DVD Hardware - HD DVD Blu-Ray DVD Writers DVD News

It's no secret that for a long time I considered HD DVD to be the better high definition format. The reason for that belief was that two years ago, when HD DVD and Blu-ray both launched, the former actually provided all the features that the next generation formats had promised, while the latter did not. Even the earliest HD DVD players offered features like an Ethernet port, dual decoders for picture-in-picture, downloadable firmware updates, persistent storage for downloadable content and the ability to access online features, none of which were available on early Blu-ray players. But as Bob Dylan said, the times they are a changin'.




It may have taken a little while, but Blu-ray players have now caught up to where HD DVD was two years ago. The so called "final profile" for Blu-ray players brought with it mandatory dual decoders and Ethernet connectivity, but recently there has been an update to the Final Profile - am I the only one the sees that as something of a misnomer? Anyway, semantics aside, the latest Blu-ray profile takes the format to where it always promised to be, by finally adding BD Live!

The DMP-BD50 is the latest Blu-ray player from Panasonic, and the first to feature the full complement of features that the format always promised it would have. So, for the first time you can buy a stand alone Blu-ray player, safe in the knowledge that it won't be out of date in a few months. And that will instantly make it pretty damn attractive to consumers, especially consumers who have been too scared to invest in a new high definition optical format, for fear of making the wrong decision or buying something that lacks the full feature set.

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So Sony's got a $399 Blu-ray player on the market now, huh? Really blasting away at that price point, huh Sony? Really keeping on your toes now that HD DVD is dead and gone, giving you zero competition in the physical format space, yeah? Oh, we forgot, you're using a blue laser, and those require bloody war with dastardly intelligent man-eating monkeys to boot up. We got to handle Sony's new BDP-S350 Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player tonight, and while we aren't mad that the new player draws less power, takes up less space, and supports more technical HD hotness, it literally feels like a $20 DVD player in the hand -- no way Sony has $400 of electronic components in this thing. Even the front LCD is teensy: we've bought $200 home theater in a box systems from Sony with more extravagant displays. We understand Sony trying to make back a few dollars from a pricey format war, but at this point this ridiculous price point is looking way artificial. In other, less insulting news, Sony was showing off the new HT-SS2300 Home Theater System, which is designed to complement the S350, along with the HT-IS100 "Micro System," which we found intriguing. Sony also showed off its HDR-CX12, which is nothing special in person, though we certainly like what's under the hood. Link

Toshiba’s HD DVD format may be dead and forgotten, but the Japanese company just isn’t ready to surrender against Blu-ray and start manufacturing players for the format. Not only are they working on DVD up-scaling technology that will supposedly deliver quality video comparable to that of Blu-ray, but apparently the company is also looking into adding other HD DVD-derived features to DVD players.

The DVD Forum, an organization headed by Toshiba, recently approved the DVD Download DL logo – which suggests the company could add interactivity and perhaps bonus material via internet connectivity to DVDs. No official details have been announced by Toshiba, but the combination of online functionality with a significant boost in quality could (to some extent) dampen Blu-ray adoption.

One has to wonder, though, why would anyone want to spend cash on buying another DVD player with all these new features instead of just going for Blu-ray? I know cost is a big concern, but I’d rather wait for lower prices or just go the digital download route.Link

Now that HD DVD's out of picture, consumer electronics companies can steer Blu-ray into the mainstream. The latest to do so, Pioneer, has unwrapped a quartet of players it plans to launch.
Pioneer BDP-LX08

Pioneer's BDP-LX08: slimline

The BDP-LX91, BDP-LX71, BDP-LX08 and BDP-51FD all support version 1.1 of the Blu-ray spec, aka Profile 1.1, so they can handle BonusView picture-in-picture content. The top-of-the-range LX91 will also come with BD Live - the ability to grab and display online content, internet connection permitting.
Pioneer BDP-51FD

BDP-51FD: chunky

They all have HDMI 1.3 ports and support CD playback over the HDMI link, if you want to hear your tunes through your telly. They do HD audio and 7.1-channel analogue. All of them use Pioneer's Kuro user interface.
Pioneer BDP-LX71

BDP-LX71: chunky... but - hey - it's got gold-plated terminals

They can handle cinema-style 24 frames per second playback and punch out pictures at 1080p resolution. They support HDMI's 12-bit Deep Colour for an effectively dither-free image.
Pioneer didn't say how much the machines will cost, but it said the low-end 51FD and LX08 - it's primarily design that differentiates them - will debut in October, shorty after the LX71 arrives in September. Its advantage over the others: gold-plated terminals and touch-key buttons.

The LX91 will go on sale "later this winter". Link

Following the sudden defeat of HD DVD, Toshiba revealed last month that it will attempting to kick Blu-ray's butt - again - by placing a special chip in its new DVD players that will upscale DVD video into HD video to rival that of Blu-ray.

This month we get a new logo [above] and speculation that Toshiba will be adding Internet capability to the new DVD players - and DVD movie disc content - too. The "DVD Download/DL" logo has been approved by the DVD Forum Steering Committee but we have no real information on what it will actually do. Will it make a difference in the never-ending HD spat? Link

Owners of the PowerMac and Mac Pro will be able to rejoice knowing that there is now a MCE 6x Blu-ray burner available for both computers, being natively recordable with Mac OS X 10.5.2 or later with the ability to record data directly from the Finder without the need for any pesky additional software. In addition, the MCE 6x Blu-ray recordable drive can burn BD-R media up to 6x, DVD ± R media at up to 16X, CD-R media at up to 40X, and does read HD DVD-ROM media as well, allowing you to view those bargain bin HD DVD movies. You can pick up this drive for $499, and should you opt for an external FireWire/USB 2.0 option, it will cost you $750. Link

Japanese electronics firm Toshiba has predicted that the decision to stop making high definition DVD players, coupled with falling flash memory chip prices, will damage its 2007 profits to the effect of 125 billion yen (£0.63 billion, $1.26 billion).

Toshiba decided to stop making HD DVD players and recorders following Warner Bros’ decision to only release its films in the format of its rival, Blu-ray.

Sony Pictures, Walt Disney and Twentieth Century Fox had all chosen the Sony-supported Blu-ray format from the start. Link

We recently reviewed the Philips DVDR5570H, which turned out to be a very impressive DVD/HDD recorder with one or two caveats. But if its 250GB hard-disk capacity is too big for your budget, then this 160GB version might be a more suitable option.

That 160GB capacity allows you to record up to 180 hours' worth of TV programmes, as well as up to 150 DivX movies, 4,500 songs or 11,000 photos as part of the recorder's jukebox functionality. This effectively turns the unit into a multimedia hub, enabling you to keep your content in one place and play it all through your home cinema system.

Apart from the smaller hard-disk capacity, the DVDR5520H boasts all the same features as its 250GB sibling, including an integrated Freeview tuner and support for DVD-RW/-R, DVD+RW/+R and DVD+R (Double Layer) discs, but not DVD-RAM or DVD-R (DL). The best feature you'll find is the Time Shift Buffer, which uses a portion of the hard disk to continually record what you're watching (for up to 6 hours), allowing you to pause and rewind live TV or skip back and record a programme retrospectively. Philips is one of the only DVD/HDD recorder manufacturers offering this level of flexibility, which makes a real difference during everyday TV viewing. Link

It took almost two years before the HD format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD finally produced a verdict. Yet near the end, it only took mere weeks for Toshiba, the main advocate for HD DVD, to throw in the towel after the decisive move by Warner Bros to choose Blu-ray over HD DVD. What followed was a chain of unfortunate events for Toshiba, as major retailers defected en mass like falling dominoes.

For some consumers, this is the green light that they have been waiting for while others continued to enjoy the subsequent plunging prices of DVDs. Critics who used to slam Sony for adding the Blu-ray drive to its PlayStation 3 console now had to admit that it was the right decision after all. Meanwhile, Microsoft started to slash the prices of its external HD DVD drive for the XBox 360 and rumors of a future Blu-ray version were circulated. The aftermath of this format war has certainly produced its fair share of drama, with losses in the millions for Toshiba and more significantly, adoption rates for both formats have been quite low.

With Blu-ray media likely to become more affordable with mass production, these previously low adoption rates are expected to increase. Of course, a HDTV is also an important prerequisite for the true HD experience and this is still a relatively high barrier of entry for consumers. The other obviously is a Blu-ray player and with impeccable timing, Sony launched a new internal BD-ROM drive at CES 2008, the venue where HD DVD ultimately suffered its deathblow. Available now, this is the Sony BDU-X10S, which seems to be your basic BD-ROM drive for the PC. Link

Samsung confirmed to CDRInfo the company's plans to release its first Blu-ray drive for PCs that will also read HD DVD discs.

The new BD combo drive is expected to be available in September, followed by a new Blu-ray burner in Q1 of next year. Specifications and speeds were not revealed.

This is Samsung's second Blu-ray drive after the SH-B022, a 2x Blu-ray burner announced in 2006. The device did not enjoy significant market success as the market was immature and the product was considered as a 'premium' one, mainly due to its high retail price ($500).

Samsung had been always considered as a Blu-ray supporter despite the fact that the S. Korean company could have access to the rival HD DVD technology and patents through the Toshiba Samsung Storage technology (TSST) company - at least in theory. On the other hand, the company had decided to enter the CE segment with a combo BD/HD DVD player, a decision hit by Toshiba's announcement to quit HD DVD business earlier this year.

Toshiba's decision relieved the Blu-ray camp from any pressure, allowing them to re-schedule their promotion activities as well as their product releases. The market was there and the Blu-ray domination was just a matter of time. However, with the format war ending earlier than expected, Blu-ray manufacturers are unlikely to increase their investment in parts suppliers due to fears over lower profits. Samsung and its rival LG are included in these companies and they do not have immediate plans to massively inject fresh capital into their Blu-ray business. Link

uly 22nd is the date for your diaries, whereupon the studio will re-enter the HD market with The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King on Blu-ray. Now personally I can think of better titles with which to make the change to Blu-ray (Serenity anyone?) but that is set to change later in the year.

By the second half of the year Universal plans to have around 40 titles currently on HD DVD also available on Blu-ray. This includes such films as American Gangster, Miami Vice and U-571. As well as converting the back catalogue, new releases such as The Incredible Hulk, HellBoy II and Wanted will also see Blu-ray distribution.

If you're still holding off buying a Blu-ray drive, your reasons for doing so are dwindling rapidly… Link

Summer is here, and just like fashion, there is a need to change the notebook range from Toshiba. First off we have the Qosmio F40 that loses the HD DVD drive for a standard DVD Multi Drive, and is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 processor, an Intel GN965 Express chipset, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, and HDMI output. As for the Dynabook AX, this 15.4" notebook has an underpowered Celeron processor, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, a DVD Super Multi drive, and HDMI out. Last but not least the 13.3" Dynabook CX has Intel's Core 2 Duo T8100 running the show, accompanied by an Intel GM965 Express Chipset, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, DVD Super Multi drive, and HDMI out. The Qosmio F40, Dynabook AX and Dynabook CX will retail for €1,352, €922 and €1,230, respectively. Link

Universal Studios, once Hollywood's top backer of the doomed HD DVD video format, will soon release all its new videos on the Blu-ray format.

The studio announced on Thursday that the program will kick off in the summer with the recent box office flop "Doomsday."

Universal's Blu-ray strategy includes plans to release about 40 titles in the second half of the year.

Among them are the studio's five big feature films of the summer, including "The Incredible Hulk," with Edward Norton, William Hurt and Liv Tyler; "Wanted," an action thriller starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie; "Hellboy II: The Golden Army"; "Mamma Mia," the adaptation of the musical starring Meryl Streep; and the sequel "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," with Brendan Fraser and Jet Li. Link

Shuttle, a maker of small form-factor (SFF) barebone systems, has released its new computer that comes equipped with universal optical drive that can read both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. The new system is aimed at multimedia enthusiasts seeking for compact and sleek computer and comes equipped with TV-tuner as well as relatively high-performance components.


Shuttle Mini-PC Media Center is based on Shuttle XPC Barebone SN68SG2 (G5 6801M) with the PF27 front panel. The computer is powered by AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ processor, 2GB of PC2-6400 memory, ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB graphics card and 500GB hard disk drive. The system features wireless network adapter, DVB-T/analog TV-Tuner, remote control as well as LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray/HD DVD combo drive than can read both high-definition formats and record DVDs. Shuttle Mini-PC Media Center sports Windows Vista Home Premium operating system.

The new small form-factor PC from Shuttle may be an interesting option for those seeking for a universal home theater personal computer (HTPC) out of the box. But while the Mini-PC Media Center is a good system, it is not a perfect one: the system comes equipped with ATI Radeon HD 3450 graphics card, which is not an ideal graphics adapter for high-definition video playback. Still, end-users may reconfigure the machine at Shuttle’s web-site. Link

As the smoke clears from the former battlefield of the HD format war, multiple retailers are reaching out to customers who ended up on the losing side. The particulars and restrictions of the various rebate/refund offers vary, but all of them are aimed at helping customers who recently bought HD DVD players make the jump to Blu-ray. An earlier version of this post ran several weeks ago; this version has been updated with new rebate information, while old rebates that were no longer valid have been expunged.
Related Stories

* Best Buy, Netflix join HD DVD dogpile
* Retailers offering credits/refunds to early HD DVD adopters
* Wal-Mart, Fuh Yuan deny $299 HD DVD player deal
* HD DVD and Blu-ray deadlock to continue into 2009... at least

Canadian-based Future Shop's offer has since expired since we first covered the HD DVD rebate question, but Amazon has just launched its own rebate program, and again, the terms are generous. Amazon is "rewarding" all customers who bought an HD DVD player before February 23 with a $50 Amazon.com credit, no strings attached. The deal isn't mentioned at Amazon.com, but the company has reportedly e-mailed all qualifying customers with details on the rebate. An Ars reader sent us a copy of the e-mail, which wryly notes that "new technologies don't always work out as planned."

Wal-Mart has also launched its own program, though again, details aren't being advertised on the company's web site. Any Wal-Mart customer who bought an HD DVD player on or before November 1 is eligible for a refund for the full purchase price. Original packaging is not required, but you must have a receipt for the purchase, and the offer expires April 30.

Best Buy is offering its customers a consolation prize, and the retailer's offer is fairly generous. Any customer who bought an HD DVD player from Best Buy at or before 11:59 PM CST on February 22, 2008, is eligible to receive one $50 gift card per player purchased. Eligible models include the Toshiba HD-A1, A2, A20, XA2, A3, A30, and A35, as well as the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on drive. Dual-format players and computers equipped with HD DVD drives do not qualify. Unlike other stores, Best Buy is not asking customers to return the HD DVD player; if you qualify for the gift card program, Best Buy is essentially paying you $50.

Customers who bought HD DVD players at other stores are also welcome to take advantage of Best Buy's Trade In center, though the company isn't exactly paying hand-over-fist for used HD DVD drives. A top-of-the-line A35 player from Toshiba ($499 MSRP in September, 2007) is only worth $95, but it's better than nothing. You can find the value of your trade-in here.

Best Buy's rival, Circuit City, has its own HD DVD trade-in program, though the company isn't advertising it. Customers who purchased an HD DVD player within the past 90 days may return the devices for store credit, or towards the specific purchase of a Blu-ray player (cost difference to be paid by the customer). Simply contact your local store. Link

Buffalo has announced that they are soon going to launch their MediaStation Blu-ray HD DVD (BRHC-6316U2) device in the Indian market.

It would be sold in India for a retail price of Rs. 45000.

This device is pretty feature rich as it allows users to both read and write Blu-ray content.

The player is capable of storing high definition media on the Blu-Ray discs.

The company added that owners would also be able to connect this player with a notebook or other mobile device via USB.

This player is expected to arrive in the Indian market in May this year. The company would offer it with limited one-year warranty and toll-free technical support. Link

The Qosmio G45-AV690 comes pre-configured by Toshiba, so it’s not a computer you can customize. Its purpose in life is to be an entertainment hub for your household, and this is evident in its numerous multimedia features.

First of all, it boasts a huge 17” display that runs at a true HD resolution of 1920x1200. It has a glossy coating and a widescreen aspect ratio, and compliments the included HD DVD burner. It also features HDMI output, so you could easily connect it to an HDTV as well.

Even if you didn’t connect it to a larger home theater system, it functions just fine on its own thanks to the huge display and Harmon/Kardon speaker system that features two satellites and a built-in subwoofer. Media controls are built right into the top of the unit as well, with a volume knob on the left and media access buttons on the right, as well as a row of soft-touch keys above the keyboard.

Powering the whole shebang is an Intel Core 2 Duo clocked at 2.5GHz. It plugs into an Intel chipset with 3GB of RAM on board A/G/N wireless and two 5,400rpm 160GB hard drives in a RAID 0 array for around 300GB of storage.

One of the more interesting features of the G45 is that it includes a digital cable receiver, which is the size of a small toaster. You must have a technician come to your house to get it installed, however.

Though the G45 isn’t billed as a gaming machine per se, it does include discrete NVIDIA graphics in the form of a 512MB GeForce 8600M GT card.

It also features a built-in 2.0MP webcam, Bluetooth 2.0, five USB ports, FireWire and a 5-in-1 media reader. Link

In an effort to establish Blu-ray as a viable platform now that the main competition, HD DVD, has been axed, Sony is readying enhancements for users of its high capacity, high definition optical disc format.

The company is set to announce on 8 April the first batch of Blu-ray consumer titles that can be connected to the internet to provide access to additional material and features.

The movies "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" and "The 6th Day" will be the studio's first two BD-Live titles. Their release coincides with the launch of a new software update for Sony's PlayStation 3, turning it into the first Blu-ray player with internet connectivity, an ability known as "Profile 2.0."

Ultimately, all Blu-ray players will be Profile 2.0. When the format launched in June 2006, Blu-ray players were of the basic Profile 1.0 kind, meaning they could offer neither picture-in-picture nor internet connectivity, something the doomed HD DVD rival format offered from the start.

Now, the big push is for Profile 2.0 players, which are expected to hit the market in the next few months. Accordingly, studios are scrambling to produce final spec BD-Live software as well. Link

Average retail prices of the entry-level HD DVD player price saw a big drop on Thursday: First stores are selling the HD-A3 for less than $60. Data collected from Pricegrabber.com also suggests that inventories are declining quickly, with less stores carrying HD DVD players every day.

It appears that Toshiba’s estimate that channel supplies of HD DVD players will gone by the end of this month could be about right. Pricegrabber.com showed a huge drop of average retail prices for the entry-level HD-A3 model. The availability of all three HD DVD models declines quickly and the high-end HD-35 has virtually disappeared from the market, TG Daily found.

According to the price comparison service, the average retail price of HD-A3 model dropped to a new low of $64.89 on Friday. The price was led by TigerDirect.com and CompUSA: Both stores dropped the price of the player to $59.99.

Pricegrabber.com data is updated twice a day and shows a certain amount of fluctuation in the number of retailers that are offering the HD-A3 model. The numbers are currently in the range between 11 and 50, while about half of these stores claim to actually have the HD-A3 in stock. At the beginning of this month, 302 online stores carried this player and on February 19, when Toshiba announced the shutdown of HD DVD, there were 1064 retailers selling the HD-A3. Link

This week the optical drive specialist unleashed two new high-end drives, the 'B300SA' and 'B920SA' both targeting format war winner Blu-ray but also with HD DVD support.

No doubt intended as bridging products, the pair can read Toshiba's defunct format at 3x while also reading Blu-ray at 6x with the latter offering 4x write. BD-R, BD-RE, BD-ROM and BDMV Blu-ray formats are all compatible along with 16x DVD+R/-R burning, 4x for dual layer DVDs, 5x for DVD-RAM and 40x and 24x for CD-R and CD-RW respectively.

The duo use SATA connections and feature LightScribe technology for the etching of titles and/or designs directly onto the disc (with compatible media). Link

Plextor® LLC, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, today announced two new multifunction disc drives that combine next-generation Blu-Ray and HD DVD technologies.

The internal PX-B920SA drive features 4X BD-R write speed and a Serial ATA (SATA) interface for fast data throughput, up to 150 Mbits/sec. This drive is ideal for PC OEMs, systems integrators, enterprises, professionals, and high-end consumer markets where people want HD DVD playback along with Blu-Ray recording and playback.

The new PX-B920SA is a Blu-Ray burner that also plays HD DVD discs and supports high-speed reading and recording of DVD and CD media formats, including DVD-RAM, Dual Layer DVD, Double Layer DVD, DVD+/-R/RW, and CD-R/RW.

The new PX-B300SA multifunction drive is capable of playing both Blu-Ray and HD DVD media. The internal drive also reads and records DVD and CD media formats with recording speeds of 16X DVD+/-R, 24X CD-RW, and 40X CD-R. The PX-B300SA, which includes a SATA interface for high performance, is designed for PC OEMs, systems integrators, enterprises, professionals, and mid-market consumers who want to playback both Blu-Ray and HD DVD discs and record on DVD and CD media. Link

Atsutoshi Nishida, head of Toshiba, has stated that the move to cut HD-DVD technology was predictable after Warner Bros made the decision to change to Blu-ray over HD-DVD.

Nishida told the Wall Street Journal that he had thought that once Warner left them he didn’t think that the continuation of HD-DVD would stand them in good stead. He stated that, to his mind, it is necessary to switch gears rapidly should a decision be deemed wrong.

Toshiba’s strategic business units have now been cut from 45 to 44 after the HD-DVD decision.

Nishida established that this did not mean that Toshiba would leave the standard DVD market, and that Toshiba planned to improve and upgrade its current DVD technology so that consumers will be unable to differentiate between current DVD technology and HD-DVD.

In addition he mentioned that Toshiba plans to invest more into the video download market. Link

Less than a fortnight ago, Blu-ray emerged winner in the long-running format war; with Toshiba having gone public about withdrawing the HD DVD format.

Having to no longer decide between rival formats, most major HD DVD supporters have lost no time in crossing over to the Blu-ray side. And Acer is next on the list to pledge support to Blu-ray. The company plans to launch two BD (Blu-ray Disc) notebooks (NBs) in the second quarter this year; one with an 18.4-inch panel, and the other with a 16-inch panel, according to DigiTimes.

The newbies will support full HD quality images, and will be priced between $1,900 and $2,240.

Acer predicts that a sales boost in Blu-ray drives will be seen first in notebooks rather than stand-alone players. Today, most households are not equipped to view full HD (1080p) content. This is why Acer feels notebooks with Blu-ray drives will play a major role in boosting sales.

All said, Blu-ray might have emerged winner in the format war but its adoption rates aren't picking up as fast as Sony expects -- not yet. Add to that a whole lot of industry speculation around future success of the format.

Meanwhile, Acer's said it plans to launch large-size BD notebooks in the Asia Pacific region (including Taiwan) in the first half of 2008. Link

With all the hype over Bluray don't you want a portable Bluray drive that you can connect to all your computers? Well if that's your dream than you're in luck because a joint venture between Philips & Lite-On has released an external version of their DH-4O1S Bluray/DVD/CDRW drive. The unit itself is not much larger than an optical drive set on its side, which I'm sure is the point of most external drives. The unit is silver and black and has an acrylic stand, it looks quite classy. The unit reads Blu-ray Discs at 4X, DVD (single-layer) at 12X, DVD (dual-layer) at 8X, and regular CDs at 32x. The unit can connect to any computer with a USB 2.0 port. Link

It looks like the death of HD-DVD is already starting to pay off, with BluRay drive makers ramping up production and prices dropping rapidly.

A search of PC parts price search engine Staticice.com.au shows a Lite-on BD-ROM drive can be purchased for as little as $203 -- a huge improvement on the $1500 prices for the very first BluRay drives that came onto the market. (UPDATE: A Pioneer BluRay combo drive is available for even less - $199.)

This Lite-On can read BluRay at 4X speeds, write to DVD at 12X and CDs at 32X. Interestingly, the much higher density BluRay disks have a slower seek speed than the more basic CD and DVD formats. It takes the drive 350ms to hone in on the right part of a BluRay disk, while it takes just over half that time for a CD or DVD.

The specifications note that you'll need a pretty grunty PC setup to be able to play BluRay movies: "Pentium D 3.0GHz or faster CPU and 1GB or higher RAM are required, HDCP capable graphics card with 256MB RAM, PCI Express x16, 1920x1200 resolution, 32bit color, GPU: nVdia GeForce 7600 GT / 7800GTX512 / 7900GX2 / 7900GTX / 7950GX2 and ATI X1600 / X1800 / X1900 series are recommended."

Note particularly the HDCP requirement -- that relates to the copy protection on BluRay discs which require every component in the display process to be capable of decrypting the copy protection, right through to your monitor. So you need an HDCP-compliant video card and an HDCP-compliant monitor or TV.

Not all BluRay discs implement the HDCP protection, so early adopters without HDCP may get lucky, but it's certainly not a sure thing (especially as there is no competition in the high definition marketplace any more, so it's likely that the movie studios will start locking down their content with HDCP very soon.)

The price drops look set to continue, with Sony today announcing a $299 (recommended retail price) BluRay ROM drive (BDU-X10S) which comes with CyberLink PowerDVD BD Edition software for playback of commercial movie titles. Given the RRP of $299, expect to see that drive on the market soon for considerably less.

The other good news is that optical drive makers finally seem to be making the switch to SATA for good with BluRay drives. A quick search on Staticice turned up no PATA BluRay drives, but plenty of SATA ones. Given every computer made in the last three or four years has had SATA ports on the motherboard, this seems like a perfectly reasonable time to cut ties with PATA (not to mention that you'll need a pretty recent-model computer to be able to make use of a BD-ROM anyway.) Link

Only, it's not a new concept at all. Remember Viiv? It was Intel's unsuccessful stab at a home entertainment platform from two years ago, back when digital home convergence was the big buzzword, Media Center Edition was a separate flavour of XP, and content providers and hardware vendors alike were busily coming up with solutions for the dramatic transformation of the living room that never actually happened.

