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Written by Michael Lankton
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Wednesday, 28 November 2007 |
 Reuters has reported that the BDA released a statement Tuesday announcing that Blu Ray Disc sales have passed the million mark in Europe.
In Europe the software sales lead commanded by Blu Ray is indisputable: 73% Blu Ray, 27% HD DVD for YTD HD disc sales. Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End both enjoyed strong sales that secured Blu Ray's 3 to 1 advantage over HD DVD in Europe for 2007 disc sales.
With the war in Japan and Europe all but conceded by HD DVD, one has to wonder what rabbit they can pull out of their hat to keep their format alive. Lots of cheap HD DVD hardware is flying off store shelves in the US this holiday season, but HD DVD needs to launch an offensive on the content front as well and start releasing some titles that will bolster sales numbers.
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Monday, 05 November 2007 |
Sony says that Spider-Man 3 is the fastest selling Blu Ray title to date, yet hasn't released any sales numbers.
Launching on the same day, the Transformers DVD outsold the Spider-Man 3 DVD three to one. The Transformers HD DVD was the fastest selling next gen disc for a single HD format, selling 190k copies it's first week of release. Sony's reticence to trumpet the sales figures of Spider-Man 3 pretty much guarantees it's not in the same ballpark as Transformers or 300. We'll know this Friday, when the new Nielsen numbers are posted.
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Wednesday, 31 October 2007 |
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 Pansonic has released some details about their forthcoming Profile 1.1 Blu Ray player, the Panasonic DMP-BD30.
The Panasonic DMP-BD30 will be the second player available that supports Blu Ray Profile 1.1, following in the footsteps of the LG BH200. Among the features the $499.95 DMP-BD30 will sport is inclusion of an SD card slot that will allow users to playback AVCHD high definition content from their SD cards, in addition to functioning as an image viewer. HDMI 1.3b and 1080p24 compatible, the DMP-BD30 features the secondary video decoder mandatory in Profile 1.1 players, so DMP-BD30 users will be able to enjoy interactive content that requires PIP.
It sounds like a lot of player for the price, and is a step in the right direction for Blu Ray. With $200 players on the other side of the fence, the Blu Ray camp is going to have to get these prices down if they are serious about adoption. |
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Tuesday, 30 October 2007 |
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 According to makers of AnyDVD Slysoft, a version of their disc copying software with support for BD+ encrypted Blu Ray discs will be available by year's end.
Sony and their adherents have trumpeted the impenetrability of Blu Ray's BD+ encryption asone of the major points of Blu Ray's superiority to HD DVD. It has been stated on record that it would take ten years for BD+ to be cracked. Well, much like DVD's 'uncrackable' encryption, it took the hacker community no time at all to devise a workaround. Didn't anyone tell Sony, Fox and Disney that going around bragging up BD+'s strengths was only going to make it fall faster? There is no uncrackable encryption and there never will be. Severe DRM schemes only make things harder on the consumer. |
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Friday, 12 October 2007 |
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 LG's second generation combo player, the LG BH200, will be the first Blu Ray player to support Blu Ray Profile 1.1.
All new Blu Ray player models that ship after October 31, 2007 will have to adhere to Blu Ray Profile 1.1. Blu Ray Profile 1.1 introduces a mandatory second video decoder, which will enable Blu Ray to utilize picture-in-picture functionality similar to what HD DVD has. As to whether or not any existing Blu Ray players will be upgradeable to Profile 1.1 via a firmware upgrade is unknown, as no manufacturer has announced an upgrade path at this time. Blu Ray discs that utilize Profile 1.1 specific features will play on Profile 1.0 players, but only the main feature is guaranteed to be accessible.
The LG BH200 combo Blu Ray-HD DVD player ships this November, and will be the only Profile 1.1 player on the market until the recently delayed Samsung BD-UP5000 follows sometime in December. |
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