Nielsen to buy IAG Research
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-briefs8apr08,1,3113594.story

April 8, 2008
Nielsen Co., whose audience ratings drive television advertising prices, agreed to buy closely held IAG Research for $225 million in cash to expand its TV data for advertisers and media companies.

IAG, based in New York, measures which shows are likely to keep viewers' attention as well as the effectiveness of commercials and product placement.Hitachi Maxell stops selling HD DVD media

Posted by: Tim Stork
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Hitachi-Maxell-stops-selling-HD-DVD-media.html
Last February Hitachi Maxell announced the release of the first 2x HD DVD-R/RW media, but last Friday it was announced that they will stop selling this young product. Toshiba's decision to stop the development and promotion of HD DVD changed Hitachi Maxell's plans.
Hitachi Maxell's HD DVD-R and HD DVD-RW supported the 2x burning speed and were initially scheduled to be available in Japan last February in both variations for data and video. Some might still be interested in these media but will have to find other ways to get a hold of Hitachi Maxell's HD DVD products.
Personally I think Hitachi Maxell's announcement to stop selling these products comes late.

Posted by: Tim Stork
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/New-Pioneer-KURO-plasma-TV-range.html
Pioneer has announced that the company will expand its KURO product portfolio. The company will expand its first range of KURO LCD TVs as well as an introduction of new KURO plasma TVs. Pioneer promises that their new plasma and Front Screen Projector range will offer industry-leading quality.
The company's new KURO plasma TVs push closer to absolute black by further reducing the idling luminance and improving black levels five times over the previous 2007 KURO models, Pioneer says. The new range will be available in a 50 and 60-inch model. The KURO plasma TVs offer different sound settings and feature an audio volume stabilisation that further controls the volume level when switching between different kinds of programming. The TV's coolest feature must be the Optimum Mode. This is an automatic adjustment mode that synchronises sight and sound by monitoring the content and room light conditions. When this is done the TV chooses the correct picture and sounds settings. All models have a 9.4 cm thinness, a new remote control and they are ready for ISF C3 calibration to customise the TV's settings.
The new KURO Front projector is developed for those with a dedicated home cinema room. Pioneer's new KURO projector is configured for screen sizes starting from 60 inches and is in line with the KURO benchmark of deep black levels and rich colours.
Pioneer will release their new range of KURO plasma TVs in June (depends on region) and its Front projector is available this month.

Posted by: geno888
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/CyberLink-launches-PowerDVD-8.html
A new version of the well known PowerDVD software has been released recently by CyberLink. PowerDVD 8 offers support for HD audio and video standards and formats, including AVCHD and Blu-ray Discs, and with the support for 7.1-channel home-entertainment system, it is possible to enjoy your HD movies also on mediacenter PCs.

A recently introduced feature of PowerDVD 8 is the capability to build a database of your movie collection, and then sync and share information with other PowerDVD users.

With the "Movie Remixes" feature is also possible to create stories from favorite movies by selecting scenes and the order in which these must be played.

The video formats supported include:

• MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
• MPEG-2 HD
• SMPTE VC-1
• WMV-HD

The disc formats supported include:

• Blu-ray Discs: BD-Video profile 1.1, AVCHD
• DVDs: DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, DVD-VR, DVD+VR
• CDs: VCD, SVCD, Audio CD

CyberLink PowerDVD 8 is now available online and will be available in retail shops beginning May. More detailed information can be found here.

Posted by: Tim Stork
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Optical-media-threatened-by-downloads.html
Blu-ray defeated Toshiba's HD DVD format, but many knew that Sony's war still had to start. Several services make it possible to download movies and play them on your TV immediately. These services are considered to be a serious threat to the DVD market and the developing market of Blu-ray discs. Apple TV, Xbox Live and TiVo are the top contenders and could make it nearly impossible for Blu-ray to attain their targeted 50% marketshare by the end of 2008.
To download movies with Xbox Live, TiVo or Apple TV you first have to spend several hundred dollars on special hardware and the services demand some set-up. Secondly these services rely on a fast Internet connection. Blu-ray entertainment requires a higher investment. At first you've to spend a significant amount on players and a HDTV-set. When you got that taken care of you will have to spend a huge amount on collecting a good amount of Blu-ray movies, which are still expensive. The advantage is the high-definition quality Blu-ray provides.
Last January Apple TV was upgraded and now it allows users to browse the online store directly on a TV set. Currently Apple TV is offering 1,000 movies for rental, with about 175 of those in high-definition. Those that you buy can be transferred to a computer, iPod or iPhone. Apple TV is not cheap though, it costs $229 for 40-gigabytes of storage, or $329 for the quadruple. You can store 50 hours of video on the 40GB version.
Microsoft offers 300 movies for rent through their online Xbox Live VoD service. According to Microsoft half of the offered content can be seen in high-definition and they believe their collection is still growing. The cheapest Xbox 360 doesn't include the hard drive you will need to store the videos. To watch movies on your '360' you will need a $350 or $450 investment.
Not so long ago there were rumours of a new Xbox with Blu-ray player, but Microsoft denied this in an official press release. Many still believe that the software giant will come out with a new Xbox, but maybe Microsoft wants to fight the format through their online VoD service... If so, it will be interesting to monitor their movie sales on a monthly basis.
Another service that's on the market right now is the popular digital video recorder TiVo. Some users can rent videos from Amazon's Unbox service; this was made possible last July. TiVo users can download movies directly from the online retailer's library. To use Amazon's library you will need to configure your TiVo recorder. The online retailer has thousands of movies on offer, but they are not in high-def yet. To start using TiVo you need to invest from less than $200 to more than $600.
In the end I believe that these three movie services can defeat Blu-ray as a collective, but not on their own. When you have an Xbox you won't buy Apple TV, and when you will have TiVo you won't use your Xbox to watch movies. But all the services combined will make it nearly impossible for Blu-ray to reach their targeted 50% marketshare by then end of the year. Ofcourse Blu-ray enjoys a good penetration and consumer awareness, but their current price is too high to actually grow from twenty to fifty percent marketshare in a few months.  

