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Tag: blu-ray

  • "Better-Then-Blu-ray" Movies For Select SIM2 Few

    SIM2 has teamed up with the US’s Entertainment Experience, LLC to offer just-released movie blockbusters as part of a home-cinema package.



    hdtv.biz-news.com spoke to the high-performance HD projector specialists to find out why they’ve launched what appears to be yet another HD format when the public is still wavering about Blu-ray.

    SIM2 has announced it is starting a “better-than-blu” home-theater package.

    The Italian firm has teamed up with Entertainment Experience, LLC to provide a hardware-software combination offering just-released movie blockbusters.

    Customers will get sent movies that are stored on a hard drive in a DCI format accepted by Hollywood studios.

    The HDD slots into a bespoke media server – a Digital Entertainment Center – and the movie can then be watched on SIM2’s top-selling C3X 1080 projector.

    It might seem a strange decision to launch what appears to be yet another HD format when the public is still wavering about Blu-ray.

    Especially when a huge contention with it is the high price of Blu-ray discs and players.

    But Alan Roser, managing director of SIM2 UK, said the intention was neither to challenge blu-ray nor appeal to the mass-market.

    “It’s not mainstream and it’s not intended as a replacement for Blu-ray,” he said.

    So who will buy the home-theater package?

    Roser said the high-end home theater delivery system was being aimed at its 3-chip DLC projectors rather than less expensive single-chip products.

    He said home theaters of this type were often set up in a dedicated home cinema with a curved and acoustically transparent screen.

    “We do not believe there is any value in this for budget projectors. This is really a high-end service – it take things up to the next stage.”

    With SIM2’s C3X 1080 projector costing around USD $33,000 and US sales in the “low thousands”, it’s definitely a niche market.

    But as the world’s smallest three-chip DLP projector, the C3X 1080HD projector is capable of imaging at up to 1920x1080p at 45 mbp/s.

    To complete the package, customers need to buy a USD $10,000 media server and then pay USD $40 for each movie.

    Major blockbusters will be available within a “short time” of their release – and before they are out on Blu-ray.

    Digital Entertainment, LLC has said that the solution’s movie content ultimately will encompass more than 4000 major titles from multiple studio and distribution partners.

    Commercial Digital-cinema Technologies In The Home

    Roser said while Blu-ray was “absolutely stunning” for 95 per cent of consumers, those with the means to watch HD on giant wide screens had to have the very best – even if that meant a significant investment.

    “The important thing is to get this wonderful technology within a wonderful platform,” he said.

    Roser said the movies will be encoded in a DCI-like format that gives them a higher bitrate and better depth of colour than Blu-ray Disc.

    The package will be available “soon” in the US and it will be rolled out to other markets once complications with international licence agreement schedules are resolved.

    “It’s all a question of time. It’s all about the licensing and getting studios comfortable with content because they are concerned about piracy,” said Roser. “It’s also about keeping theater owners happy.”

    As few people can afford to install this “better-than-blu” home-theater package, that shouldn’t be too difficult.

  • General Electric To Make Premium HDTVs


    After a 20-year gap, General Electric is returning to television-set making in partnership with a Taiwanese company to launch GE-branded high definition TV sets.

    The joint venture between GE and Tatung Co – to be called General Displays & Technologies (GDT) – intends to produce two million HDTV sets annually, or 1 per cent of the 200 million units sold world-wide, when it begins production in 2009.

    The companies expect to capture approximately 5-10 per cent of the estimated USD $200 billion global TV-set market.
    GE made cathode-ray-tube television sets from 1939 until 1987.

    Peter Weedfald, president of GDT North America and global chief marketing officer for the joint venture, said it intends to be a "premium brand" that will be "very competitive with current leadership brands."

    The company will be based in Chino, California, and will produce some sets in Mexico.

    The company will stick solely to LCD technologies due to the power consumption benefits and the technology’s ability to deliver innovative new designs, such as thinner form factors.

    One model in the initial line will offer LED backlighting, but more are expected in subsequent offerings.

    GDT’s plans also include a Blu-ray Disc player with BD-Live capability.

    Since 2004, GE looked at 10 potential partners before choosing Tatung. The decision was based on Tatung’s leadering position in Taiwan and in display technology.

    "It’s a small bet for GE," says Marc Bertino, vice president of trademark licensing at GE. "It’s just an easy way to get into a high-growth market with a great partner."

    Tatung has invested USD $16.1 million for a 51 per cent stake in the venture.

    Founded in 1918, the company is Taiwan’s oldest home-appliance maker and also makes computer, communications, consumer-electronics and solar-energy products.

  • VOD Will Reach Blu-ray Quality – And Beyond

    hdtv.biz-news.com spoke to Mark Horchler, corporate marketing director with video compression provider ATEME, about its plans to deliver video of Blu-ray quality and beyond.

    The Blu-ray Disc Association doesn’t take kindly to satellite and cable providers claiming their products deliver high definition picture and sound “equal” to that delivered by Blu-ray Disc.

    The trade body recently described just such assertions of equality as irresponsible and misleading to the consumer.

    Yet if the noises coming out of video compression provider ATEME are anything to go by, the BDA might have to get used to it.

    ATEME is a leading provider of MPEG-4 AVC / H.264 video compression technology.

    Its offline and streaming encoders power numerous high-end digital video applications, including mobile TV, Video on Demand (VOD) and IPTV.

    These solutions support both standard and HD content, deployed across any platform – from mobile to Ultra HD.

    Mark Horchler, corporate marketing director with ATEME, said there was room for continued improvement with H.264.
    He said the 3rd generation of the codec had just been released and was 25 per cent more efficient.

    “I think we are reaching near Blu-ray quality,” he said. “I have not made a set by set comparison but we are there.”

    Horchler said image quality was continually improving and the company was experimenting with Ultra High Definition video.

    “That’s the future of high definition,” he said. “H.264 will take us to Blu-ray quality and beyond. Blu-ray is largely based on H.264 technology.”

    France, where ATEME was founded in 1991 and has its head office at Bièvres near Paris, is a strong market for the company.

    It recently announced that its H.264 encoding solutions were now serving over one million French IPTV customers in HD.

    This was as a result of major French broadcasters using the encoders to provide HD video over low bitrates.

    IPTV has reached mass market status in France, largely because of its strong ADSL subscriber base of over 15 million customers, value for money offered by triple play services and healthy competition amongst ISPs.

    By the end of this year, France is expected to have up to six million IPTV subscribers, with a quarter having access to HD channels such as France 2 and M6 that use ATEME’s H.264 encoders.

    “France is a leading market for IPTV and is miles ahead of any other country in Europe, if not the world,” said Horchler.

    However, he said that while there was a lack of HD content in some markets, it was only a matter of time before that changed.

    “The potential for HDTV is huge. We are only at the beginning,” he said.

    “As more and more people adopt HD equipment, flat-screen TVs and so on, there will be a snowball effect. People will ask for more HD content.”

    Every market is different

    While IPTV is particularly strong in France, Horchler said that in other countries the infrastructure favored cable or satellite.

    In the US, where the cable market uses MPEG-2, he said there was a strong argument for using H.264 and he believed cable providers would start adopting it.

    “Our solutions carry over all these platforms,” he said.

    Another area where ATEME saw potential for H.264 was the mobile market, something that fitted well with its partnership agreement with Adobe.

    Horchler said the codec could adapt to various sizes and shapes of media device and had a scaleability that allowed the same video to be broadcast on HDTV or a mobile phone, for instance.

    This was a feature that would fit well with the live broadcast of sporting events.

    The internet offers immense possibilities for video and Horchler said he was confident that H.264 would be able to adapt to new opportunities as they emerged.

    He said there were many interesting applications, such as bundling video with advertising services, that were just beginning to take shape.

    “We are in that space. We work with Adobe Flash and this is compatible with 90 per cent of PCs out there,” he said. “I am sure by next year there will be some crazy idea for a business.

    “But the codec will adapt to the business model. It’s so flexible.”

  • Blu-ray disc or three hour HD download?


    Much has been made of the role the high cost of Blu-ray Discs has played in hampering the high def format’s uptake.

    Yet if reports from Engadget are borne out, VUDU is shortly to offer HD downloads “equal in quality to Blu-ray movies”.

    The US-based internet video download service is said to be already currently in private beta testing for the new content format, which is dubbed HDX.

    While VUDU has not confirmed the report, the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) would certainly have something to say about such claims if it were to do so.

    Just last month, the BDA reacted swiftly to the DISH Network’s claims that its “full” HDTV 1080p/25Hz image matched Blu-ray quality.

    Whether the BDA has any need to feel threatened remains to be seen.

    This was the view espoused by David Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics, who suggested satellite providers are competing primarily with cable and IPTV companies, and not with the Blu-ray Disc format itself.

    Yet even if VUDU does start offering HD downloads approaching Blu-ray quality would the prospect of approximately three-hour download times appeal to many people?

    The company currently offers SD as well as HD downloads but it appears it is aiming for the high-end home theater owner with the new HDX codec.

    While streamed SD content can be played immediately, HD downloads require several hours to begin.

    Not surprising since the downloads would be over 6GB, requiring over two hours to download in most cable cases, and over four hours for most DSL users.

    We’d be interested to hear what would you would prefer – a handy, albeit still pricey disc, or a three hour wait to watch HD content on demand?

  • How Do You Turn a PS3 Owner Onto Blu-ray? With a Remote

    Hollywood studios recognise the importance of PlayStation as a driver for Blu-ray Disc (BD) sales and remote control is indicator of household demand

    Reports on Blu-ray’s progress – and difficulties – on the road to becoming the mass-market video format are legion.

    Monica Juniel, vice president of international marketing for Warner Home Video, added an interesting statistic into the mix during her presentation at IFA 2008 in Berlin last week.

    According to the former commercial banker, Sony PlayStation owners that possess remote controls for their games consoles buy more than twice as many BDs as those that don’t have them.

    Perhaps not rocket science, since if you are going to be watching movies on the PS3 it’s fairly fiddly doing it with a game controller.

    But with millions of PS3s sold around the globe, it’s understandable why those with an interest in the Blu-ray industry pay particular attention to how they’re used.

    Games and Movies

    In July, a report from the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) showed that 87 per cent of PS3 owners watched Blu-ray movies on their console.

    While this is an impressive headline figure, Warner aren’t getting carried away with it.

    According to Juniel owners of stand-alone Blu-ray players buy twice as many BDs as PlayStation households.
    She said this undoubtedly meant there were “other opportunities” for the format.

    “There are a few things that are slowing us down,” she said. “PS3 comprises the majority of the installed base, but with software buy rates significantly lagging behind those of Blu-ray set-top box owners.”

    Control by Remote

    Juniel said one way to drive BD movie sales was to “convert PS3 households via remote control usage” – the logic presumably being that if it’s easier to play the disc, you’re more likely to buy more of them.

    No figure was given for the percentage of PS owners who had remote controls but HDTV.biz-news.com has asked for the data and will post an update as soon as its received.

    She also detailed a few other barriers to purchasing Blu-ray Discs, such as hardware prices and consumer indifference.

    Remove issues such as these and there might be a lot more people happily zapping their PS3s.

    Do you agree? Please let us know your comments on what the real barriers are to consumers adopting Blu-ray technology.

  • Blu-ray is an unstoppable train

    Europeans told to learn from US retailers in order to convert consumers to Blu-ray and drive it into the mainstream

    Why upgrade to Blu-ray when the old DVD player still manages to churn out a pretty good picture?

    That appears to be a question many people have been asking themselves, especially when prices for Blu-ray players and discs remain high.

    Not for much longer, however, according to various speakers at the Blu-ray Disc Association’s (BDA) press shindig at the IFA electronics trade show in Berlin.

    They were keen to dispel any concerns that the format will never quite make it into the mainstream – though it was conceded that more work is necessary before Blu-ray finally puts DVD to the sword.

    Jim Bottoms, managing director of Futuresource Consulting, told the IFA conference that DVD’s market penetration had reached a point in the 1990s when it could be described as an “unstoppable train”.

    He said that was now the case for Blu-ray in the US and within 6-12 months it would also be true for Europe.
    “At this stage it’s too early to make that call for Europe but we are only six months away from it,” he said.

    “In the US, that call can be made now. It will be pretty much impossible to stop Blu-ray becoming a mass market product in the US.”

    He added: “We are moving forward to a situation where Blu-ray really is growing with its own momentum to become a train that is unstoppable.”

    Work remains to be done in Europe

    Things aren’t hurtling along quite so forcefully in Europe, though, where BD sales will reach 12 million discs this year, according to Bottom.

    This only accounts for around 2 per cent of total video sales, although he expects the share to climb to 5-6 per cent next year – and keep rising swiftly.

    However, by 2012 DVD will still lead in the UK, 56 per cent to 44 per cent. BD will do better in Germany – it’ll take 46 per cent of the market – but less well in Spain and Italy – 43 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively.

    To encourage the market along, Bottoms said Europe had to learn from the US, particularly from retailers there who have got behind Blu-ray by promoting it in stores and demonstrating the format’s superior quality.

    He said there was evidence that some consumers had been “turned off” HD based on only viewing broadcast HD programmes.

    They hadn’t found the quality sufficiently superior to judge it worthwhile paying to upgrade from their existing DVD players.

    Demonstrating Blu-ray at point of sales areas had been shown to be very effective in persuading people about the format’s quality.

    Initiatives such as improved retail support would ultimately help close what Bottom described as the HD content gap in Europe.

    He said this situation had arisen because currently around a third of households had HD screens but only 2 per cent could get high def content.

    This was compared to the US, where 50-60 per cent of households had HD screens and around a third could access high def content.

    Frank Simonis, chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association’s European Promotions committee, not surprisingly agreed that Blu-ray had reached the point of going mass market.

    He said the European market would start to accelerate in the autumn, adding: “You will see a lot of good things this fall. European consumers are hungry for high def.”

    Simonis defended the lag in the release of European movies compared to the US and the higher price of European Blu-ray discs – a huge sore point with many consumers.

    He said Europe, despite being a similar sized market to the US, had 15 different languages and individual markets in each country – making it a very different proposition to the US.

    “We have to work on an individual country basis for each launch plan,” he said. “So it’s one year behind the US. It’s not something we like but something that’s due to the nature of the European continent.

    “So we are not doing that badly – in fact, if you put Europe on the same timeline as the US, Europe is faster.”

    How would you describe the Blu-ray Express – hurtling unstoppably or trundling along? Please let us know your comments.

  • Full HD broadcasting claims mislead consumers

    The Blu-ray Disc Association has taken issue with announcements from satellite and cable providers that they offer “full HD” programming – but report says Blu-ray not threatened by full HD broadcasting

    Satellite and cable providers on both sides of the Atlantic have recently claimed they are offering full HD – or 1080p – programming.

    These assertions have annoyed the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) – not least because the publicity material has stated video quality matches that of Blu-ray.

    The BDA is objecting to these claims of equality, suggesting the comparisons are irresponsible and misleading.

    It argues that satellite companies cannot technically match the Blu-ray experience and it will do whatever it can to prevent consumers receiving incorrect information.

    However, a report from Strategy Analytics suggests that satellite providers are competing primarily with cable and IPTV companies, and not with the Blu-ray Disc format itself.

    It states that Blu-ray content providers and device vendors have little to fear. Instead, they should focus on developing emerging Blu-ray business models and improving the availability of Blu-ray content and devices.

    Despite this, a statement from the BDA said advertising by companies claiming their products deliver high definition picture and sound “equal” to that delivered by Blu-ray Disc are “irresponsible and are misleading to consumers”.

    “Up conversion and satellite broadcast cannot provide a true Blu-ray high definition experience, as neither is technically capable of producing the quality delivered by Blu-ray players and Blu-ray discs,” the statement said.

    The BDA said it was exploring these claims further and will take “appropriate action”, as necessary, to prevent consumers seeking the ultimate in high-definition home entertainment from being misled.

    David Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics, said 1080p, or Full HD, is the video quality benchmark set by the Blu-ray Disc format.

    “It was inevitable that television service providers would seek to emulate this standard, but their aim is primarily to increase the pressure on rival services, rather than compete with Blu-ray itself,” he said.

    DirecTV and Dish Network in the US, as well as cable operator Numericable in France, have recently introduced Full HD programming in the 1080p format.

    However, according to Strategy Analytics research, many consumers are confused by HDTV services. In the company’s most recent survey, 15 per cent of European consumers believe that they are receiving HDTV service, whereas in reality the figure is only 2 per cent.

    Mercer said that one of the main objectives of Blu-ray Disc developers was to set a benchmark in video quality that would provide sufficient encouragement for DVD owners to upgrade.

    It was also to provide a challenge that few, if any, alternative video distribution platforms could hope to match, at least in the foreseeable future.

    “Those assumptions are now being questioned by recent announcements from broadcasting service providers on both sides of the Atlantic,” he said.

    “These claims have clearly struck a sensitive nerve within the Blu-ray community, which, given their strategy as outlined above, is perhaps not surprising.”

    Mercer said that instinctively he agreed with the BDA because he didn’t believe that DirecTV or Dish would actually be offering programming at the same level of quality of BD.

    But he added that the technical arguments to prove the claim that they are not “technically capable” of doing so could be very difficult to prove one way or the other.

    “In the end, these new Full HD initiatives are more of a statement of competitiveness against rival service providers than against BD itself,” he said.

    “As has often been the case in the past, the satellite providers in the US are battling against cable companies, and now IPTV providers, to set new benchmarks in quality and customer experience.

    “The 1080p story is just another phase in that competitive battle, but it is unlikely to seriously affect Blu-ray’s potential.”

    Is the BDA right to get stroppy? Will this end up in the courts? Please let us know your thoughts.

  • First Blu-ray Disc player with streaming movies

    Korean firm LG has announced the first Blu-ray Disc player able to instantly stream movies from Netflix to the TV

    LG Electronics and Netflix are to launch the first Blu-ray Disc player that will have the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix directly to the TV.

    The LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player, which is to be launched in the autumn, will play high definition Blu-ray discs and up-convert standard DVDs to 1080p.

    But it will also allow Netflix subscribers to stream more than 12,000 choices of movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the TV for no additional charge.

    Teddy Hwang, president of LG Electronics USA, said with Blu-ray player sales expected to triple in three years, consumers are craving content and seeking a premium home entertainment experience.

    “The BD300 is another LG industry first and provides consumers with an advanced high-def disc player with unparalleled flexibility and networked access for services such as Netflix,” he said.

    Using a Queue-based user interface, subscribers will use the Netflix Web site to add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant Queues.

    Those choices will automatically be displayed on members’ TVs and available to watch instantly through the LG player.
    It is claimed that once selected, movies will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds.

    With the BD300’s accompanying remote control, Netflix members will be able to browse and make selections on the TV screen and have the ability to read synopses and rate movies.

    In addition, they will have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding the video stream. The player also has a BD Live feature, BonusView and LG’s SimpLink technology, which allows users to control similarly equipped LG TV and AV products via on-screen menus or directly from the product itself.

    In January, prior to the 2008 International CES, LG Electronics and Netflix announced their technology partnership to provide a set-top box for consumers to stream movies and TV episodes from the Internet to the TV beginning in the second half of the year.

    Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, said: “LG Electronics was the first of our technology partners to publicly embrace our strategy for getting the Internet to the TV, and is the first to introduce a Blu-ray player that will instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the TV.”

  • Chinese rival to Blu-ray squares up for fight

    Odds stacked against Blu-Ray competitor despite cheaper production costs and lower royalties

    Volume production of China’s self-developed high-definition optical disc format – China Blue High-definition Disc (CBHD) – is to begin in the fourth quarter of 2008.


    Shanghai United Optical Disc has completed its first production line and its output is initially expected to sell only in the Chinese market.

    Until recently CBHD was known as CH DVD (China High-definition DVD) – the Chinese version of the Toshiba-supported HD DVD format that lost out to Sony-backed Blu-ray last year.

    Yet while the costs of setting up a CBHD manufacturing facility and royalty fees to produce players are lower than those for Blu-ray, Taiwanese drive-makers are not optimistic about the format’s prospects.

    A report in the Chinese-language enorth.com.cn says that CBHD will find it difficult to compete with Blu-ray Disc (BD) in the Chinese market.

    This is despite the costs for refitting a DVD production line to manufacture CBHD discs being only US$800,000 – much lower than the US$3 million needed to set up a BD disc production line.

    Royalty fees to produce licensed CBHD players will be about 55 yuan (US$8.10), are also much lower than BD licensing rates.

    However, the enorth.com.cn report suggests that these cost advantages will not be sufficient to impact upon BD’s increasing market penetration.

    It points out that members of the BD Association have reduced retail prices for their entry-level Chinese-made BD players in the North American market to around US$299 and prices are expected to drop further.

    This would leave CBHD players facing challenging price competition once they are launched in the China market.
    The reports also notes that CBHD has not won support from leading movie studios in Hollywood and this is expected to render the format at a significant disadvantage in competition with BD.

  • The Matrix to be released on Blu-ray

    Seven-disc set will include the five Matrix movies, hard-cover book and biogs

    The film that played a major part in converting mainstream audiences to DVD is now to be released on Blu-ray.
    Warner Home Video has announced that they will bring the highly anticipated The Ultimate Matrix Collection to Blu-ray on October 14th.

    The sci-fi action hit starring Keanu Reeves was an immediate success on DVD, particularly in the sell-through category. Previously, most DVD owners were satisfied with renting movies.

    Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios home entertainment, recently claimed that Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie, could have a “Matrix-effect” on Blu-ray.

    He suggested that the highly visual nature of the new thriller could be the trigger to mass sales of Blu-ray devices when it is released in the format.

    Whether one movie can have such an effect remains to be seen. However, signs that Blu-ray is gaining momentum have also come from Japan, where shipments of Blu-ray players and recorders in Japan have increased to a six-figure level with 122,000 in June alone.

    This is a dramatic increase compared to May when it was only 82,000 units.
    It is expected that these figures will continue to rise in coming months, as Japanese workers receive a bonus in July and the Olympics in Beijing are held in August.

    Both of these factors are predicted to boost the consumer electronics sector.

    The seven-disc Matrix set will include five BD-50s – one disc for each of the three Matrix films, one for Animatrix, and one for The Matrix Experience – and two DVDs.

    Also included in the set will be a hard-cover book with photos and information from the films.
    Video will be presented in 1080p VC-1 and accompanied by a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack.
    Among the extras with this release are three exclusive In-Move Experience BonusView features, 35 hours of extras and digital download of The Matrix.