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Sony debuts Bravia BDV-IT1000 Blu-ray home theater system

by Donald Melanson, posted Aug 28th 2008 at 4:07PM


Still not satisfied by any of the Blu-ray home theater in a box systems out there? Then perhaps Sony's just announced Bravia BDV-IT1000 unit will be more to your liking. This one boasts 700W of total power, and includes some wireless rear speakers for added convenience, and slim speakers all around that Sony says are made possible thanks to its brand new finger-sized full-range speaker drive units. The Blu-ray player / receiver at the heart of the unit also looks to be capable enough, with it sporting BD-Live readiness, a pair of HDMI inputs, optical digital and analog stereo audio inputs, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD support, and Sony's trademark Digital Media Port to accommodate a range of add-on devices. No word on a price or release just yet, but we're guessing there's at least a decent chance that'll slip out before Sony packs up and leaves the IFA stage.

[Via Sony Insider]

Panasonic DMP-BD35 & DMP-BD55 Blu-ray players officially official, still unpriced

by Richard Lawler, posted Aug 28th 2008 at 5:09AM


Say hello to the successors of the short-lived Panasonic DMP-BD50, the new DMP-BD35 (above) and DMP-BD55 (after the break) check off every feature we can think of for a new Blu-ray player, complete with a slim profile (49mm high on the BD35) and hopefully low, low price thanks to a 45nm 3rd-generation UniPhier processor. Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD MA audio support, with internal decoding or bitstreamed output in full 7.1 (plus 7.1 analog audio outs on the DMP-BD55) on top of fully BD-Live / Profile 2.0 compatible hardware finally promise no-compromise hardware for Blu-ray buyers. Release dates and pricing information? Your guess is as good as ours, for now.

Continue reading Panasonic DMP-BD35 & DMP-BD55 Blu-ray players officially official, still unpriced

JVC's NX-BD3 system enters the Blu-ray HTIB arena

by Steven Kim, posted Aug 27th 2008 at 8:04PM

JVC NX-BD3 Blu-ray HTIB
The appearance of Blu-ray HTIB systems under a number of brands is an encouraging sign that the format is at least trying to move into the mainstream living room, and now JVC's thrown its hat into the ring with the 2.1-channel NX-BD3. Of course, simply pulling bits off of Blu-ray discs isn't enough entertainment value these days, so the system also sports DLNA support, a 200-Watt powered sub and a 4x55-Watt amplifier (leaving you two channels to grow into). At £799 ($1,465) for a 2.1-channel setup, you might expect to get the latest and greatest in Blu-ray tech, but Profile 2.0, DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD didn't make the cut -- let's hope some sort of "market adjustment" happens between the time this appears next month and when it crosses the pond.

[Via Electronista]

The Incredible Hulk Blu-ray brings Green Ray, BD-Live October 21

by Richard Lawler, posted Aug 27th 2008 at 5:41PM

The Incredible Hulk Blu-ray is definitely getting a more thorough treatment than its barebones Hulk HD DVD distant cousin, packing U-control picture-in-picture and interactive features as well as a standard definition digital copy on a second disc. The 50GB Blu-ray disc includes the 1080p MPEG-4 encoded flick, a DTS-HD Master Audio track as well as BD Live chat, and scene sharing. Hopefully there's room for the hour+ additional footage hinted at by the director in previous interviews, but we're sure that won't stop fans from preordering to get the limited edition "Green Ray" 3D packaging.

Netlogic BDP810 Blu-ray player details peek out

by Steven Kim, posted Aug 27th 2008 at 2:43PM

Netlogic BDP810
News about a new Blu-ray player from Swedish firm Netlogic has crept out of the shadow of the IFA show, so let's see what this new BDP810 model is bringing to the party. Our Swedish isn't so good, but luckily what few details are to be had are spelled out on the shec sheet in English. Pretty standard Blu-ray player stuff here with the addition of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA support, though we're not sure if that means decoding is onboard or if the bits must be sent out of the player. Also, no mention is made of ethernet connectivity, so we're going to file the BDP810 as a Profile 1.1 unit for now. But the one spec we'd really like to see is sadly missing -- price. With an October launch, there's plenty of time to sort this all out, but we're hoping for the entry-level end of the Blu-ray player market to open up.

Read - Netlogic IFA page
Read - Netlogic BDP810 spec sheet [jpeg link]

Sherwood bringing two new Blu-ray players to CEDIA

by Richard Lawler, posted Aug 27th 2008 at 11:47AM

Sherwood's been known mainly for its audio, but TWICE has the details on two new Blu-ray players on the way at CEDIA. Consisting of the high end $499 MSRP BDP-6003 and the mass market-targeted $299 BDP-5003 are both Bonus View Profile 1.1 players that upscale all content to 1080p and decode all Blu-ray audio formats, with the 6003 including 5.1 analog out, while the 5003 makes do with just stereo. Front mounted USB ports, DivX, JPEG and MP3 playback, HDMI 1.3 and Ethernet ports are consistent across both players, but we'll wait for a hands-on next week to see if analog surround sound is enough to bring this hardware on a level with the competition.

Blu-ray vs. 1080p VOD? No contest, says analyst

by Richard Lawler, posted Aug 27th 2008 at 10:14AM


Not that long ago, 1080p Hollywood movies were the domain of Blu-ray, but with Numericable jumping on the full HD VOD bandwagon, followed in short order by DISH Network and DirecTV, it's neighborhood is looking a little crowded. Luckily Strategy Analytics has an $899 report on why Blu-ray is safe -- at least for now -- from competing with service providers, although they also report the BDA is "exploring" DirecTV and DISH's claims of Blu-ray quality movies on demand and will take "appropriate action". We know how cheap you are, so the read link points to the totally free blog entry which you'll is about as skeptical as we were about their supposed picture quality. Of course, since too many HDTV owners aren't even watching high definition, it could be a hard sell convincing them of the difference between Blu-ray and other lower-bitrate 1080p sources.

Samsung gets official with BD-Live-ready BD-P2500 Blu-ray player

by Donald Melanson, posted Aug 26th 2008 at 3:36PM

Rumors of Samsung's BD-Live-ready BD-P2500 Blu-ray player first started cropping up a few months ago, and the strikingly similar BD-P2550 just slipped out at Best Buy a few days ago, but if you like your Blu-ray news all official like, you'll be glad to know that Samsung has now finally actually talking about the player, and it's set to show it off at the big IFA show later this week. In addition to BD-Live support (which will apparently come in a future update), Samsung also confirms that the player packs the always-desirable Silicon Optix HQV video processing chip, and support for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD in addition to the usual non-HD formats. No firm word on a price just yet, but you can look for the official launch to happen in September. If that Best Buy slip is any indication, however, it seems likely that they could start showing up even sooner than that.

Blu-ray releases on August 26th, 2008

by Ben Drawbaugh, posted Aug 25th 2008 at 4:57PM

Redbelt Blu-rayHere we are at the last week of August, and although there hasn't been that many titles to get excited about, there have been more titles released then ever before. Starting with September, the rest of the year looks like the trend of more than ten titles a week will continue, but more interestingly, there are quite a few to look forward to. But before we get ahead of ourselves, we can enjoy a few day-and-date releases like Sony's Redbelt and Fox's What Happens in Vegas. At the same time Warner has a few classics to share, including a personal favorite, Pale Rider. Universal continues to play catchup by releasing previous HD DVD titles on Blu-ray with Heroes (season 1 and 2) U-571 and End of Days. Overall it's not as bad as it's been, but looking forward to September, there are over eighty titles on the calendar and with Weistein finally getting in the mix in a couple of weeks, the time is finally arriving for Blu-ray to put up or shut up.

Blu-ray 743

Blu-ray

Wall-E Blu-ray details seep out, it's unsurprisingly getting the royal treatment

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 25th 2008 at 3:39PM


To say that Wall-E was a hit for Disney would be grossly understating it, and that's evidenced by the robust Blu-ray release that's being primed for a November 18th release. Unsurprisingly, Disney and Buena Vista Home Entertainment will be releasing this one just before the holiday shopping season really gets going, and we have a hunch it'll probably do some record smashing of its own. The 3-disc BD package will include Digital Copy, Burn-E with Boards (PiP), Cine-Explor with director Andrew Stanton, Axoim Arcade: retro suite of video games with a twist and a few Blu-ray exclusive features including at least one that taps into BD-Live. So, are you going to hand over $40.99 (MSRP) to hear that sweetheart utter "EEEEEVVVAAAAAA!" once more?

