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With Japan-based TDK and Panasonic recently announcing their production plans for Blu-ray Disc (BD) discs, Taiwan-based CMC Magnetics and Ritek indicated that they are currently sampling next-generation BD discs with customers, with mass productions for both companies slated for the third quarter of 2006.Hopefully this means that the price of Blu-ray Disc media will come down some. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
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The Pioneer DVR-111 can produce excellent quality burns on DVD±R media. Every one of our tested media had a perfect read-back curve and our KProbe scans demonstrated how well the media had been written.It sounds like the DVR-111 is a definite improvement over Pioneer's previous drive, the DVR-110D. If you'd like to read more, the entire review can be found here. Add a comment
The Pioneer DVR-111 was also able to burn CD-R media with very good quality, again our KProbe scans showing us how well the media had been written.
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The companies backing competing formats for next-generation DVD technology will never again talk about forming a unified standard, an executive at Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said on Friday, leaving it to the consumer to choose the winning side.I have to agree with Mr. Tsuga. At this point, a unified format isn't going to happen. Leaving it up to the consumer isn't the best solution though, especially for those that invested in the losting format. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
"We are not talking and we will not talk," Kazuhiro Tsuga, an executive officer at Matsushita, the world's largest consumer electronics maker, told Reuters in an interview. "The market will decide the winner."
Matsushita, best known for its Panasonic brand, is a leading supporter of Blu-ray, one of two competing formats for the next-generation DVD. The other format, called HD-DVD, is backed by a group led by Toshiba Corp.
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Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC),released the world's first professional high-definition authoring and encoding systems, Scenarist 4 and CineVision, to enable major motion picture studios to begin the rollout of Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD commercial titles. Designed for professional content creators who demand the highest level of creative control, Scenarist 4 offers complete support for HDMV (Movie Mode) and BD-J Blu-ray Disc authoring in addition to Standard and Advanced Content HD DVD authoring. Also delivering comprehensive next-generation format support is CineVision, Sonic's Hollywood-quality encoding workstation that provides expert control over all three HD video codes: AVC/H.264, VC-1, and MPEG-2. Sonic will be demonstrating Scenarist 4 and CineVision during the National Association of Broadcasters show taking place this week at the Las Vegas Convention Center, booth SL3750.More information on both Scenarist 4 and CineVision can be found here. Add a comment
Scenarist 4 and CineVision were developed in collaboration with the High Definition Authoring Alliance (HDAA), an association of top authoring and post-production facilities around the globe, that Sonic formed in 2005 to help facilitate the successful launch of high-definition titles. Both Scenarist 4 and CineVision were refined based on feedback from content creators who used pre-release versions to produce the industry's first replicated discs using the advanced interactive modes of Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD.
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Primera Technology, Inc., the world's leading developer and manufacturer of CD/DVD/BD duplication and printing equipment and TDK, a world leader in digital recording solutions, today announced the introduction of the world's first inkjet printable BD-R Blu-ray Disc media.Primera and TDK will offer inkjet printable 25GB BD-R media in the 3Q of 2006. The two companies also plan to introduce dual-layer, 50GB discs during the same time. If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Using a DVD/CD compatible inkjet printer, users can print custom text and graphics directly on each disc's label-side surface. The discs, which incorporate TDK's advanced DURABIS 2 hard coating technology, are on display at Primera booth #SL1233 and TDK booth #C10741 at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show, which is taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Center, April 24-27, 2006. Primera and TDK have partnered to optimize TDK's printable surface BD-R media for use with Primera's world renowned line of inkjet BD-R disc publishing and duplication products.
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Today at the National Association of Broadcasters convention, NAB2006, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT - News) and Universal Pictures announced their collaboration on the release of next-generation HD DVD discs using VC-1, the video compression standard recently approved by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and one of the mandatory codecs in the HD DVD specification. Universal will also use iHD for the interactive features of the new titles. The launch of HD DVD players and titles last week in the U.S. represents the first broad market availability of high-definition optical media for consumers.The press release also mentions that all HD-DVD titles from other US studios are using the VC-1 codec as well. More information can be found here. Add a comment
As part of Universal's initiative to provide new digital entertainment experiences for consumers using the best solutions available, the studio is using VC-1 for its initial HD DVD titles, including "Serenity," "Doom," "Apollo 13," "The Bourne Supremacy," "U-571," "Van Helsing" and many more. Given the lower bitrate required with VC-1 to deliver pristine 1080p, high-definition movies, Universal will have room to spare within HD DVD's 30GB capacity for interactive features and other extras. With iHD, the studio is offering interactive menus that are overlaid on top of the movie and accessible without interrupting playback. Additional features, such as user-defined bookmarks that stay with the title, picture-in-picture commentaries, and network access to download new features and HD movies trailers, all access standard HD DVD features (secondary video decoder, network access and persistent storage).