Most of the big names like HP and Dell have long since withdrawn their Viiv media centre PCs from the market, and we don't hear so much as a whimper from Intel about its failed foray into home entertainment as a platform.






Nonetheless, Sony has seen fit to release a new model of its media-centric TP series with a larger 500GB hard drive, faster 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 processor, and a Blu-ray disc combo drive. As with its predecessor, it also comes with a matching wireless keyboard and remote control.

The TP2's white colouring and minimalist aesthetic give it a close resemblance to the Apple Mac Mini, and on looks alone, it's certainly attractive enough to keep company with glossy flat-screens and sleek stereo hi-fis.

But the trouble is, Sony already sells an incredibly powerful 'living room PC' with a built-in Blu-ray drive for a third of the TP2's asking price (the PlayStation 3, in case you were wondering).

Is there really that much appeal in being able to run Windows software from the comfort of your sofa?

If the past is anything to go by, the answer is a resounding "No". Surfing the Web and reading email is hardly a family activity, and playing photos, music and digital video on a high-definition television can be achieved by any number of significantly cheaper means, not the least of which is plugging a flash drive or digital camera into it directly.

Given that the TP2 doesn't bring anything new to the table other than a Blu-ray player, it's hard to see how it can succeed where the others before it have failed to capture mainstream interest. Even if Sony tries to market the TP2 as a souped-up Blu-ray player with a 500GB hard drive, its $2399 pricetag is a tough pill that I'm doubtful many people will be prepared to swallow. Link

With HD-DVD dead, Microsoft now seems to be moving on, and is believed to be considering collaborating with the current format champion Blu-ray to fill the void left by demise of HD-DVD.

As per the London Financial Times, Sony is in talks with Microsoft to bring out Xbox 360 consoles with Blu-ray drives. The newspaper reported that the two giants (rivals in a sense) were in discussions at a media dinner last week.

Before Toshiba went public with dropping its HD-DVD format, Microsoft's Xbox 360 had been supporting an HD-DVD external drive. In a sense, the exodus of major Hollywood studios and retail chains from HD-DVD in favor of Blu-ray led to Toshiba officially nailing the format. Microsoft's decision is but a fall-out of the demise of HD-DVD.

Yet, the software giant is believed to be still selling the Xbox 360 add-on external HD-DVD drive at half its original price.

Microsoft has no option but to adopt an alternative high-definition format for its Xbox 360 gaming console. Whether it will adopt rival Sony's Blu-ray format is uncertain. Meanwhile, Sony's PS3 integrates Blu-ray and is already a super seller amongst available gaming consoles.

And according to reports, Sony is also in talks with Apple Computer to introduce Blu-ray drives to their products. Link

If you like to hang on until hardware tech is EOL-ed (End of Life) maximally polished to jump in, now may be the time for you to score a DVD player. The Oppo DV-983H upscaling DVD player announced last week is now officially available. Oppo's going out with a bang, for sure -- the unit has some good looking specs, especially the built in Anchor Bay (a.k.a DVDO) VRS processing. But what's more significant is a bit of info we gleaned from the PR email accompanying the DV-983H release: the unit is the last DVD player that Oppo will be making. The company that made its name in upscaling DVD is moving whole hog into something else, and we're all-in on a Blu-ray spinner. Bring it on, Oppo! Full PR email after the jump. Link

Any of you who made requests for the Xbox 360 HD DVD emulator last week should have received at least an initial email with further instructions on getting access to the emulator support site on http://connect.microsoft.com/, signing the end user licensing agreement (EULA), and obtaining the Xbox Live Marketplace token.

Remember, there is an actual live, breathing human being processing all these emails. His name is Josh. He is moving as fast as he can. We let him come out of his office late on Friday and let him go home for the weekend as long as he promised to come back Monday and keep working. Luckily for all of you, he did come back.

So far, he's processed about 3000 (legitimate, non-spambot) requests. ~800 people have accepted the EULA, and 413 Connect invitations have been sent out with ~400 to go. Give Josh about a business day or two (M-F, 8a-5p, PST) to respond to any email you send. FYI, I've heard a rumor that Josh has a script that moves emails to the bottom of the queue if he gets too many emails from a single address, so try to have a little patience.

This is roughly the way the process goes...

1) Email hdemusup at Microsoft to request signup instructions

2) Go to http://connect.microsoft.com/

3) Click the "Sign In" button. If you have a Windows Live ID (ie, a Microsoft Passport login, Hotmail account, MSN account, etc), login with this. If you do not have a Windows Live ID, click the "Sign Up Now" and create one. Your Windows Live ID can be any email address at which you would like to receive communications about this program. (and, btw, Microsoft is hyper-sensitive about privacy and stuff so you won't get spammed - you will just receive info about this program if you opt-in).

4) Reply to the instruction email, and change the subject line to include the Windows Live ID that you selected. For example, I would use: "MS CONNECT ID: amydullard@msn.com"

5) Josh will send you the end user licensing agreement (EULA)

6) Reply to the EULA email and change the subject line to "I Agree"

7) Josh will send you an invitation ID for http://connect.microsoft.com/ and an Xbox Live Marketplace token.

8) Go to https://connect.microsoft.com/invitationentry.aspx and enter the invitation ID. This site is where you will download the PC software for logging, the user instructions (in the CHM file - READ IT!! It has all the information you will need to get started), and best practices documentation, as well as find support articles on the emulator.

9) On your Xbox 360, sign into Xbox LIVE. Navigate to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace tab and select Redeem Code. Enter your redemption token. After successfully redeeming the pre-paid code, select "Yes" to download.

10) Get programming.
Link

The two-year war between HD DVD and Blu-ray officially ended Tuesday morning as Toshiba waved the white flag and declared it would stop producing HD DVD products.

The company, which began sales of HD DVD in March 2006 with the HD-A1 player, "decided it was not right for us to keep going with such a small presence," said chief executive Atsutoshi Nishida. The Blu-ray format is now the definitive winner in the war and stands unopposed as the optical media replacement for DVD.

Toshiba's news release goes into a bit more detail: "Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand."

Three movie studios currently support HD DVD--Universal, Paramount, and DreamWorks Animation--but we expect them to follow suit and announce support of Blu-ray sooner rather than later.

With Blu-ray support announced by industry heavyweights Netflix, Wal-mart and Best Buy, speculation ran rampant before the weekend that Toshiba would end the war, and the company deserves credit for pulling out as soon as it did. The two incompatible formats have led to plenty of confusion among prospective buyers of next-generation hardware and software, although some have opined that the war was a good thing--at least it led to price drops Link

Toshiba will discontinue its HD DVD products, it said today, handing victory to rival high definition disc format Blu-ray Disc.

