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BluFocus gets BDA official stamp as the first U.S. movie player testing center
The unglamorous but so-necessary job of making sure all those Blu-ray discs and players work nicely together has long been the aim of BluFocus, which has most recently become the first and only BDA approved site in the U.S. for Movie Player Verification. While certification and compatibility testing is usually the kind of thing we only consider when something doesn't work, it's always good to know this on someone's mind. Any recent Blu-ray compatibility complaints? Let the folks at BluFocus know on their website.
ATI Radeon HD 5750 brings HDMI bliss to HTPCs for $110
We knew that video cards that could bitstream all the latest HD codecs wouldn't always cost $380, but we certainly didn't expect a cheaper alternative in two weeks. Of course price and HDMI audio capabilities aren't the only factors when choosing a video card for your HTPC, so you might want to keep waiting -- you know another few weeks -- for a version that doesn't take up two of your card slots for a fan that is no doubt anything but quiet. Anandtech is predicting you might have to wait another year for the perfect HTPC video card in the way of the 5600 series.[Via Missing Remote]
VUDU goes live on the LG BD390
We jumped the gun a little a few weeks ago when we told you that the LG BD390 firmware update that would enable access to VUDU was live, so we wanted to let you know it was finally available -- for real this time. So next time you have a chance, turn on your player while it is connected to the internet and you should be prompted to install the update. After that is just a matter of activating it on VUDU's website, so yeah, pretty painless. If you're still unsure, you should check out our full review, but we think you'll find it as useful as we did. %Gallery-74269%
Blu-ray releases on October 13th 2009
Here we are one more week until Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Waterworld are released on Blu-ray and as you might expect in October, nothing much to see here -- just kidding about Waterworld, that movie stinks. If you are into scary movies then Drag Me to Hell should be a welcomed addition, you know with its IMDB score of 7.5 and all. Disney does have The Proposal, but we'd bet you feel the same way as we do about it; we'll pass. Drag Me to Hell (Universal) How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Universal) Land Of The Lost (Universal) Adoration (Sony) The Craft (Sony) Natural Born Killers: Director's Cut (Warner) The Proposal (Walt Disney) South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Paramount) American Violet (Image) Eagles Over London (Severin) Hardware (Severin) Home For Christmas (First Look) Killer Movie (Phase 4) Midnight Movie (Phase 4) Kong: Return to the Jungle (Image) Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown (Cinevolve) Paradox Of The Andes (Razor Digital) Warren Miller's Children Of Winter (Shout! Factory)
LG's 5.1 HB954SP Blu-ray HTIB system makes room for your iPod or iPhone
If you've somehow managed to hold out from joining into the HTIB revolution, the time for caving is upon you. LG has just tapped Sir Mark Levinson to engineer the acoustics behind its latest bundle, the HB954SP. Packing a 5.1-channel sound system that includes 1,000 total watts of power, a quintet of oval drivers and a ported subwoofer, the system gets direction from a BD-Live-enabled Blu-ray player that's actually a fair bit more stylish than the tried-and-true black rectangle. You'll also find a pair of HDMI inputs, an iDock function for charging and controlling your iPod / iPhone right from the BD deck, 1080p upscaling of traditional DVDs, touch sensitive controls, a USB port for loading up external media and an optical audio input. There's nary a mention of price, but it should splash down this November for a hefty premium.
Samsung's new SH-B083 drive doesn't write Blu-ray, but it kin reed gud
Say hello to Samsung's first internal Blu-ray combo drive for PCs, while the SH-B083 isn't a super fast writer like some of its classmates, it does feature 8x BD-R and BD-ROM read speeds. Also a capable 40x / 16x CD / DVD burner, if all you want to do is watch movies, this should be a considerably cheaper option to the Pioneer BDR-205 12x burner or other 8x recordable drives when it hits shelves (specifically Amazon and Newegg) in November, though exact date and price remain unspecified. Plus, it has that "chic mirror front door design" we can't believe we've lived without for so long, making the 350ms access speed a mere afterthought. This could fit nicely inside that new C-200, right? Specs follow after the break.
