Europe's premier online source of news, data & analysis for professionals involved in DVD, Blu-ray and new delivery technologies
Cinram International has announced the initiation of the CDSA Content Protection and Security certification process, which for over ten years has assisted content holders and their service providers in... Read more...
Zagreb-based Lute Productions has authored Croatia’s first Blu-ray title with domestic content, Croatian Undersea 4, a project comprised of six 30-minute episodes shot in six locations in the... Read more...
Four leading companies – Mitsubishi Electric, Thomson Licensing, Toshiba and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment – have formed the BD4C Licensing Group for the joint global licensing of Blu-ray and DVD patents... Read more...
Research just out from Kantar Worldpanel (previously TNS) shows that the British Video Association’s Q4 2009 television advertising campaign, “What are you waiting for?” aimed at raising awareness of ... Read more...
Back in September, Bradford-based wewow launched a unique media packaging design competition seeking to promoting creative, sustainable design to students, graduates and designers. The company have just... Read more...
Technicolor, formerly known as Thomson SA, posted a full-year net loss of €342 million on revenue that fell 14% to €3.53 billion, as the company emerges from bankruptcy protection and continues a major... Read more...
Michael Gutowski, CEO of Infodisc Technology GmbH, and Frank Hartwig, CEO of Cinram GmbH, were elected as new members of the MEDIA-TECH Association’s Executive Board at the Annual Members' meeting held... Read more...
Demonstrations of the transmission of ultra-high definition (UHD) content over broadband and satellite networks at the IBC 2008 kicked off speculation about the time frame for the possible commercialization... Read more...
Saudi Arabia may jail its first DVD pirate in a clampdown by the information ministry that may signals the start of a copyright protection era. The decision is under review at Saudi Arabia’s board of ... Read more...
Disney's release of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea was awarded the Grand Prix at the second annual Blu-ray Awards established by the Digital Entertainment Group... Read more...
Samsung is reported to be introducing, in Japan, the first smartphone featuring video codec DivX. This is in the wake of an announcement by South Korea’s Pantec, back in July of last year, of a mobile... Read more...
Global 3D television shipments will soar to 78 million units by 2015, rising at a compound annual growth rate of 80% from 4.2 million in 2010, iSuppli predicts. Revenue from shipments of these sets will... Read more...
Prospect for 3D TV in the home
There has been a lot of hype about 3D TV. But the industry getting behind a broad realm of technologies is a far cry from a monetisable mass market. Fundamentally, 3D is complex, more so than HD as technology and ecosystem.
This complexity will be reflected in uptake of 3D, says TOM MORROD, Senior Analyst at Screen Digest. It is often said that 3D is easier for consumers to ‘see’ than HD, thus driving true demand. But it can be countered that a market is not just about demand. It is about supply, price and information – all in questionable quantities.
Supply is a big piece of the puzzle and crucially, like HD, 3D is an ecosystem. It is certainly about the TV receiver, polarised or active switching; the glasses (easily forgotten but not necessarily 'in the box'). But it also takes in the decoding device – set-top box, games console or BD player; the distribution medium (broadcast/unicast), games console or 3D BD; the content and the process of capture, editing and contribution, including broadcasting infrastructure when not printed to disc.
NIELS Leibbrandt has stepped down as the European Committee Chair of the Blu-ray Disc Association, reportedly returning home to the Netherlands for personal reasons. He has been succeeded by Graham Heaton, International Media and Publicity Director for Warner Bros.
GLOBAL demand for recordable Blu-ray discs is expected to grow sevenfold from 2009 to 310 million discs in 2012 as more people use recorders and personal computers compatible with these discs, according to the Japan Recording Media Industries Association. In Japan alone, demand for recordable Blu-ray discs for taping television programmes and other material is projected to exceed 200 million discs between April 2012 to March 2013 (Japan’s fiscal year).
IN AN interview with The Wall Street Journal, James Cameron said that Avatar will have a 3D Blu-ray release later this year. "It's all right on schedule," Cameron was quoted as saying. "We'll do the Blu-ray and the standard def DVD 22 April, that's our plan as of right now, and that'll be pretty much bare bones. And then we'll do a value-added DVD and a 3D Blu-ray in I think November sometime." However, Fox Home Entertainment couldn't confirm the release dates.
MALAYSIAN police have detained a man, believed to be the mastermind of an DVD piracy syndicate, producing counterfeits in 20 illegal premises throughout the city of Johor. The police detained 281 individuals involved in DVD piracy.
SONY has confirmed that it will stop selling OLED televisions in Japan due to poor sales. OLED TVs produce brilliant pictures in a thin frame, and they tend to consume less power than their LED counterparts. But large-screen OLED televisions are not yet a reality, and even the 11-inch set Sony sells in Japan is a luxury, priced at roughly $2,222. Sony won’t say how many OLED televisions it has sold, but DisplaySearch estimates that Sony shipped 2,000 of them last year.
READERS of Belgian publications PC Magazine and home entertainment magazine FWD have recognised Blu-ray Disc as one of last year’s best technology products. After hundreds of product tests, the editors of the two magazines selected a shortlist of 10 technology products that would be put to the public vote. Almost 9,000 readers voted, with the final results giving LED TV the Gold Award for first place, with Blu-ray taking the Silver.
SEARCH specialist Rovi (formerly Macrovision) has reported a $2.6 million profit on revenues of $138 million for Q4 2009, reversing a $211.2 million loss a year ago. “We achieved a number of important business objectives during the fourth quarter,” said CEO Fred Amoroso, “including continuing to pay down debt, signing a number of important customer wins, continuing to expand our data licensing business, and especially, continuing to make significant progress on our TotalGuide solution.” Rovi forecast that 2010 revenue would be between $505 million and $535 million.
A NUMBER of Taiwan-based IC design houses, including MediaTek, Sunplus Technology and Novatek Microelectronics, will venture into the Blu-ray chip market in 2010, with MediaTek aiming to take a 30% share of the global PC/notebook built-in Blu-ray drive market. The current Blu-ray market is led by Broadcom and Japan-based companies.
ACCORDING to The Wall Street Journal, Sony loses 6 cents on "every dollar of PS3 hardware sales." Considering the PlayStation 3 current retails for $300, the company thus loses about $18 per unit. Not only has the loss been going on since launch, but when the console was released, iSuppli estimated that it cost Sony $805 to build the PS3.
