Vending machine video library
In a vending machine video store , as in any video store, DVDs , video cassettes or video games can be borrowed or bought (depending on the type of vending machine or manufacturer; there are also cardboard boxes).
The loan process at the machine is possible around the clock. In 2007 there were around 900 vending machines in Germany, with Munich being the city with the most video vending machines . Depending on the type of machine, a magnetic card , a chip card or a card with a barcode is used as a customer card.
In order to ensure the protection of minors in Germany, it must be determined with every loan process whether the respective user of the customer card is also the registered customer who has been identified as an adult. This check takes place before the loan is checked against a stored fingerprint scan that was recorded when the customer registered. In other European countries, rental is also permitted via a simple PIN. The capacity of a video machine is between 500 and 8800 DVDs.
Differences from traditional video rental stores
In a vending machine video library it is usually possible to rent films and games 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - in some federal states, however, opening on Sundays is prohibited. Automatic video stores offer their customers often a way from home via the Internet movies and games to reserve .
Technology of the rental machines
A DVD rental machine is roughly the size of a large wardrobe. The machines in machine video stores are either pure reservation terminals (only film selection is possible here) or a combination of terminal and machine with an integrated storage unit. The output and storage of DVDs is carried out like the storage processes in modern high-bay warehouses. In DVD rental machines, a computer-controlled slide fills or removes the requested DVD from the relevant compartment during the output process and then drives it to the output compartment, from which the customer then receives the DVD.