Primera sent out a press release this morning, announcing their new Bravo SE Blu Disc Publisher. Built around the Pioneer BDR-101A, the Bravo SE Blu can copy and print up to 20 discs per job.

Primera Technology, Inc., the world's leading developer and manufacturer of CD, DVD and BD duplication and printing equipment, today announced its Bravo SE Blu Disc Publisher.

Instead of producing Blu-ray Discs one at a time, the Bravo SE Blu automates the entire burning and printing process. An advanced, sixth-generation robotic mechanism is used to transport discs into the built-in Pioneer BDR-101A Blu-ray Disc/DVD Recorder. After recording, each Blu-ray Disc is individually inkjet printed direct-to-disc in full-color at up to 4800 dpi resolution. Up to 20 discs per job can be produced automatically and hands-free.
The Bravo SE Blu is available now for a suggested retail price of $2995. More information can be found on Primera's website. Add a comment
With NEC announcing a new chipset compatible with both Blu-ray and HD DVD, there has been a lot of hope that drives capable of reading and writing both formats would soon be on the way. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we'll be seeing one any time soon, at least from Taiwan's drive manufacturers.
Following an announcement by NEC of chips supporting both the HD DVD and Blu-ray formats, Taiwan-based optical disc drive (ODD) makers said they are not considering launching dual-standard drive models for the two disc standards..

..Although NEC claims the new dual-standard chips can help reduce costs by 20-30%, Taiwan-based ODD firms said the overall production cost of ODDs using the chip may not be less than that of disc drives using chips that support a single DVD standard since overall costs are determined by other factors, such as the cost of the optical pick-up head (PUH) and yields.
If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
With Blu-ray and HD DVD hogging most of the spotlight, most people don't realize that there are other, more affordable high-def formats on the way. According to an article at PC Magzine, New Medium Enterprises (NME) has started taking orders for its HD VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc) player and plans to ship it next month.
New Medium Enterprises said this week that it has begun taking orders for its HD VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc) player, a format that the company says will support high-definition video. The $175 player will begin shipping in November, according to a company spokesman.

In addition, the player will be shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, where an improved model will be released, the NME representative said.
The article also mentions that NME plans to begin marketing file formats, encryption technology, authoring tools and compression technologies. 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, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
According to an article at DigiTimes, there are a growing number of Taiwanese manufacturers passing off their 8x and 4x DVD+R/-R discs as being rated at 16x or 8x.
Among makers of optical discs in Taiwan, only CMC Magnetics, Ritek, Prodisc Technology, Daxon Technology and Lead Data are currently capable of producing 16x DVD+R/-R discs, while second-tier and smaller makers produce 4x and/or 8x discs, the sources indicated.

As demand for 16x DVD+R/-R discs grows with the increasing use of 16x and 18x DVD burners, some makers have mislabeled their discs with higher speeds in order to grab profits, the sources pointed out, noting that there have been reported cases of counterfeited TDK 8x and 16x DVD+R/-R discs made by small makers in Taiwan.
If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment
Kagan Research has released the 11th edition of their market analysis report, "The State of Home Video". According to their study, high-definition DVD's will not dominate the market until 2012.
In 2006, the bulk of the $16.9 bil. revenue will come from standard-definition DVD ($16.8 bil.)," said Wade Holden, Kagan analyst. "By 2009, VHS will be virtually extinct and high-definition DVD revenue should grow to more than $2.6 bil. as the format war works itself out, either via one winning format or a combination HD DVD/Blu-ray player being introduced to the market. By 2015, VHS will be history and high-definition DVD will be the major-market shareholder with $18.3 bil. in revenue.
I have to agree with this study. Contrary to what Blu-ray and HD DVD promoters want you to think, the DVD is not going away any time soon. More information on Kagan's report can be found here. Add a comment
While manufacturers like Samsung and LG have canceled their plans for hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD players, this hasn't stopped NEC from developing a new chipset compatible with both formats.
Japanese chip maker NEC Electronics Corp. said on Tuesday it began shipping a chip compatible with both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats in next-generation DVDs, bridging a format war splitting the electronics industry in two.

If other hybrid technology is developed, the new chip could lower costs to build dual-format players, helping consumers and the movie industry sidestep the rivalry between the two opposing camps.

