blu-ray
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Buffalo's "all the cool kids are doing it" Blu-ray burner
They're just stuffing that Panasonic OEM drive into a USB 2.0 case like everyone else is, but Buffalo has the distinction of selling their external BR-H2U2 Blu-ray drive for $1012, along with black and white internal versions for the equally steep $916. The drives will be shipping (in Japan, at least) early this June, so early adopters looking for a little abuse between now and then can feel free to drop by our place to be kicked in the head and have your money lit on fire.[Via Akihabara News]
The (in)famous 1080p truth pt. 2
Do we have to go into this again? I've got to question this piece on The Inquirer that compounds the confusion of the article cited. They're telling people that their CRT TV is going to throw away half the information on 1080i Blu-ray and HD-DVDs giving you a 540p image, and that a 1080p set is really only going to give you 540p, which is not necessarily an accurate description.One way of getting your information correct is to go straight to the source like HDTV UK did recently. They have an excellent writeup getting information on 1080p from the manufacturers themselves. The original author has written a new post clarifying a few things. While I'm still puzzled by repeated references to CRTs method of displaying 1080i in relation to why a 1080p television using totally different technology won't be 1080p; it seems we agree on one thing: "I’m not against anyone buying a 1080p HDTV — I just want that person to be a smart shopper and ask plenty of questions to see how the content is actually mastered and delivered to the HDTV."If you're still wondering what all the hubbub is and if it affects your buying decision, don't take my word for it (© The Reading Rainbow). Check out the further information links and comments on our other post and educate yourself, then take a look to to see if you notice a worthwhile difference in 1080p.
Apple trying to include iPod video content on Blu-ray discs?
Straight from the rumor mill to your ears/eyes/brain: iPod Hub is reporting that "anonymous film industry insiders" are claiming that Apple is attempting to get iPod video-friendly versions of theatrical releases included in movie studios' Blu-ray offerings. Since Blu-ray discs can theoretically hold 50GB or more, there would certainly be room for the small iPod-compatible files, which would presumably sport pretty strong encryption in order to placate piracy fears of content providers. The move would certainly be beneficial to Apple, as it would create a substantial library of full-length films available at what seems to be the inevitable launch of a "real" video iPod. Further enhancing the believability of this rumor is the fact that Apple already has strong ties to both Sony and Disney, two of the major studios. Still, until we hear official word from one of the players here, consider this to be simply idle chatter for now.[Via TUAW]
CustomFlix burns HD-DVD, Blu-ray on demand
So you're a small content producer who wants to release high definition video, but can't pick a format for fear of alienating half your customers? No problem. CustomFlix (who also just announced deals to provide DVDs of niche TV shows) will store a digital copy of your content, and burn it onto Blu-ray, HD DVD or WMV-HD disc whenever a customer wants to buy one. They also provide services for customers who choose their own set of clips from the database, and burn a DVD with whatever you want on it.You can already buy some HDNet programs from Amazon via this service, with the other two formats to be added "soon". Hopefully this type of service can alleviate the situation detailed in The Clicker, where smaller providers are locked out because they can't afford to support HDTVs.
iPod Video Content on Blu-Ray Discs?
iPodHub is reporting that Apple is asking movie studios to put video iPod-compatible content on upcoming Blu-ray discs. Apple wants to ensure that there will be a substantial library of content for their existing and future video iPods. Blu-ray discs will hold up to 50GB of data, which should provide enough capacity to include even full-length movies in a video iPod format. Seeing as Apple's already in the Blu-ray camp along with Sony and Disney, this certainly falls within the realm of possibility.[via Digg]
Epson Endeavor MR3000 desktop with Blu-ray option
Epson may be first out the door with a PC using Panasonic's recently announced LF-MB121JD Blu-ray drive (or at very least, they're one of the first to announce such plans). Epson will make the drive available as an option in its new Endeavor MR3000 build-to-order desktop. The PC is available in a variety of configurations, with prices starting at ¥60,900 (about $520), but with the Panny Blu-ray drive, the price will start at ¥126,000 ($1,074 -- ahem!). The MR3000 is expected to begin shipping in mid-May, though the BD version, presumably, won't be available until June at the soonest, which is when Panny expects to start shipping the LF-MB121JD.
