blu-ray

Why the Blu-ray HD-DVD combo player is stuck in neutral

Late last year, South Korea's LG announced that it planned to come out with a movie player that could handle both Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs.

The world, or at least the microcosm where I spend my working hours, hailed the move like it was the second signing of the Treaty of Westphalia. Consumers would no longer have to worry about what discs, or computers, to buy. Their movie player would be compatible with whatever they bought.

A few other companies announced plans similar to LG.

LG's player, though, hasn't exactly become an international phenomenon. Granted, only 100,… Read more

Low-Cost Sony BDP-S300 Is Shipping -- Do We Really Care?

As the new Sony BDP-S300 begins shipping on Amazon and SonyStyle for $499.99 (add $10 for shipping if you purchase it from Sony), I'm left wondering if people even care.

Now before some of you jump up and down claiming I am off-base by saying that most people really don't care about the high-def wars, hear me out.

Sony's decision to drop the price of the BDP-S300 to $500 may seem like a great concession that will spur sales, but the price is still too high for the average person to even consider buying one of … Read more

Blockbuster picks Blu-ray for movie rentals

Blu-ray is extending its early lead in the high-def video wars.

Blockbuster Inc. announced on Monday that it would rent only Blu-ray discs, and not HD DVDs, in its 1,700 company-owned stores. That's supposed to take effect by mid-July.

The company said the decision was based on Blu-ray rentals "significantly outpacing" HD DVD rentals, and added that both formats will be available through its Web site.

While the dueling formats are technically somewhat similar, Blu-ray enjoys the advantage of being backed by more film studios (Sony, 20th Century Fox, Buena Vista, and Lionsgate) vs. HD DVD, … Read more

Toshiba gets jolt of HD DVD reality

You've heard the expression "underpromise, overdeliver." Well, Toshiba execs are getting a little taste of "overpromise, underdeliver" when it comes to sales of HD DVD players.

According to a Reuters report today, "The Japanese electronics group now expects to sell 1 million next-generation optical disc players and recorders in North America by the end of calendar 2007, down 44 percent from its previous estimate of 1.8 million unit sales." Toshiba's also pulling back on its projection of selling 3 million units of HD DVD players and recorders worldwide by the end … Read more

Sony lops $100 off Blu-ray player price tag

Well that was quick.

Back in February, Sony said the Blu-ray player to be released this summer would sell for $599. On Monday, Sony said the BDP-S300, which is now shipping, will actually sell for $499 instead. The latest version is slimmer than the original, but with many of the same features.

Considering that the original Sony Blu-ray player, the BDP-S1, was released just six months ago for $1,000, that's a pretty swift price drop. Though Sony attributed the price cut to lower production costs and higher demand for the Blu-ray technology, it's also an indication that … Read more

PS3 DVD upscaling: A big improvement

Before yesterday's firmware update, the PlayStation 3 couldn't upscale standard-definition DVDs to high-def resolutions--a once high-end feature that's now built-in to nearly all DVD players with HDMI outputs. But what's the real benefit of upscaling (or upconverting, as it's also known)? Despite some of the marketing hype claiming that upscaling will make your DVDs appear in true high-def quality, the increase in picture quality will never come close to matching that of native HD material (HDTV broadcasts, HD DVD, and Blu-ray). Moreover, the video quality improvement is completely dependent on how good the upscaling and … Read more

PS3 1.80 firmware upgrade adds media streaming, DVD upscaling

Slowly but surely, Sony's beginning to unlock more and more of that multimedia horsepower under the hood of the PlayStation 3. The 1.80 firmware upgrade--available as an automatic download to PS3s everywhere--adds a variety of features to the console, most of which bolster the system's AV prowess. The main upgrades are as follows:

upscaling of games and DVDs: DVD movies, PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 games can now be upscaled to HD resolutions up to 1080p (games can upscale via component or HDMI, while DVDs are only upconverted via HDMI). streaming of digital media to PS3 via … Read more

Panasonic Blu-ray player gets price cut, free movies

Among the first-generation Blu-ray players, Panasonic's DMP-BD10 was remarkable for its higher-than-average price tag ($1,300 versus the $1,000 norm) and the company's promise of a future firmware upgrade that would unleash the full sonic power of Blu-ray audio soundtracks. Having made good on the firmware upgrade in April, Panasonic has now shaved 54 percent off the price. In addition to sporting the upgraded firmware, the newly christened DMP-BD10A will retail for $600 and include five Blu-ray movies--Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Transporter, Fantastic Four, … Read more

New Pioneer Blu-ray player: Not so Elite

Pioneer announced its new Elite BDP-94HD Blu-ray player today, following up on its first generation BDP-HD1. Besides the new model name, there doesn't look to be much of a change from last year's model. The biggest addition we can see is onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD, which means it should be able to decode Dolby TrueHD soundtracks and send uncompressed PCM soundtracks to a compatible receiver via HDMI. Pioneer is also claiming to have revamped its Home Media Gallery feature, which allows for some basic network media streaming using the Ethernet port and supposedly the capability to download … Read more

Onkyo 2007 receivers deliver next-gen HDMI, surround-audio features

For the past 12 to 18 months, astute readers may have noticed an increased bit of hedging in our reviews for AV receivers. Yes, even low-end receivers offer more features and flexibility than $1,500 models did just three or four years ago and yes, there are plenty of great-sounding receivers available out there at great prices. But smart shoppers looking for a no-compromise, future-proof AV receiver have been stymied, even if they've been willing to pay upwards of $2,000.

At least, that was the case--until today. Onkyo has become the first mainstream manufacturer to officially announce an array of home audio products that offer the two big features that have been MIA on home audio products to date: HDMI 1.3; and onboard decoding of Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks found on HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. The news itself wasn't a surprise, as most of the details had been leaked on the Web earlier this month. And there is no doubt that other manufacturers will be announcing similarly equipped receivers in the next few weeks and months. But because specs, pricing, and availability have been confirmed, we can now say authoritatively that Onkyo looks to be offering some of the most exciting--and surprisingly affordable--A/V receivers seen in recent years.… Read more