Posted by: Se¨¢n Byrne
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Sony-aims-for-50-Blu-ray-market-share-by-year-end.html
The Blu-ray disc format has so far reached a 20% market share, with DVD accounting for the remaining 80% according to this DigiTimes Systems report.  With the recent growth in Blu-ray disc sales following the fall of HD DVD, Sony president and Electronics CEO Ryoji Chubachi said that Sony now aims to achieve a 50% global market share for Blu-ray products by the end of 2008.
To help push the Blu-ray format, Sony will improve its range of Blu-ray Disc products and price ranges, such as introducing HDTV sets with integrated Blu-ray Disc recording support.  Up until now, Blu-ray's success has been mainly the result of the PlayStation 3 game console, since each console doubles up as a Blu-ray disc player.  The sales of the PS3 are also expected to increase, which will also help improve Blu-ray's market share.  
As Microsoft reckons that HD video on demand will eventually take over disc based movies, it will be interesting to see how the market share will end up between Blu-ray, DVD and VOD by the end of the year.  So far, Microsoft has denied every rumour of upcoming Blu-ray drives for the Xbox 360 saying that it has always planned to change over to the distribution of content online over the lifetime of the Xbox 360. 

Posted by: Tim Stork
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Warner-shrinks-DVD-VoD-window-in-UK.html
Warner Bros in the U.K. has shifted the window between DVD and video on demand. Last Thursday the company announced that several of its movies will be released more or less the same time as on DVD. A few movies, like 'The Assassination of Jesse James' became available on Xbox Live, BT, Virgin and Sky after it was already available on DVD for 15 days.
Those days are basically over in the United Kingdom. Warner shrinks the time difference and therefore makes it possible to decide on your own. If you wanted to see a movie before this, you had the choice to wait a while, or watch it on DVD. Now that the time difference is smaller, you are back in control. Warner Bros' U.K. president Josh Berger said that the initiative is an attempt to satisfy growing consumer desire. 'To see what they want, how, where and when they want it,' Berger said.
Some retailers were shocked and not happy with the assault on their DVD window, but others agreed with Berger.

Posted by: Se¨¢n Byrne
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/iTunes-beats-Wal-Mart-as-1-music-retailer.html
Since the iTunes launch in 2003, its song sales have rapidly grown year after year with its music sales recently overtaking Best Buy and Target.  According to an independent study by the market research firm NPD Group, iTunes has finally overtaken Wal-Mart on music sales, making it the #1 music store in the US and also the first time a digital music download store has beaten the biggest CD retailers. 
According to NPD, in January and February, Apple sold more albums than any other U.S. retailer, based on 12 singles sold being as the equivalent of one album sold.  Since iTunes' launch five year ago, over 50 million customers have used the service and over 4 billion songs have been sold through iTunes.
At present, digital downloads still need to grow further before it reaches the point where more CDs are sold than digital downloads.  While high street music retailers are suffering as a result of its customers buying online, Bookstores and Newspapers are also experiencing a similar issue with more consumers buying books online and advertisers and newspaper readers choosing to go online. 
While NPD has not released any album sales figures per company, according to the current sales, after iTunes, Wal-Mart is #2, Best Buy is #3 and Amazon and Target tie at #4 as the leading US music retailers.  

Posted by: Se¨¢n Byrne
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Danish-ISP-offers-free-unlimited-music-service.html
In another effort to combat illegal music downloading, Denmark's largest ISP TDC has launched a new unlimited music download service to most its mobile and broadband customers.  Its library includes music from the major labels EMI, Sony BMG and Warner and as the service is free as part of the mobile or broadband service, the consumer does not need a separate subscription. 
As with dedicated unlimited download music services, the main catch is that all music downloaded as part of the service is DRM infected and will only play on the consumer's phone or PC the music was downloaded to.  Another catch is that if the customer decides to leave the ISP, all music downloaded from the TDC service will automatically expire.  Customers who wish to retain certain songs after terminating their contract can pay 8dkk (~€1) per track they wish to retain a permanent copy of.
With so many consumers resorting to illegal downloads despite all the music industry's efforts including lawsuits to try stopping illegal downloading, at least they are now finally willing to try new business models including dropping DRM on single and album purchases and giving away music as part of an offer with mobile phones. 
In my opinion, unlimited music download services with time limited music is not the solution to music piracy and is the main reason for its very limited success.  For anyone thinking of building up a large collection over time from music downloaded as part of an unlimited music service, the main problem is that no one would be keen on looking forward to seeing their collection vanish once their subscription ends, not to mention all the extra restrictions imposed on the music.  To give a scenario to compare to, if one decides to convert their CD collection to MP3 and then later loses this MP3 collection as a result of a hard disk failure, this person would most likely see this as a major loss even though they would still have the original CD collection to build it up from again.  

Posted by Se¨¢n Byrne
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Microsoft-denies-Lite-On-Blu-ray-rumour-for-Xbox-360.html
Yet again, Microsoft denied another Blu-ray for Xbox 360 rumour, this time with it officially denying that it is working with the Taiwanese manufacturer Lite-On to develop Blu-ray drives for its Xbox 360.  Microsoft added that its Xbox 360 sales are driven by games and remains focused on delivering the largest blockbuster games library available.  It also claims to have the largest available library of on-demand HD content.
Previously Microsoft denied that it was in talks with Sony about Blu-ray.  According to the Register report, Microsoft appears to be using careful wording since it did not specifically say that it will not consider the format at all, thus showing that there is still a possibility for upcoming Blu-ray support, even if it means using another manufacturer other than Sony and Lite-On.

