Monday saw the private beta launch of SyncTV, a new web-based TV service from plasma TV maker Pioneer. We caught up with SyncTV president John Gildred to find out more about what's on offer:

How does SyncTV differ from other web-based TV services like Joost and Miro, which both offer internet TV content for free?

There are some important differences. SyncTV provides a home-theater experience, so all the TV shows will be available with the quality as good or better than the same content on DVD.

Also, SyncTV has been created so that it can be integrated into other devices. So when you start seeing portable players, in-car players and even TVs with SyncTV include. People will then understand and appreciate the flexible playback model, where you can easily share your content between a variety of devices.

How confident are you that you can sign up TV networks in the US and UK to offer programme content? What deals have you inked already?

We have done deals with four companies so far, Showtime, Nelvana, DMGI and Geneon. We are very confident that there will be more deals to announce with major broadcasters before too long.

How does the pricing model ($2-$4 per channel / download) work? What's the maximum / minimum potential viewers can spend? Do they OWN they content they buy?

There will be no minimum spend for viewers. If customers only want to subscribe to a single TV channel for $2 that is fine. Because this is an a la carte service, so you only subscribe to the channels you love. 'Leasing' is probably a good term for the content. The content is yours for as long as you subscribe to the channel. You still have the option of purchasing content outright, in which case you keep it forever.

How compelling do you think the inclusion of the Marlin digital rights management system will be to broadcasters? Many UK broadcasters already use Windows Media DRM for catch-up TV services

We chose Marlin DRM because it is a robust, open-standards based system which has widespread backing across the Consumer Electronics industry.