Blu-ray may well be the next-gen home cinema format of choice but in order to play a BD disc you have to buy a rather chunky player.
This is due to the innards being far more complicated than that of a standard-def DVD player, mainly due to the size of the chips used to process the hi-def audio and imagery.
In fact, a Blu-ray Player needs seven external memory chips and separate front and back-end LSI (Large-Scale Integration) devices. Until now…
Small is the new big
Panasonic has announced that it has created a new chip that is 50 per cent smaller and uses 25 per cent less power. Not only that, it is compatible with the latest Profile 2.0 BD releases.
The company had this to say about the new chip: “By using this product, Panasonic will be able to realize smaller sizes and lower power consumption in BD players compatible with the latest BD standards.”
Theoretically, the new technology means that Panasonic could soon be making Blu-ray players that are slimmer and cheaper, which is nothing but a good thing for the fledgling HD format.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Blu Ray Wins Format War But Not A Place In Our Homes
After disapointing sales, was the costly format war really worth it?
We all know that the HD DVD Vs Blu Ray war is over. Sony won after getting backed by most of the major movie studios, and Toshiba walked away with its tall between its legs licking its wounds.
Now that the format war is over many retailers were happy to get down to the business of selling the Blu Ray player without all the confusion of the HD DVD format. The only problem is, is that very few people are interested in buying BluRay player for £300 when we are in a economic down turn. To get some real momentum behind the BluRay format there needs to be a Sub £150 player and a huge amount of new tittle releases. Without this Sony could win the format war only to be left with a pot of foools gold especially as IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is just around the corner.
-unbeatable.co.uk
We all know that the HD DVD Vs Blu Ray war is over. Sony won after getting backed by most of the major movie studios, and Toshiba walked away with its tall between its legs licking its wounds.
Now that the format war is over many retailers were happy to get down to the business of selling the Blu Ray player without all the confusion of the HD DVD format. The only problem is, is that very few people are interested in buying BluRay player for £300 when we are in a economic down turn. To get some real momentum behind the BluRay format there needs to be a Sub £150 player and a huge amount of new tittle releases. Without this Sony could win the format war only to be left with a pot of foools gold especially as IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is just around the corner.
-unbeatable.co.uk
Friday, July 11, 2008
Hitachi launches world’s first Blu-ray camcorder in the UAE
Eros Group, one of the leading players in consumer electronics, telecom and allied multi-products in the Middle East region, has introduced the world's first Blu-ray Hybrid camcorder in the UAE.
The DZ-BD7HSW is Hitachi's flagship BluRay - Hard Disk Drive Hybrid model which incorporates Blu-ray disc recording capability and a 30 gigabyte (GB) Hard Disk Drive (HDD). The integrated 30GB HDD can record approximately four hours of Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 video (HX mode) or up to eight hours of HD 1,440 x 1,080 video (HS mode).
In addition, with a simple push of a button, it can copy the contents from HDD to BD within the camcorder itself, a major convenience feature for on-the-go consumers who can now bypass external devices (PCs, docking stations, etc) altogether to quickly dub a movie video. Easy editing functions such as split, delete and connect can also be made right in the camcorder before using the 1-touch dubbing function to burn Blu-ray disc copies.
Beyond the ability to transfer high definition video from the HDD to Blu-ray discs, there is also a new trans-coding feature which allows users to select high definition video stored on the HDD to be transferred to standard definition DVD copies using the 1-touch dubbing feature and family members who may not yet own a Blu-ray playback device.
The Hybrid Camcorder also allows video to be recorded in standard definition quality to DVD discs (DVD-R/-RW/-RAM/+R/+RW). Lifelike image reproduction and rich, immersive color are a result of Hitachi's 5.3 mega pixel CMOS image sensor and HD quality 12-element lens system.
The DZ-BD7HSW is Hitachi's flagship BluRay - Hard Disk Drive Hybrid model which incorporates Blu-ray disc recording capability and a 30 gigabyte (GB) Hard Disk Drive (HDD). The integrated 30GB HDD can record approximately four hours of Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 video (HX mode) or up to eight hours of HD 1,440 x 1,080 video (HS mode).
In addition, with a simple push of a button, it can copy the contents from HDD to BD within the camcorder itself, a major convenience feature for on-the-go consumers who can now bypass external devices (PCs, docking stations, etc) altogether to quickly dub a movie video. Easy editing functions such as split, delete and connect can also be made right in the camcorder before using the 1-touch dubbing function to burn Blu-ray disc copies.
Beyond the ability to transfer high definition video from the HDD to Blu-ray discs, there is also a new trans-coding feature which allows users to select high definition video stored on the HDD to be transferred to standard definition DVD copies using the 1-touch dubbing feature and family members who may not yet own a Blu-ray playback device.
The Hybrid Camcorder also allows video to be recorded in standard definition quality to DVD discs (DVD-R/-RW/-RAM/+R/+RW). Lifelike image reproduction and rich, immersive color are a result of Hitachi's 5.3 mega pixel CMOS image sensor and HD quality 12-element lens system.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Despite Victory, Consumers Not Buying Bluray
It was in February this year that Toshiba formally pulled the plug on the dying HD DVD format, inadvertently crowning rival Blu-ray as winner in a bloodied war that has been fought for months on end.
However three months down the line and the crowning glory hasn't translated into substantial sales for Blu-ray, not really. A recent NPD Group study revealed that Blu-ray sales have increased by only 2 percent from Feb to Mar and that they've actually dropped 40 percent from Jan to Feb.
Obviously a big disappointment for supporters of the winning format. There could be several reasons for this: one, despite the format war well over, people may not be ready yet to ditch traditional DVDs in favor of Blu-ray; and two, Blu-ray is still too expensive for the majority of people to plunge into adoption. As of now, it can be only hoped that all the advertising and publicity might help sway public opinion in favor of the format.
-techtree.com
However three months down the line and the crowning glory hasn't translated into substantial sales for Blu-ray, not really. A recent NPD Group study revealed that Blu-ray sales have increased by only 2 percent from Feb to Mar and that they've actually dropped 40 percent from Jan to Feb.
Obviously a big disappointment for supporters of the winning format. There could be several reasons for this: one, despite the format war well over, people may not be ready yet to ditch traditional DVDs in favor of Blu-ray; and two, Blu-ray is still too expensive for the majority of people to plunge into adoption. As of now, it can be only hoped that all the advertising and publicity might help sway public opinion in favor of the format.
-techtree.com
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