See BBC News Online’s The Online DVD Rental War piece from 22 March for an interesting perspective on the industry:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4804624.stm

Huge Selection of DVD Movies

With DVD collections consisting of over 70,000+ to choose from, this should cover virtually every DVD that is available on the UK market. You can explore anything from Blockbuster/classic TV series and special interest titles alongside all the hot new releases and the all-time greats.

Better value for money

Package range from £6.99 to £18.99 for unlimited dvd rental per month and £5.99 – £9.99 for prepaid package you are getting great value for money compared paying £3.00 per rental at your local video shop or pay per view channels.
You can keep the DVDs as long as you like and unlike a normal DVD rental shop, you’ll never be charged for overdue DVDs.

Convenience & Flexibility

Choose from unlimited or prepay packages, whichever suit you.
Select from the comfort of your own home from a 24/7 open website.
DVDs are delivered straight to your mailbox and returning a movie is as simple as dropping it in the mail.
No late night, last minute video store returns, or no waiting in long checkout or return lines at a video store

UK

After first gathering momentum in the UK in 2003, 2004 saw a massive market increase for British DVD rental companies, with explosive growth still expected. Market leader Screenselect mailed out some 300,000 discs in November 2004, and expects this number to triple within the next year. The situation is similar to the late 1990s mobile phone craze, before the market reached saturation. Prices are low to entice new customers, and most services offer a free trial or at least a reduced price for the initial months. The conversion rate from a two-week trial to paying subscription initially was 90%, though we understand it is now around 85%.

This decrease in free trial uptake is likely to gradually continue, fuelled by a growing number of serial free trialists, as well as subscribers lured away by lucrative offers and free trials elsewhere. For instance, in early 2005, Lovefilm offered an incredible three-months for the price of one offer, attracting many new subscribers. Unfortunately for them, this load combined with a new inventory system/warehouse move left them unable to meet demand, and customers from this otherwise excellent company left in droves due to the slowdown, though we judge by October they’d largely recovered.

Future

The DVD rental market will probably continue explosive growth for at least a couple more years as it goes mainstream, driving many high street video shops out of business in the process. By the end of 2007, it is estimated that the number of DVDs rented by post will outnumber the total DVDs and videos picked from high street market leader Blockbuster’s shelves, and the exodus to rental-by-post may even imperil pay-per-view cable offerings. So enjoy the free trials and cheap subscription fees while you can.

How To Handle DVD Discs

Fingerprints, grease and other debris will be transferred to the surface of the disc if you get your grubby mitts all over it. Always pick up your DVD s by placing your forefinger through the central hole and thumb on the outer edge. This minimises contact and will prevent skipping which is usually caused not by scratches, but by fingerprints etc. on the disc.

When removing the disc from the casing, push down on the central button and the disc will be released more easily. Just pulling up on it can warp the disc over time.

DVD Storage

It goes without saying that after you have finished with a disc, return it immediately to its plastic casing.

Never put two discs in the same case. Doubling up in this way is a sure way to scratch one or both of the discs.

Keep the DVD disc out of direct sunlight. Excessive heat or sunlight can cause the disc to warp and become unplayable or degrade the quality of playback at least.

Don’t Wipe in a circle

When cleaning a DVD it is tempting to wipe in a circular motion, but actually the best method is centre to edge, and not in a circle. Wipe gently in a straight line from centre to edge using a soft, dry, lint-free cloth. Do not use water, do not use a ‘fluffy’ cloth which is going to leave junk all over the surface or you’ll just be making it worse.

The largest growth sector being online DVD rental. This is putting pressure on many of the traditional high street DVD renters such as blockbuster. This growth has lead to wealth of companies entering the race to dominate DVD rental in each region. However, because of the numerous market entrants the question needs to be asked who should we pick?

Many of the DVD rental companies offer a huge range of DVD rental titles but this can be misleading as the volume of DVD titles on offer does not necessary mean the best offering for the consumer. There may well be DVD rental titles that the user would never be interested in viewing. The better question to ask is how deep is your DVD rental range. This means how many copies of the DVD’s you want to watch does the company have.

There has also a fundamental change to the DVD rental business. There is now a two tier system which means that many of the on-line DVD renters margins are being squeezed as the studios are have now produced a DVD sale and a DVD rental market. A test for this is to look at the latest releases from your DVD rental company if they do not have the latest releases available they may well be looking to buy ex rental copies of the new rental DVD which will delay your viewing pleasure of the latest films.

The overall DVD Range size really doesn’t matter that much if all you’re into is mainstream blockbuster movies –almost every service will cover these. Catalogue size does become important if you’re a fan of obscure genres.

Price

The prices for these service are so similar that we don’t think price should be the critical factor. We’d much rather pay an extra quid for a much better service than be stuck with the frustration of one of the many clunker sites out there, but it’s entirely a matter of personal taste to balance these various factors.

Telephone Support

This may be important to you, so we list it on the tables. Only a third of UK DVD rental companies offer phone support, and it can be very frustrating trying to contact them by email if you have problems. We’ve heard horror stories of waiting for days to respond, even calling phone companies to try to ferret them out.

Game Rentals

You may also be interested in renting games under the same DVD rental program–with PC and console game titles often £30+ to buy, this can be a very attractive combination if you are a gamer or have one in the family. See our list of Top DVD and Game Sites. Of course, the great thing is you can keep the game until you finish it–best with say a three disc policy so you can use two options for movies, and one for the game you’re currently playing.

Adult Film Rentals

Some companies do adult films and some don’t–several state in their policies they are family sites and do not wish to offer adult films as children often select the online DVDs. As this may be a concern, we indicate whether the companies reviewed list adult films. The largest adult inventory belongs to Lovefilm with 1,300+ titles, and the best all-around companies which does not carry adult films are Tesco and Moviemine. See our Top Adult Films and Top Family sites lists for further details.