TDK's heavily stacked 320GB disc shows its nearly-clear face at CEATEC
As with pretty much every other optical disc out there that claims to hold a near-infinite amount of data, we're still skeptical about TDK's ability to actually bring to market the 320GB spinner you see above. But hey -- it's got ten 32GB layers and it's practically see-through. Did you really expect us to walk on by without clicking the shutter even once? Exactly.%Gallery-74888%
Blu-ray outpacing DVD adoption, will never reach its penetration
We just love it when research firms compare the adoption of Blu-ray to DVD and this latest report from Futursource is no different. The long and the short of the study is that if you include the Playstation 3 and the PS2, Blu-ray adoption is ahead of DVD in its fourth year. The firm goes on to predict that Blu-ray will keep the lead -- especially if prices on the titles continue to drop -- but package media will not sustain the household penetration it enjoys today because of the recent introduction of digital downloads and other VOD options consumers have. This of course is music to our ears as we will sleep better at night knowing that we'll be able to choose to watch movies in the highest quality possible. Of course we can't wait for the day when we can get better, cheaper, easier access to content, but for now Blu-ray is a-ok in our book.[Via Blu-ray.com]
Wal-Mart cutting back DVD and Blu-ray display area
Looks like the nation's biggest retailer is figuring out that DVDs and Blu-ray Discs don't bring in the number of customers that they used to. Honestly this is pretty much what we'd expect as more and more consumers are renting from Netflix and Redbox and when they do decide to buy instead of rent, they know that Amazon is hard to beat. So all of that combined with the streaming competition, it makes sense to reassign the valuable shelf space to something a little more profitable.
Blu-ray releases on October 6th 2009
The first week of October is here and along with the first cold fronts of the season come one of the first big titles leading up to the holiday season. As if we actually had to tell you -- Disney is breaking a classic out of its "vault" this week with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. We don't know about anyone else, but we love to see classics in HD for the first time and although animated features aren't our first choice, any time there is more HD content for our kids to watch over and over again, we're pleased. Other than that nothing really stands out to us, but the sheer number of titles released this week is impressive. So of course we have little doubt that someone will blast us in the comments for not mentioning their favorite release this week. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Walt Disney) A Charlie Brown Christmas (Warner) Contact (Warner) Horton Hears A Who! (1970) (Warner) How The Grinch Stole Christmas! (Warner) Ghost Ship (Warner) Trick 'r Treat (Warner) Bones: Season Four (Fox) Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (Fox) Miracle On 34th Street (Fox) Miracle On 34th Street (1994) (Fox) My Life In Ruins (Fox) The Children (Lionsgate) The Thaw (Lionsgate) Seventh Moon (Lionsgate) Frankenstein (Sony) Wolf (Sony) Year One (Sony) Imagine That (Paramount) Dinosaurs Alive! (Image) The National Parks: America's Best Idea (PBS) The New York Ripper (Blue Underground) The Number 23 (New Line) Offspring (Lionsgate Home) Red Dwarf: Back To Earth (BBC) Audition (Shout! Factory) 100 Feet (Asylum) The Absolute Best of Ghost Hunters (Image)
TDK stacks 10 layers on a single 320GB disc
Even though we have yet to see the long-hinted 100GB and 200GB prototype Blu-ray discs as real products, TDK is looking beyond that, ready to display 320GB ten-layer platters at CEATEC 2009 that can be read and written with current blue laser technology. Key in stacking so many layers is improving the transmittance of the outermost layer as seen above - that nearly clear one on the right doesn't require a more powerful laser to get through. The only thing we can't see? When or if any of these will actually be released. [Via Hot Hardware]
Survey says consumer won't pay that much extra for 3D
You know what the least accurate type of survey is? One where you ask someone what they'd pay for something, because we don't know about anyone else, but the answer is almost always, "as little as possible." So it isn't much of a shocker that when asked, only 43 percent of those interested in 3D at home, said they're willing to spend an extra $200 for a 3D capable HDTV. Of that same group who actually wants 3D, only 33 percent would be willing to spend an extra $50 on a 3D capable Blu-ray player -- no clue why these two numbers aren't the same, guess the respondents didn't think about where the 3D content would come from. Although these numbers aren't encouraging, we wonder if a similar survey was ever conducted for 1080p HDTVs. We say that because at this point most consumers wouldn't think about buying a 720p HDTV and 3D is a much bigger upgrade.
