BluReporter

Blu-ray disc release delayed

Administrator — Fri, 05 May 2006 03:10:03 +0000

The launch of the first Blu-ray discs has been delayed by around a month, according to Sony. Previously set to for May 23, Sony has pushed its Blu-ray movie release back until June 20, Reuters has reported.

Sony Pictures Home Entertaiment president Benjamin Feingold insisted that while Sony was on schedule for its May release, it has chosen to delay because of a request from other Blu-ray disc manufacturers.

“… the majority of our retail base and hardware partners have requested that we reconsider this date to better coincide with the first commercially available Blu-ray-compatible hardware,” he said.

Feingold said Sony agreed to the proposal “in an effort to ensure a more coordinated launch.”

The release of Blu-ray discs will now be inline with that of the first Blu-ray player, which should be available in stores on June 25 after suffering from its own lengthy delays.

Sony Pictures is planning to launch with eight movies on the next-generation DVD format, including Underworld Evolution, 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight’s Tale, The Last Waltz, Resident Evil Apocalypse and XXX.

TDK to begin first shipment of blank, recordable Blu-ray discs (BDs)

Administrator — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 06:24:19 +0000

Shipping of the first bare Blu-ray disc media to retailers nationwide has begun. TDK today announced it has started shipment of its 25 GB recordable and rewritable Blu-ray Discs.

Retail pricing is set at $19.99 for a 25 GB BD-R (recordable) and $24.99 for a 25 GB BD-RE (rewritable).

A 50 GB disc will be available later in the year with pricing set at $47.99 for a 50 GB BD-R and $59.99 for a 50 GB BD-RE. 50-piece 25 GB Blu-ray disc spindles are due out in the second quarter of 2006.

TDK Vice President of Marketing, Bruce Youmans, said Blu-ray discs (BDs) would set new standards in the industry and believes they are the most significant product introduced in the company’s history.

“From backing up today’s large capacity hard drives and servers to authoring and recording high definition video and sharing high resolution digital image collections, TDK Blu-ray Discs set new standards in recording and playback by offering unprecedented capacities, fast transfer rates and revolutionary durability,” he said.

TDK has created 100 GB quad-layer Blu-ray disc prototypes and is in the process of developing a 200 GB prototype for possible future release.

Blu-ray discs were originally released in Japan in April 2004, but came with a protective cartridge compared to the new cartridge-free media.

Samsung delays the release of first Blu-ray player

Administrator — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 08:03:49 +0000

Samsung has delayed the US launch of their initial Blu-ray player, the BD-P1000, from May 23 until June 25. In a statement, Samsung cited the need to perform complete compatibility testing with Blu-ray test discs, which will not be available until late April, as the reason for the delay.

Samsung also said it is still confident the BD-P1000 would be the first Blu-ray player available on the US market.

“The hardware development for Samsung’s BD-P1000 Blu-Ray player is complete and ready for mass production in Suwon, South Korea once these compatibility tests are passed,” the statement read.

“We still anticipate that the Samsung BD-P1000 will be the first Blu-Ray player to launch at a national level in the United Sates.”

Samsung is expecting the BD-P1000 to cost $999.

Toshiba has recently launched their first HD DVD player in Japan and is scheduled to release it in the US around mid-April.

First HD DVD player released

Administrator — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 07:01:22 +0000

Toshiba has released the worlds first HD DVD player, the HD-XA1, in Japan. Its release marks the beginning of the battle between HD DVD and Sony backed rival, Blu-ray, to become the mainstream next-generation DVD format.

HD DVD boasts superior quality picture and sound compared to regular DVDs as well as much higher storage capabilities.

HD DVD also comes with advanced navigation and interactive features, including a pop-up menu and Picture in Picture (PIP). PIP gives viewers the option to play supplementary video on top of the main program, allowing them to watch bonus content at the same time as watching the movie.

The HD-XA1 costs around 110,000 yen ($936) and comes with two complimentary HD DVD movie titles, Resident Evil and Moonlight Jellyfish, until April 27.

Following constant delays, two Toshiba HD DVD players, the HD-XA1 and HD-A1, are due to be released in the US sometime this April and will retail for around $800 and $500 respectively.

