A very Blu Year

[Blu Titan]

Very exciting news from Cedia. From Home Media Magazine:

A Very Blu Year

The hints were subtle, but those paying attention at Sony’s event saw and heard a couple jabs at high-def format war loser, HD DVD.

A slide comparing Blu-ray’s growth this year to last year included a note at the bottom indicating a 100% drop in high-def competition. Sony’s Waynick noted that Sony’s entire high-def product is really high-definition.

“I’m not talking about upscaling,” he deadpanned, earning laughter from the crowd.

Not surprisingly, Sony made a very large Blu-ray splash, showing off two new Blu-ray home theater systems, a new standalone player and three Blu-ray desktop PCs.

“Years ago we knew that HD was far more than TVs,” Waynick said. “We’ve experienced a significant lift in all our HD [products].”

Sony executives also talked about the company’s Bravia line of HDTVs and its Internet video link, which will give users access to the summer blockbuster Hancock ahead of its release on DVD and Blu-ray. Sony also announced that soon more than 40,000 Amazon.com video-on-demand movies and TV shows would be on the Bravia system.

“This is an industry first,” said Jeff Goldstein, VP of TV marketing for Sony.

Chris Fawcett, VP of home video for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, added that Sony believes that one-quarter of all HDTV households in America will have Blu-ray players by the end of the year. Sony officials also shared that more than 300,000 people have accessed BD Live features, many downloading new content.

Sony is also launching a Blu-ray club this fall, rewarding those who buy SPHE Blu-rays.

Lastly, Fawcett said that in 2009 Sony will street a 400-disc Blu-ray mega-changer.

“We’re not entirely ready to take the wrapping off it yet,” he said.

12,000 Movies at Your Fingertips

Announced at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, LG and Netflix finally showed off the Netflix movie-streaming Blu-ray player at CEDIA, offering up details on how it works, and fielding a slew of questions from intrigued members of the media.

“We like to do a lot of homework before we bring any product to market, and that’s especially true here,” said Allan Jason, VP of sales and marketing for LG’s digital media and new products division. “It’s not a matter of if Blu-ray takes over at some point, it’s a matter of when.”

The BD300, which will be available this month with a price tag of $399, will stream 12,000 Netflix movies with more being added every week, according to Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey. Those who don’t yet have a Netflix account will be offered two weeks free if they buy the new Blu-ray player.

The player streams as fast as 2.2MB per second, depending on the connection, and titles are not streamed in high-def, but only in near-DVD quality, according to Jason. Both widescreen and fullscreen videos will be available.

“At LG we considered what, when and how consumers want to watch movies and television episodes. The result is the ultimate convergence of home theater entertainment and functionality,” Jason said. “With intelligent features and access to an ever-growing library of movie and television titles, the BD300 is the next step in a truly personalized entertainment experience.”

The player only streams Netflix movies and does not have the internal memory necessary to store them.
http://www.homemediamagazine.com/new...ticle_ID=13444

Another related article in which Sony talks about its new Blu-ray players:

Sony Corp. in Japan Sept. 3 unveiled its fall line-up of Blu-ray players and recorders that includes players already launched and earmarked for the U.S. market at $399, $499 and $2,000 (with internet connectivity.

Sony said it projects industrywide global sales of Blu-ray players and recorders to top 7 million units by March 2009, compared to 2.1 million units in March 2008. The consumer electronics manufacturer said it expects to snare 44% (3.1 million units) of those sales, excluding an additional 10 million PlayStation 3 video game console unit sales, which include a Blu-ray drive.

The new Sony Profile 1.1 players, priced at $399 and $499, can be upgraded to 2.0 players offering Web connectivity via BD Live.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/new...ticle_ID=13436

[SkillzthatKillz]

always good to hear that these big companies are commited to this format and to bringing us the best HD experience possible, for a price of course

[Sith]

400 disc blu ray changer, that's pretty sweet..

[tron3]

Originally Posted by Sith

400 disc blu ray changer, that's pretty sweet..

That is just sick for home use if you ask me. I will keep my blu-ray discs inside their lovely crystal blu cases. Thank you very much.

[CptGreedle]

I like that the new 1.1 players can be upgraded to 2.0 players.

[john_1958]

Originally Posted by SkillzthatKillz

always good to hear that these big companies are commited to this format and to bringing us the best HD experience possible, for a price of course

http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/09/03/sony.intros.blu.ray.dvrs/

new players and recorders but when?

[john_1958]

Originally Posted by tron3

That is just sick for home use if you ask me. I will keep my blu-ray discs inside their lovely crystal blu cases. Thank you very much.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sith
400 disc blu ray changer, that's pretty sweet..



could you imagine trying to find certain movie out of 400 unless it had icons showing cover art

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by john_1958

could you imagine trying to find certain movie out of 400 unless it had icons showing cover art

The system would probably be an online system, where upon insertion of a new disc in the system (or the same disc in a different slot) it will read the initial info and look up the title on the disc. Then through a GUI-based navigation, you can either scroll through all 400 titles or you could do a search.


fuad

[Mr. Al]

Originally Posted by john_1958

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sith
400 disc blu ray changer, that's pretty sweet..



could you imagine trying to find certain movie out of 400 unless it had icons showing cover art

Then something happens to your player and your 400 titles are stuck in there!

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by Mr. Al

Then something happens to your player and your 400 titles are stuck in there!

______________________________________

I loved this part.

A slide comparing Blu-ray’s growth this year to last year included a note at the bottom indicating a 100% drop in high-def competition. Sony’s Waynick noted that Sony’s entire high-def product is really high-definition.

“I’m not talking about upscaling,” he deadpanned, earning laughter from the crowd.

There has been a few new players I've got my eye on. The new LG sounds nice, but I really want to try out the new Oppo.

[UKTruBlu]

It worries me slightly that there is no mention of Transformers on blu?

[masob98]

Originally Posted by UKTruBlu

It worries me slightly that there is no mention of Transformers on blu?

Where in the UK?

[UKTruBlu]

Sorry, was being a bit sarcastic........ the fact that i've been on holiday for 2 weeks and this is the first thread i've read where someone hasn't mentioned transformers.

My copy is on the way from Play.com, and i can't F******* wait!!!! Should be waiting for me when i'm back from work tomorrow!!!!!

[Anthony P]

Then something happens to your player and your 400 titles are stuck in there!

it is not as if multi disk players are anything new. Such large players have existed for DVD for years

[tron3]

Originally Posted by john_1958

...
could you imagine trying to find certain movie out of 400 unless it had icons showing cover art

I can't even imagine having 400 movies. My brother has dozens and dozens of movies on DVD. My friend has his walls LINED with movies and movie do-dads.