The reel goes real as home cinema projects the bliss of watching a film on your own. Tech Sunday does a screen test.

Watching a film is a beautiful illusion. Twenty-four frames per second flicker before our eyes, creating the impression of a moving image. Strictly speaking, it’s our brain that creates the film, but it never gets to do an Oscar acceptance speech.

Sadly, everything else at the cinema theatre is all too real – the coughing of your next-seat neighbour coming down with flu, the guy in front who should have got a haircut instead of blocking everyone else’s view, and the hundreds of strangers choking on their nachos with such vehemence that you need subtitles to follow the film.

Yet this might be heading to its final act as some of Hollywood’s biggest studios, including Warner, Disney and Sony, are now in discussions with video-on-demand companies to offer a premium service – this service would feature films while they’re still in theatres. This means that you would be able to watch films at home several months before they are available on DVD or Blu-ray.

There is obviously a cost – the proposed pricing structure indicates that watching a film at home would cost you as much as the actual price of a DVD.

That’s still a pittance when compared to Prima Cinema, a new service set for launch later on this year. For a set-up fee that nudges the $20,000 mark, Prima Cinema will connect you to a digital delivery device that gives you the possibility of watching new films in your home theatre. And it’s not just a one-off cost either, because every new film will set you back $500.

Of course, Prima Cinema is aimed for the ultra-wealthy, or those of you for whom watching a film without the sound of your neighbour munching popcorn in your ear is priceless.