JVC signs up to Blu-ray
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A HARDWARE from the Land of the Rising Sun, JVC, has signed up to the Blu-ray format and joined the Blu-ray Disc Association. Although the public commitment to the next generation DVD standard is new, JVC
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The high-definition DVD format war  has not been won, at least not in the minds of the retailers.  Last week, Time Warner Inc's  Warner Bros studio said it  would exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Blu-ray  format instead of Toshiba Corp's  competing HD DVD  technology.
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The high-definition DVD format war has not been won, at least not in the minds of the retailers. Last week, Time Warner Inc's  Warner Bros studio said it would exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Blu-ray format instead of Toshiba Corp's  competing HD DVD technology.
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Hot on the heels of Toshiba managing to create a dual format HD-DVD/DVD disc (see our previous coverage), JVC has created a Blu-Ray/DVD combo ROM disc.
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A new high-definition DVD format aimed at replacing current DVDs got a huge boost Monday when NBC Universal and three other heavyweight Hollywood studios endorsed electronics giant Toshiba&#39;s new HD DVD.
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The decision by&#160;Warner Bros. to drop HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray Disc&#160;for high-definition movies has set the electronics industry abuzz. Announced on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show, the move put a single question in the minds of thousands of industry-insiders heading to the show in Las Vegas: Could the high-definition format wars be over?Since both formats launched they have been locked in a battle that pitted some of the industry&#39;s biggest consumer electronics companies against each other. Backing Blu-ray Disc has been Sony, Panasonic and Samsung, while HD DVD&#39;s main supporters have been Toshiba, Microsoft and Intel.The battle also divided Hollywood and left consumers with a difficult choice: their favorite movies were likely split between the two formats and there was a risk the player they bought would become irrelevant. As a result consumers kept away from the formats and sales have been sluggish.Warner&#39;s decision will give Blu-ray Disc an advantage in terms of content. With the move, five of the big seven Hollywood studios now back Blu-ray Disc with only two, Paramount and Universal, backing HD DVD.The Warner announcement certainly put the HD DVD Promotion Group&#39;s CES plans in disarray. Within hours of the announcement, the group cancelled its scheduled Sunday-evening news conference and subsequent media interviews at CES.&quot;They&#39;re definitely regrouping and considering their options at the moment, this could be extremely important,&quot; said Tom Coughlin, a storage analyst at Coughlin Associates. &quot;This could be the beginning of a major pivotal turning point in the high-def format war, which if we could define the format which is going to win would be extremely important for the industry because this would free up consumers to start making decisions on the purchase of their systems.&quot;Better sales would help consumer electronics manufacturers increase production and that would in turn lead to lower prices, said Coughlin. Those lower prices would then lead to better sales and that would help the entire industry, he said.Warner touched on the format battle&#39;s impact on the consumer electronics industry in a statement announcing its move.&quot;A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry,&quot; said Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner&#39;s home entertainment group in a statement.Whether or not the fight is really over remains to be seen.Toshiba said it was &quot;quite surprised&quot; by the announcement from Warner &quot;despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD.&quot;&quot;We will assess the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluate potential next steps. We remain firm in our belief that HD DVD is the format best suited to the wants and needs of the consumer,&quot; Toshiba said in a statement.For some, the Warner decision marks the end of the format battle.&quot;I think the war is over. HD DVD has lost. It really is game-over for Toshiba and the other vendors,&quot; said Robin Harris, an analyst with Data Mobility Group. &quot;The basic issue is not technology. It&#39;s about distribution, it&#39;s about marketing, it&#39;s about content and Blu-ray has been winning the content war for sometime. I don&#39;t know why [Toshiba] keeps pouring money into it, it&#39;s time to stop.&quot;Harris credited Sony&#39;s inclusion of Blu-ray Disc in the PlayStation 3 with being one of the instrumental moves in winning the fight for Blu-ray Disc.&quot;I think Sony&#39;s brilliant move and one of the few they have made in this effort is putting Blu-ray into PS3,&quot; he said. &quot;Even though PS3 hasn&#39;t sold so well in the console wars, in terms of being a platform for Blu-ray distribution it&#39;s been a success for them and I think that&#39;s what really put Blu-ray over the top.&quot;The praise comes as Sony has finally started to see PlayStation 3 sales pick-up after a year of sluggish sales. Ironically the company has been often criticized by analysts and the media for the inclusion of Blu-ray Disc in the device as that contributed to a high price that put many consumers off buying the high-def games console.&#160;
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Sony is poised to kick off the launch of its next-generation DVD technology, announcing the release of high-definition Blu-ray movies from a number of major film studios in conjunction with new hardware on which to play them.
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The end of the high-definition disc war seems in sight, say industry observers, with major studio Warner Bros. jumping to the Blu-ray Disc camp and leaving the competing HD DVD format with a dwindling base of Hollywood support. But ahead lies the real uphill battle: selling high-definition discs - in any format - to consumers who appear more than satisfied with the DVDs they've already bought over the past few years.
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Company is the latest to choose sides in the next-generation DVD format battle.
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PARIS (CP) - The electronics giant that operates under the Thomson, RCA and Technicolor brand names said Friday it will introduce high-definition DVD players next year and support two recording formats, HD DVD and Blu-ray.
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JVC has developed a combination Blu-ray/DVD disk that it says will ease the transition from traditional DVD to next-generation high-denfinition video.
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(InfoWorld) - Visitors to the IFA consumer electronics show, which opens Friday in Berlin, will have ringside seats to the war over high-definition disc formats raging between Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. As the two formats duel for the title of successor to current DVD movie discs, many European consumers haven't decided which kind of player they will buy. "Everyone is waiting for IFA where many new products are expected to be announced," said Frank Simonis, chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association. Both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc have sold in lower quantities in Europe than in other regions and prices are still relatively high, between â¬599 (US$814 ) and â¬899, according to Simonis. Currently, five manufacturers have launched Blu-ray Disc players in Europe, including Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic). Five additional vendors are expected to launch Blu-ray Disc players at IFA, while companies with players already in the market plan to introduce devices with new features, Simonis said. Many of the manufacturers are major suppliers of HDTV sets and hope to leverage that expertise to "accelerate the adoption of Blu-ray Disc," he said. The format has received a big boost from its use in Sony's PlayStation 3 games console, with sales of more than 1.4 million units in Europe, according to Simonis. The HD DVD camp is also bringing new wares to IFA, according to Frank Eschholz, business development manager of HD DVD products at Sony Deutschland GmbH. "There will be new devices and new features and more." Both types of players are designed with many of the same components inside and offer many of the same features, according to Simonis. But one of Blu-ray Disc's key benefits is its ability to store up to 50G bytes of data, he said. "Studios want to pack a bunch of extras onto discs in addition to the movies, and Blu-ray Disc allows them to do so," he said. The Blu-ray Disc camp, however, was jolted when Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation announced last week that they would align themselves exclusively with the HD DVD high-definition format. The decision comes at a time when market indicators have been pointing to competitor Blu-ray Disc as having the lead. In addition to next-generation movie-disc players, visitors to this year's IFA can expect to see plenty of HDTV sets, camcorders, digital cameras, MP3 players and notebook computers. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will introduce new products in all those categories, according to a spokeswoman. The company may launch two handsets as well, she said. Sony has decided to return to IFA after its absence last year, with plans to exhibit new Blu-ray Disc players, new Walkman music players and HDTV sets, according to a spokeswoman. More information about IFA -- the letters stand for Internationale Funkausstellung, although the full name is rarely used these days -- is available at the show's Web site .
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Better Blu-ray support too Sony has formally announced the firmware update that will bring support for the DivX video format and for the Blu-ray Disc Profile 1.1 - aka Bonus View - to the PlayStation 3.â¦
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Japan's answer to CES features a Blu-ray camcorder from Hitachi, Toshiba's plans for big-screen SED TVs, and more.
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November 29, 2004 - After months of momentum for Blu-ray, HD-DVD has shot back with a big gain - studio support. Toshiba Corp., which has been developing the HD-DVD format, announced it has lined up Warner Bros.
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It is being billed as the DVD equivalent of the Betamax versus VHS video format battle of the early 1980s. Disney announced yesterday it has signed up to Sony&#39;s Blu-ray technology for the
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Blu-ray triumphs in the hi-def war. Did you choose wisely?