At CEDIA expo, Sony announced its new BDP-S5000ES Blu-ray Disc player, featuring the company's newly developed HD Reality Enhancer and Super Bit Mapping technologies that deliver even sharper and more vibrant images from today's Blu-ray Disc movies.

The BD-Live capable machine is equipped with an external flash memory port and includes a 1GB Sony Micro Vault Tiny flash storage device.

The BDP-S5000ES also features Quick Start mode, improving boot-up times to approximately six seconds, which is seven times faster than previous models.

Unique to the model is Sony's new 14-bit HD video processor, which improves standard definition and high-definition picture quality with the help of HD Reality Enhancer and Super Bit Mapping technologies. HD Reality Enhancer continually analyzes bit by bit of the original source, sharpening edges and reproducing detail, while reducing the effects of film grain.

Super Bit Mapping delivers smoother color gradation realizing true 14-bit equivalent color tone from 8-bit sources connected via HDMI.Since many consumers own extensive DVD movie libraries, the BDP-S5000ES incorporates the company's new Precision Cinema HD Upscale technology that converts standard-definition signals (480i) to 1080p and outputs a full HD equivalent resolution signal to 1080p TVs via HDMI. The model even improves analog component video output thanks to 14-bit/297MHz video D/A conversion.

Additionally, the model adds the new Precision Drive HD, which helps to detect and correct wobbling discs from three directions, stabilizing playback of bent or scratched Blu-ray Discs and DVDs.
The new BDP-S5000ES will be available in the US in November for about $2,000

Hitachi's DZ-BD10HA camcorder offers the versatility of recording HD video onto three separate formats - Blu-ray Disc, Hard Drive and SDHC.

Featuring a 7-mega pixel CMOS image sensor, the new DZ-BD10HA can record up to 4 hours 20 minutes of 1920x1080 video or 8 hours 40 minutes of 1440x1080 video onto the built-in 30 GB HDD. Additionally, the built-in SDHC card slot allows Full HD video and still recordings.

Full HD video can be transferred from either the HDD or SDHC card to the BD drive, all within the camcorder. Editing functions such as split, splice, delete, merge and transitions can also be performed within the camcorder before dubbing. The transcoding feature allows for the camcorder to transfer full HD videos off the HDD or SDHC card to standard definition DVD discs.

The camcorder will be available in Japan on August and in North America in September.

The standalone player – model BDP-S350 – supports BonusView (picture-in-picture) and is BD-Live ready,
with an Ethernet port for firmware updates and access to Internet-based interactive content features. A firmware update enabling BD-Live is planned later this year.

It also features quick start-up mode improving the player's boot-up time to approximately a few seconds and offers an external port for local storage for BD-Live, allowing users to add an optional flash storage device.

Since many consumers own extensive DVD movie libraries, the BDP-S350 incorporates Sony's new Precision Cinema HD Upscale technology that converts standard-definition signals (480i) to 1080p and outputs a full HD equivalent resolution signal to 1080p TVs via HDMI.

Additionally, the model also adds Sony's new Precision Drive HD, which helps to detect and correct wobbling discs from three directions, stabilizing playback of bent or scratched Blu-ray Discs and DVDs.

The model offers 7.1 channel Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus decoding and bit-stream output, as well as DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and Master Audio bit-stream output.

The BDP-S350 supports AVCHD discs encoded with x.v.Color (xvYCC) technology, an international standard for wide color space reproduction.

On the “green” front, Sony claims the compact size of the finished package (overall unit size reduced by 55 percent and total weight by 38 percent) allows it to reduce the C02 emissions related to shipping by approximately 43 percent. The player features 21 percent less power consumption in playback mode and 43 percent reduced power consumption in stand-by mode. It also features lead-free solder, all-paper packing and the user guide is printed on 70 percent recycled paper with Volatile Organic Compound-free vegetable oil based ink.

The new BDP-S350 is now available for about $400 at Sony stores in the US.

Buffalo will start shipping 8x Blu-ray burners in Japan. The company will release it's external USB2.0/eSATA drive, named BR-816SU2 and its internal SATA drive with model name BR-816FBS next month. Both drives are OEMs of the Panasonic SW-5584 Blu-ray burner and support 8x on single layer BD-R discs, 2x for dual layer BD-R and BD-RE discs and have an 8MB buffer.

The maximum recording speed of 8x can be achieved only when the external drive is connected through the eSATA interface. When connected using USB 2.0 the BD-R burning speed is limited at 6.5x.

Besides Blu-ray burning the drives support 16x burning for DVD-R/DVD+R, 5x for DVD-RAM, 8x for DVD-R/+R DL, 6x for DVD-RW and 8x for DVD+RW. CD-R's are burned at 48x and CD-RW's at 24x.

Delkin Devices is now shipping Archival Gold Blu-ray recordable media, the first archival Blu-ray (BD-R) disc guaranteed to preserve data safely for over 200 years.

Delkin Blu-ray discs feature an unprecedented 200-year longevity rating, as well as a market-leading 4x write speed, enabling users to burn 25GB of data in only 23 minutes. Proprietary ScratchArmor scratch-proof coating protect the discs over fifty times better then typical coatings found on other optical discs, making Delkin Blu-ray the most durable in the market, claims the comnpany.

The disc can withstand the effects of UV light, heat and humidity without damage owing to the patented “phase-change” recording materials that enable durability and recording properties over a long period of time. The 4x speed rating enables a burn that is at least twice as fast as any other Blu-ray disc

Delkin BD-R discs are available in a variety of packages, including a single jewel case, a five disc binder, a ten disc spindle, or a 25 disc spindle, and can be purchased at a variety of retailers internationally.

A 100% recyclable paper DVD case has been launched by MediaPlant, a Swedish manufacturer of pre-recorded media. The EcoCase is made out of B-flute and the cover of acid free, eco-labeled cardboard.

It is 100% plastic-free and the printing is made using vegetable based inks and water-based lacquer. There is no centre hub holding the disc in place; instead, the tray has three special fastenings that hold the disc in place. The EcoCase's weight is less than a conventional DVD case, which enable companies to save money on postage.

Developing the EcoCase is part of MediaPlant's environmental EcoSmart content based on "taking a total responsibility for the entire supply chain." The company's Scandinavian clients products are manufactured at the Stockholm facility instead of being conveyed by trucks from central Europe to Scandanavia.

Folkets Bio chose the EcoCase for its DVD-release of the documentary, Vart Dagliga Brod by Nikolaus Geyrhalter.

Disc packaging supplier Key Solutions has futher developed its portfolio of metal, wood, cardboard and tin packaging, with the Deluxe range – high-end packaging with leather-like covers. The material used is polyurethane and it passes ROHS test.

Key Solutions also upgraded its regular Keypak range by adding various colours of velvet trays a book-like cardboard cover to a normal Amaray pack. The pack can hold up to four discs. The Keypak Deluxe is a patented product.

The company also enhanced its Metalmate (plastic Amaray with sheets of metal glued on the cover) by using leather-like cover. The pack can hold from 1 to 4 discs. The leather mate is a patented product.

The leather wallets come with different opening systems (button, magnet or agenda belt), more colours and the inside can be sleeves or multi-DVDs Amarays.

Sony has introduced a professional solution for Blu-ray Disc encoding. The new BAE-VX1000 multi-codec video encoder is designed for real-time encoding of MPEG-2 or H.264/AVC primary and secondary video streams, which are suitable for the Blu-ray Disc format.

Sony says the BAE-VX1000 encoder can decrease total encoding time by up to 30 percent over the existing BAE-VA700 solution. It does this though a number of enhancements, including parallel capturing and pre-processing, the elimination of LDEC checking, and increased encoding algorithm efficiency. The system can support a simple, single PC configuration that can accomplish AVC encoding in realtime, or can be expanded to a networked, distributed processing configuration.