Posted by Se¨¢n Byrne
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/New-materials-being-tested-for-Blu-ray-disc.html
One significant difference between Blu-ray and other current optical disc formats is its requirement to have the recording layer very near the surface, which is protected by just a 100 micron thick solvent-casted polycarbonate film.  While having the recording layer near the surface makes it more vulnerable to scratches, this actually gives Blu-ray an advantage of being able to use any material within the disc, including opaque and coloured materials.
As a result, Sabic Innovative Plastics is now testing its Noryl compound as a potential replacement for polycarbonate, the main material currently used in pretty much all optical discs.  Unlike polycarbonate, Noryl does not absorb moisture, features a superior dimensional stability and requires a less complicated moulding process.  This will also lead to cheaper and quicker Blu-ray disc replication, as the costly moisture-barrier layer and lacquer coating are not required for Noryl material, thus also reducing the number of steps required to produce each disc.
Further details can be read in this Design News article. 

Posted by Se¨¢n Byrne
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Study-finds-Blu-ray-reaches-60-awareness.html
According to an Interpret study, which carried out a survey on consumers aged 18 to 54 in January 2008; about 60% of those surveyed knew what Blu-ray is.  Of the age group, 76% of those aged 18 to 34 knew about Blu-ray.  As this survey was carried out in January before the format war ended, the majority of consumers by this stage know the difference between Blu-ray and DVD.
As a result of the awareness, the main problem now is that publicity about Blu-ray is unlikely going to help push much more sales of the format.  Unlike the change over from VHS to DVD where the benefit was obvious on pretty much every TV, changing from DVD to Blu-ray in turn means buying a new HDTV set for anyone does not already have one.  However, now with the digital switchover taking place, there is a good chance many will think twice of getting another standard definition set just take advantage of digital TV.
At present, over 10 million US households have a high definition disc player, but this still accounts for fewer than 10% of all American households.  To give a comparison, over 90% of American household have one or more DVD players.  

Posted by Tim Stork
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Blu-ray-movie-price-drop-Or-not.html
After the format war was ended many demanded a lower price for Blu-ray drives, players and movies. To make a statement Trans World Entertainment's subsidiary F.Y.E. is now offering a few new Blu-ray movies at a price that's more than 30% lower than its competitors. Before you start celebrating remember that every news announcement has a catch... Discounts depend on consumers being members of F.Y.E.'s Backstage Pass frequent buyer program. In other words, you might just pay the usual price. Or not?
One of the titles that are introduced at a lower price by F.Y.E. is Walt Disney's Enchanted, which is listed at $17 at its March 18 street date, compared to $23/24 at Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Amazon... But now, Enchanted's price at F.Y.E. is $23,39 for Backstage Members. Huh? This starts to get pretty complicated, anyone has an idea? Is this the discount we have to be happy with? It's true that the regular price is around thirty-five bucks, but compared to other retailers (like Amazon) F.Y.E.'s price is only a few cents (!) lower. Some think this makes us happy...
"Now that the format war is over, pricing and promotion will be one of the strategies we will use going forward," said Barry Burmaster, director of marketing with Albany, New York-based Trans World.
Many retailers already sold-out (or not) their HD DVD inventory at a 50% discount. In the future we might have to pay prices like that for Blu-ray movies, but this is in the very far future. Personally I don't have a clue on what F.Y.E. is currently doing... Their price is lower than the original price, but compared to their competitors the only difference is a few cents.
Tell me what you think, because I don't have a clue. If I am wrong, please explain.

Posted by Jan Willem
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/LG-still-topping-popular-DVD-burner-charts.html
First day of the month again, which means that CDFreaks releases BurnStats our free marketshare information page in cooperation with VSO-Software. Anyone interested in the most succesful DVD Burner, DVD recordable Media Identification Codes or formats should check out our BurnStats page.
This is a bad month for Optiarc, both brands in their joint venture are dropping in the list of most used burners (see entire list), where LG is gaining even more marketshare then before.

Still Optiarc is still on the first spot when it comes to the most succesful burners, the Optiarc AD-5170S is on top of the list.

Posted by Jan Willem
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Chinese-company-resurrects-HD-DVD.html
The Chinese company "Pri Laneo" has announced in a press release that they acquired intellectual property licenses to all relevant patents and technologies that are required for creating HD DVD media as well as for HD DVD hardware. HD DVD had been fighting a battle to become the successor of the DVD with Blu-ray but recently Toshiba decided to withdraw from the battlefield.
The company also announced that it has closed deals for the pressing of HD DVD discs and distribution deals with several adult film studios on one hand but also with some major Bollywood studios.

The HD DVD devices will be shipped worldwide to also service current HD DVD customers. Shipping players to Chinese consumers will start this month already. Shipping to US consumers is expected in Q3 and to European customers in Q4 this year.

Retail prices for the first stand alone HD DVD players are expected to be at about 770 yuan ($130). Prices for PC HD DVD burners are estimated at about 530 yuan ($90). The players will upscale DVD's to 1080p and will also be able to playback Ogg and Xvid files. However due to licensing problems they do not yet support DivX but a firmware upgrade is promised to be released as soon as the license is granted.

Posted by Tim Stork
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/879-Blu-ray-laptop-from-Dell.html
Today Dell introduced their newest Inspiron 1525 with optional Blu-ray Disc playback starting at only $879. Dell's Inspiron 1525 features a 15.4-inch high definition wide aspect display with 720p resolution. An added HDMI port makes it easier to connect to high resolution displays and HDTVs, and creates a notebook for today's movie buff.
The Blu-ray player disc drive is fully backwards compatible and will both play and burn traditional DVDs and CDs. Broadcom Media PC technology allows the notebook to play high-definition video. The high-definition video playback is enabled through a built-in dedicated accelerator located in a mini-card slot.
Like every consumer laptop from Dell the Inspiron 1525 features their Dell MediaDirect technology. This technology provides one button instant access to media files, even when the system is switched-off or in hibernate. Dell's newest notebook is available in several designs and can now be bought in the US, Canada and Europe.
Are you a movie buff? And, if so, is this the product you've been waiting for?

Posted by Se¨¢n Byrne
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/SlySoft-tackles-Hitman-BD-with-AnyDVD-HD-6_4_0_4.html
In just over a week since SlySoft released the first version of AnyDVD HD to break BD+ on Blu-ray, SlySoft has released version 6.4.0.4 which supports a new version of BD+ currently used on Hitman.  It shows just how quick SlySoft is at dealing with the latest copy protection measures, particularly with this new system that supposedly would take at least 10 years to break.  However, as Hitman was already released before SlySoft released version 6.4 that broke through BD+, it remains to be seen just how much of a change will be made to the BD+ copy protection on upcoming discs to try increasing the time it takes to break the new version.
Other improvements to this version include the support of new structural protection used on a few DVDs, ability to start multiple instances of AnyDVD ripper, change settings during a ripping process, install AnyDVD without reboot, fixes an issue handling discs under Vista and fixes a few frame glitch issues with BD+ protected Blu-ray discs.  AnyDVD 6.4.0.5 beta adds support for playback using Corel WinDVD 9, fixes a bug introduced in 6.4 when ripping certain structural protected discs and brings back the requirement to reboot after installation due to crashing issues with certain 3rd party drivers. 
Changelogs and discussions for these new versions can be accessed in our 6.4.0.4 final and 6.4.0.5 beta threads on our AnyDVD forum section.

Posted by Tim Stork
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Should-replicators-invest-in-Blu-ray-.html
Many small and midsized disc replicators invested their time in HD DVD for all the obvious reasons. To make HD DVDs replicators only had to make a few adjustments to their existing DVD replication lines, but Sony's Blu-ray Discs require new equipment. But what should they do? Invest in a new line, or wait and see?
"By the time we get in the fourth quarter of this year, there will be a problem with capacity," said Jim Bottoms, co-managing director of research firm Understanding & Solutions to Home Media Magazine earlier this month. The research firm says that it will take an investment of $250 million and 80 new production lines to meet the demand of both Blu-ray movies, as PS3 games.
There are several things that create a tough climate for disc replicators, and make the decision to go 'blu' even harder. In the first place AACS encryption, mastering, authoring, replication and packaging make costs go up, which makes the risk larger for independents. Secondly, it's an expensive process. Home Media Magazine shows that some replicators pay $2.7 million for a 50GB BD line.
What do you think, should the replicators invest? There is a high risk and the initial investment is enormous. Forecasts indicate that Blu-ray will become popular in the future so that might be a reason to step in now.

Posted by Tim Stork
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Forecast-29-Million-homes-to-use-Blu-ray.html
So analysts say that Blu-ray sales are going up? This news was reported a few times this week on several sites and blogs. Now a few analysts even give a number, 29.4 million households worldwide will use this technology by the end of this year, according to a new Strategy Analytics report. The report gives us the insight we already had, but adds a timeframe. For example, the Playstation 3 will continue to drive Blu-ray sales until 2009. All of us expected Playstation to stay important, but didn't have an exact year in which stand-alone Blu-ray players will take the console's place... Three years later more than 132 million homes worldwide will own at least one Blu-ray device, the report says.
"HD-DVD¡¯s withdrawal leaves the way open for Blu-ray to become a major revenue earner for technology vendors and content owners alike," says David Mercer, Principal Analyst. Besides HD DVD's withdrawal Mercer gives two more factors. The 265 million homes that will own a HDTV by 2012 will all be interested in using Blu-ray for its better picture quality. Besides this the movie industry is definitely in a need for a new growth engine... This means that these giants will fully support Blu-ray until it generates as much as DVD.
The report finally gives us a timeframe. By 2009 Sony's Playstation 3 will no longer be the only succesful Blu-ray player and before you know, by 2012, we all be watching Blu-ray on huge HDTVs. What do you think?

Posted by Se¨¢n Byrne
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Blu-ray-sales-spike-following-format-war-end.html
Following the end of the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war, Blu-ray disc sales have made a significant growth with a few new titles now gaining around 10% of its sales on the Blu-ray format, going by this Hollywood Reporter article.  Walt Disney's Title "No Country for Old Men" on Blu-ray made up 9.8% of its total sales in just the first 5 days of hitting the shops, going by a Nielsen VideoScan First Alert.  The Fox title "Hitman", who's Blu-ray version reached #1 in Amazon's best selling Movies & TV category has generated 12.6% of its overall sales on Blu-ray alone since its March 11 release.
Before the format war ended, the most sales that any title made on a HD disc format was no more than 2% to 3% of its overall sales.  Tom Adams, a Home entertainment industry analyst reckons the ending of the format war has caused this spike in Blu-ray sales and expects this thread to continue throughout the year, particularly as more consumers purchase Blu-ray players and PS3 consoles.  Unlike the time when HD DVD was competing against Blu-ray, consumers can now purchase Blu-ray titles with confidence knowing there is no longer any confusion on which format to choose.
Blu-ray sales are estimated to reach $1 billion throughout 2008 according to Fox market researchers, compared to an estimated $300 million in total between Blu-ray and HD DVD sales in 2007.  Adams predicts that around 2.9 million homes will have Blu-ray players compared to just 500,000 last year.  The PS3 which also doubles up as a Blu-ray player is expected to reach 8.4 million homes by the end of 2008, up from 3.2 million in 2007.
Adams reckons that studios would like to increase their Blu-ray sales due to the higher price tag on Blu-ray discs, which means a higher revenue for the studios.  For example, the average newly released DVD is sold for $20.57 in its first three months, where the same Blu-ray version is sold for $31.31.  On the other hand, from what I can see, this large price difference may be a significant factor in putting many consumers off Blu-ray.  For example, there are many things consumers would rather spend $100 on than just 3 Blu-ray titles that may only get watched a few times each. 