Logitec brings Blu-Ray to Macs with the LBD-A2FU2
NOTE: This is not the same Logitech of mice and keyboard fame. But who cares! This is the first Blu-Ray burner that will work with PCs and Macs. What's that you say? Won't work with your Intel Mac Mini or MacBook Pro? They do have an external version coming out as well that will run on ether firewire or USB for a few bucks more. The drive itself though appears to be simply a re-badged Panasonic drive with the same price tag. So for about $850 you can except to see this drive at the end of June.[via Akihabara News]
Logitec LBD-A2FU2/WM: the first Blu-ray Disc drive for Macs
Ok Macheads, now you can get your Blu-ray on too with Logitec’s (no, not that Logitech) announced LBD-A2FU2/WM Blu-ray Disc drive. From the machine translation of the press release, it would appear that this is just a rebadged Panasonic burner (pictured) which brings the love for some 13 BD, DVD, and CD media formats. Logitec will deliver what they say will be an industry first Mac BD drive as an external unit connected by either USB or Firewire and bundled with Roxio Toast 7 Titanium. It's so new that they couldn't even muster-up a photo! Uh, yeah. Like its Panny cuz, expect these to drop for around $850 but a bit later in mid-July with more OEM'd Mac drives sure to follow.[Via Akihabara News]
Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray player available for pre-order (again)
The Blu-ray camp is moving the hype machine to 11 now that HD-DVD is in stores. The latest is Sony's own BDP-S1 showing up on their website for pre-orders, ready to take the $999.95 that has been burning a hole in your pocket. Of course if you start financing it at $29 a month, you'll have it paid off by the time HVD comes out.Continue on for the feature list, is all that 1080p, uncompressed multi channel audio goodness worth it to you? Frankly I'm unimpressed, you'd think that for $1000 you could at least get the twin HDMI outs they claim will be on the Playstation 3. And a "blue glass front"? Call me back when it's chrome plated and spinning. "On or about August 15", update your calendars children.[Via engadget]
Sony puts up Blu-ray player BDP-S1 for pre-order
It's been quite the Blu-ray party today, what with the LF-MB121JD from Panasonic, the BRD-UM2 and BRD-AM2B from IODATA, and that decisive word from Panasonic's CEO that dashed any hopes left for talks between the Blu-ray and HD DVD camps. Now Sony is joining the club with the pre-order availability of their BDP-S1 Blu-ray player. That's the good news. The bad news is that the unit will be going for the expected $1000, and has a targeted availability of August 15th. Sure, all that 1080p, multi channel digital audio, and HDMI action is still here, but Sony sure isn't driving that hard of a bargain.[Thanks, Delerious]
IO-DATA Blu-Ray burner
How come we never get to have any fun. Check out all the stuff Akihabara News has seen today at their trade show. They even were give blank BR-D disks at IO-DATAs news conference for their new Blu-Ray burner. This is basically a rebranded Pioneer drive but thats ok. This bad boy is going to be available in both the internal and external flavors but nether will be cheap. The internal one will run you $900 and the external $1,000. And you thought that Panasonic drive was expensive...
Blu-ray not merging with, thumbs nose at HD DVD. Again.
Both sides have announced, built, and even begun selling their devices -- if you don't think the next gen optical war between HD DVD and Blu-ray for the high definition living room hasn't already begun, well, you're probably not a regular here. But just in case there was any hope that these two factions would come together and truce before too late turned into too too late, well, sorry, consider those hopes dashed; according to Panasonic CEO Kazuhiro Tsuga (pictured right heading to work) regarding unifying with HD DVD, "We are not talking and we will not talk," and that "the market will decide the winner." Just like that. You hear that Toshiba? Bring it on, they say. Man, we can't wait to start reporting all the flaming-bag-on-doorstep incidents that are so going to occur between Blu-ray and HD DVD executives.