The chips go on sale for 10,000 yen ($84), roughly the same price as NEC Electronics' chips which read only Blu-ray or only HD DVD formats, the world's No. 8 chip maker said.
While this is a step in the right direction, we still need an optical pick-up capable of reading both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats. Right now, NEC plans to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2006 with monthly shipments reaching 300,000 units in April. More information can be found here. Add a comment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) has unveiled the first three titles to come on 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray Discs. Thanks to this extra capacity, the first title, Click, will include all bonus features from the DVD release in high-definition as well as uncompressed PCM audio.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) today announced the imminent arrival of its first three 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray Discs (BD). The heart-warming comedy Click, starring Golden Globe-Nominee Adam Sandler, Oscar-Winner Christopher Walken and Kate Beckinsale, will be available on store shelves October 10. Black Hawk Down, the Oscar-winning, action-packed drama from director Ridley Scott, starring Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore and Eric Bana, features new Blu-Wizard(TM) technology and will be available to film fans on November 14. The hilarious box office hit, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, starring writer and producer Will Ferrell and Oscar-nominee John C. Reilly, hits shelves December 12. All three titles were authored by the Sony Pictures Digital Authoring Center (DAC) and manufactured by Sony DADC.
At this time, SPHE has not announced pricing for these 50GB BD titles. Personally, I would not be surprised if they were a few bucks more than those on single layer discs. If you'd like to read more, SPHE's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
Sonic Solutions has announced that they've entered into a licensing agreement with Macrovision. According to their press release, two companies plan to integrate Macrovision's RipGuard and ACP technologies into Sonic's DVD On Demand.
Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media software, and Macrovision Corporation (NASDAQ: MVSN), the leader in digital media protection, today announced a licensing agreement to provide the industry's first comprehensive content protection solution to enable the custom manufacturing of secure DVDs by retailers, e-tailers and DVD production facilities. The new solution will make it possible for movie studios and other content owners to expand the number of titles in their catalog that are available for purchase by consumers in a variety of channels.

The solution will integrate Macrovision's RipGuard and ACP technologies into Sonic's DVD On Demand technology solution, which will allow content encrypted with the industry-standard Content Scramble System (CSS) found on mass-replicated DVDs to be recorded directly to optical DVD media. Sonic will license the new combined solution to video publishers and distributors.
DVD On Demand with RipGuard and ACP is expected to be available later this quarter. More information can be found on Sonic's website. Add a comment
Back in May, the DVD Forum formed an ad hoc group and gave it the task of developing a region-coding scheme for the HD DVD format. While this new scheme won't be officially proposed until early 2007, the group unveiled their current plans at the DVD Forum Japan Conference 2006 in Tokyo, Japan. Here's part of AV Watch's report, translated from Japanese:
"AD-022" is a group that examines region (region) control in HD DVD. The region reproduction limitation etc. of classification by countries of HD DVD video disk on the market like DVD have not been installed now. However, the voice to request the region control comes out of the contents holder etc. , and it is said that the examination will be advanced aiming at the introduction.

The reproduction control not only is introduced into classification by countries as simply as past DVD but also an interactive function of HD DVD is used, and it is said, "The control of new as the region is controlled from the sale only for a certain period that is is examined". However, it has not become a conclusion at present.

The examination of the region control is advanced, and "WG-1" that examines a technological specification of HD DVD receives the activity etc. of TCG, and examines how to build it in. It is said the schedule to which the project book is updated in the first ten days, 2007.
The DVD Forum also announced that they would be finalizing the specifications for 12x DVD-R DL media and the three layer TWIN disc in late 2006 and early 2007 respectively. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment
CDRLabs has taken an in depth look at Samsung's new "Super-Multi" drive, the SH-S182D. While affordably priced, the drive features some of the fastest reading and writing speeds available. The SH-S182D is capable of 18x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 8x DVD±R DL writing speeds and has a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. On top of that, its one of the first drives with the ability to read and write to DVD-RAM media at 12x.

In this review we'll take a look at some of the features found on the SH-S182D and see how it compares to some of the 16x and 18x DVD±RW drives from the competition. Does Samsung's new "Super-Multi" drive have what it takes? Is it the fastest DVD writer around? You'll have to read the review to find out.


Samsung SH-S182D 18x DVD±RW/RAM
As usual, if you have any comments or questions about this review or the Samsung SH-S182D, please post them in the forum by clicking the link below.
[ Add a comment