That's according to an article by Home Media Magazine.
PS3 owners can rent movies in HD, but they can only purchase them in standard-def, the publication reports. The difference is that consumers can not keep the HD movie stored on their PS3 hard drive.
In an interview with Home Media, Grace Chen, a Play Station store senior manager, did not reveal why the new download service has a HD-rental only policy other than to say it was the decision of the Hollywood studios.
The studios could be concerned that PS3 owners could illegally copy the high-def movies and sell them on the Net if they are allowed to store them.
Chen also told Home Media that PS3 owners will not be allowed to download a TV show multiple times, although she did not specify the limitations.
Sony announced on Tuesday that it was launching the movie download service. The announcement, which had been expected for weeks, followed Monday's news that Microsoft will add a NetFlix movie streaming service to its XBox 360 video game console.
While the NetFlix service apparently will not include high-def movies, Microsoft does offer HD TV shows and movies on its XBox Live service.
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