Sony is expected to present a new high end Blu-ray standalone player at the upcoming IFA 2007 called the BDP-S1E. According to AVING USA, the BDP-S1E features:

• DVD video up-scaling to 1080p
• 24p True Cinema Mode
• Supports eight channel audio (7.1 linear PCM) as well as Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sony, BDP-S1E, Blu-ray player

Blu-ray or HD DVD? That’s the big question these days when we’re talking about high definition video content. Well.. the folks at Axonix Corporation are saying - why not have both with their new MediaMax HD Entertainment Server. MediaMax HD is the first Media Server system to play via Cover Art or Metadata both HD DVD and Blu-ray movies. The system actually includes a MediaDeck 4 system and a MediaServer box with oodles of storage space. MediaMax HD DVD provides the following:

• Instant playback of media stored on it’s Media Server including HD and SD DVD movies, CD, MP3, and WAV music, photos, and downloaded music and movies via the Axonix NetPlay service
• Includes a MediaServer and one or more MediaDeck 4 HD Media Players which include either an SD, HD DVD or Blu-ray drive
• MediaMax interface allows you to browse your media collection utilizing vivid HD quality cover art
• Browse via metadata including Genre, Actor, Director, Artist, Album, Title, Favorites, or by Playlists
• Supports SD/HD DVD movies, downloaded movies, music CDs, downloaded WMA and MP3s, imported or ripped WAV, converted iPod music, Internet radio, JPEG photos, etc

MediaDeck 4 is $3495 with an SD DVD/CD drive; $4995 for the MediaDeck 4 HD DVD with integrated HD DVD drive, $5995 for the MediaDeck 4 Blu-ray  with integrated Blu-ray drive. All the MediaDeck 4 models support the playback of HD movies loaded on the MediaServer. MediaServers with up to 13 TBs of RAID 6 are available with or without HD or SD drive. The Spectra 2 SD 500GB Series MediaServer starts at $5795.

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Warner Home Video announced that “300″ was the fastest and highest selling high definition title in the market. Since July 31st, more than 250,000 copies of “300″ have been sold in either HD DVD or Blu-ray format. WHV now has six of the top 10 selling HD titles which include “300″, “The Departed”, “Superman Returns”, “Planet Earth - The Complete Collection”, “Batman Begins”, and “Happy Feet”.

Ron Sanders, President of Warner Home Video, is quoted as saying “‘300′ is an amazing film, and the high definition sales we are seeing underscores the positive business benefits of supporting both HD DVD and Blu-ray”. He goes on to say “This phenomenal response to ‘300′ is the latest proof that our approach makes the most sense in today’s market and has enabled Warner Home Video to continue to lead the market in high definition sales.”

Hopefully, more Hollywood studios will follow the steps taken by Warner Home Video (although this is highly unlikely at this time) in releasing content in both formats. There’s certainly plenty of room for both formats to succeed in this market.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: 300

So you’re thinking about getting that new Hitachi Blu-ray Camcorder right? You’re going to need some media for it then since it uses 8cm Blu-ray discs. Well Verbatim is right there with you with a new line of Mini Blu-ray Recordable/Rewriteable (BD-R/RE) media. (NOTE - the picture to the right is of the 12 cm discs). These 8 cm discs provide up to one hour of 1080i video on a single side and two hours of video with resolutions of 1440 x 1080i.  The Mini Blu-ray discs will provide the same read/write performance characteristics as their 12cm cousins.

These new discs will be made available in the same order as the Hitachi camcorders which means you’ll see them first in Japan followed by rollouts in the rest of the world - in the order that the Hitachi camcorders come out to the marketplace.

[Check it out] 

Technorati Tags: Verbatim, 8cm Blu-ray discs

Akihabara News has some new information on an upcoming Blu-ray player from Pioneer called the BDP-LX80. This player supports fairly standard HD features such as 1080p support, 24p playback for cinema-like feel, and Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD. What makes the unit particularly interesting to homes with home networking is its support for the DLNA specification which allows it to connect and stream content from other DLNA capable appliances. As an example, you’ll be able to stream digital content from a PC to the BDP-LX80 thanks to DLNA. Now there’s some added-value for ya!

Other specs include:

• Supports BD-ROM, DVD-R/DL
• Supports MPEG1, MPEG2, WMV9, 9HD,
• Supports MP3, WAV music formats
• Supports JPG, PNG, and GIF image formats

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Pioneer, BDP-LX80

It’s not quite the fall yet but Hitachi has formally announced the world’s first Blu-ray capable disc camcorders today. The new camcorders are the hybrid DZ-BD7H and the BD single disc DZ-BD70. Both camcorders will begin selling in Japan on August 30th and will become available in the overseas market starting in October.

The Hitachi DZ-BD7H is known as a hybrid camcorder because it has both a 30GB internal hard drive and a BD drive. Customers can record 1920 x 1080 full HD video onto the hard drive and then later copy the contents to the BD drive. If you record at full 1920 x 1080, you’ll get approximately four hours of video from the 30GB HDD. If you record at 1440 x 1080, you’ll get approximately eight hours of video on the drive. The camcorder also comes with a 5.3 megapixel CMOS image sensor capable of providing 2.07 megapixels for video and 4.32 megapixels for digital stills. The DZ-BD7H supports high speed dubbing to the BD drive at rates of 2X recording speed.

