Blu-ray Facts And News

Sony’s Blu-ray won the big format war between its format and Toshiba’s HD-DVD a few months ago. However, according to recent research Blu-ray sales haven’t actually increased. Analysts have mentioned expensive blu-ray hardware, lack of movies available, and an unwillingness of consumers to upgrade from DVD to high definition. You could say that people are still happy with their “old-fashioned” DVD players. You could wonder whether Blu-ray is merely (at this time) a toy for the technical talented, who care much more about higher resolution video and audio than the average consumer. Is the World not yet ready for Blu-ray? Making the hardware less expensive will definitely help in attracting new buyers. The question is how big the price drop should be to please them?

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After winning many of the Format War’s battles, it was pretty obvious that Blu-ray would win the war eventually. It was merely a matter of time, when would Toshiba give up? A few days ago they finally did. Having seen major movie studios rally behind Blu-ray, and then huge retail shops, the decision was inevitable. Prices of HD-DVD players and discs have been cut dramatically but without the desired effect of gaining more market share. The consumer can at last upgrade to the next generation DVD players and movies without having to worry about whether the hardware they bought will really be viable in the next few years.

Microsoft, which produces the XBOX 360, sent out a press release indicating that they will cease production of new XBOX 360 HD-DVD players. They will continue supporting hardware that consumers have bought, however. Microsoft was one of the biggest backers of the now defunct format.

You could call Sony’s victory a sweet revenge. Remember the video format war in the late 80’s between VHS and BETAMAX? The latter format was backed by Sony and many consider it to be the more advanced one of the two. VHS of JVC eventually won the war. Sony must be feeling pretty good right now.

I don’t usually cheer the death of a product or a technology but I’m glad to see the demise of HD DVD.

After years of contentious battle between two competing high-definition DVD standards, Toshiba, the primary backer of HD DVD, conceded defeat last week. HD DVD is dead. Long live Blu-ray.

It’s not as if Toshiba had much choice. HD DVD was already in a coma. Warner Bros. Studios - the largest purveyor of DVD movies - put a big nail in HD DVD’s coffin in January when it announced it would no longer produce movies in that format but standardize on Blu-ray. That left only Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios in the HD DVD camp. The vast majority of new high-definition movies would come out only in Blu-ray.

Read the full article here.

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The HD DVD format has not been pronounced dead yet, but all its life signs are getting weaker every day. With major movie studios, movie rental services, and retail outlets favouring Blu-ray it is merely a matter of time. Blogs and news sites have been reporting on a rumour that Toshiba has killed off HD DVD. Fact is, Toshiba has not made any official announcements about the HD DVD format recently. By the looks of it Blu-ray is unstoppable, and Toshiba will try to keep losses at a minimum as they cease new investments in HD DVD hardware. The rumours have actually had a positive effect on Toshiba’s shares - they increased in value by more than 5% on Monday. Indicating investors are nervous about Toshiba’s continued support for the format. Speaking to the BBC, Toshiba stated that they are reviewing their business options, but have not made a decision on the format’s future. Looks like I will be buying a Blu-ray player in the coming weeks..

Check out the BBC article for the official Toshiba response.

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It’s getting clearer every month that Blu-ray is indeed the winning high definition format in the huge war of formats. Best Buy (America’s largest consumer electronics chain), and Netflix (large DVD rental company) have both decided to back Blu-ray. Now, in the case of Best Buy, it does not mean they will not be selling HD-DVD discs, but rather that Blu-ray will have a much more prominent place in their shops. Netflix will switch over to Blu-ray completely, saying it makes life easier for its customers. And let’s be honest, easier for themselves as well. Netflix’s main rival, Blockbuster, already decided in June 2007 to go with Blu-ray exclusively.

The backers of the Blu-ray high definition DVD system have received a twin boost in their ongoing format war with HD DVD.

Best Buy - the US’s largest consumer electronics chain - has announced it is to recommend that its customers choose Sony’s Blu-ray format.

Check out the BBC for the full article.

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With Warner Brothers decision to now exclusively support the Blu-ray format, is the format war coming to an end? According to Toshiba, which is the major supporter of HD-DVD, the war isn’t over just yet. Sales figures and consumer reports all point to a clear win for Blu-ray, however. Toshiba will be introducing heavily discounted players this year, with the cheapest selling at 199 USD. The question is whether consumers can be convinced that HD-DVD is still a viable format. According to BusinessWeek there have been many returns of HD-DVD players after buyers found out that many of the movies they want to see are only available on Blu-ray.The content industry is clearly leaning towards Blu-ray, will the consumer follow?

There was some negative news for Blu-ray : Buyers of older Blu-ray players could be limited in what features are available to them due to their players not being upgradable. Click here for the news article at the BBC.

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Panasonic has been sending out samples of it’s new ultra-thin Blu-ray disc drive. The flat drive will be useful for notebooks, and weights way less than regular drives. At 0.37 inch it is billed as the thinnest Blu-ray disc drive in the world. Panasonic previously produced a 0.50 inch drive. The new drive can be used to read high definition Blu-ray discs, and burn information to them. Toshiba will be trying to manufacture a similarly thin drive, but instead for the competing HD-DVD format, which Toshiba is a supporter of.

