Bluray tech celebrated at Playboy mansion

The infamous Playboy mansion in Los Angeles hosted a recent party which was partly sponsored by Blu-ray.

Blu-ray - known as the Blu Ray Disc (BD) is said to offer more capacity than any other type of entertainment format.

Fans say it gives a higher quality picture than HD (High Definition) TV with more than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs and holds up to 25 GB on a single-layer disc and with more channels of surround sound and more types of value added content.

The Entertainment Merchant's Association 2008 Annual Report on the Home Entertainment Industry predicts that BD sales will surpass DVD sales by the year 2012, as 87% of Playstation3 owners report that they're watching Blu Ray movies on the console now.

Others say they're waiting because they find they are upgrading a bit too much.

Matthew Roberts says he hasn't taken the plunge yet but plans to because of the impressive picture quality.

John Reizenstein, a tourist from the UK says he prefers to keep his home entertainment set up simple but may be pushed into conversion shortly.

Blu-ray and Sony Playstation3 hosted a launch party for the ESPY (sports) Awards at the notorious Playboy mansion in Los Angeles recently (July 14, 2008) where Blu Ray movies were playing throughout.

VIP guests had access to the exclusive "Blu Lounge" where they were able to experience Blu-ray technology.

Mark Finer is the Technical Director of the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) - an industry funded group that promotes digital entertainment.

He says that one third of US consumers have an HD TV in their home and that the figure is growing.

Blu-ray is currently supported by more than 180 of the world's leading consumer electronics personal computer, recording media, video game and music companies and it has the support of seven of the eight major movie studios (Disney, Warner, Sony, Paramount, Fox, MGM and Lionsgate).

New technology

Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner says he appreciates digital advancements and enjoys his regular movie nights.

Jose Canseco, former Major League baseball player admits he's not too up on the new technology He says that younger people seem to be more up to date with developments.

Michael Vartan, a TV and movie actor, jokes he's addicted to his Playstaiton3 but is holding out to upgrade to Blu-ray but is concerned that he will become addicted to it.

Sony's next-generation Blu-ray disc model to enter the market recently is the new 'BD-Live'.

Randy Waynick, the Senior Vice-President of Home Producers Division Sony Electronics, explains how the technology works.

Best Buy is the largest store selling consumer electronics in the US and Canada.

Tara Adams-Clarke, Best Buy's home theatre expert in California, says there is much you can do with BD-Live.

Many movie studios have announced they will begin releasing new movies on Blu-ray Disc at the same time as the DVD.

Amy Jo Smith, Executive Director of the Digital Entertainment Group, explained that BD Live will allow children to talk to their favourite characters on screen.

New Study Finds Low Interest In Blu-ray

A new consumer survey recently released chronicles the woes of the winner of the hi-definition format war: nobody wants it. While consumers were very happy to embrace the DVD standard when it came about because it brought a huge jump in quality over VHS, the pros of switching to Blu-ray are not as obvious. From the article: 'In contrast, while half of the respondents to our survey rated Blu-ray's quality as 'much better' than standard DVD, another 40% termed it only 'somewhat better,' and most are very satisfied with the performance of their current DVD players." Another reason cited was that a Blu-ray investment also dictates an HDTV purchase, something consumers are reluctant to do.'" Maybe it's also that line-doubling DVD players can be had for less than a hundred dollars.

Panasonic DMR-BW500 Blu-ray Disc Recorder

Meet the future of digital TV recording. The BW500 is the first Blu-ray recorder on the Australian market and a good indicator of what to expect in the coming months from the other electronics companies. In addition to being able to burn HD recordings to Blu-ray discs, the BW500 is also equipped with a 500GB hard drive capable of storing up to 72 hours of full HD video (1080p). It features twin digital TV tuners so you can record two programs at the same time while playing back a third. You can pause live TV at the push of a button.

Home movies are catered for, too. Plug in the SD card from your camcorder (AVCHD format only) and you can transfer your videos to the built-in hard disk or burn them to Blu-ray. You can even edit out the unwanted bits via the remote. The Blu-ray burner means that any recording stored on the hard drive can be transferred to a disc. If you want to lend a recording to a friend who doesn't have a Blu-ray player, it can burn regular DVDs as well - scaling down the resolution in the process.

The BW500 picks up the seven-day electronic program guide broadcast by the TV networks, which you can use to set the recording schedule. Programming a recording is thankfully reasonably painless and you can adjust the start and finish times with ease. Significantly for the hearing impaired, it's capable of capturing closed captions in the digital broadcast, which can then be switched on or off during playback, as with subtitles in a DVD.

Of course, it's also a fully fledged Blu-ray player that supports 7.1-channel surround sound and cinephiles will appreciate the 24 frames-a-second playback mode.

The BW500 is Blu-ray Profile 1.1, however, so it doesn't support the new BD-Live features and the firmware isn't upgradeable. Panasonic is throwing in three Blu-ray single-layer 25GB rewritable discs worth $119, which should lessen the sting of being an early adopter.

http://www.panasonic.com.au