discs
Latest
Why I caved and finally bought a 4K Blu-ray player
I didn't need a 4K Blu-ray player, but being forced to stay at home was a great reason to get one.
Sony and Panasonic ally to launch next-generation 300GB optical discs
During the heyday of optical storage we saw a 400GB Blu-Ray flavor (shown above) and even 1TB discs in the lab, but lately such development has waned. Sony and Panasonic have teamed up to move things along, however, saying there's a need for reliable long-term storage that only optical disks can provide. The pair will develop a "next-generation standard for professional-use optical discs," saying that a 300GB flavor could be ready in two years or so. Though geared towards industries like cloud storage and digital cinema at first, the tech could eventually trickle down to consumers, too. Given rapid developments in on-demand streaming and cloud gaming, however, there might be nothing left for us plebes to archive by then.
GE's new holographic storage burns 500GB discs at the speed of a Blu-ray
Holographic disc storage may not have worked out so well for InPhase, but the folks at General Electric are still trying to make HVD work. Their latest breakthrough, shown off today at an IEEE symposium in Hawaii, is a new micro-holographic material which is 100x more sensitive than its predecessor and ups recording speed to that of Blu-ray discs. In the two years since we saw it last some of the hyperbole has apparently been lost -- no claims of "two to four years left for Blu-ray" this time around -- but manager Peter Lorraine still thinks the DVD-sized discs have a future in archival and consumer systems. That's getting tougher to imagine in a world with FiOS and Netflix streaming, but if there is ever another disc format you may be looking at it right now.
EA's Riccitiello says game discs aren't going away
While Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello thinks digital distribution will finally outstrip its physical counterpart in 2011, he stops short of predicting the demise of retail packaging. In the second part of an interview conducted by Industry Gamers, the EA bossman sings the praises of the disc and debunks trendy cloud computing-based notions of gaming's near future. "Sometimes you're not going to play because your internet connection is down and sometimes delivering a game by streaming is a really inefficient way to do it," Riccitiello says, in what might be music to the ears of gaming luddites dismayed at the thought of renouncing actual ownership of their collections. Riccitiello goes on to posit that services like OnLive will struggle with latency-dependent titles (your average first person shooter, for example) and ultimately concludes that the days of 100% digital delivery are pretty far into the future.
U2 360° Tour Blu-ray actually makes compelling use of BD-Live
Normally, if asked to choose between living with or without gimmicky BD-Live enabled bonus features, we'd pick the latter. Musical preferences aside though, U2's use of the technology on their 360 Tour Blu-ray to share select performances from their 2011 tour is just the kind of cool use case we've been looking for. According to the disc's production company, it was also cheap to implement -- think less than a pair of Bono's sunglasses. That happens to fly directly in the face of arguments made by other studios who cite BD-Live's costs as the main reason for its limited integrations to date. So while we never thought the day would come, it looks like the same minds behind the special edition iPod have set a new precedent -- mainly that studios shouldn't get away with all that they leave behind. That's right you heard us movie companies, we want more free future content on discs -- and while you're up get us some Goobers too.
1st quarter Blu-ray sales up 68 percent over last year
These updates are getting rather boring now that Blu-ray has a well established foothold in the packaged media business, but it's still interesting to note that for the 1st quarter of 2010, sales were up 68.5 percent over the same quarter last year. Overall packaged media was up 3.1 percent, which isn't saying that much since overall sales were hit pretty hard last year. We're not good enough at calculating percentages to determine if it was our favorite HD format that made up the difference, but Blu-ray did account for 12.3 percent of packaged media in the same time frame, versus 7 percent in 2009. Ultimately we aren't really that interested in the business side of it, but we know the studios are so if they are happy, then that means we will continue to be able to enjoy Blu-ray discs at home.
BioShock 2 now available for prepurchase on Steam
Valve has officially announced that 2K Games' BioShock 2 will be available for purchase on Steam -- you can pre-purchase the game right now, and it'll be unlocked for play on February 9, 2010, day and date with the rest of the world. The current price is $44.99, a slight discount from the boxed version, and that includes a Steam copy of the original BioShock as well, which you can "kindly" give to a friend if you happen to already have it. Or you can nab four licenses for you and three friends for $134.97, with each of you getting to play the original also. Sure, it's a good deal if you're not concerned with "discs" or "physical media," but does it come with a vinyl LP of the game's original soundtrack? Didn't think so, boy-o.
Mass Effect 2 to span two discs
How awesome is Mass Effect 2? Well, if BioWare Community Coordinator Chris Priestly is to be believed, it is about twice as awesome. "You cannot fit this much awesome on one disc," Priestly stated on the BioWare forums, after revealing the game content will span two discs.The necessity of two discs may mean a staggering amount of content for the RPG sequel -- the original was certainly no slouch in content. While some may lament the necessity of having to get up at least once during Mass Effect 2, Priestly promises that the disc swap happens at a dramatically appropriate point in the story. "Even though there is a disc swap, it occurs at a carefully planned place in the game (that does not interfere with gameplay) and is done once. You do not swap back and forth. 1 swap and then done."We're going to fathom a guess as to when the swap will occur: immediately after the "suicide mission" revealed in the game's initial teaser.[Thanks, Darth B.; Via Kotaku]
Warner's DVD2Blu trade-in swaps Blu-rays for your DVDs, Leland Gaunt approves
After baptizing the remaining HD DVD faithful, Warner has moved on to teaching new Blu-ray converts the five pillars of faith with a trade-up program. Send in your old DVDs (just the box art won't cut it this time around, better buy some blanks and get to ripping if you still enjoy Training Day on long car trips), $7.95 - $9.95 per movie plus $4.95 for s&h (orders over $25 ship for free) and expect HD versions back in 4 - 5 weeks. Is it worth it? Depends on how many of the 55 flicks on the approved list you own (included after the break) but for most you're probably better off keeping the ones you have and eyeing budget bins carefully, nabbing catalog flicks like Harold & Kumar for less than $15 without any mail-in shenanigans shouldn't be too hard for the truly thrifty.
Pioneer's 12x BDR-205 Blu-ray burner is so fast it's ahead of its time
We're still not sure if that many people are interested in buying Blu-ray burners yet, but Pioneer just unveiled the first 12x capable drive (up from 8x, and with an 8x read speed that gives us a great idea for the next PlayStation 3 revision) the BDR-205. Initially rolling out to OEMs this month, this drive couldn't wait for 12x certified discs to exist, though its full speed has been tested on Panasonic and Sony 6x BD-R blanks, "12x writing on all media cannot be guaranteed." Minus that caveat, expect to see these popping up on Newegg and the like any second now, the only price mentioned is for the full retail package BD-2205 coming Q1 2010 for $249.
Verbatim to launch Mini Blu-ray discs with Hitachi's camcorder
Now that Hitachi has announced a Blu-ray camcorder to put some of that high-def footage on, you've got to have something to record onto, right? Verbatim will ship 8cm Mini Blu-ray Recordable/Rewritable (BD-R/RE) blank media in August for Japan, with shipments to North America and points beyond in October. The media will hold 7.5GB on a single side, with recording times of one hour for 1920x1080i resolution, and up to two hours at 1440x1080i. The discs come with Verbatim's standard hard-coat finish for protection against scratching and dust, making them pretty reliable for the kinds of stresses you'll see filming your own season of Survivor: Fargo.
Microsoft responds to European inquiry on scratched 360 discs
Even though Microsoft seems to be dragging its feet when it comes to addressing the EU's anti-trust concerns, the software-giant-cum-console-maker was quick to respond to European Commissioner for Consumer Affairs Meglena Kuneva's inquiry regarding accusations of faulty 360 hardware. Specifically, the commissioner wanted to know the scope of the disc scratching problem brought to light by Dutch program Kassa -- and unsurprisingly, Redmond seemed to allude to 1UP that it was toeing the same party line in Europe as we heard back in April. The bottom line here is that Team Xbox is clearly adamant that there is no widespread problem, and while they seem to be a little more reticent to blame the end user now, your only recourse remains contacting the company and crossing your fingers.[Via Joystiq]
Scratch that: The Xbox 360 might damage discs after all
As if the Red Ring of Death wasn't already a frequently discussed part of Xbox 360 lore that Microsoft would rather avoid discussing, bubbling to the surface is another issue we've been hearing about for a while -- the Xbox 360 Ring of Disc Death. Dutch consumer advocacy show Kassa tested Xbox 360s (video after the break) and proved that the Xbox 360 does indeed scratch discs. A Microsoft spokesperson says a previous statement in Europe has some "nuances" lost in translation when it was converted to English. Joystiq received from Microsoft their official statement, "Due to the fact that we did not participate in the experiment done by Kassa and have little insight into the methodology that was used, we cannot comment specifically on the outcome. While we are aware that discs can potentially be scratched through normal wear and tear, we have not received any widespread reports of the issue highlighted here. There are millions of Xbox consoles in use today and we know that the majority of our customers are having a great gaming experience. That said, it is important to us that all of our customers have the best gaming experiences possible, and these claims are obviously very concerning to us. We encourage any Xbox customer who believes that their discs have been scratched in the same manner as identified by KASSA, to contact us at www.xbox.com/support or 1-800-4-MY-XBOX for additional information. We will examine the console and make appropriate repairs if necessary in order to restore the console to full working order, as well as provide customers with information on how to obtain replacement discs should they need them." We'd previously reported that it's best to keep your console horizontal. Kassa reports that the problem is created by the TSST drive missing parts that stabilize the disc and prevent the drive's lens from coming into contact with the disc. The problem is mostly found in consoles produced in Dec. 2006, and the show estimates that 1 to 2 million units are affected.[Via Engadget]
Ritek boasting ten-layer HD DVD / Blu-ray discs?
