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Home Entertainment

22 March 2007

If you've been thinking about picking up one of Toshiba's HD DVD players, you might want to hold off a bit. According to High-Def Digest, the company plans to drop the price of its low end player, the HD-A2, to $399, making it cheapest stand-alone high-def solution on the market.

Continuing their aggressive push to lower HD DVD player pricing, Toshiba has announced they will reduce the cost of both of their first-generation decks beginning April 1st.

Beginning next month, the new prices will be as follows:

Toshiba HD-A2: $399 (previously $499)
Toshiba HD-A20: $499 (previously $599)

The manufacturer has also dropped the price of its current best-selling HD-XA2 second-generation HD DVD deck, which now retails for $799 (previously $999).

I'm not sure if cheaper players will give HD DVD the boost it needs, but its definitely a step in the right direction. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here.

Edit: If you can't wait until April 1st, Amazon already has the Toshiba HD-A2 marked down to $357 with free shipping. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

15 March 2007

While HD DVD has been dominating the market in Europe, the Playstation 3 and its built in Blu-ray player will hit stores in a little more than a week. To help fend off the invader, Studio Canal, Universal, Toshiba and Microsoft have rallied together, forming the European HD DVD Promotional Group. Like its counterparts in North America and Japan, the group will work to promote the format and co-market HD DVD hardware.

At a press conference at CeBIT 2007, Studio Canal, Universal, Toshiba and Microsoft were on stage to announce the formation of a new trade organization, the European HD DVD Promotional Group, Ltd., which will include movie studios, distributors, consumer electronics companies, IT companies, PC makers, disc replication companies and authoring houses companies throughout Europe and around the globe. As the European counterpart to the North American HD DVD Promotional Group and working with the HD DVD Promotion Group originally organized in Japan, the new non-profit organization completes the global promotion structure for HD DVD, working to educate consumers on the quality and value of the format.

"After a strong year in North America and Asia, HD DVD is drawing attention in Europe, with unrivaled quality and affordable prices," said Ken Graffeo, Executive Vice President, HD Strategic Marketing, Universal Studios Home Entertainment. "HD DVD is the most recognized brand name worldwide for high definition packaged media and we now have a strong group of companies behind it, from hardware manufacturers to studios and distributors."

While HD DVD releases have been a bit slow as of late, more than 600 titles are expected to be on store shelves by the end of 2007. If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

20 March 2007

As many of you know, the FCC has mandated that all TV and video products shipped with an analog TV tuner must also include a digital tuner. To get around this, many manufacturers have decided not to include any tuner at all. Panasonic has announced that they've decided not to take advantage of this "loophole" and will include digital tuners with their 2007 DVD recorder line.

"While many of our competitors have introduced barebones units to avoid the expense of putting digital tuners in their models, we decided not to take that route," Reggiani said. "Not incorporating any tuner at all is an excellent way to comply with the new law but in the end it's a real disservice to consumers."

"Unless the consumer has a DVD recorder with a digital tuner, he or she will need a separate set-top box to be able to record content. In a room without a set-top box the consumer will have to leave their TV on and tuned to the channel when they want to record," Reggiani added. "Our research shows that a great many owners connect their DVD recorders to secondary TVs in bedrooms or dens and use the tuners in the recorders in lieu of buying and/or paying an extra monthly fee for a second or third cable box.

More information, including a list of Panasonic DVD recorders with digital tuners, can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

14 March 2007

Video Business has reported that Lionsgate will be releasing two movies, Ultimate Avengers: The Movie and Ultimate Avengers 2, on a single 50GB Blu-ray Disc. These two films are also the first direct to DVD titles to be released on Blu-ray.

Lionsgate and Marvel Enterprises plan to use Blu-ray Disc to its full capacity with the first double feature release on the format.

The companies will debut Ultimate Avengers: The Movie and Ultimate Avengers 2 on one 50GB Blu-ray disc April 24 for a suggested retail price of $39.99. Prebook is March 28.

The films will be the first direct-to-DVD releases to debut on Blu-ray.

To fill up the rest of the disc, the release will also include two featurettes, a gag reel, a trivia track and a first look at the movie Dr. Strange. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment