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17 January 2007

Last week, there was a lot of hubbub about Sony and their stance about porn on Blu-ray. According to one adult film studio, Sony had threatened to withdraw the license from any copying facility making pornographic films. As the folks at the Inquirer have found out, this isn't entirely true.

The answer is that it hasn't. Once you get past the sensationalist headlines, there's more to it. Big-time porn studio Vivid has announced its first Blu-ray porn movie, so there's obviously a leak somewhere in the Blu-ray condom. Even the Blu-ray disc Association has reacted quickly by saying there is no ban against adult movie content.

It's true that Sony doesn't care for porn on its devices. It was unhappy when porn started arriving on the UMD disc format for the PSP and from certain quotes by porn makers, Sony is not actually being that helpful with Blu-ray. It's not blocking them but, at the same time, it's not exactly pointing them in the direction of Blu-ray disc manufacturers that can help them out. Many are having to find their own production sources.

Vivid isn't the only company putting porn on Blu-ray either. As we reported the other day, the Japanese studio "Glayz" is also publishing adult films in the format. If you'd like to read more, the Inquirer's entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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16 January 2007

NME recently announced that they've secured worldwide patents for its Versatile Multilayer Disc (VMD) technology. These patents also cover their 2P process, which involves producing more than two layers on a single-sided disc.

New Medium Enterprises, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: NMEN - News), today announced it has secured worldwide patents surrounding its high-capacity Versatile Multilayer Disc (VMD) technology. VMD technology provides up to eight information layers on each side of a disc and can be utilized for both blue laser and red laser formats, thereby offering numerous and greater content options and business opportunities for the high-definition and content ecosystem. VMD is applicable for single- and double-sided discs and a multiplicity of formats, including Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

The comprehensive NME patents, outlining the basic principles and method of cost-effective mass manufacturing of multilayer discs, were filed initially in 2004 and have now been extended through most of the industrial world. The patents cover the principles of NME's break-through modified 2P process, which involves producing more than two layers on a single-sided disc, and will allow for the first time the replication of multilayer discs with the production yield and subsequent production costs comparable to current DVD production. The patent also covers the general set-up of a VMD production line and method of playing-back multilayer discs.

While all this is great, it won't really matter if movie studios don't get on board. If you'd like to read more, NME's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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17 January 2007

If you've been holding back, hoping that Blu-ray players will come down in price, you're going to be waiting awhile. In a recent interview with News.com, Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow stated that it will probably take another three years before the price of Blu-ray players drops below $400.

When will Blu-ray players drop in price to become a mainstream product?

Glasgow: If you go back to when DVDs came into play, it took about three years until they got into price points of $299 to $399. I suspect it's about the same thing here with Blu-ray. I think it's going to take up to three years to get down to those price points, possibly a little longer. But I would assume it's similar to DVD.

We have some control over (the cost of the) components. There are a lot of components in that product. Once you get volumes up, you get yields up, and you get efficiencies up; the prices go down on the components.

I'm sure Toshiba and other HD DVD backers are going to eat this up. As it is, you can already get Toshiba's second generation HD DVD player, the HD-A2, for less than $400. If you'd like to read more, News.com's entire interview can be found here. Add a comment

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15 January 2007

Late last week, a number or reports surfaced, claiming that Sony not allowing pornographic films to be released on Blu-ray. Surprisingly enough, porn is already on Blu-ray, at least in Japan. According to a story at WesleyTech.com, "Glayz" publishes adult films in a number of formats, including Blu-ray Disc.

A WesleyTech.com contact in Japan has notified me that porn is indeed already available on the Blu-ray Disc format. At least in Japan, the adult film studio "Glayz" already produces and distributes content on Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD and UMD.

Unless there is some prude working at Sony America, last weeks' reports really don't make much sense. With porn on UMD and now Blu-ray in Japan, there's no reason to threaten duplication companies in the US. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment