Paramount has announced that it will licence and add the BD+ copy protection system from Macrovision (remember them, the people that made you VHS copies go light and dark as you watched them?). BD+ is an extra layer of protection on top of the AACS standard BluRay protection which several people claim to have cracked. The licence also includes Macrovisions ACP and RipGuard technologies.
20th Century Fox also recently licensed BD+
Not my cup of tea but Elton John fans will be able to enjoy his ‘The Red Piano’ Vegas show on BluRay. Releasing today the BluRay features songs including;
1. Benny and the Jets
2. Philadelphia Freedom
3. Believe
4. Daniel
5. Rocket Man
6. Answer In The Sky
7. Tiny Dancer
[Band Introduction]
8. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
9. Candle In The Wind
[Elton Suit Change / Vegas Montage Footage]
10. Pinball Wizard
11. Bitch Is Back
12. I’m Still Standing
13. Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting [Encore]
14. Your Song
The BluRay features a bonus 50-minute documentary, “The Life and Legacy Of Elton John,” with behind-the-scenes of David LaChapelle’s treatment of the show, plus stage projections, as well as unique raw videos made for the stage backdrop for select songs.
Sony today announced a new addition to it’s Motionflow line up of 200Hz LCD TV’s. Available in three screen sizes (40-inch, 46-inch and 52-inch), the Z5500 is also DLNA™ certified, allowing it to be seamlessly networked via the built-in Ethernet port with other DLNA™ enabled devices. These TV’s also feature Sony’s AppliCast technology that allows internet access through the built-in Ethernet port (no wireless yet). Also features for control is Sony’s XMB media bar so users used to the PSP or PS3 plus Sony’s range of BluRay players will feel right at home. The Z5500 also comes equipped with CI Plus interface, which offers greater security for broadcasters, enabling them to offer premium content directly to your TV without the need for a separate set-top box. CAMs (Conditional Access Modules) using CI Plus will be available from broadcasters and cable operators supporting this TV. There’s also an integrated MPEG 4 AVC HD tuner for enjoying your favorite HD broadcasts without the need for a set-top box. No word yet on the standard for UK terrestrial HD broadcasts and id this standard will be used but looks promising is they can upgrade the firmware.
Video Business reports that Warner Bros will offer a digital copy of the movie for an extra $1.99 with the DVD version of the movie but it will be free for BluRay purchasers. Friday the 13th will street June 16 on DVD and Blu-ray, with the BluRay priced at £35.99
Full story here
Reported on Forbes.com Japanese electronics giant Sharp has posted a loss of $1.3bln, well below the expected $1bln projected in February. Hope they can make it through I love my Aquos 52″.
Full story here
Oh dear, another ‘industry insider/journalist’ that is forecasting the demise of BluRay, the opening paragraph ‘Blu-ray’s problem is simple: Blu-ray’s crisper picture isn’t enough for recession-whacked consumers. Yet the demo I saw last week in Las Vegas was something else: beautifully detailed and very watchable high def 3D.’ Um so why is BluRay one of the few technologies that’s bucking the recession? I’ve spoken about BluRay and 3D before on this site; there are some good observations in the article here
Variety reports that we will not see any 3D capable BluRay players before 2011. The main issue seems to be that there are a couple of competing standards (as we all know never a good thing). It also reports surprisingly that the BluRay Association is not looking at 3D technologies at the moment. We need the driving association to take a lead driving home 3D to push the adoption of BluRay. It will also help the electronics industry get out of recession if it can create a unified standard to increase sales, but since when has the electronics industry done anything that makes sense?
Full story here
This weeks new releases April 27th. Looks like something for everyone
A Bunch Of Amateurs
Arabian Nights
Australia
Bedtime Stories
Chopin: La Dame Aux Camelias
City Rats
Collateral Damage
The Decameron
Event Horizon
Fall Out Boy: Live In Phoenix
Halford: Resurrection World Tour Live At Rock In Rio III
Mozart: La Finta Giardiniera
Nico: Above The Law
North Face
The Promise
Richard Wagner: Das Rheingold
Rihanna: Good Girl Gone Bad – Live
Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk
Star Trek: Original Series 1 – Remastered (8 Disc)
Star Trek: The Original Crew Movie Collection 1-6 Box Set (7 Disc)
Tan Dun: Marco Polo
Forbs.com has an interesting interview with Sony Pictures execs Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton. They see cinema going up but DVD revenue down, however are sceptical about BluRay replacing DVD. They also talk about download and future 3D movies.