IODATA launches BRD-UM2 & BRD-AM2B Blu-ray drives
Looks like Panny's not the only company showing off their Blu-ray offerings in Japan today. IODATA's got two of their own: the internal BRD-UM2, and external USB BRD-AM2B, which will go for ¥110,250 and ¥121,800, respectively (that's $942 US and $1,041 US, also respectively). Looks like these will also burn dual-layer BD-R and BD-RE media, as well as your usual DVD±RW and CD-RW, and will even beat Panasonic's offering to market by a solid 9 days with a June 1st release date. So keep an eye out with your favorite gadget importer and keep that credit card clean.[Via Impress]
Panasonic's Blu-ray burner - LF-MB121JD
Panasonic chose what camp they were going to be in early on so they have a huge head start. From the looks of things, Panasonic has a Blu-Ray burner coming real soon, the LF-MB121JD. This drive, yes it is a computer drive and not a set-top player, can read and write on the BD-R and BD-RE media at a whopping 2X (72Mps). Oh, and it also supports BD-ROM too along with normal DVD±R and normal CDs.The blank media is available in 25 and 50 gig formats. Judging by the cost of TDKs blank discs, it would be a lot cheaper just to buy a huge hard drive, but that's just me The drive itself is going to be available on June 10th for $850. UPDATE: Akihabara News has a high-def clip of this drive you might want to check out. It is not of it in action still it is in high definition.[via NewLaunches][via Akihabara News]
Panasonic LF-MB121JD Blu-ray drive ships June 10th for $850
In what would appear to be a global release, though it's unclear from the machine translation, Panasonic just announced that they will be shipping their LF-MB121JD Blu-ray Disc drive for PCs (not to be confused with their DMP-BD10 player expected in September) in OEM, regular, and slimline slot-loading form factors, starting 10 June with support for 13 BD / DVD / CD formats. The drive delivers on both 25GB and dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray discs allowing you to write at 2x (72Mbps) speeds to both BD-R / RE formats via a suite of bundled software. It also features 8x write speeds to both DVD±R and DVD RW, 4x to DVD±R DL, 6x to DVD-RW, 5x to DVD-RAM, 24x to CD-R and 16x to CD-RW. Pretty much the same unit (and may well be) as the BenQ BW1000, but superior to both the Samsung SH-B022 (which can read but not write to DVD and CD formats) and the Pioneer BDR-101A which, oddly, the last time we looked, didn't support CDs at all. Panasonic also announced their 25GB and 50GB 2x discs which will hit the shelves starting April 28 just in time to prime the pump a bit.[Via Newlaunches]
The Clicker: The part of Blue that has me seeing Red.
Every week Stephen Speicher contributes The Clicker, an opinion column on entertainment and technology:99% of the time I'm just your average mild-mannered tech-writer. However, every now and again, when the conditions are just right, I stroll over to my bookcase, reach to the top shelf and gently pull the third book from the left, "Celine Dion: The Magic Behind the Singing Horse." This simple action puts into motion a Rube-Goldbergian series of events which eventually reveals the secret passageway to my lead-lined den. It is there where I don my tinfoil hat and assume the role of my alter-ego, Dr. Conspiracy Theorist. Oh sure, the realist in me understands that the motivations of large entities are, in truth, driven by the confluence of inertia and ignorance, and not instead by some deep-seated hatred of my hopes and wishes. However, it's an empowering (and self-aggrandizing) exercise to assume that large corporations, governments, and even dictators are all out to screw me, the little guy.Today, I contemplate the ongoing Blu-ray / HD DVD war, and as I sit in this windowless bunker with only the sound of my Remington striking the ink onto the page to keep me company, I ask the question that seems to be so often overlooked: "Why isn't there consensus on the red portion of the specs?"It's clear why neither the BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association) nor the DVD Forum (HD DVD) will raise the white flag, capitulate, and end the blue-laser war. In addition to having already invested years of research and development which they hope will lead to lucrative licensing fees, there are also the intangibles that come from working with the beast you know. Dumping your format and adopting that of your competitor is no small chore and despite the fact that we, the media and the consumers, like to pretend that a blue laser is a blue laser – the two formats are quite different.Having said that, without the extra "Conspiracy Power" of the tinfoil hat, I found little reason why the two governing bodies couldn't come together and peacefully co-exist on something as well-understood as the red laser. With the hat, on the other hand, it came to me – they're trying to kill independent content.But let's back up for a second.