The Hitachi DZ-BD70 is a BD single drive camcorder which can record approximately one hour of 1920 x 1080 resolution video onto a single 8cm BD disc. If you switch to 1440 x 1080, you’ll get approximately two hours on a single 8cm BD disc.The DZ-BD70 also features the same 5.3 megapixel CMOS image sensor.

Key features of the new Hitachi BD camcorders include:

• Adaptive Dynamic Noise Reduction which analyzes and encodes the video while reducing noise
• Advanced Correlative Coefficient Multiplication Method which reduces false colors to reproduce images in clearer and more natural colors
• MPEG4 AVC/H.264 codec suppport
• 12 element in 9-group, 18-sided multicoat lens
• HDMI support
• SD memory card slot
• Review recorded videos with a display of 12 thumbnails
• Interactive guide
• 10x optical zoom

You can find additional information about the new Hitachi Blu-ray camcorders here on Hitachi’s website.

[Check it out]

[Check out the press release]

Technorati Tags: Hitachi, Blu-ray Camcorder, DZ-BD7H, DZ-BD70

Hoping to spur interest in high definition equipment and content, Panasonic held their first ever “Living in High Definition” initiative event today. The event was held today at 11:45 am EST and lasted till 12:45pm EST and included speakers such as a Hollywood producer and director, academic experts, and Panasonic executives. Luckily, it was a web cast, which means you can still catch it by going to this link here:

http://4.78.165.100/PanaSonic_HD_Event/default2.asp

More importantly, this event was designed to launch Panasonic’s Living in High Definition program. The program will select families from across America and provide them with Panasonic’s high end HD products including a 50 inch 1080p plasma TV, an HD camcorder, digital cameras, a Blu-ray DVD player, and much much more.

So how do you enter to get this equipment? Starting on August 1st, Panasonic will be posting up challenges for families to compete in. What you’ll need to do is tell Panasonic how your family would complete the challenge and why your family would be the best spokes-family for the company. If Panasonic chooses your family, then you will receive Panasonic’s entire HD product suite and then asked to bring your ideas to light. Your final video might be shown online or become part of a documentary film that the company is making with Brett Ratner.

The folks judging the entries will include Brett Ratner, Justine Shapiro, Kevin Smith, and Robert Wilson. The selection panel will review the submissions, and then judge them based on several criteria. However, creativity will be the most important aspect to the submissions.

If you’re interested in the program, make sure to check out the new website - http://www.livinginhd.com  and also make sure to check out the web cast for additional information into the program.

[Check out the web cast]

[Check out Living in HD]

Technorati Tags: Panasonic, Living in High Definition, High Definition

If you’re wondering where things stand between Blu-ray and HD DVD currently, check out this comparison chart published by News.com whcih shows background information, and some early sales figures for the two competing formats. The numbers are interesting and of course somewhat misleading right now as Blu-ray is integrated into the Sony PS3 console. What is evident is the role the game consoles are playing in helping users choose a high def format. HD DVD has the slight edge when it comes to standalone players sold but Blu-ray has the edge in content availability of course and in backing.

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The Blu-ray retail camp just got a bit stronger as Sony has announced that Target plans to only carry Blu-ray players at least through the holiday season. Target will also expand its current inventory of Blu-ray discs to offer more selection to customers. According to Sony, the retail move will occur in October with Target selling the new Sony BDP-S300 player which sells for under $500 dollars.

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Technorati Tags: Target, Blu-ray

Samsung has announced four new Blu-ray products that are all due to launch later this year - one of which is the highly anticipated BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player which supports both Blu-ray and HD DVD media formats. The other three product announcements involve systems that play back only Blu-ray formats so let’s get to the details.

The Samsung BD-UP5000 Duo HD player has the following specs according to PC Magazine:

• Support for Blu-ray and HD DVD
• HQV (Hollywood Quality Video) processing
• 1080i to 1080p HD deinterlacing
• Support for HDi and BD-Java-based interactive menus

All great stuff but it appears we were all off the mark when it came down to pricing and timing. The Samsung BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player will come out during the fourth quarter of this year for a price of $1049. So much for the $500 dollar pricing that many suspected this player would come in at.

On the standalone front, Samsung will be releasing a third generation Blu-ray player in the form of the Samsung BD-P1400 which features:

• Blu-ray playback only
• Supports lossless DTS HD and Dolby TrueHD
• Supports 5.1 audio
• Ships in September for a price of $549

A higher end Blu-ray player coming from Samsung is the BD-P2400 which features:

• Blu-ray playback only
• HQV video processor - upscale DVD to 1080p over HDMI
• Supports lossless DTS HD and Dolby TrueHD
• Supports 7.1 channel audio
• Ships in October for a price of $649

Finally, Samsung is introducing a new home theater system called the HT-BD2 Home Theater Solution with Blu-ray. As the name implies, the all-in-one home-theater-in-a-box supports Blu-ray playback and comes in a piano black finish and blue LED accent lights. There’s also an active subwoofer with five tower and two satellite rear speakers. The system supports DTS HD and Dolby TrueHD. This system is due in the fourth quarter for a price of $1499.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Samsung, Blu-ray, BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player, BD-P1400, BD-P2400, HT-BD2 Home Theater Solution with Blu-ray