Lionsgate announce release dates and price for Blu-ray titles

Administrator — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 08:42:32 +0000

Lionsgate Home Entertainment have announced five initial movie titles for Blu-ray disc, scheduled for a May 23 release. An additional five films will be available sometime in June or July.

The initial release titles include Crash, Lord of War, The Punisher, Saw and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Those due out in June/July include Reservoir Dogs, Total Recall, Stargate, Frank Herbert’s Dune and The Devil’s Rejects.

The cost of the movies will vary with Crash, Lord of War and The Devil’s Rejects marked with a suggested retail price of $39.99.

The Punisher, Saw, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Reservoir Dogs, Total Recall, Stargate and Frank Herbert’s Dune are all priced at $29.99 SRP.

The announcement from Lionsgate comes just days after Sony revealed their launch line up. The release dates are the same to coincide with that of the first commercial Blu-ray player.

Lionsgate president, Steve Beeks, said the new high-definition DVD format would provide audiences with a new level of home entertainment.

“There has never been a home entertainment experience available to mass audiences like Blu-ray, and Lionsgate is pleased to be providing some of our top-line product at launch for consumers to enjoy.”

Sony announce release date for first Blu-ray movies

Administrator — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 03:03:35 +0000

The first batch of Blu-ray movie titles will be available in stores from May 23. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) announced that the release of the discs would coincide with the launch of the first commercial Blu-ray player, Samsung’s BDP-1000.

SPHE, along with MGM Home Entertainment, will release eight titles on May 23, with a further eight due out on June 13.

Benjamin s. Feingold, President of SPHE, said that the company was ready to provide the necessary support and content for their next-generation DVD format.

“Sony Pictures further intends to provide additional titles to coincide with the launch of BD products from other manufacturers. We’re thrilled that the Blu-ray Disc era is about to begin.”

The first films to be released on Blu-ray disc include 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight’s Tale, The Last Waltz, Resident Evil Apocalypse and XXX.

Blu-ray titles to be made available on June 13 include Kung Fu Hustle, Legends of the Fall, Robocop, Stealth, Species, SWAT and Terminator.

Toshiba backed rival, HD DVD, will launch their high-definition players towards the end of March and expect to have up to 50 titles released by the time Blu-ray hits shelves.

Toshiba: First HD DVD players will be interactive

Administrator — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 06:19:26 +0000

First-generation HD DVD players will be interactive, Toshiba has announced. Quashing speculation from last week, Toshiba revealed that their first two players, the HD-A1 and the HD-XA1, would not need firmware updates to be interactive, as had earlier been reported.

The rumors were caused by Toshiba’s press release last week, which announced Toshiba’s new HD DVD players but stated “Firmware upgrade required for full interactive features.”

According to Macworld UK, Junko Furuta, a spokeswoman for Toshiba, responded to reports by clarifying that their first two HD DVD players will in fact be able to support all interactive features currently available, and only once further advancements had been developed would an upgrade be needed.

“Toshiba’s first HD DVD players will support the advanced content features called for by HD DVD.

While our players will provide support for current HD DVD advanced content from the start, we anticipate that the industry may add to these capabilities as HD DVD continues to develop.

Toshiba’s players can be updated to support future applications and services, which may include downloading supplemental audio and video content, disc related online shopping and other features yet to be imagined,” Furuta said.

Meanwhile, the launch date of the HD DVD players, which is set for March, has been threatened due to a conflict with the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), Heise has reported.

The AACS copy protection has not been completed and instead an interim licence has been issued to HD DVD and Blu-ray player manufacturers.

The interim licence will allow manufacturers to continue working on the drives and then upgrade the AACS keys when the problems with it are resolved.

Toshiba is planning to stick with its original release schedule for the HD-A1 and the HD-XA1. The build up for the launch of the HD DVD players kicked off yesterday as Toshiba began a 40 city promotional tour of America.

Sony Announce Blu-ray Movie Prices

Administrator — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 06:47:06 +0000

Sony Pictures has announced the wholesale prices for their movies on Blu-ray disc. Sony will sell their new release movies for $23.95 while older titles will be sold for $17.95 - roughly the same price as DVDs were when they were first introduced to the market in 1997.

Movies by Sony in the new DVD format should be available from early Summer.

Benjamin Feingold, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, told Reuters that it will be up to retail outlets to assign prices.

“From the retail perspective, this is going to be a hot product, and retailers will no doubt determine their own margin structure. We believe in a free market,” he said.

Sony has also revealed plans to bundle DVD and UMD - Sony’s optical disc format exclusive to the PSP - formats together for increased flexibility and mobility. A similar concept with Blu-ray discs may be adopted in the future.

“With the launch of Blu-ray, we’re going to try to introduce the managed-copy concept, where if you buy Blu-ray you’ll be able to get additional versions (of the same title) to use in your home. Ultimately, we might even get to the point where we’ll offer consumers the ability to have different versions of the same movie on different devices in the home — that’s something we’re working on,” Feingold said.

“A lot of people have DVD players and also have PSPs, and this way for one price they can get one movie and play it back on both formats.”

The DVD-UMB combo packs will go on sale from March 28 for $28.95. Movie titles “The Grudge”, “Resident Evil”, “Underworld”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “The Terminator” will be among the first released.

So far Sony is the first major studio to announce their pricing structure for Blu-ray discs. Other companies are expected to reveal theirs in the near future.

First Blu-ray Supported Automated Burn and Print Device

Administrator — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 04:07:46 +0000

The world’s first automated burn and print device to support the next-generation DVD format, Blu-ray disc, has been unveiled. Primera Technology, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of automated CD/DVD disc publishing equipment, has announced that their Bravo XR-Blu Disc Publisher will begin shipping in April this year.

Upon release, the automated disc publishing system will utilize single-layer Blu-ray discs, which can store up to 25GB of data. Following the launch, an update that enables the system to use dual-layer media with a storage capacity of up to 50GB will become available.

Up to 50 discs can be held at one time by the Bravo XR-Blu Disc Publisher, which means that up to 2.5 terabytes of data can be published in a single session.

Primera expects this new technology to be implemented within a number of applications and industries, including business, government, military, medical, banking, insurance, back-up and archival, high-definition video and digital movie post production.

In the press release issued by Primera, Mark D. Strobel, vice president of sales and marketing, said:

“The increased capacity of Blu-ray Discs over standard DVD-R media will open up new applications and solutions that until now were impossible due to storage space constraints.”

The Bravo XR-Blu Disc Publisher incorporates Pioneers BDR-101A Blu-ray Disc/DVD Recorder and Blu-ray enabled recording software based on Sonic Solutions.

Andy Parsons, senior vice president for Pioneer Electronics (USA), Inc., said that the machine will provide a fully-automated and integrated solution for burning and printing Blu-ray discs.

“Blu-ray Disc technology fulfills the rapidly growing need for massive amounts of storage space in a portable, stable format. However, many business-to-business and industrial applications require automation of the recording and disc printing functions,” he said.

Jim Taylor, General Manager of the Advanced Technology Group at Sonic Solutions, added that the Bravo XR-Blu Disc Publisher “… takes advantage of the most recent advances in disc recording technology.”

The Bravo XR-Blu Disc Publisher ships with a recommended retail price of $5995 and will be on exhibition at CeBIT in Hanover, Germany between March 9-16.

Blu-ray and HD DVD output resolution reduced for analog HDTV connections

Administrator — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 07:52:58 +0000

Some high-definition television sets will not be able to display the next-generation DVD formats in their highest resolution. Blu-ray and HD DVD players will degrade the image output from 1920×1080 to 960×540, a quarter of its full resolution, when hooked up by an analog connection.

Ars Technica reports that backers of the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), the system adopted by Blu-ray and HD DVD to prevent piracy, have made a deal with hardware manufacturers to disallow the full signal of a disc to be transferred to a HDTV, unless through a protected digital input, such as HDMI.

The deal was negotiated in an effort to limit illegal copies being made in the highest resolution. This means that some current HDTV owners will have to make do with a lesser quality picture as the first-generation HDTVs were only equipped with an analog input.

The AACS was developed by eight companies, including IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Studios, who will support an Image Constraint Token (ICT) flag that will be incorporated into the data of each disk.

Blu-ray and HD DVD players will recognize this flag and reduce the output resolution if the ICT is turned on. If the ICT is turned off the players will continue to output at the highest resolution.

Incorporating the ICT for HD image degradation over analog connections is not compulsory. Studios and content providers are at liberty to choose whether individual discs enforce the lower resolution output or not.