With the price of Blu-ray players dropping, it may be tempting to go and pick one up. You may want to hold off though as the Blu-ray Disc Association has mandated that all players released after October 31st must be able to play back picture-in-picture video and hold 256MB of memory to help power this feature. Players with an internet connection must also have 1GB of memory to hold downloadable content.
The Blu-ray Disc Assn. has mandated that all hardware streeting after that date must be able to play back picture-in-picture video, as driven by BD Java interactive technology. Many players on shelves now can handle BD Java, but to varying degrees. Few Blu-ray players include picture-in-picture capability, for instance, not even the PlayStation 3.

Sony's current and summer 2007 stand-alone models and available Pioneer and Philips units are among those lacking the picture-in-picture feature.

With two different pools of players at retail in the near future, studios will have to navigate how to best create titles that play universally. A title with a highly touted picture-in-picture feature, for example, might not play properly on all players.
Unfortunately, those that shelled out a small fortune for first gen Blu-ray Disc players probably won't be able to take advantage of features like picture-in-picture, even with a firmware update. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Media Magazine has released the latest Nielsen VideoScan sales data. As of March 18th, Blu-ray had now sold 100 units to every 84.07 units of HD DVD. Comparing these numbers to last week's results (100:89.25), you can see that HD DVD has slipped another 5% in overall sales.


Things definitely aren't looking good for HD DVD. However, with price drops and the release of the Ultimate Matrix Collection on the way, HD DVD could make a comeback. Feel free to leave your comments in our forum. Add a comment
New Medium Enterprises (NME) has announced that they've signed a deal with MCA Technology, giving them the ability to distribute and promote their VMD players and PC drives in France and other parts of Europe.
New Medium Enterprises (NME) (OTC Bulletin Board: NMEN - News), a company that has developed, designed and manufactured the latest home entertainment innovation, HD VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc), today announces its contract with one of the most established electronic distributors, MCA Technology.

The deal is a major step towards NME's French expansion for which MCA Technology has been given exclusive distribution rights in addition to introducing NME to parts of other European territories where MCA has a strong footprint. MCA will co-ordinate the distribution and promotion of its HD VMD player and PC drives amongst electronics and technology retail specialists, which will support NME's current aggressive marketing campaigns across Europe.
As part of the European launch, NME will be offering a special bundle which includes an HD VMD player and five HD VMD movies for only 299 Euro (including VAT). If you'd like to read more, NME's entire press release can be found here Add a comment

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Thanks to John Daly and Erick Hansen, indie film makers will soon be able to release their movies on Blu-ray. The two industry leaders recently formed the world's first indie Blu-ray manufacturing and distribution company, Edge of Light Media (EOL).
The world's first independent Blu-ray film distribution and manufacturing company, Edge of Light Media (EOL), has been launched by award-winning film producer John Daly and DVD pioneer Erick Hansen to release indie and mini-major films, TV shows and music videos worldwide in the high-definition disc format.

The bold move is considered key to not only Blu-ray, but to overall HD acceptance as the majors now control virtually all the manufacturing and distribution of the emerging Blu-ray disc technology while most films produced in the U.S. and abroad are made outside the studio system. EOL has actively begun seeking Blu-ray arrangements with indie film distributors, mini-majors and TV production companies for their new releases and catalog titles and a manufacturing plant is currently under construction by Hansen in Spokane, Washington.

The new joint venture will team Daly's Film and Music Entertainment (FLME:Pk) with Hansen's Blue Ray Technologies Inc.. The new Edge of Light Media offices will handle sales and authoring out of Film and Music's new offices at 5900 Wilshire in Los Angeles while manufacturing and fulfillment will be handled by Blue Ray's new Spokane plant. The operation will be overseen by Lon Gibby and Gibby Media Group with Bobby McGee handling worldwide sales for EOL.
EOL's manufacturing plant is expected to be up and running by early spring. If you'd like to read more, the entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
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
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
Plextor Europe sent out a press release this morning, announcing the PX-DB608AL. This new new space-saving solution takes two slim drives and fits them into a single 5.25" drive bay.


Proving that two-into-one does go, Plextor announces the first space-saving Slim line optical drive solution for desktop PCs. The compact 'dual-bay' Plextor PX-DB600 enables two optical slim line drives to be positioned into the space of just one 5.25" drive bay - making it ideal for lifestyle chassis and small form factor Media Center PCs.

Developed from their extensive experience in laptop opticals, the dual-layer multi-format (DVD+/-R and DVD-RAM) Plextor PX-608AL and the dual bay PX-DB600 (combined as the PX-DB608AL) enables greater flexibility and convenience for 'small footprint' PC-owners. For example, users can watch a DVD movie while burning other media to disc, and copy discs directly without saving to the hard disk first.
Take note that the PX-DB608AL includes only one PX-608AL. If you'd like the dual configuration, you will need to pick up a second PX-608AL or some other slim line optical drive. No word on price yet, but our European readers can expect to see the PX-DB608AL on store shelves some time in April. More information is available on Plextor Europe's website. Add a comment

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