Click here to read the original article at Yahoo News.

2007 was a dynamic year for high definition multimedia. Blu-ray took the lead in the war for the next generation DVD format. But both Blu-ray and HD-DVD still account for a tiny amount of DVD disc sales. This is not at all surprising as the consumer is still confused, players are rather expensive, and new hybrid HD players are becoming available more steadily. 2008 might just be the year in which a clear winner will be revealed. You can find a small review of 2007, and a look into the future, here.

Have a good and HD-rich 2008.

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Pretty entertaining news if you ask me : 5-disc special Blu-ray edition sets of Harry Potter include one HD-DVD instead of 5 Blu-ray discs. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was accidentally added to the set as HD-DVD CD. The studio behind the films, Warner, still supports both high definition formats - and that makes for confusing situations, as you can see. Obviously if you have one of the affected editions return it as soon as possible.

Universal HD Player

If you don’t want to pick a side yet, perhaps you should look into getting a universal HD player, which plays both formats. The LG BH200 is one of those. It may not be as feature packed as some of the other single format players out there, but it does allow you to sit back and not care about what format wins the war.

It’s a protracted battle between the HD-DVD and Blu-ray consortiums with no foreseeable let-up from both camps. So you have an option to either pick a side or sit out the tussle–which is what most folks are doing anyway. Alternatively, you could also go format neutral by embracing one of the two upcoming universal HD players, the Samsung BD-UP5000 or LG BH200. Here’s our take on the latter which has a slight edge over its Korean compatriot with up-to-date format compliancy.

Click here for the full article.

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With many movies now being released on Blu-ray it didn’t take long before reviews popped up all over the Internet. Besides reviewing the actual movie, the special features of the Blu-ray disc are also reviewed. I’ve been rather sceptical about claims of fantastic special features being possible on Blu-ray. Sure they are possible, but the question is; how many companies actually add them to the disc? Look what happened to the good old-fashioned DVD, beside some interviews and behind-the-scenes features - none of the really cool technical options were used on DVD releases. Remember the much talked-about option that allowed you to change the camera position around to view the scene from a different angle? To be honest, I don’t have one DVD that allows me to do this. This review of Pirates of the Caribbean 3 does talk about some of the extra features, yet doesn’t mention much about interactive features.

Oh yeah it’s a pretty entertaining movie

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I’ve heard lots of people complain about the price of HD players, I have done so myself. It’s just not that interesting to spend 600+ bucks on a player when it’s still not 100% clear which format (HD-DVD or Blu-ray) will be the dominant format. Sure, Blu-ray appears to be winning at the moment, especially now that Sony has cut the prices of Playstation 3 consoles (which includes a built-in Blu-ray player). But we don’t like uncertainties as consumers. It just became more interesting to invest in a Blu-Ray player though, with Samsung releasing an inexpensive unit. Samsung’s BD-P1400 offers outstanding performance with pretty much all the major features you need from a player, and that for for less than 350 USD. Okay I admit, it’s not nearly as cheap as regular DVD players these days (50 bucks for a decent one) - but it’s a big price drop. Samsung is known for it’s reliable products and reasonable prices. I know I am pretty happy with my Samsung LCD tv - so perhaps it’s time to give it a little brother…

Samsung’s BD-P1400 is a perfect centerpiece to your media environment, providing the features you need for a fulfilling entertainment experience. Advanced Blu-ray playback technology gives you crisp, clear images, while added picture quality adjustment lets you set sharpness and noise reduction to your liking. HDMI v1.3 lets you experience richer colors. Dolby® Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD compatibility completes the HD experience.

Get full details on this nicely priced Samsung Blu-Ray Player here.

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Action movie “300″ keeps on topping Blu-Ray and HD-DVD sales list. It only joined the top selling titles club in August, joining “Superman Returns”, “Planet Earth - The Complete BBC series”, “Happy Feet”, “The Departed”, and “Batman Begins”. Warner Home Video ties the success of the title’s sales to it’s release on both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Let’s hope other movie companies pay attention, since quite a few only release their movies on one format. Sales have now topped 400,000 units, which is a very respectable figure for high-definition titles.

In case you haven’t heard of 300 yet.. it’s an epic film about the Battle of Thermopylae. How historically accurate is it? Not very. But if you like special effects, pretty pictures and great action - then get this film on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.

Since its day-and-date release on both format this past July, ‘300′ has been an unstoppable juggernaut on high-def. Right out of the gate, the blockbuster quickly obliterated all previous next-gen sales benchmarks, moving a combined 250,000 copies in its first week alone. And the record-setting pace of ‘300′ hasn’t slowed down much since, with both the Blu-ray and HD DVD versions firmly lodged in the top five of Nielsen VideoScan’s top-ranking high-def sales charts week after week.

Read the article here.

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