Posted by Tim Stork
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Is-the-PS3-the-best-Blu-ray-option.html
Why do you buy a Playstation 3? The console is one of those next-gen consoles that every kid in town wants in their room. Besides the gaming quality it offers, many say it's the only Blu-ray player you can trust. Parents buy the console and see the happy smile of their children disappear when their newest Blu-ray player doesn't go to the kid's room, but ends up in the living room.
Many say that the Playstation 3 is the best Blu-ray option. The gaming console offers all the features like picture-in-picture and BD-Live at an attractive price compared to other Blu-ray players. It's correct that the Playstation 3 is a great option for now, but will this still be the same during this year's fall? The PS3's excellent clarity and great eye for detail is considered as a plus, but isn't it true that motion-capture isn't the console's strongest point? "Fast panning shots in Sony's own flagship 'Casino Royale,' are prone to stutter, whereas the company's own dedicated players render the same scenes perfectly," said an article in the latest Home Cinema Choice Magazine.
This fall is expected to be 'blue'. A few companies already said that they will come with more dedicated 'Profile 2.0' players. Personally I think the PS3 is the best option for now, but these new players will definitely change this. If you want to watch HD movies, but you are not really that much of a gamer, then I would say you've to wait until next fall.
Do you agree?

Posted by Tim Stork
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Blu-ray-sales-hit-record-in-Japan.html
Japan is known as a country were a product or a gadget reaches a huge group of people in a very short time. The Japanese write books on their mobile phones and use mobile internet like it's been there for a century. So, if Blu-ray sales hit a record, than that must be in Japan. The Blu-ray Disc Association claims that the format has gained 18.2% share in the total video market sales in Japan last month.
GfK Japan obtained the data that makes the BDA believe that their format is sold more and more on the Asian island. After a period of decline in December and January, February showed a 18.2% share. DVD remains to be the dominant optical storage medium for entertainment with a 80.5% share. Blu-ray's former competitor HD DVD still represents 2-3% of the total sales, claims the Blu-ray Disc Association.
Back in September Blu-ray's share was a mere 1.3%... What a few months can do to a format, it can die, or it can grow.

Posted by Tim Stork
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/LG-Samsung-hesistant-towards-Blu-ray.html
After the end of the format war some said that all manufacturers will come with more Blu-ray products. Despite Sony's effort to attract more consumers with fully-featured Blu-ray discs and players, both Samsung and LG are not expected to sharpen their Blu-ray business at this exact moment.
Samsung started with offering Blu-ray products three years ago, by introducing the first 'blue' product in 2005. Several announcements followed and many prototypes started to appear at major trade shows. Samsung's overall strategy was to look like the major player by entering the blue laser market with a recording device, and not a ROM device. There was an overall belief that Samsung could be competitive in the Blu-ray market. Now we know that many of these prototypes never reached the mass production stage and that Samsung doesn't have immediate plans to massively inject captal in its Blu-ray business. "Since 2005, we have been releasing Blu-ray products but we are not considering sharpening the business for the time being despite its success in the format war," a Samsung spokesperson said in an interview with Korean Times last monday.
Another Samsung official said that the reason for this can be found in the format war itself. Because it ended earlier than expected, Blu-ray manufacturers are unlikely to increase their investment due to fears over lower profits, he said. Besides Samsung, also LG seems to have a wait-and-see strategy at this point. LG showcased their first Blu-ray players back in 2004, but it was 2006 when the first LG high-definition player was introduced. This was a hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD player.
"Globally, the potential market for Blu-ray discs is very lucrative. Consumers will spend $1.1 billion on HD discs this year compared with some $300 million last year. However, the business is still in its infancy due to high prices and the rapid penetration of the high-speed Internet," an LG official said on Monday.
LG and Samsung are now officially expected not to invest heavily in the nearest future. What will other manufacturers do, and what does this all do to the Blu-ray Disc Association's growth strategy?

Jill Park, packagingnews.co.uk, 06 March 2008
CD and DVD replication company Wewow has launched the cartonboard Wowpak aimed at the marketing, promotional, music and retail sectors.
The Wowpak is manufactured from one piece of board, die-cut and glued, and can be made from FSC-accredited 100% recycled stock to satisfy a customer's environmental demands. It can hold a CD or DVD and a mini-brochure, or two discs.

Stuart Jones, managing director of Bradford-based Wewow, said the pack was completely recyclable and "extremely cost effective to produce".

Wewow created the Wowpak concept and has applied for a Registered Design.

The company previously designed the SlimShell, a plastic clam shell, for Amazon UK, which uses it to send DVDs in the post.

Wewow outsources the manufacturing of the Wowpak to a printer and said it would consider allowing other companies to make the pack under license.

There have been no commercial applications of the pack so far because it has just been launched, but the company said it had received an enquiry for 400,000 units.

Posted by geno 888
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Touch-screen-remote-on-new-Blu-ray-recorders-from-Mitshubishi.html
According to a news published at Tech-On, Mitsubishi announced two Blu-ray Disc recorders: the "DVRBZ200" with a 500-GB HDD and the "DVR-BZ100" with a 250GB HDD.

The fanciest feature of these recorders is that in addition to a standard remote controller there is another remote controller equipped with a touch screen LCD panel.

Both models feature two tuners for each of terrestrial digital, BS digital and 110-degree CS digital broadcasts, so they can simultaneously record two digital broadcast programs in high definition (HD) mode. A terrestrial analog tuner is housed as well.

No information is available about prices, nor about availability.

Jill Park, Packaging News, 01 October 2007
The digital download revolution in music and film has gradually filtered down to the packaging industry, and the impact has been less than positive.
At the end of last year AGI, the media packaging company owned by US group MeadWestvaco, said it would close its factory in Birmingham due to declining sales. And in its half-year results, published in August, the firm said it continued to be ¡°challenged¡± by falling music CD packaging sales.