The company will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders.

It will reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail markets and aims to cease the businesses altogether by the end of March.

But the Japanese electronics giant pledged to provide full product support and after-sales service for owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.

Recent changes in the market prompted the decision, Toshiba said. Early this year, Warner Bros. said it would stop issuing movies on HD DVD in the coming months and rely exclusively on Blu-ray Disc. The Hollywood studio was one of three major studios remaining in the HD DVD camp, and its defection created widespread belief that the battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc was now over.

More recently, major US retail chain Wal-Mart announced it would phase out the sale of HD DVD products, moving to exclusivity with Blu-ray Disc. Electronics retailer Best Buy also said it would back Blu-ray Disc, but it did not say it would stop offering HD DVD.

Warner made its decision based on consumer confusion and indifference to high definition movies, an indifference that cost Hollywood in lost revenue, it said. Wal-Mart said US customers preferred Blu-ray Disc movies and hardware. Blu-ray Disc is the high definition disc format championed by Sony.

"This once again shows why incompatible and mutually exclusive formats should be avoided at all cost by the industry," said Carl Gressum, a senior analyst at Ovum. "It reduces profitability and delays customer adoption."

"The big question is, however, the impacts on Toshiba as an electronics company," he added. "It has after all bet its disc media business on HD DVD, as well as gone for HD DVD integration into some of its laptop PCs. The channel has inventory to clear, and demands from owners of HD DVD players."

Toshiba said its decision came after careful analysis of the long-term impact of continuing the format war, and said a swift decision was called for to help the high definition market develop.

The company also pledged to remain a player in the high definition market. Developing HD DVD created many assets for Toshiba and its partners, which include Microsoft, Intel, HP, and Universal Studios, the company said.

Microsoft shrugged off HD DVD's demise, declining to say if or when it would support Blu-ray Disc for the Xbox.

Microsoft steadfastly backed HD DVD, selling an external drive for the Xbox for $129.95 . That offer was still on the NZ Xbox website as of today, despite the news that Toshiba will scuttle the format.

Microsoft's decision to make the HD DVD drive external rather than within the console "was quite a strategic move on their part," said Paul O'Donovan, principal analyst with Gartner.

However, it's inevitable that future Xbox versions, as well as other gaming systems aimed at tighter integration with entertainment systems, will incorporate Blu-ray Disc drives, said O'Donovan. The Xbox currently has a standard DVD drive.

Sony gained momentum for its Blu-ray player by putting it in its PlayStation 3 console, according to research company IDC.

The PS3's "dual roles as a gaming console and a next-generation DVD player have made it an important part of the format war," according to the report.

Prior to Toshiba's announcement, Microsoft downplayed the rumors of HD DVD's death, contending buyers are more interested in gaming functions.

"We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace," the company said in a statement. "It is premature to speculate but we do know from market data that HD movie playback is not a primary purchase driver for consumers buying video game consoles."

O'Donovan agreed the company likely won't face declining sales of its Xbox gaming console. But Microsoft's greater problem may be getting rid of the external HD DVD drives in its inventory.

HD DVD is "dead and gone" now, O'Donovan said.


Timeline: HD DVD vs. Blu-ray Disc

The high-definition movie disc battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc can be traced all the way back to 2000, when companies began experimenting with using new blue lasers in optical disc systems.

Because the wavelength of blue light is shorter than that of the red lasers used in DVD, less physical space is needed to record each bit of data and so more information can be crammed onto a DVD-sized disc. This extra space was needed to store the new high-definition video and TV services that were starting to be commercialised around that time.

But what started in 2000 as technical research became a battle between the world's largest electronics companies and movie studios, with the consumer caught in the middle.

Here's a look at the major milestones from the first research:

2000

Oct. 5 -- Sony and Pioneer unveil DVR Blue at Japan's Ceatec show. The format would go on to form the basis for first-generation Blu-ray Disc BD-RE.

Nov. 1 -- Sony announces the development of Ultra Density Optical (UDO), a blue-laser optical disc format proposed to replace magneto-optical discs.

2002

Feb. 19 -- Led by Sony, nine of the world's largest electronics companies unveil plans for Blu-ray Disc.

Aug. 29 -- Toshiba and NEC propose to the DVD Forum the next-generation optical disc format that will become HD DVD.

Oct. 1 -- Prototypes of both formats are unveiled at Japan's Ceatec exhibition. Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, Pioneer and JVC showed prototype Blu-ray Disc recorders while Toshiba showed a prototype under the name Advanced Optical Disc (AOD).

2003

Feb. 13 -- Licensing of Blu-ray Disc begins. Player makers pay US$20,000 to licence Blu-ray while the content-protection system licence carries a $120,000 annual fee and additional charge of $0.10 per player. Media makers pay $8,000 annually and $0.02 per disc for the copy protection system.

April 7 -- Sony announces its Blu-ray Disc-based Professional Disc format for data archiving applications.

April 10 -- Sony puts on sale in Japan the world's first Blu-ray Disc recorder, the BDZ-S77. It's based on a 23GB cartridge version of the BD-RE disc and costs ¥450,000 ($5200). The machine and a later model from Panasonic lack support for prerecorded movies that will launch later and prove an expensive early step into next-generation video.

May 28 -- Mitsubishi Electric joins the Blu-ray Disc group.

2004

Jan. 7 -- Toshiba unveils its first prototype HD DVD player at CES. The player includes backwards compatibility with DVD.

Jan. 12 - Hewlett-Packard and Dell put their support behind Blu-ray Disc.

June 10 -- The first commercial version of HD DVD-ROM is approved by the DVD Forum.

Sept. 21 -- Sony announces the PlayStation 3 will use Blu-ray Disc.

Nov. 29 -- Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO and New Line Cinema announce support for HD DVD.

Dec. 9 -- Disney announces support for Blu-ray Disc.

2005

Jan. 7 -- Backers of both formats promise players and movies in North America by the end of the year -- something that never materialised.

March 24 -- Talk and hope of a common format as Ryoji Chubachi, then Sony's president-elect, says: "Listening to the voice of the consumers, having two rival formats is disappointing and we haven't totally given up on the possibility of integration or compromise."

April 21 -- Sony and Toshiba begin discussions on the possibility of a single format. The talks ultimately go nowhere.

Aug. 18 -- Lions Gate Home Entertainment and Universal Music Group decide to back Blu-ray Disc.

Sept. 27 -- Microsoft and Intel put their weight behind HD DVD.

Oct. 3 -- Paramount Home Entertainment says it will offer movies on both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

Dec. 16 -- Hewlett-Packard decides to drop exclusive support for Blu-ray Disc and back both formats.

2006

Jan. 4 -- Bill Gates announces at CES that Microsoft will offer an add-on HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360 console.

March 10 -- Blu-ray Disc-supporter LG Electronics surprises the industry with news that it's developing an HD DVD drive.

March 31 -- Toshiba launches the world's first HD DVD player, the HD-XA1. It cost ¥110,000 ($1280) in Japan.

Nov. 11 -- Sony's PlayStation 3, which packs a Blu-ray Disc drive, goes on sale in Japan.

Dec. 29 -- Hackers report success in breaking through part of the AACS copy protection that's on both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

2007

Jan. 7 -- Seeking to end the battle, LG Electronics unveils a dual-format player, while Warner Bros. shows a prototype disc that holds both an HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc layer so is compatible with players for both formats.

April 17 -- Sales of HD DVD players in North America hit 100,000 since launch.

Aug. 1 -- Microsoft cuts the price of its HD DVD player for the Xbox 360 from US$199 to US$179 and starts offering five free movies.

Aug. 20 -- Paramount and Dreamworks Animation both drop Blu-ray Disc in favor of HD DVD.

Sept. 13 -- Sony says it will use Blu-ray Disc in all high-def video recorders in Japan.

Nov. -- The price of Toshiba HD DVD players drops to US$100 with rebates as the holiday shopping season begins.

Nov. 11 -- Sony begins selling a lower cost version of the PlayStation 3.

2008

Jan. 4 -- Warner Bros. drops its bombshell: it will stop issuing HD DVD movies in the coming months and rely exclusively on Blu-ray Disc. In response the HD DVD Promotion Group cancels its CES news conference.

Jan. 6 -- Akio Ozaka, head of Toshiba America Consumer Products, says at CES: "We remain firm in the belief that HD DVD is the format best suited to the wants and needs of consumers." In response Sony CEO Howard Stringer, with a grin on his face, says "All of us at Sony are feeling blue today."

Jan. 14 -- Toshiba cuts the price of HD DVD players with the HD-A3 seeing a retail price of US$150.

Feb. 11 -- NetFlix and BestBuy say they will phase out HD DVD.

Feb. 15 -- Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, says it will phase out HD DVD by June.

Feb. 16 -- Japanese public broadcaster NHK reports Toshiba has halted production of HD DVD players. Several additional local media reports confirm and The Nikkei business daily says Toshiba has decided to stop developing the format any further.

Feb. 19 -- Toshiba formally announces it will phase out the production of HD DVD players and recorders by the end of March. The format war is over. Link

It has taken Sony two decades to shake off the memory of defeat in the format wars that heralded the start of the VCR era, so Tuesday’s confirmation that its Blu-ray technology had won the high-definition DVD battle was a moment to savour.

Many of Sony’s engineer-executives could never quite comprehend why their technologically superior Betamax technology was defeated by Panasonic’s VHS in the 1980s.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Lex: Toshiba quits HD-DVD - Feb-19
Toshiba set to pull plug on HD-DVD - Feb-17
Toshiba’s withdrawal from costly battle welcomed - Feb-19
Last showing for Toshiba’s DVD format - Feb-17
Wal-Mart puts Blu-ray on brink of victory - Feb-15
Toshiba slashes prices in HD war - Jan-14

So when the group began touting the advanced but expensive Blu-ray as its answer for the next-generation of home video technology, analysts feared a repeat of its old mistakes.

Tuesday’s defeat for Toshiba’s HD-DVD standard does more for Sony than vindicating the convictions of its technologists, however. Most clearly, it will give momentum to the PlayStation3, which Sony hopes to be more of a home entertainment hub than previous generations of the games console.

The device has suffered from comparisons to Nintendo’s family-friendly Wii machine. But Sony has promoted its dual role from the start, bundling Blu-ray discs in with the hardware, typically of Sony Pictures films.

Price cuts to the PS3, Sony believes, have now made it more accessible to those who may not be hardened gamers but who are interested in a competitively-priced Blu-ray player.

The hope that competition between the two formats would drive down hardware prices was the reason given by Warner Bros, the studio which cast the deciding vote for Blu-ray, for allowing the war to go on as long as it did.

Some of that price pressure on Sony may now ease, although analysts doubt that the technology will become mainstream while players still cost over €300 ($440), more than 50 per cent above the price most consumers will pay for DVD players.

The end of the format war also reduces the risk that consumer confusion could kill off the chances of the new format altogether, prompting customers to skip a technological generation and turn their attention to new home entertainment formats such as online video downloads.

“The risk was that consumers would have said they didn’t need HD – either because they were moving to downloading movies direct to their televisions, or because they were sticking with DVD,” said Jim Bottoms, managing director of Understanding and Solutions.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Sir Howard Stringer, Sony’s chairman, dismissed such concerns. “Downloads are five years away. The world is going to be in packaged goods for at least another five to seven years,” he told the FT.

If so, seeing off HD-DVD has given Sony a five to seven-year run at a market that other studios are determined to make as lucrative as the DVD business was until recently.

According to Carl Gressum, analyst at Ovum, there are other less obvious benefits of winning the format war.

The real benefit, he argues, comes not from making Blu-ray players, where prices and profit margins will inevitably be driven down over time, but from owning the intellectual property rights to the winning standard.

Other manufacturers, from established consumer electronic brands to cheap white label challengers, will all have to pay royalties, giving the owners of the IP rights a profitable revenue stream long into the future. Sony and Panasonic could see similar benefits to the windfall Philips made from the CD standard, he argued.

It is now Toshiba’s turn to reflect on the lessons of defeat.

Sony’s victory was due as much to its rivals’ mistakes as to the virtues of its product, such as tight security features, analysts believe.

First, Mr Gressum said, Toshiba failed in its promise to bring in Chinese consumer electronics vendors who could have brought HD-DVD players to a mass market price much more quickly.

While the Blu-ray camp was able to clinch more Hollywood deals, he added, HD-DVD could have done more to reach out to studios in India, Hong Kong and Europe.

“It might have been a long shot, but Bollywood could have been a swing factor, considering its large domestic and expat market,” he said.

Many smaller content owners instead ended up taking a “wait-and-see” approach, feeling no need to commit themselves to a format which had yet to gain a meaningful share of the market. Similarly, other analysts say, the HD-DVD consortium could have brought more PC manufacturers on board.

Some analysts believe that the next format war has begun, with the rapid roll-out of 3D cinema technology, backed by more Hollywood movies being made in 3D.

