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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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
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
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
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
Sonic sent out a press release this morning, announcing CineVision 2.5. This upgrade to their professional encoding solution features expanded high-def image controls and an SD version for DVD-Video production.
Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media software, today unveiled CineVision 2.5, a significant upgrade to the company's Hollywood-standard high-definition encoding platform. The only encoder to support AVC, VC-1, and MPEG-2 stream creation in one system, CineVision Version 2.5 was developed based on direct feedback from leading Hollywood image-quality experts. The latest version introduces an impressive list of powerful technical enhancements including an expanded image processing filter-set from Emmy-award winning tools provider Digital Vision, extensive adaptive-quantization controls, an accelerated first-pass encoding mode that reduces encoding times by as much as 25%, and greater parameter accessibility for segment re-encoding. Also new with CineVision 2.5 is the debut of CineVision SD which offers powerful image control for encoding standard definition MPEG-2 for the DVD-Video format.
While CineVision 2.5 won't be available until later this month, Sonic will be demonstrating it this week at IBC. More information can be found here. Add a comment

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LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling announced today that they have made some enhancements to their system software to improve the image quality of CD and DVD labels. Available through a free upgrade, these enhancements do not impact LightScribe labeling time and work with all LightScribe media.

LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling today announced enhancements that reduce graininess and improve fine detail reproduction for LightScribe's DVD / CD labeling. The stunning results are instantly visible on photos, graphics and text on LightScribe CDs and DVDs. The enhanced image quality is available immediately through a free upgrade of the LightScribe system software and requires no additional changes to customers' systems or new hardware and media. LightScribe customers will experience the image quality improvement when they update to the latest version of the LightScribe system software, available for download on www.lightscribe.com.

The LightScribe system software will also be preloaded on LightScribe-enabled personal computers and included with DVD writers. The new enhancements do not impact LightScribe labeling time and work with all LightScribe media -- CDs, DVDs, and color background CDs.
If you'd like to try out these enhancements, you can download the latest system software from LightScribe's website. More information can also be found here. Add a comment
With the Samsung BD-UP5000 coming later this year, LG has launched an updated version of its Super Blu Player. Like the BH100, the BH200 is capable of Blu-ray disc and HD DVD playback. However, it also includes new features like HDi interactivity, 1080p DVD upconversion and support for HDMI 1.3.
LG Electronics, the first company tointroduce a dual-format high-definition disc player, today unveiled itssecond-generation LG Super Blu(TM) Player (model BH200). Sporting bothformats' logos, LG's new high-def player is capable of Blu-ray disc and HDDVD playback with advanced BD-Java and HDi interactivity, enablingconsumers to choose from the widest variety of high-def content regardlessof disc format.

On display for the first time at the Custom Electronic Design andInstallation Association (CEDIA) EXPO 2007 (booth #720), LG's Super BluPlayer will be available to U.S. consumers and custom installers inmid-October at a suggested retail price of $999.
While priced less than the BH100 when it was introduced, the BH200 still isn't cheap. For $999 you can buy separate Blu-ray and HD DVD players and still have money left over for some movies. If you'd like to read more, LG's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment