Europe's premier online source of news, data & analysis for professionals involved in DVD, Blu-ray and new delivery technologies
High-definition audio and video producer/distributor AIX Records has released its first 3D Music Album(tm) on the Blu-ray 3D format. The Goldberg Variations Acoustica by the AIX All ... Read more...
Far from a pointless exercise shunned by users, BD-Live features are being enjoyed by growing segments of consumers, if one goes by actual usage data collected and analysed by TODD COLLART, Senior VP ... Read more...
Filmexport Home Video’s Marijka Nevěrnice (Maria the Unfaithful), a rare gem of Czech cinema released in 1934, earned leading authoring and post-production house Brickbox Digital Media the... Read more...
Warner Home Video has partnered with LG Electronics and Sony to bundle new Blu-ray 3D versions of three IMAX movies – Under the Sea 3D, Space Station 3D and Deep Sea 3D – with... Read more...
Research firm Parks Associates reports a modest increase in awareness of 3DTV amongst US broadband households in 2010, but the mainstream viability of 3D depends on the availability of premium video content... Read more...
While the consumer electronics headlines this year have been dominated by 3D television news, the real story in 2010 is about Internet-Enabled TVs (IETVs), according to research firm iSuppli... Read more...
UK satellite broadcaster Sky announced it will launch Europe’s first 3D TV channel to millions of homes on 1 October. The launch weekend highlights will include this year's Ryder Cup, with three days ... Read more...
Technicolor says it is set to deliver more than 15 of the approximately 30 Blu-ray 3D titles currently being produced in the marketplace. Announced at CES in January, Technicolor produced the first Blu... Read more...
US consumer spending for the first half of 2010 in the home entertainment window for pre-recorded entertainment – DVD, Blu-ray Disc and digital distribution – reached $8.8 billion, down 3.3% compared ... Read more...
The Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE), a cross-industry consortium dedicated to driving a new, open market for digital content distribution, today announced its consumer brand – UltraViolet... Read more...
“I’m often asked – especially recently with repeated reports that DVD sales are declining and BD sales aren’t making up the difference– if DVD is doomed. Is Blu-ray whistling past the graveyard? Will ... Read more...
China Blue High-definition Disc (CBHD) players offered by Shinco Electric and TCL, the only two vendors of such devices in the China market currently, have been found to be not compatible with each other... Read more...
QOL at 10 keeps on innovating
QOL, Europe’s first independent manufacturer to take the plunge into Blu-ray, celebrates its 10th anniversary. In a candid conversation, its CEO LAURENT VILLAUME shares his memories, on-going concerns and how market realities are shaping his strategic vision and present new opportunities.
Is it the right time to introduce 3D when BD has yet to consolidate its foothold in the market, where a lot of education remains to be done and where consumers have just bought equipment that will become obsolete quickly?
I disagree. Blu-ray is an evolution on the DVD, an improvement noticeable depending on the TV set you have at home. It is absolutely not a revolution. Proof is that DVD is picking up in France once again, whereas, if BD had been a revolution it would have taken over much quicker. It is not a VHS-to-DVD transition.
What is missing to BD is 3D, which is truly a revolution, akin to the transition from black & white to colour in the 1970s. Perhaps 3D arrives a bit early, but we should be very satisfied to see it emerging. By offering new perspectives to CE manufacturers, studios and consumers, it is 3D that will make a success of Blu-ray.
APPLE unveiled its new Apple TV box – about 1/4 of the size of the previous model – that will let people stream films and TV shows from the internet or their computers to their TV. Apple TV has opted for a rental-only strategy. It would cost $4.99 for films on day of DVD release, and 99 cents to rent TV shows – which are available to watch almost instantly. The Apple TV box itself – available in four weeks – will cost $99, down from $299 for the previous model.
MOSER Baer CEO said that about 20 million films are sold on legitimate DVDs in India per annum, while some 600 million copies are pirated versions. The latest film Peepli Live was released last Friday and was available in pirated DVDs by Saturday morning. India is likely to impose anti-dumping duty of up to $50 per 1,000 pieces on cheap imports of DVDs from Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to protect the domestic industry.
GROWTH of Web-to-TV video is happening faster than most people expected. By 2014, there will be 57 million US broadband households viewing full-length online video on the TV, says In-Stat. Revenue associated with this web-to-TV video content will grow from $2 billion to over $17 billion over a five-year period.
CONSUMER transactions for prerecorded video content (DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, and digital delivery) grew 2.8% to 3.5 billion during 2009, the Entertainment Merchants Association stated in its latest report Discs & Digital – The Business of Home Entertainment Retailing. Combined DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales totaled $17.9 billion in 2009, nine times the revenue generated by digital distribution channels, and 80% to 90% of paid video game software acquisitions were on physical media.
THE number of Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) certified Blu-ray Disc players nearly doubled in the first half of 2010, according to the group. The group's 245 members, which include consumer electronics, computer and mobile device manufacturers alongside component and software developers, now produce 105 DLNA certified BD enabled devices. The DLNA seeks to promote interoperability between CE devices through establishing industry standards.
HONG KONG filmmakers claim to be shooting the world’s first 3D pornographic movie – 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy – scheduled for release in May 2011 release. In addition to distribution throughout Asia, the Sunday Morning Post reports that the film crew has already received calls from Europe and the US. Japanese porn stars Yukiko Suo and Saori Hara are confirmed as the leads in the upcoming flick, apparently based on The Carnal Prayer Mat, a classic erotic Chinese tale.
SONIC Solutions reported a year-on-year reduction in its net loss from $1.8 million to $1.1 million for the first quarter despite increased operating costs. The company said that revenue was flat at $25.4 million in the term ending June 30 but operating expenses increased by $300,000 following the acquisition of digital media company DivX earlier this year. Sonic said its RoxioNow film download software contributed $5 million to the business, up from $3.1 million in 2009.
GERMAN DVD/BD replication line manufacturer Singulus recorded order intakes worth €67.4 million in the first half of this year – an increase of 65.2% compared with the first half of 2009. The company announced sales of BLULINE II machines to the UK's VDC Group, Australia's Regency Media and Japan's Memory-Tech – the country's largest independent replicator. Singulus claims to have a 90% share of the Blu-ray line market.
ONE in five renters of home entertainment in the US pirated content in the last half of 2009 and 25% said they burned at least one copy of Blu-ray Disc, according to a poll 2,000 consumers by the Diffusion Group. Most respondents reported they give up trying to pirate content within 30 minutes if it’s not efficient, and 84% said they would still buy or rent the content they were attempting to obtain illegally, Home Media Magazine said.