Whether that battle will be the next to play out in the living room is far from clear, but Toshiba will hope that it does not take two decades to learn the lessons of its costly defeat in the fight to determine the future of high-definition home video. Link

As notebooks get smaller and smaller these days, manufacturers tend to omit the optical disc drive, leaving users with no choice but to pick up an external optical drive instead. Brando has just made available its USB Portable DVD Multi Drive that will probably do whatever job you throw at it quietly and without fuss, although I don't think the $78 price tag sits down very nicely with me. Nonetheless, below are additional specifcations :-

* Matshita DVD-RAM UJ-841S
* CD Read/Write speed: 24x, 10x
* DVD Read/Write speed: 8x, 4x, 2.4x, 5x
* Supports Media (Read): DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD-ROM, DVD-R DL, DVD+R DL, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM, DVD-R DL, DVD+R DL
* Supports Media (Write): DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM DVD-R DL, DVD+R DL, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R DL, DVD+R DL
* Modes: Packet, TAO, DAO, SAO, RAW SAO
* Buffer Memory: 2MB
* Weight: 314g
* Size: 13.7cm x 13.3cm x 1.8cm

Online retailer Amazon.com and Lovefilm International, which provides DVD rental subscription services, have announced that Lovefilm will acquire Amazon Europe's DVD rental business in the UK and Germany.

As part of this transaction, Amazon Europe will also make a cash investment and become the major shareholder in Lovefilm International and finally, the two companies will enter into a multi-year marketing agreement in which Amazon Europe will promote Lovefilm's services on its sites for UK and German customers.

According to Lovefilm, Amazon Europe will continue to operate the DVD rental business on behalf of Lovefilm for a period of time following the close of the transaction to ensure an efficient transition and smooth customer experience. No staff reductions are planned at Amazon's German or UK operations as a result of the business transfer.

Greg Greeley, Amazon's vice president of European retail, said: "As one of Europe's largest online DVD rental businesses, Lovefilm is well established to serve customers' increasing demand for entertainment. Our investment will enable Lovefilm to grow the business further and we are excited to be part of their future." Link

The establishment of the China High Definition DVD (CH-DVD) format is one of the few weapons left for Toshiba against rival Sony, at a time where the high-def format war seems to phase out.

Backed by the DVD Forum, Toshiba has been actively preparing the Chinese market for the introduction of the Chinese version of HD DVD in mainland China. The company together with some global HD DVD backers and Chinese companies set up the China High Definition DVD Industry Association on September 7, 2007, in an attempt to promote the mass production of China High Definition DVD (CH-DVD).

But the beginning of 2008 turned out to be unfortunate for the Japanese company, with major studio Warner Bros. jumping to the Blu-ray Disc camp and leaving the competing HD DVD format with a dwindling base of Hollywood support.

Although the lack of HD DVD film content could eventually not allow the HD DVD to establish itself in the major Chinese market, Toshiba may still have some have some chances through the China High Definition DVD.

The basic advantage of the HD DVD format over the rival Blu-ray is the lowest prices of the players. The goal for the CH-DVD format is to maintain lower production costs of the upcoming HD-DVD players than the imported Sony and Pioneer-branded Blu-ray devices. Towards this direction, the China High Definition DVD Industry Association is examining the possibilities to integrate the Audio and Video Coding Standard (AVS) in the HD DVD player decoder chip.

Plenty of domestic companies in the China High Definition DVD Industry Association are preparing to rollout HD DVD players during 2008. Some of the products, priced at no more than CNY 3,000 ($418), will be available in the market in the coming March, according to Lu Da, an official of the Optical Memory National Engineering Research Center (OMNERC).

On the other hand, the Blu-ray camp has also tried to enter the Chinese market. Pioneer-branded Blu-ray players have been provided to Chinese customers since the past year. However, the pricey CNY 14,800 ($2,058) has kept any potential buyers away. Since January 24, 2008, the first CNY 4,990 ($694) Blu-ray DVD player catering for the Chinese customers, launched by Blu-ray backer Sony, has been available on the shelves of the leading Chinese household appliance retailers. Link

In a move which could make it more palatable for disillusioned HD DVD owners to switch to Blu-ray, Sony has partnered with German electronics retailer Saturn to offer a credit on new Blu-ray equipment when customers agree to exchange their current HD DVD player.

The offer, worth €150 (about £110) would at least knock a bit off the more expensive BDP-S300, which is the only standalone machine currently included in the offer.

If high definition hardware adoption rates in Europe are accurate, then it potentially won't cost Sony too much. Presumably, there will be a number of die-hard HD DVD early adopters who won't want to switch, anyway.

For those of us who haven't yet taken the plunge and shelled out for either HD format, we can just hope for cheaper player prices within the next year. Link

The HD-DVD Promotion Group has gone on the offensive after Woolworths announced plans to delist HD-DVD discs in favour of Blu-ray.

"While we are disappointed by Woolworths' decision, it is extremely early to spot which format will eventually win," said Olivier Van Wynendaele, European assistant general manager at HD-DVD backer Toshiba.

"UK consumers can now pick-up an HD-DVD player for less than £150, around half the cost of other HD formats. Even before pricing reached this level, HD-DVD represented more than 60 per cent of the overall standalone HD market."

Van Wynendaele claimed that HD-DVD has enjoyed greater software sales per player than any other HD format, and that HD-DVD owners have bought around 3.5 movies each, compared to less than one movie sold per Blu-ray device.

Woolworths announced its formal backing of Blu-ray on 28 January with the decision to ditch HD-DVDs by March.

The company cited Christmas shopping statistics which showed that Blu-ray discs had outsold HD-DVD titles by a factor of 10 to one.

The retailer's move to Blu-ray is designed to coincide with the release of Pixar movie Ratatouille, which will accompany a new Blu-ray chart and a back catalogue across all 820 Woolworths outlets in the UK.

"Sales figures clearly show that the market is moving towards one high-definition DVD format. The main reason is the success of Sony's PlayStation 3," said Steven McGunigel, DVD buyer at Woolworths. Link

Heads up, HD DVD followers -- it's not just Amazon dishing out two flicks for the price of one anymore. As of right now, Best Buy is offering up a select number of titles in BOGO fashion, but there's no sign of how long the offer will last. 'Course, it's not like the retailer hasn't given the Blu-ray camp its chance to get in on such a deal before, but apparently, big yellow is looking out for camp red today Link

CyberLink today announced it is participating in the formation of a joint HD DVD patent license based on its ownership of a patent determined to be essential to the HD DVD standard.

CyberLink's patent relates to the specifications for interactive content over a network for prerecorded HD-DVD Discs, for playback according to the DVD Specifications for High Definition VIDEO (HD DVD-Video).

Essential HD DVD patent owners that include CyberLink participate in an effort to form a joint patent license facilitated by MPEG LA LLC. Link