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The draft legislation, created by the Bush administration and backed by Rep. Lamar Smith, already enjoys the support of large copyright holders such as the Recording Industry Association of America. Smith is the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees intellectual-property law.It's easy to see where all the RIAA's and MPAA's money is going. It isn't cheap to buy off a congressman like Lamar, let alone an entire administration. Anyway, if you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
Smith's press secretary, Terry Shawn, said Friday that the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2006 is expected to "be introduced in the near future."
"The bill as a whole does a lot of good things," said Keith Kupferschmid, vice president for intellectual property and enforcement at the Software and Information Industry Association in Washington, D.C. "It gives the (Justice Department) the ability to do things to combat IP crime that they now can't presently do."
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InterVideo, Inc. (NASDAQ:IVII - News) and its partner Ulead Systems, Inc. announced today VideoStudio 10 and VideoStudio 10 Plus, the newest versions of its consumer video editing and DVD authoring software. The new releases allow users of all levels to easily turn photos and video into high-quality productions for sharing on DVD, tape, the Internet or mobile devices.While boxed versions of VideoStudio 10 won't hit store shelves until May, it can be purchased now through Ulead's website. More information can be found here. Add a comment
"With version 10, VideoStudio adds some exciting new features," said Eldon C. M. Liu, president of Ulead. "Users new to video editing will find the software easier than ever. Advanced users can now take advantage of multiple overlay tracks, true 5.1 channel surround sound and complete support for high-definition video."
For the first time, VideoStudio will be offered in two versions. VideoStudio 10 gives entry-level users affordable and easy-to-use editing and authoring tools for great home movies. An advanced version, VideoStudio 10 Plus, delivers unique and powerful features for next-generation quality and creativity.
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While Panasonic has not announced a price, its not going to be cheap, especially considering I-O DATA's LF-MB121JD based drive, the BRD-AM2B is going for 105,000 Yen ($899US). If you'd like to read more, Panasonic's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Panasonic, the brand for which Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is known, today announced that the company will introduce a half-height internal Blu-ray Disc (BD) drive for desktop computers* in Japan on June 10, 2006. The LF-MB121JD BD drive can read and write single- and dual-layer BDs as well as DVDs and CDs. Prior to the introduction of the BD drive, Panasonic releases 2x-speed 25 GB and 50 GB non-cartridge BD-R and BD-RE discs for PC drives on April 28.
Increasing data volume on personal computers and the rapid and continued growth of high definition (HD) television have accelerated consumer demand for an optical drive that can read and record massive PC data as well as HD content at home. The new BD drive and discs will meet this growing demand.
The LF-MB121JD, complied with Blu-ray Disc Association's BD-R, BD-RE and BD-ROM standards, can read and write single-layer 25 GB and single-sided, dual-layer 50 GB BDs. Supporting the three generations of optical discs, the 41.3-mm high internal BD drive is compatible with 11 different writable optical discs and 13 different readable optical disc formats**.
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Hitachi Maxell plans to introduce SVOD as early as the beginning of 2007. The company also hopes to boost the capacity to as high as 5 TB by utilizing a blue-violet laser. More information can be found here. Add a comment
Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. has developed an optical storage technology "stacked volumetric optical discs (SVOD)" that can boost per-volume capacity by using a film-type disc medium with a thickness of 92 μm. The prototyped disc is a recordable disc with a diameter of 12 cm which is equivalent to that of DVDs. It includes two 92 μm thick disc media that are bonded with each other, and the capacity on both sides totals 9.4 GB.
Based on the new technology, the company has succeeded in the development of a high-capacity optical storage system having 940 GB by accommodating 100 newly developed discs in a dedicated cartridge (thickness: 6.5 cm; width: 13.3 cm; depth: 16.1 cm). The system has an advantage that its size can be significantly reduced compared to the typical DVD library systems for the same capacity.