Fox dreaming of a future where Blu-ray movies load faster, are judged by the content of their character(s)
At least someone is (seemingly) listening to our Blu-ray gripes. /Film hit a Fox hosted press summit and heard exactly the things we've been waiting to hear: a future where "advanced" Blu-ray players can do what DVD players have done for years: automatically resume play where we left off on all players, dramatically reduced load times and a live demo of the IMDB Live Lookup feature available on the Wolverine release. The company has nabbed a researcher from Panasonic, Joe McCrossan, who is heading up the efforts to improve viewer's experience and tossing around long promised buzzwords like iPhone connectivity and Digital Copy along with the previously mentioned features under development -- if he succeeds on making them reality we'll rename an Engadget editor Joe in his honor, and it might not even be the one already named Joe. [Thanks, chevelleman]
China Blue HD adding supporters and talking trash to Blu-ray
It momentarily slipped under our US-centric noses, but another log was thrown on the Chinese high definition format war recently when Universal Studios and National Geographic joined Warner in supporting China Blue HD. Format War Central also reports 8 new manufacturers have signed up to join the CHDA backing the format. That plus a claimed 3-1 sales advantage have the CHDA calling the format war "a game no one played" thanks to Blu-ray's high prices and licensing fees. It's still unlikely China's son of HD DVD could affect that high definition movie marketplace anywhere else, but it will be interesting to see if the country's manufacturers choose that path and upgrade their existing DVD equipment instead of replacing it to produce the even cheaper Blu-ray players we'd hoped for. [Via Format War Central]
ATI Radeon HD 5870 is the first video card to bitstream TrueHD and DTS-HD
The good news is that you can finally get both compressed and uncompressed HD audio off a Blu-ray Disc and into your A/V receiver without the need of a dedicated sound card. The bad news is that at $380, the ATI Radeon HD 5870 still costs more than a stand-alone Blu-ray player and that price doesn't even include playback software. That's ok with us though, as we're used to being charged early adopter tax, and now the first video card with this ability is released, it should only be a matter of time before this feature trickles down to video cards we can actually afford.
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.
New Digital Copies on the actual Blu-ray Disc from Sony exclusively for the PSP
Digital Copies packaged in with DVDs and Blu-ray Discs are an old hat, but now Sony is adding a new twist. Up until now, a DVD was bundled in with a Blu-ray Disc just to deliver the Digital Copy. This way you could put the DVD into any PC or Mac and grab the Digital Copy of the main feature. What Sony is doing now is something that was demoed at CES 2008, which is to store a PSP friendly copy, on the actual Blu-ray Disc. This way all you have to do is insert the disc into a PlayStation 3 and transfer it directly over to a PSP -- no computer required. This of course doesn't help those who'd prefer to watch the Digital Copy on their PC or iPod, so they'll still need to continue to look for an extra DVD in the box. All this fun starts November 10th with the release of Godzilla and The Ugly Truth, both of which sport the PSP copy on the Blu-ray Disc, but only The Ugly Truth will also come with the DVD with the traditional Digital Copy.
Blu-ray releases on September 28th 2009
You know we can't help it so here we go -- we're off to see the Wizard on Blu-ray this week as one of the all time classics is released in HD, but other than that there isn't much to get excited about. Sure if you like TV shows you might be interested in the latest seasons of The Unit or How I Met Your Mother and like usual there are plenty of other catalogs to help complete your collection, but most can keep waiting for the Summer blockbusters to open their wallets. The Wizard Of Oz (Warner) Superman Batman: Public Enemies (Warner) Away We Go (Universal) The Dark Crystal (Sony) Facing The Giants (Sony) Fireproof (Sony) Labyrinth (Sony) How I Met Your Mother: Season 4 (Fox) The Unit: Season 4 (Fox) Snakes on a Plane (New Line) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) (New Line) The Girlfriend Experience (Magnolia) Lies And Illusions (Anchor Bay) Management (Image) Monsters vs. Aliens (DreamWorks) Bad Boy Bubby (Blue Underground) The New York Ripper (Blue Underground) Screwballs (Severin) Eagles Over London (Severin) Streets Of Blood (Anchor Bay) The Universe: The Complete Season Three (A&E) Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer (Dark Sky) Yellowstone: Battle For Life (BBC)
PS3 3.0 / 3.01 firmware update making Blu-ray drive unusable?
What could possibly cause nearly 700 comments on an official Sony blog post announcing the relatively minor 3.01 firmware update for the PS3? Plaudits? A Kanye meme gone awry? No, it's the age old problem of an update that apparently breaks more than it fixes. In this case, a sizable number of users are reporting that the 3.0 and/or 3.01 update caused their PS3's Blu-ray drive to be all but unusable for both games and Blu-ray movies (although some folks report that DVDs still work). Other users are also reporting intermittent problems like no sound, and some problems with specific games, but it does seem like the complaints are pretty widespread and, as of yet, Sony isn't saying much about them. Bitten by the upgrade bug yourself? Let us know in comments. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Lost University opens registrations for BD-Live connected Losties
The fifth season of Lost comes home on Blu-ray December 8, and for anyone still enthralled bythe question of what exactly is the truth behind that freaky island it's packing a special BD-Live extra. Viewers can log into "Lost University" where they can further explore the mysteries of the island. Fans can check out LostUniversity.com right now to register early, word is the first 108 graduates will receive a hand-signed diploma from Lost University presidents Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse -- count us out of the annual Spring Break trip, just in case. [Thanks, Michael]