Meanwhile, Merseyside-based Coral Products has also noticed a marked decline in sales of CD and DVD packaging. The company blamed the increasing popularity of digital media for falling sales and is now focusing its attention on alternative business.

There has much speculation about the future of DVDs, and CDs in particular. Sales of CD singles have continued to fall since the introduction of digital downloads in 2004, according to the BPI, the body that represents the British music industry. And while album sales have not been hit as hard, numbers have still dropped since their peak in the same year.

Although DVD sales rose by 12.6% in the first six months of 2007, according to the British Video Association (BVA), digital downloads and piracy continue to impact on sales of the physical product.

Devalued discs
Martin Howell, managing director of Sarem, the Surrey-based supplier of the Super Jewel Box CD case, believes the ¡°digital download anarchy¡± is only part of the problem. Howell also points the finger at newspapers and magazines that give away free CDs and DVDs. ¡°It¡¯s junk really and that¡¯s devalued the whole image of the disc,¡± he says.

Supermarkets are another issue, says Howell, who argues that limited retail space means supermarkets only sell the chart entrants. ¡°There are more and more people going bust or giving up because there¡¯s no money in it [media packaging] anymore,¡± he says.

However, Universal Music, the leader in worldwide music sales, contests the view that the physical CD is doomed. ¡°There¡¯s a perception in the media that physical album sales are down. Nothing could be further from the truth,¡± says Universal Music commercial director Brian Rose. ¡°Very few people download albums, they prefer to buy the physical CD.¡±

In July 2006, Universal Music adopted Sarem¡¯s Super Jewel Box to package its CDs after extensive customer research showed that customers were frustrated with the frailty of the old generation of CD packaging, which had a tendency to crack at the spider and the hinges.

According to the company, digital downloads are rising, but at a measured pace. They accounted for 4.1% of Universal¡¯s album sales up to June 2007, compared with 1.7% of the total album sales recorded for the whole of 2006 in the UK.  

Adding value is now a key part of the media packaging business. High-street retailer HMV says customers¡¯ expectation of perceived value in physical products has grown as digital download sales have increased. Sales of DVD box sets and collectors¡¯ editions of CDs have grown in volume as a result.

Consequently, Burgopak, which offers a patented sliding box system, has not seen a decrease in sales, as the desire to get more from a pack has grown. ¡°We look at it as a good thing for us,¡± says Burgopak sales manager Murray Scott. ¡°Basic packaging is no longer good enough.¡±

DVD packaging in particular has been forced to evolve as high-definition video discs, which hold even more data than DVDs, have entered the market. There are currently two forms of high-definition video systems available ¨C the Blu-ray disc and HD-DVD.

Sarem has addressed the high-definition issue by creating the Super Jewel Box Plus, which is halfway between a CD and a DVD box and so instantly differentiates itself on the shelf. ¡°At the moment it¡¯s a format war,¡± says Howell of the two high-definition options. ¡°The general public will decide which one it goes with.¡±

High-definition has created a new avenue of possibilities for the DVD sector while fears that digital downloads will be the death of album sales look to be unfounded ¨C so far at least. The public is demanding more from the physical products it buys and it¡¯s this desire for collectors¡¯ editions and box sets that could ensure the future success of companies that persist in the media packaging sector.

DOWNLOADS ON THE UP
Statistics from the BPI show the huge impact that downloads have had on the UK music market.

From a standing start in 2004, it took only a year for downloads of singles to surpass sales of physical CD singles, and in 2006 consumers bought almost four times as many downloaded singles as physical CD singles (53 million against 13.9 million).

However, digital downloads only accounted for 1.3% of the 154 million albums sold in the UK in 2006, suggesting there¡¯s still plenty of life left in the physical format. Sales of CD albums have declined slightly in the past couple of years, but are still much higher than they were a decade ago.

Posted by Tim Stork
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/LG-comes-with-new-22x-burner-.html
A few days ago LG announced that their latest super-multi DVD burner will be released later this summer. According to LG's press release this drive can record a full DVD in just 4:30 minutes, using the 22x recording speed. Ofcourse LG needed a name for this super-multi DVD burner... With the speed being the unique selling point of every product these day, LG named the burner the GH22.
LG's GH22 comes with a 2MB memory buffer coupled with a buffer underun technology for reliable burning. The specifications include 22x writing for DVD-R/+R, 16x for DVD+RW DL, 12x for DVD-R DL and 12x for DVD-RAM. The GH22's Lightscribe feature allows it to print images on the surface of discs, and the SecurDisc feature enables secure data protection and content access control when writing data on CD or DVD formats.
With all the features on the table we always end an article with the product's price and release date. The price for LG's 22x burner will be thirty bucks and it is planned for release in the summer to compete with Samsung's SH-S223 burner.

Posted by Se¨¢n Byrne
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Amazons-best-selling-title-is-Blu-ray.html
While the Blu-ray and downloadable HD TV formats still have a long way to go before either take over the DVD market, going by Amazon's top selling DVDs, the number one selling movie is no longer a DVD, but for the first time, a Blu-ray disc - "I Am Legend".  Apparently it reached the #1 spot over the weekend according to this TMR report and is currently still #1 at this time of writing, with the DVD version further down at #9. 
At present, there are 11 Blu-ray titles in Amazon's top 100 selling Movie & TV titles.  While the HD disc format war has ended and some stores are now offering store credit or discounts off Blu-ray players for those who return their HD DVD player, this has not stopped consumers from taking advantage of the last titles still available on HD DVD, with 3 HD DVD titles still in Amazon's top 100.

Posted by geno 888
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/AnyDVD-HD-now-with-BD-support-Press-Release.html
Antigua, West Indies - March, 19th 2008

Film studios that have switched to Blu-ray may have crowed a little too early because the much-praised BD+ copy protection is an ad absurdum affair now, too. With today's release of version 6.4.0.0 of AnyDVD HD it is now also possible to make backup security copies of Blu-ray discs protected with BD+.