Forget single-layer media, that dual-layer stuff that was all the rage last year, and even the triple-layered flavor that got announced just days ago. Heck, even an eight-layer disc would be forced to bow down to the sure-to-be-outdone-soon ten-layer rendition supposedly crafted by Ritek. No sooner than we all celebrated the idea of a 51GB HD DVD, Ritek has reportedly "designed HD media with a full ten layers," not to mention the supposed three- and four-layer coasters it has laying around while working its way up. As if that weren't impressive enough, it also claims that this multi-layer process can be applied to both HD DVD and Blu-ray, a feat that Toshiba's recent creation can't quite compete with. Of course, Ritek officials were quick to point out that the "real barrier to this advancement is the lack of reader / writer laser diodes to support the additional layers," but if there really are 250GB BD discs just waiting to get spun, those lasers aren't too far behind.[Via Slashdot]
Universal announces impending HD DVD price drop
In what may turn out to be a small, final boost for the HD DVD camp prior to the impending arrival of Samsung's BD-P1000 Blu-ray player that's definitely NOT been delayed, Universal Studios Home Entertainment has announced that it will eventually knock five bucks off of each HD DVD disc that it sells. That's right, if you were holding out on buying that Toshiba HD-A1 until movies dropped below $30, now may be your time to strike, as titles that were formerly $34.95 will soon retail for $29.95 (though you'll probably be able to find them cheaper), with hybrid HD DVDs from the studio going for $35. Unfortunately (for HD DVD proponents, at least), the price drops won't go into effect until August 8th, at which point this format war will have already spilled over into the marketplace.[Via Digital Media Thoughts]
Hitachi Maxell 1TB SVOD optical disc cart
Good morning, kids. Are you ready for the optical disc format of the day? It's Hitachi Maxell's 1TB stacked volumetric optical disc (SVOD) array, comprised of rather thin DVD-size discswith DVD-size capacities: 9.4GB total storage each on two 92µm thick data layers. Yeah, we know, we promised a terabyte; well, watch and learn. These polycarbonate discs may be too thin to be manufactured from typical plastics, but they can be stacked in an optical array 100 tall, and 6.5 x 13.3 x 16.1cm (2.5 x 5.2 x 6.3-inches) in size. Even though Hitachi Maxell wants to make the terabyte carts relatively cheap at ¥40,000 (about $340 US) and claims there are consumer applications, don't toss that HD DVD player just yet. It's pretty easy to realize why optical arrays are really of only limited utility for the end-user; if these should ever be popularized, we'd imagine it would serve first as data archival medium for businesses before you'd ever outfit your rig with, like, the high def optical disc system, dude.[Thanks, Andrew]
Early HD DVD flicks to be 1080p
Early scans of the boxes from some of the first flicks to be released on HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc are starting to show up, and it looks like at least some of the first releases will ship in 1080p. DVDActive has shots of the boxes from several HD DVD movies, including "Million Dollar Baby" and "The Last Samurai," and they're listed as being in 1080p. No word yet if this is an across-the-board thing, or whether the early BD titles are also 1080p (DVDActive only has the fronts of the BD boxes). But this is sure to be good news for anyone planning to build a collection of discs; at least you won't have to toss them when you can finally buy a 1080p-capable player. Of course, that doesn't mean you won't still be chucking your discs before you have a chance to watch them in true 1080p glory. After all, there is that pesky format war going on ...[Via HD Beat]
TDK begins shipping 25GB Blu-ray media
We're not quite sure what you can use them for at this point (other than, maybe, as coasters for when you serve the good stuff), but TDK has begun shipping blank single-layer Blu-ray discs with a 25GB capacity. The discs are available in BD-R (recordable) and BD-RE (rewritable) formats, for $19.99 and $24.99, respectively. That's per disc. Yes, we were doing the math in our heads as well: That's about 79 cents per GB for the BD-R, which does come out to a bit more than the roughly 10 cents (or less) per GB of budget DVD-Rs. But those prices are sure to come down by the time TDK begins offering these in 50-disc spindles later this year. (By then, TDK will also have dual-layer 50GB discs available, for $47.99 and $59.99.) And maybe by then you'll actually be able to use these in some kind of drive.
GameFly acknowledges disc scratching problem
We've seen a lot of news on scratched discs here, but Microsoft still claim that it's an "isolated problem". Careful, though, if you're a GameFly rental customer and return a scratched disc to them, they'll invoke their official policy:We have received reports that certain XBOX 360 consoles have caused damage to GameFly videogames. Unfortunately, we have been notified that you recently returned a damaged XBOX 360 game. As a precaution, we have removed all XBOX 360 games from your GameQ... In the future, should GameFly receive XBOX 360 games from you that have been damaged, you will be charged a replacement fee.Seems that GameFly know where to squarely point the blame. It's a sensible enough move, but just how big is the scratched disc problem?[via Joystiq]