A multi-codec design enables compatibility with most common Blu-ray authoring applications, such as Sony Creative Software's Blu-Print and Sonic Solutions' Scenarist. The option of using AVC or MPEG-2 technology gives production pros more flexibility. And MPEG-2 encoding for traditional DVD authoring is also available.

An "Express" mode supports AVC realtime encoding with one PC, when encoding speed is the top priority. When using additional networked processors, "Fast" and "Quality" modes are also available to meet higher performance and quality priorities. The BAE-VX1000 also offers a built in realtime AVC elementary stream decoder that improves the efficiency of quality checking procedures.

The BAE-VX1000 encoder is expected to be available this summer. No price details are yet available.

AGI Media, the leading supplier of packaging and creative services for the home entertainment industry, recently launched a new line of packaging – Digipak i-Save – with a host of sustainable features, coming in three different solutions in CD or DVD tray construction:

– a biopolymer material, which is both biodegradable and compostable, and exclusive to AGI Media

– 100 per cent recycled polystyrene

– a recyclable tray with positive-locking system.

In order to meet customers’ range of sustainability needs, the Digipak i-Save products are available in 100 percent recycled paperboard, or customers have a choice of other environmentally-friendly paperboard that is third-party certified. Also, in keeping with their high sustainability standards, AGI Media uses only soya vegetable inks and a water-based lacquer finish on Digipak i-Save packs.

"There is a clear demand for media packaging that reflects a company’s concern for and response to environmental issues," said Martin Bril, Sales and Marketing Director, AGI Media Europe. "As a global leader in innovative packaging solutions, we have the broad capabilities and necessary expertise to bring our customers’ packaging solutions to life. The development of the Digipak i-Save product is a perfect example how AGI Media and its parent company, MWV (MeadWestvaco), help our customers deliver their sustainability and overall brand promise to the marketplace."

Wewow has launched the carton board Wowpak aimed at the marketing, promotional, music and retail sectors.

The Wowpak is manufactured from one piece of board, die-cut and glued, and can be made from FSC-accredited 100% recycled stock to satisfy a customer's environmental demands. It can hold a CD or DVD and a mini-brochure, or two discs.

Stuart Jones, managing director of Wewow Ltd, said the pack was completely recyclable and "extremely cost effective to produce". Wewow created the Wowpak concept and has applied for a Registered Design.

The company previously designed the safeTshell and SlimShell clam-style cases, for Amazon UK, which uses it to send DVDs in the post.

Wewow outsources the manufacturing of the Wowpak to a printer and said it would consider allowing other companies to make the pack under license.

GEAR Software, a leading developer of multimedia software tools, released GEAR Video 9.0, a consumer video editing and DVD authoring package. The kit features DVD and DivX format choices, along with media editing and authoring features to make presentations on DVD.

With GEAR Video 9.0, making menus and title pages using thumbnails with user selected backgrounds is easy. The software also helps users create custom slide shows with transition effects using video clips and digital stills. The software also provides a powerful video editor that can be used for cuts, merges and transition effects.

GEAR Video 9 will support Microsoft Windows XP, and Windows Vista. It is available through GEAR Resellers and the GEAR Store at www.gearsoftware.com . The estimated street price is US$79.99.

OPPO Digital has announced the launch of the DV-983H, a new up-converting DVD player. OPPO is known as a manufacturer of digital electronics and was awarded several times with other up-converting DVD players. The DV-983H features video processing technologies from Anchor Bay and delivers 7.1-channel audio, and 1080p HDMI up-conversion. OPPO states that the DV-983H works on its best when it's watched on a large, high-resolution screen.

"We've leveraged our years of experience in up-converting technology, not to mention the latest innovations from leading video and audio partners, to release our most powerful, highest-performing player yet," said Jason Liao, vice-president of product development at OPPO Digital. OPPO's goal is to offer its customers a total new experience with the music and movies that they already own, before investing in a whole new Blu-ray library.

The DV-983H features aspect ratio conversion and multi-level zooming, which allows the user to be in control. All the product's features can be found right here. The DV-983H will cost you $399.

Disc authoring software that supports the creation of Blu-ray Discs and DVDs has been introduced by CyberLink Corp. With easier to use features, the company says consumers can quickly author and burn high definition videos with professional-looking results at home.

PowerProducer 5 is available in two versions. PowerProducer 5 Ultra lets users create professional looking discs on Blu-ray Discs and DVDS. With support for the AVCHD video format, users can also create DVDs featuring highly compressed high-definition content. PowerProducer 5 supports the creation of customised menu designs for DVDs and VCDs.

Major improvements to product usability have been made to this new software version, according to company sources. Users are now provider a simpler, restyled interface and new design tools for creating customisable disc menus with imported photos and videos.

CyberLink PowerProducer 5 Upgrade also allows users of versions 3 and 4 to upgrade. OEM versions of PowerProducer to PC and CE manufacturing customers are also available.

Disc, a German optical data storage supplier, has unveiled a Blu-ray-based mini-archive for small businesses and home offices – the Blu-safe.

The Blu-safe, which was released at the CeBIT technology fair in Hanover, is being targeted at companies that need to archive emails or files onto raw media for compliance purposes. While Blu-ray-based archiving has been available for some time in larger jukebox-type units that can store the tens of terabytes of data, this is not practical or cost-effective for businesses that require less storage.

Containing up to 15 Blu-ray discs, the Blu-safe has a single drive and a USB2.0 interface. According to Pedro Marcos, the European sales manager for the unit's distributors Incom, the drive can be swapped when Blu-ray technology advances past its current 50GB-per-disk limit — the roadmap for Blu-ray is aiming for 400GB per disk.

Disc claims that the Blu-safe uses 80 percent less power than standard hard disks.

The Blu-safe's price had not yet been finalised, but would be in the region of €3,000 (£2,300). The unit will probably be sold in the UK through Incom's partner here, Westpoint.

Sony is updating its Blu-ray Disc player line with two new models that will be capable of accessing advanced interactive features such as BonusView and BD-Live.

The BDP-S350 and BDP-S550 models both support BonusView (Picture-in-Picture) featured on some of the new Blu-ray Disc theatrical releases. The BDP-S350 model is BD-Live ready featuring an Ethernet port for an easy firmware update and access to Internet-based interactive content features. The BSP-S550 is BonusView and BD-Live capable when it ships.

Both models also feature an external port for local storage, so users can add optional flash-based memory. The BDP-S550 ships with a 1GB storage device.

The players feature 1080/60p and 24p True Cinema output. They are compatible with most standard DVDs and feature 1080p upscaling through an HDMI connection to capable HDTV sets, improving the picture performance of existing DVD libraries.

The models offer 7.1 channel Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus decoding and bit-stream output, as well as dts-HD High Resolution Audio and Master Audio bit-stream output. The BDP-S550 adds dts-HD High Resolution Audio and dts-HD Master Audio decoding as well as 7.1 channel analog audio output.

The players support AVCHD discs encoded with x.v.Color™ (xvYCC) technology, an international standard for wide color space reproduction. The standard expands the current data range of video by about 1.8 times, allowing the players to output more natural and vivid colors similar to what the human eye can actually see. The players also feature compatibility with an array of video formats, including BD-R/RE (BDMV and BDAV modes), DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW (Video Mode), CD, CD-R/RW (CD-DA format), and JPEG on DVD//CD recordable media.

The new BDP-S350 ships this Summer for about $400 and BDP-S550 will be available this fall for about $500.

Traxdata, a leading optical and flash media storage vendor, has announced a European market first with the availability of its Double Layer DVD+R 16x media enabling users to store 8.5GB on one disc.

Traxdata’s DVD+R DL 16x can burn 8.5GB of audio, video or data files in just 10 minutes compared to the standard DVD+R DL 8x which takes nearly 20 minutes to burn the same amount of content. This equates to up to four hours of DVD quality video, 16 hours of VHS quality video, or more than 120 hours of MP3 audio.

The additional substrate layer that sits between the two recording layers allows the laser beam to record the first layer and then re-focus to record on to the second layer, removing the need to change disc.