Richard Doherty of the Envisioneering Group will have to revise his statement from July, 2007 regarding BD+: "BD+, unlike AACS which suffered a partial hack last year, won't likely be breached for 10 years". It is worth mentioning that since he made that statement only eight months have gone by.

Peer van Heuen, head of High-Definition technologies at SlySoft adds: "Admittedly, we are not really so fast with this because actually we had intended to publish this release already in December as promised. However, it was decided for strategic reasons to wait a bit for the outcome of the "format war" between HD DVD and Blu-ray. On top of that, we first wanted to see our assumptions confirmed about the in the meantime released BD+ titles regarding the BD+ Virtual Machine. We are rather proud to have brought back to earth the highly-praised and previously "unbreakable" BD+. However, we must also admit that the Blu-ray titles released up to now have not fully exploited the possibilities of BD+. Future releases will undoubtedly have a modified and more polished BD+ protection, but we are well prepared for this and await the coming developments rather relaxed". Van Heuen adds jokingly: "The worst-case scenario then is our boss locks us up with only bread and water in the company dungeon for three months until we are successful again".

Giancarlo Bettini, SlySoft CEO, adds, "We are convinced that today's release will give the high-density market new impulse. It remains unclear just what direction this will take. On the one hand, it can give Blu-ray a boost because the end-user has the certainty in knowing now that a backup security copy can also be made from Blu-ray disks protected by BD+. On the other hand, one or more film studios may want to reconsider their withdrawal from HD DVD and Toshiba could also grant the high-density DVD a reprieve. HD DVD certainly deserves a second chance, particularly since HD DVD hardware has obtained a higher market share within the last months than its BD counterpart from SONY. In any event, I wish all those involved a happy Easter from the bottom of my heart."


The new version of AnyDVD, 6.4.0.0, has been released today with the following changelog:

• New (Blu-ray): Removes the BD+ protection from Blu-ray discs! (for increased compatibility with titles released by Twentieth Century Fox :-) )
• New (Blu-ray): Added option to enable / disable BD+ removal
• New (DVD): AnyDVD ripper no longer uses the Windows filesystem, it has now its own UDF parser / reader. Discs which cannot be read by Windows can now be copied with the AnyDVD ripper.
• Fix (Blu-ray): Black display with some BD discs, e.g., "Layer Cake", second release, "The Fugitive", "Wild Things" (all Region B)
• Fix (DVD): Small bugfix in "repairing defective disc structure" function of AnyDVD ripper
• Fix (DVD): Problems with some Arccos protected titles, e.g. "The Grudge", R1, US
• Some minor fixes and improvements
• Updated languages

Feel free to discuss about this new version in the dedicated thread in our forum.

Press Release source: SlySoft.

Studios see opportunity to turn green to gold
Carbon already reduced, though conversion is in early stagesBy Susanne Ault and Marcy Magiera April 3, 2008
APRIL 3 | LOS ANGELES¡ªThe DVD industry took a step toward developing standards for eco-friendly DVD manufacturing, packaging, shipping and marketing at the first Green Media Summit here yesterday.
Produced by DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group and the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy, the daylong invitation-only event drew about 150 executives for a discussion heavy on greenhouse gas emissions analysis and recycled/recyclable/biodegradable packaging.
The media industry, including home entertainment, has a relatively low environmental impact, said Zoe Riddell, VP of Carbon Disclosure Project USA, who spoke via phone (no carbon imprint from travel), and is likely to be only indirectly affected by future environmental regulation on business.
Nevertheless, keynote speaker Dan Esty, Hillhouse professor of environmental law and policy at Yale University said that changing federal environmental regulation is a certainty and some regulation is already being implemented in states and cities around carbon controls, extended product responsibility, waste regulation, packaging restrictions, recycling and limits on heavy metals and chemical exposure. In addition, DVD suppliers stand to benefit from eco-friendly practices by cutting costs, lowering eco-risks, driving revenue in new market segments and brand building, Esty said.
In a light analysis of the home entertainment industry, Esty said he saw opportunities for improvement in packaging, transportation and logistics, toxic materials in products and supply chain management.
¡°Be strategic and sustainable over time,¡± he said, noting that changes need to make sense for a company¡¯s business.
Esty and Riddell, as well as other speakers, have worked with Wal-Mart on its sustainability initiatives, which include a drive to reduce packaging in the products on its shelves by 5% by 2013.
¡°All vendors are being evaluated on their environmental performance,¡± said Maria Harris, an Environmental Defense Fund project analyst and Wal-Mart consultant who helped develop the retailer¡¯s ¡°packaging scorecard.¡±
¡°Suppliers should look for opportunities to innovate, and [Wal-Mart] will buy more product, feature it in endcaps and provide more shelf space,¡± she said.
Harris also moderated a panel of packaging executives, in which Steve Robinson from Ivy Hill/Cinram provided an example of the way the Wal-Mart scorecard works, taking into account package material, size and shipping packaging. On the retailer¡¯s scale of 1-10, 10 being the best, a standard polypropylene Amaray case would score 2.65, but the same case made of polystyrene would be only a 1.00. Higher scores went to the ¡°snapper¡± paper/plastic hybrid (3.80) and the thin Amaray (4.25). Even higher were various paperboard options, with the highest score (9.8) going to the Soft Pak, similar to the packaging on Paramount Home Entertainment¡¯s An Inconvenient Truth.
Studio execs were out in force for the Green Media Summit, with Bob Chapek, president of both Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and DEG, opening the event with the promise that ¡°eco-friendly¡± is ¡°a commitment to think outside the box, be that box corrugate, plastic or paper.¡±
Disney¡¯s Larry Wilk, VP of worldwide operations, led a supply chain carbon footprint analysis, saying that the issues for home entertainment involve energy and water use, waste management, chemicals and heavy metals, air pollution and deforestation. The carbon emissions to create the average DVD, not including movie production, were recently 1.1 pounds, he said, using data commissioned by 20th Century Fox, but have been reduced below 1 pound within the past two years.
In the next 10 years, the DVD industry should be able to shave the footprint by 25% if it can create green standards that facilitate affordable, cleaner manufacturing processes, Wilk said.
The industry¡¯s ¡°best prospects¡± for continuing to improve that are in energy efficiency; the increased use of recycled raw materials; reduced, sustainable and recycled packaging; transportation changes such as minimizing air shipments and consolidating replicator shipments to retail among studios.
¡°There should be the development of cross-studio standards to help compare information, because if there are different approaches, that will cost more and take more time,¡± said Wilk. ¡°There should be a training program to work with our vendors to get them to build into products.¡±
Attendees expressed openness to these opportunities, which also may cut costs. Lighter DVD shipments should translate to fewer freight trucks and less transportation costs, for instance.
However, executives also expressed frustration about other additional costs in going green. Since, pulp and corn are relatively new packaging materials, there are few, if any, automated services available to churn them out efficiently. Also, there are risks in collaborating with usually competitive studios to standardize eco-friendly manufacturing.
¡°The reality is that we talk about combining shipments, but there is some bravery involved in saying OK, I¡¯ll put my stuff in with Disney¡± to limit freight weight, said Bill Sondheim, president of entertainment and worldwide distribution at Gaiam, speaking on a green marketing panel. ¡°We need to bring these issues to the forefront.¡±
As a company that specializes in wellness products, Gaiam has already released several titles in green packages. But Sondheim said that being environmentally involved is not easy.
¡°We have taken it on the chin with eco-packaging, and I¡¯m not going to tell you it¡¯s cheaper,¡± said Sondheim. ¡°Let¡¯s get the DEG to help us get to packaging standardization so we can move toward automation. Hand loading by the thousands is do-able, but it is not fun. Our studio brethren have started embracing experimental packaging, but we need more volume to drive this.¡±
Wrapping a disc in green might cost 40% to 70% more than a standard Amaray DVD case, according to studio sources.
Yet more and more studios have been backing green initiatives, motivated both by Wal-Mart directives and corporate environmental commitment to its customers.
Warner Home Video marketing director Tamar Dolgen said the studio did a financial analysis to determine whether its April 8 release of climate change documentary The 11th Hour at a $4.99 price, with 100% renewable packaging, including corn plastic, could be viable. It also will package and price in the same way May 27 release Darfur Now.
Fox streeted its first carbon-neutral DVD with Futurama: Bender¡¯s Big Score, which won a Green Entertainment Award from DEG at the event.
¡°By studying our footprint, we are finding opportunities in the supply chain to lessen our impact,¡± said Steve Feldstein, senior VP of marketing communications at Fox. ¡°You can sell your product¡­and you can do the right thing.¡±
In a keynote address, Lauren Zalaznick, chairman of NBC Universal¡¯s Green Council and president of Bravo & Oxygen Media, said the TV network will run a second themed ¡®Green¡¯ week starting April 21, featuring environmental lessons and story lines across its broadcast and cable programming.
She also touted some of the environmental accomplishments of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, including producing packages with 50% recycled paper and in-store displays that use 25% less corrugate and are made out of largely recycled material, saving 43 million square feet of cardboard and paper.

