twin Towers’. Now, software makers such as InterVideo are building InterActual’s technology natively into their own PC DVD players to enable a seamless web-enabled and enhanced playback experience for their users.
“Consumers are watching more and more DVDs on their PCs, and InterActual’s player technology immerses them into the movie-viewing experience in a unique and exciting way,” said Clint Ludeman, vice-president of operations at InterActual. “Thanks to direct integration with WinDVD, users no longer need to separately install the InterActual Player to take advantage of Hollywood’s extra-value bonus materials and online DVD content.”
“The InterActual enhanced upgrade to our WinDVD product line has been a strong seller for us,” said Chris Grell, director of business development at InterVideo. “Our customers really appreciate the added value that InterActual compatibility offers in terms of the interactive entertainment features and the seamless connectivity to the Internet from the DVD media.”
According to CENTRIS Research and Adams Media Research, over 32 million households in the US have DVD-equipped computers, and this market is projected to grow to nearly 65 million by December of 2007. Also according to CENTRIS, over eight million households accessed one or more DVDs on a computer every month in the first quarter of 2004.
In addition, InterActual surveys of the 22 million InterActual Player unique online users determined that nearly 20% indicated that the presence of enhanced ROM or online features significantly affected their DVD purchase decision of InterActual-enhanced titles, and over 75% of users noted awareness of ROM and online content.
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