The (in)famous 1080p truth
This article is making the rounds on the internet so we may as well throw in our two cents. I think there is a lot of confusion and misinformation about HDTV in general and 1080p specifically, and this piece in particular has a lot of both swirling around it.First, let's address the section I've seen quoted most often in forums (usually misinterpreted or presented alone with no context). "How about Blu-ray and HD-DVD? If either format is used to store and play back live HD content, it will have to be 1920x1080i (interlaced again) to be compatible with the bulk of consumer TVs. And any progressive-scan content will also have to be interlaced for viewing on the majority of HDTV sets."What does that mean? If you have a player that outputs only in 1080i (like the HD-DVD player Ben reviewed) and/or a 1080i TV, you will see ... you guessed it 1080i. Not incredibly complicated or shocking, just something I've seen people go into a frenzy over and suddenly believe 1080p is as real as the boogie man, Easter Bunny or gas that costs less than $2.75 per gallon. Trust me, 1080p is real, but you have to be careful about what you're getting.As it stands, this piece is at best half done, definitely outdated and somewhat inaccurate.
Why HD DVD will prevail: my opinion
NOTE: This is my opinion and is not necessarily the same of the rest of HD Beat. The race has started and Toshiba's HD DVD is a head start and I believe that this format will prevail. I am basing this off of three major advantages that I can see from the perspective of a HDTV salesmen. My profession allows me to have a unique view of the overall situation; many of our readers are also in sales so I am sure that they can relate to these points.Take some time and read over this. I am sure that some of these points you have not thought about.
HD-DVD Day is (finally) here
It's like Christmas except ... Christmas was on time. After what seemed like delay after delay, you can now walk into your local electronics retailer and purchase a high definition DVD player. No upconversion tricks necessary here, you'll finally be able to buy discs with more resolution than current players can output. With what would favorably be described as a handful of titles and a launch shipment of only 10,000 players, HD-DVD is coming in with more of a whimper than a bang, but at least its finally here, ICT and all.There are already a couple reviews of the first HD-DVDs, and more impressions of the launch players and discs will be on their way in the coming days and weeks. Will HD-DVD's early launch help much as Blu-ray still looms this summer? It's too early to say really, but I do know that of the four of us at HD Beat, only Ben has said he is buying one of the first players available and even then may return it if more content doesn't become available soon. If our reaction is so muted, how long will it take for either format to catch on with the general public? I still haven't seen any of the HD-DVD "So real you can feel it" ads.Have any of you gotten a hold of one yet or seen them in action, or if you haven't, why not? Let us know in the comments.
Internal pics of Toshiba's HD-A1 HD DVD player
There is a bit of curiosity in all of us. Even if you don't know how the heck it works, you still would love to see the insides of one of the new Toshiba's HD-A1 HD DVD players. AVS Forum user Zerokills just got his hands on his player and cracked it open as soon as he could. (original AVS Forum thread) There are some sweet pics. Got to tell you that we learned somethings from these pics. First off, it seems to be very well built. The HD-A1 also has 1 gig of DDR2700 and the main processor has a heat piped cooling system. Check 'em out. Let us know your first impression.[Thanks for the tip Mark]