Panasonic intros DMR-BR360V Blu-ray / VHS combo player

by Donald Melanson, posted Aug 25th 2008 at 11:24AM


Blu-ray and VHS together at last -- so crazy it just might work? Probably not, but if you're still clinging to a library of tapes and haven't been able to bring yourself to upgrade or transfer them to a more 21st century-friendly format, you'll no doubt be happy to know that Panasonic has now introduced the combo player of your dreams -- in Japan, at least. For maximum combo-ness, the DMR-BR30V also boasts a 320GB hard drive to boost your recording options, along with both digital and analog TV tuners, a USB port, and an SD card slot. For those ready to make a clean break with their past, Panasonic also has three VHS-less models with hard drives of various sizes, each of which are also apparently exclusive to Japan for now. Just don't expect any of them to come cheap, as the DMR-BR360V leads the way with a price tag of ¥160,000, or just about $1,500.

[Via OhGizmo!]

ArcSoft's TotalMedia Theatre nabs DTS Surround Sensation

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 24th 2008 at 6:14AM


No matter how you slice it, there will come a day when you'll be forced (or coaxed) into watching a Blu-ray flick with just two speakers or a set of cans. For those using ArcSoft's TotalMedia Theater, however, the audio playback should be pretty darn close to 5.1. Said Blu-ray playback application has just become the first in the software industry to grab DTS Surround Sensation certification, which promises to bring 5.1(ish) surround sound to listeners "using just two speakers or stereo headphones." A tad gimmicky, sure, but it's a feature we'd rather have at our disposal than not at all.

Audioholics sets loose Yamaha BD-S2900 Blu-ray player for less than $1,000

by Steven Kim, posted Aug 23rd 2008 at 4:16PM

Yamaha BD-S2900Happy surprise -- there's no need to wait for next month's CEDIA show to get details on Yamaha's BD-S2900 Blu-ray player, since Audioholics released them from its own stockroom. The online store that goes alongside the site has them in stock and ready to ship next week. The pricing is a good example of "under-promise, over-deliver" joy as well -- the MSRP on the deck is $1,200, but you can get one on your doorstep for just a nickel under $1,000. That's still not cheap, especially for a Profile 1.1 unit, but we don't expect many potential buyers are seriously weighing the BD-S2900 against a Funai NB500 (or one if its variants), or even a PS3. If you want to get in on some gloating in the comments, break out that credit card and prepare a spot in your equipment rack!

Read - Audioholics announcement
Read - Yamaha BD-S2900 store page

Nielsen VideoScan High-Def market share for week ending August 17th, 2008

by Ben Drawbaugh, posted Aug 22nd 2008 at 10:00PM



Deja vu this week, as once again Blu-ray sales are down. Sure, it's only another ten percent, but we realized how big of a deal this was when we went back through every Nielsen VideoScan post, courtesy of Home Media Magazine, and couldn't find another week with revenues that low -- that data has only been reported since April. While last week there was some debate as to weather Blu-ray was slacking, or the fact that it was simply a weak slew of releases to blame, but this week there is no doubt, as DVD took a bigger hit than Blu-ray. We expect much of the same for the foreseeable future though, as we are right in the middle of TV series release season and it'll be at least a few weeks before the studios start to release all of the titles that should sell well this holiday season.


Continue reading Nielsen VideoScan High-Def market share for week ending August 17th, 2008

Pioneer Elite BDP-09FD Profile 2.0 Blu-ray player leaks out

by Nilay Patel, posted Aug 22nd 2008 at 7:01PM


Pioneer's last batch of Blu-ray players wasn't exactly earth-shattering, but if you're in the market for the highest of the high-end, it sounds like the upcoming Elite BDP-09FD might be worth waiting for. The first Pioneer unit to support Profile 2.0 and BD-Live, you'll also be getting 4GB of internal storage, eight independent D/A converters for each 7.1 channel (which means there are tons of receiver-caliber adjustments possible from the player), and 16-bit color output over two HDMI jacks. Should be out soon, for a whopping $2200.




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