Full story here
JVC today announced the new LT-42WX70 super slim LCD display. This new 40” LCD screen has already won the TIPA award for best TV display. Main features include;
• Super Slim (43mm deep) & lightweight (12.1kg without stand) with Black Leather-Like Texture Bezel Design
• Full HD (1920 x 1080) Slim Panel
• HD Ready 1080p
• Dynamic Contrast 50,000:1
• 100Hz/120Hz Clear Motion Drive III
• DynaPix HD Picture Engine
• Wide Colour Spaces: sRGB 100% / Adobe RGB 96% coverage
• Gamma 2.2 Pre-Adjusted LCD (with 6 Preset Modes)
Pricing has yet to be announced, not sure about the sound of the ‘Black Leather-Like Texture Bezel’ what market are they going for with that?
The Hollywood Reporter reports that Sony has admitted that BD-Live is still at the ‘Pong’ stage in its development. Sony held an industry event yesterday to showcase some of the features of BluRay to studios.
Full story here
I have to say that due to the cinema reviews I was not expecting a great deal from this movie and while the plot as a few holes and pushes the green message way too much it’s an enjoyable tale. This is Keanu Reeves best performance in a while (mainly due to the fact that Klaatu is quite wooden anyway) and the other cast members all act well in making the movie believable. Some have complained about the effects well they looked good to me on my 52” screen. Overall picture quality is right up there with Warner’s other recent releases – excellent if a little dark and muddied at times. Sound is also quite good and your subwoofer will get a good work out, at the start of the movie a soldier asks ‘can you feel it’, well yes I could in the initial sphere landing and some of the other effects there is some nice deep base. With some of the other effects there could have been a little more use of the surrounds and steering between speakers to help create a more believable sound field.
Extras are just OK, two deleted scenes and a few documentaries round things but these are mostly the cast and crew blowing smoke up each other and the movie, nothing really in-depth apart from the Gort feature. Where this movie does score again is with the digital copy. This is another iPod/iPhone compatible copy which a few studios still have not caught on to even if it does download another copy from iTunes.
Overall worth a few hours and if you did not bother to see it at the cinema it’s worth getting hold of the BluRay. It’s just a shame that in the UK we are not getting the US 3 disk edition
Warner Bros has announced two new programs to promote its BluRay catalogue. The first is Red2Blu a trade in program for those that still have HD-DVD disks. Warner is offering for a limited time a chance for US and Canadian customers to swap their old HD-DVD disks for new shiny BluRay platters. You can upgrade up to 25 disks
Also announced today is the “Warnerblu Buy 5 Get 1 Free” promotion. You can register at Warnerblu.com/rewards and will earn a credit for each BluRay you purchase. When you reach five disks you can claim another free (plus the usual shipping and handling).
Both of these look like great promotions and can only help build the popularity of BluRay. In addition it shows the studio is committed to the format when many are saying that BluRay has a short life span and that download is the future (how dare they with their inferior video and audio quality)…
Now I wonder if my local Blockbuster has any HD-DVD’s left in the pre-owned section…
Visit Warnerblu/rewards and Red2Blu
There are lots of rumours about Sony working on a cheaper PS3. While this would be good I can’t see any features they could cut, possibly Wi-Fi – make it an option, smaller hard disk but I don’t think you can get smaller than 40GB these days.
My suggestion; Make a PS3 with no BluRay drive but 802.11n that can stream HD video, audio and games from a BluRay capable PS3. For households that want to play BluRay movies and games around the house it would be perfect and would cut out the BluRay drive that’s the most expensive component in the PS3, OK I could see a few fights breaking out, maybe I need to rethink a little
Netgear has launched the Entertainer Elite media streamer. While I like the idea of these devices I’m not quite sure of what you’re supposed to stream. OK I get the usual audio and photo’s but a lot of these devices support 1080p video so unless you’re streaming you high def home movies around your house (what a dreadful idea) I can’t see the point really.
Anyway this one looks good, 802.11n Wi-Fi and a 500GB hard disk that you can upgrade (presumably you’ll lose whatever you had on the old drive). The unit also has a few USB ports so you can play content straight off USB. You can also stream from Flickr or nice grainy YouTube videos.
Other useful features include the fact that multiple Netgear Digital Entertainer Elite units can work in concert throughout a house. Using “Follow Me,” consumers can pause a video in one room and resume it in another. While in “Party Mode,” they can synchronize music playback for whole-home listening. This could be fun – on my wife’s last significant birthday I ran slideshows on our 52” TV in the living room during the party of old photos of her from childhood, all around the house would be great.
A word of caution I have several Netgear products (WNR3500 router and SC101 NAS) and I’d advise to wait for a few firmware updates before taking the plunge, it usually takes them a few months to get things stable – just my opinion/experience