There is already hardware available offering full DVD+R DL 16 speed burning capabilities, with other manufacturers due to release further models in the next few months.

Verbatim, Europe's leading storage media specialist, chalks up another first by introducing colour LightScribe DVD+Rs. Together with the current gold colour, the discs are now available in red, orange, yellow, blue and green metallic tones - allowing for easy colour categorization of different types of files at a glance.

Moreover there is an update to LightScribe's system software that gives even better results. The label side can now be uniquely designed and burned in about 20 minutes with the Lightscribe Version 1.2 technology.

The LightScribe technology is easy to operate, following the principle "burn-flip-burn" and using the new, colourful Verbatim LightScribe DVD+R discs gives the result of a luminous, semi-gloss print. Whether it be photographic images, graphics or text, all can be burnt into the coloured coating very precisely with a laser ray, thus conventional disc labels are a thing of the past.

Furthermore, LightScribe offers the "LightScribe Template Labeler", editing software for individual label design for free download on its homepage: www.lightscribe.com. The software makes it easy to produce and preview graphics.

Verbatim Americas will begin shipping the world's first 2x-speed HD DVD-R (recordable) and HD DVD-RW (rewriteable) discs this quarter.

At 2x-speed the new recordable and rewriteable HD DVDs slash the time required to fill a 15GB HD DVD disc to about 30 minutes, compared to about 1 hour at 1x speed. HD DVD media supports the Advanced Access Content System copy-protection technology.

To achieve the higher performance required for 2x write speeds, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM), Verbatim's parent company, leveraged its dye technology to develop a new highly sensitive recording layer.

To achieve the best balance of reflectivity, transmission and absorption for both recording layers, MKM developed a new highly sensitive recording dye. The high recording sensitivity plus the wider power margin of the new recording layer ensure a low error rate, regardless of drive power fluctuations or smudges on the disc surface.

Verbatim/MKM is a general member of the HD DVD Promotion Group and a charter member of the DVD Forum.

Addonics Technologies unveiled its Zebra Blu-ray/HD DVD Player – an optical storage solution that allows a PC to play Blu-ray and HD DVD movies from the same tray.

Users can turn their laptop or desktop computer into a high definition movie player and play high definition video quality of 1080p format at 1920x1080 resolution and the dynamic 7.1-channel audio output that comes with the Blu-ray or HD DVD format.

The Addonics Zebra records up to 8.5GB of data or 4 hours of video on compatible DVD+R DL (double layer) and DVD-R DL (dual layer) media. It is bundled with the Cyberlink High-Def Suite for use with Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista. The product also supports Linux (Kernel 2.6 and above) with free playback software downloadable from various Linux websites.

Maximum transfer rates in various modes of the Addonics Zebra are Blu-ray BD-ROM 215.79 Mbits/s (6x); HD DVD-ROM 109.65 Mbits/s (3x); DVD-ROM 22.16 Mbytes/s (16x) and CD-ROM 6,000 Kbytes/s (40x).
The recommended price of the Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD Player is $409 with eSATA interface, or $429 with combination eSATA and USB 2.0 interface.

LG has officially announced the release of the first Blu-Ray/HD DVD Super-multi DVD burner capable of writing at 6x. The new GGW-H20L is the successor of the currently available GGW-H10N Super-multi Blue Blu-Ray /HD DVD combo drive.

Basic specifications include a SATA interface, support for Lightscribe, 6x burning for BD-R media using the CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) writing strategy, 3x HD DVD-ROM reading (15GB and 30GB), 16x writing for DVD+/-R media and 40x for CD-R.

Another strong advantage of the new drive is the support for 4x BD-R DL (50GB) burning, which means that you will be able to write approximately 46 GB of data in less than 50 minutes.

Currently, LG is the only ODD maker that offers drives compatible with both Blu-Ray and HD DVD formats.

PC maker Acer will ship its high-end Aspire M5630 series with Hitachi-LG's dual format drive, the GGC-H20N, capable of playing both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. It also claims to be the first to launch a dual Blu-ray & HD DVD capable PC.

