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In this review we'll take a look at some of the features found on the DRW-1612BL and see how it compares to some of the 16x DVD±RW drives from the competition. Does the DRW-1612BL have what it takes? You'll have to read the review to find out.
If you have any comments or questions about this review or the ASUS DRW-1612BL, please post them in the forum by clicking the link below. Add a comment
ASUS DRW-1612BL 16x DVD±RW/RAM
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Samsung's Duo HD player (BD-UP5000) will fully support both HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats and their interactive technologies, HDi and BD-Java. With the Duo HD consumers can enjoy additional studio content such as trailers, director's comments, more elaborate interactive menus and behind the scene footage. The new Duo HD joins Samsung's next generation DVD line-up which includes Samsung's second generation Blu-ray player available at retail this month. Together, these two models offer the consumer a strong line of High-Definition players to match Samsung's award winning, and best selling, line of HDTVs.No word on pricing or availability. As we find out more, we'll let you know. In the mean time, Samsung's entire press release can be found review. Add a comment
"We welcome Samsung's Duo HD player as another solution in the marketplace that will help reduce consumer confusion and buyer hesitancy towards HD media," said Ron Sanders, President of Warner Home Video. "This is an innovative product that can move us closer to mainstream consumer adoption of HD technologies."
"We are very pleased to announce the upcoming release of our Duo HD player. Consumers are hungry for more HD content but are currently confused about competing formats. Samsung's Duo HD player will allow consumers access to every HD movie title available regardless of the authoring format. Samsung is committed to making life simpler through technology and will market next generation DVD products which will satisfy the consumer and market requirement. This is a big win for the consumer.
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Unlike the Samsung SH-S183L I previously reviewed here, this drive was quite unpredictable in many areas of testing. This drive had the potential of being one of the very best options out on the market. This was quickly out of reach when it came down to its riplock in firmware. It was quite upsetting actually and it will basically cripple this drive significantly. Fortunately though, there is some modified firmware you can load to help remedy this. However, you will still likely face some minor issues when loading such firmware and still must be prepared to accept its poor read performance on a majority of DVD-Video discs. Also, its highly questionable write performance on DVD+R DL media is something to keep in mind as well. The drive did not consistently write to this media very well.If you'd like to read more, head on over to ExtremeMhz and check out their review. Add a comment
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Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media software, today unveiled CineVision 2.0, a major upgrade to the company's professional encoding system that has been enhanced to tackle the complex encoding challenges of next-generation Blu-ray Disc (BD) and HD DVD optical disc formats. The latest version sets a new standard for control and workflow efficiency with a range of features and enhancements including the integration of best-of-class Digital Vision image enhancement technologies, advanced segment-based editing functionality with multi-take capabilities, and dual-format legalization control. CineVision 2 also further improves encoding quality of all three next-generation HD video codecs: H.264 (AVC), VC-1, and MPEG-2.While CineVision 2.0 won't be released until May, Sonic will be demonstrating it next week at NAB. More information can be found here. Add a comment
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Toshiba America ConsumerProducts, L.L.C. ("Toshiba") announced today that its newest HD DVD player,the HD-A20, is now shipping to U.S. retailers. Priced at $499.99 (MSRP),the HD-A20 adds to Toshiba's second generation of HD DVD players and makes1080p resolution available at an attractive price point.Amazon already has the HD-A20 in stock and currently has it on sale for $419.99 with free shipping. If you'd like to read more, Toshiba's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
The Player: With 1080p output capability, Toshiba's HD-A20 joins theexisting Toshiba HD DVD line-up which includes the entry level HD-A2 andthe top of the line, HD-XA2. This expanded line of products offers enhancedfunctionalities of the HD DVD format and is proof of Toshiba's commitmentto the smooth transition to the next stage in high definitionentertainment. Through an HDMI(TM) interface, DVD content can beupconverted to near HD picture quality. The HD-A2, HD-A20 and HD-XA2 areall backward compatible, so users can continue to enjoy their libraries ofcurrent DVD and CD software.
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Can anyone figure out what's going on here? I played a Blu-ray disc game that didn't work so well. It was the old Dragon's Lair title, remade for Blu-ray. You have to press the right button on the Blu-ray remote to make sure that your hero makes the right choice in this old cinematic game.While the Blu-ray Disc Association has said that first-gen players won't become obsolete, its obvious that not all titles will play on them, at least without a BD-Java update. If you'd like to read more, Dean's entire post can be found here. Add a comment
I put it into a Philips Blu-ray player and it didn't work at all. I put it into the Sony PlayStation 3 and it worked fine, but without any sound. Somebody smart tells me its a Java problem. Anyone know?
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Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media software, today launched Scenarist BD Edition 4.3, an important upgrade to its revolutionary high-definition authoring system that makes the creation of Blu-ray Disc (BD) titles with advanced interactive content significantly more accessible and straightforward. Bringing speed and efficiency to all aspects of the BD title authoring workflow, Scenarist BD Edition includes new networked multiplexing capabilities, streamlined asset management capabilities, and the industry's best-of-breed still-image encoder for the highest-possible quality menus and HD slide shows. Scenarist BD Edition is also the world's first application to allow professional authors to enable BD-Java functions used to create advanced interactive programming with drag-and-drop simplicity and produce BD-Objects and JAR files through a wizard-based workflow. The simplified workflow is integrated into a full-featured Java editor to provide the ideal balance between ease and control and make Scenarist BD Edition the world's only comprehensive authoring system for creating Hollywood-class Blu-ray disc titles.Scenarist BD Edition 4.3 is available now, and is being demonstrated at NAB. More information is available on Sonic's website. Add a comment
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Designing menus for HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc titles is very different from DVD-Video. Scenarist Designer PS 2.0 is unique in that it returns the control of menu component creation to the professional graphic designer who can create menus for high-definition titles using the industry-standard Adobe Photoshop. By basing the menu-design process on familiar concepts such as using layer sets to group button elements, Scenarist Designer PS 2.0 lets designers stay focused on the visual aspects of their work without worrying about the details of conversion for various output formats. Once a menu's background and button-state graphics are defined, the export from Photoshop of a compatible menu for one or more target formats is handled automatically via the Scenarist Designer PS 2.0 plug-in, saving hours of authoring work for each project. Offering flexible control and customization of dithering options for HDMV's RGBA palettes, Scenarist Designer PS 2.0 ensures that menu graphics are of the highest-image quality.Scenarist Designer PS 2.0 is available now for both the Mac and Windows platforms. More information can be found on Sonic's website. Add a comment
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Well, it looks like you can stop worrying about Corel locking up your next gen DVD player. The clever bods at the Doom9 and XBoxhacker forums have managed to patch the Xbox 360 HD DVD to to play any disk without authentication.People have already taken this hack a step further and have found a way to expose Volume ID's using an unpatched drive. While the AACS LA could, in theory, revoke the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive, Microsoft probably won't let that happen. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
HD DVD and BlueRay require that a disk authenticate itself with a Volume ID. A player can then be patched so it will not play any revoked disks.
What this hack does is bypass the check for a Volume ID you can stick any disk in the player and you're good to go, rendering useless any future revocations. It's still possible to lock out the actual hardware, but how long will it take the hackers to get around that?
