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Home Entertainment
At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Toshiba announced that they were developing a triple layer HD DVD disc with a capacity of 51GB. This increased capacity gave a lot of hope to HD DVD fans as it would eliminate the primary advantage held by Blu-ray. Toshiba submitted their 51GB to the DVD Forum in April and according to a report by Screen Digiest, it was approved for production on August 31st.
The approval of Toshiba's 51 GB disc is good news for the HD DVD camp, allowing it to compete directly with rival Blu-ray Disc's (BD) dual-layer 50 GB disc. As with the BD50, it is likely to take some time for production yields to reach a commercially viable level. However, once this has been achieved it will arguably eliminate one of the principle reasons behind some studios' support of Blu-ray over HD DVD, thus potentially making it easier for Disney or Fox to adopt a format-agnostic position without losing face.
Surprising, the HD DVD Promotions Group has not issued any press releases regarding this. Until they or the DVD Forum confirm this report, I would consider it to be a rumor. If you'd like to read more, the entire report can be found here. Add a comment

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China has announced that they've developed their own high definition DVD standard. While based on HD DVD, the physical format of the CH-DVD (China High Definition DVD) includes Chinese-owned intellectual property.
The Optical Memory National Engineering Research Center (OMNERC), a laboratory dedicated to optical disc research in Tsinghua University, today announced CH-DVD (China High Definition DVD)(a), a new generation high definition DVD format developed in collaboration with research institutes and manufacturing enterprises at home and abroad. The physical format of CH-DVD includes Chinese-owned intellectual property, and is based on HD DVD, the next generation high definition DVD approved by the DVD Forum. The realization of CH-DVD was supported by the Chinese government, and will pave the way for the localization of blue-laser, high-definition DVD in China.

On Sept. 7, 2007, OMNERC established CHDA -- the China High Definition DVD Industry Association -- in cooperation with the DVD Forum and Chinese and international partners. CHDA will play a leadership role in the promotion of CH-DVD, and will make a big push to launch CH-DVD player into the Chinese market in 2008.
While the details are sketchy, CH-DVD uses some sort of "advanced copy protection technology" to prevent the spread of pirated copies. If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
Pioneer recently announced their new Elite Blu-ray Disc player, the BDP-95FD. According to Pioneer's press release, this high-end player features 1080p/24 output, HDMI 1.3 connectivity and is the industry’s first to offer bitstream output of all advanced audio formats.
High resolution picture and sound performance come together in the new Pioneer Elite BDP-95FD Blu-ray Disc player introduced at the CEDIA Expo today. Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. is showcasing its highly anticipated player, the industry’s first to offer bitstream output of all advanced audio formats including: Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital+, DTS-HD High Resolution and DTS-HD Master Audio. The BDP-95FD ensures a near cinematic experience with its ability to handle 1080p 24 frames per second (fps) reproduction rate preserving a feature film’s original sequence. Taking advantage of HDMI 1.3 connectivity, the new player provides smooth, pristine imagery and dynamic 7.1 surround sound to deliver the full emotional impact of Blu-ray Disc feature films as the director intended.

The Pioneer Elite Blu-ray Disc player leads the industry with sophisticated home theater offerings including HDMI Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) to ensure seamless integration with other high definition theater components. In addition, movies, music and photos can be easily streamed from a home PC to connected 1080p television via the player’s enhanced home networking functionality for unrivaled entertainment.
The BDP-95FD be available at specialty retailers in October for a suggested price of $1000. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Software
Sonic has announced the launch of Scenarist Advanced Content Authoring Software Version 4.5. This new version of Sonic's HD DVD authoring system includes Scenarist Designer and Scenarist Formatter and offers support for features like Multiple Playlists, Secondary EVOBs, and Chapter Point File Import.
Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media software, today introduced Scenarist Advanced Content Authoring Software Version 4.5, the latest version of Sonic’s industry-standard professional HD DVD authoring system. Used for the production of highly interactive blockbuster titles at top authoring facilities worldwide, Scenarist Advanced Content Authoring further streamlines the creation of complex titles with support for Multiple Playlists, Secondary EVOBs, Chapter Point File Import, Scheduled Events and much more. As well as new features, Scenarist Advanced Content Authoring now includes Sonic’s popular Scenarist Designer and new Scenarist Formatter. The new software applications are a strong complement to Scenarist Advanced Content Authoring, providing a highly optimized workflow from graphics and HDi preparation through HD DVD pre-mastering and burning.
Scenarist Advanced Content Version 4.5 will be available later this month and will be provided to existing customers as a free upgrade. More information is available on Sonic's website. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
Toshiba has announced that they will continue to offer five free HD DVD's with the purchase of a HD DVD player until February 28th, 2008. On top of that, the company will be including copies of "300" and "The Bourne Identity" in the box of their third-generation HD DVD players.
In addition, in order to allow consumers to enjoy the HD DVD experienceright out of the box, Toshiba is offering consumers free movies with thepurchase of their third generation players. With Toshiba's new bundlepromotion, consumers will take home the highly acclaimed HD DVDs "300" fromWarner Home Video and "The Bourne Identity" from Universal Studios HomeEntertainment...

...In addition to its bundle promotion, Toshiba announced "The Perfect HDOffer," which will begin on October 1st 2007 and continue until February28th 2008. As a result, with the purchase of any Toshiba HD DVD player,consumers will be able to select five HD DVD titles for free, from aselection of 15, via a mail-in offer. Full offer details will be availableat http://www.toshibahddvd.com.
If you'd like to read more about Toshiba's upcoming promotions, their entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Acer has apparently decided to stay neutral in the battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD. While the company has been a member of the Blu-ray Disc Association for less than a week, they've decided to hedge their bets and join the North American HD DVD Promotional Group.
With HD DVD drives already owninga 70%(1) share of the notebook PC market worldwide, the North American HDDVD Promotional Group today announced that Acer, the world's No. 4 PCvendor, has officially joined the Group.

"We're pleased that Acer is now a member of the North American HD DVDPromotional Group," said Ken Graffeo, co-president of the North American HDDVD Promotional Group. "Acer is already producing a stellar line of HDDVD-enabled notebook PCs for consumers today and we expect continued strongdemand for their products. Acer's support is one reason HD DVD continues tobe the worldwide leader in the PC market."
Acer has been offering HD DVD drives in their laptops for some time so this move really isn't too surprising. If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
Sony recently unveiled two new Blu-ray Disc players, the BDP-S500 and BDP-S2000ES. Both models feature 1080/60p and 24p True Cinema output as well as 7.1 channel Dolby TrueHD,Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio bitstream output.

The BDP-S2000ES and BDP-S500 units both offer 7.1 channel Dolby TrueHD,Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio bitstream output,which is optional specification of HDMI ver1.3. This makes them a perfectmatch for the recently announced STR-DA5300ES and STR-DA4300ES AVreceivers, which also feature the ability to decode the advanced audiocodecs. The new BD players also feature Dolby TrueHD, along with the DolbyDigital Plus and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio decoding function via HDMI,to offer a better sound experience with existing receivers.

The Blu-ray Disc players feature 1080/60p and 24p True Cinema output.They are compatible with most standard DVDs and feature 1080p upscalingthrough HDMI to capable HDTV sets, improving the picture performance ofexisting DVD libraries.
The new BDP-S2000ES and BDP-S500 will be available this fall and are priced at $1,300 and $700 respectively. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
ASUS has officially announced their new Blu-ray Disc drive, the BC-1205PT. With its support for Blu-ray, the BC-1205PT can be used to play back high-def movies as well as read and write to most existing CD and DVD formats.

To cater to users who require high-performance optical drives that can enable high resolution movie playback and high capacity data backup, ASUS has released the next generation high-speed DVD rewriter - the ASUS BC-1205PT Blu-ray Drive. The BC-1205PT is a BD-ROM/DVD±R/RW/CD-RW drive that is capable of reading data from and writing data at 12X DVD+/- write, 4X DVD+/-R (DL) and 5X DVD-RAM speeds. This innovative drive utilizes a with a SATA interface that provides users with five times faster data transfer rates when compared with current DMA33 standards.
No word yet on when the BC-1205PT will hit the US or how much it will be. As we find out more, we'll let you know. More information, including a full list of specs, is available on ASUS's website. Add a comment

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