The desktop computer features an ATI X2400 Pro 256MB PCIe graphics card and a HDCP compliant 22" LCD monitor, thus meeting the requirements for playback of AACS protected content. Other features include 2GB RAM, Vista Home Premium and a wireless keyboard & mouse.

The PC will have a pricetag of $1,800 for the model with a Core 2 Duo E4500 and a 320GB HDD or $2,070 for the model with a Core 2 Quad Q6600 and a 500GB HDD. No date has been announced for shipping in the US or EU market.

As momentum builds behind HD content with the launch of a range of new movie titles pressed to Blu-ray Disc, Pioneer confirms the European availability of its latest BD writer. The BDR-202 internal drive for PCs supports the reading and writing of both write-once (BD-R) and rewritable (BD-RE) single-layer BDs at 144Mbps and 72Mbps respectively.

The versatile writer is equipped with a range of proprietary technologies to enhance writing performance and is also compatible with a range of DVD and CD media; speeds include 12X writing to DVD-R/+R, 6X to DVD-RW/+RW and 24X to CD-R/RW.

The BDR-202 is targeted at professional users working with data intensive applications such as graphics houses and creative companies composing HD content. Authoring houses will also purchase the writer to remaster commercial BD releases. In addition, consumers who regularly work with voracious data applications, including building video and music libraries, may elect to use the 25GB capacity offered by BD to manage their multimedia files.

Using MPEG-2 compression at a high-definition (HD) bit rate (19.4Mbps), a typical film of 135 minutes requires approximately 19.6GB of storage space - equivalent to around four single-layer DVDs - compared to a single BD that can easily accommodate the movie and a range of interactive extras.

Panasonic has announced the upcoming availability of the company's first Blu-ray Disc player, the DMP-BD10, available this September, at "less than $1,500."

"With the DMP-BD10, Panasonic proves its commitment to providing the best high definition entertainment experience for the home,"" said Reid Sullivan, vice president, merchandising, Panasonic's entertainment group. ""Our goal is to focus on the total solution for an uncompromised high definition experience. In addition we want to ensure that the consumer experience is as easy as possible, so weve added EZ-Sync HDAVI control function to make it simple to connect and control multiple products, such as a Panasonic Plasma TV, Blu-ray Disc player and receiver.

"Plus, with the BD10 we respect the legacy content that consumers have in their entertainment libraries, including virtually all DVD and CD formats, as well as video and image formats."

The introduction of the DMP-BD10 is timed to coincide with Panasonic's release of its first 1080p Plasma TVs this fall, which can make full use of Blu-ray's high definition entertainment capabilities.

Pricing in the United States on the DMP-BD10 has not been finalized, but will be less than $1,500

Nexpak introduced the expansion of its STACKpak product line to include two new disc case sizes that reduce the amount of materials used for packaging of multiple DVD and CD disc sets.

The current STACKpak 27mm case is approximately one inch thick at the spine and can hold up to six discs without the need for heavy plastic disc pages, thus dramatically reducing the amount of materials needed for cases that hold multiple discs.

Nexpak is growing the STACKpak product line to include two new case sizes - the STACKpak 21mm case that is three-quarters of an inch at the spine and the STACKpak 15mm, which has the exact same dimensions as its standard Amaray DVD case.

The 21mm version is capable of holding from one to six discs and the 15mm version can hold from one to four discs using the same STACKpak system that requires no disc trays, thus reducing packaging materials by up to 60 percent.

“The STACKpak reduces the amount of waste that results from packaging damage at retail compared to the previously used paperboard boxes that were the standard for PC Games years ago. The STACKpak is also a true “keep-case” that adds value since the case is used to store discs so it is part of the product itself and is not discarded after purchase,” says Shelli Kaiser, executive director of marketing for Nexpak.

The STACKpak is made of pure, clean polypropylene resin which is fully recyclable. Unlike some plastic case imports that may contain unwanted substances, the STACKpak further supports environmentally friendly packaging with its submission to the CDSA certification program which guarantees non-toxic, contaminant-free plastic media packaging.

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