In packaging, everything old is new again

Several years ago, the business of packaging DVDs was focused on flamboyant excess, with box designers employing whatever material¡ªin whatever amount necessary¡ªto make special-edition movie releases and full-season TV series sets stand out on the shelves of Wal-Mart.
Although a range of other environment-consciousness-raisers also factored in, it was in large part Wal-Mart that abruptly put an end to the packaging-excess trend with its sustainability drive. The wide-ranging initiative put the retail giant¡¯s vendors under direct pressure to reduce their use of fuel and other materials, as well as cut the production of waste.
Most relevant to the home entertainment industry, Wal-Mart wants to reduce the amount of packaging in its stores by 5% by 2013. Not surprisingly, with Wal-Mart controlling more than half of all DVD sales in the U.S., disc distributors and their vendors want that too.
¡°Being able to brag that you¡¯re Rainforest Alliance-certified is way bigger right now than producing something with foil-embossed stamping on it,¡± says Mickey Waite, marketing specialist for Wynalda Litho, a disc-package printer and designer that has dramatically stepped up its use of recycled papers.
With studio clients such as Warner Home Video publicly announcing plans to use recycled paper and generally cut down on the materials used to house their discs, package manufacturers, designers and printers are being forced to change both their products and their marketing approach.
¡°We¡¯ve given over 30 presentations since November to home entertainment customers to talk about environmentally friendly and sustainable packaging,¡± says Linda Lombri, director of marketing services for Shorewood Packaging, which derives a third of its revenue from the home entertainment market. Besides using recyclable materials in manufacturing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Shorewood was behind one of the biggest eco-friendly media packaging announcements yet: supplying the PaperFoam disc holders that are found in all of Universal Music Group¡¯s Millennium Collection CD releases, which are packaged entirely in recycled paper.
Other packaging vendors are making headway with all-recycled-paper products. Napco has introduced a product that includes a ¡°100% post-consumer waste pulp paperboard¡± disc tray, which is garnering strong interest from studios, including Gaiam, according to Jerry Pearce, Napco executive VP. Napco also is working on a version of the product for high-definition packaging, he says.
The eco-friendly push has intensified the ¡°paper-vs.-plastic¡± rivalry that naturally exists within the media packaging realm, with recycled paper catching on as the go-to renewable material and manufacturers of polypropylene-based products being put on the marketing defensive.
¡°We use 100% clear, clean polypropylene in our products, which can be recycled over and over again,¡± says Shelli Kaiser, executive director of marketing for Nexpak, one of the largest producers of DVD cases.
Besides touting products such as the Stackpak, which reduces the amount of plastics used to hold discs in place, Kaiser is working to educate studio clients on the difference between Nexpak polypropylene and much of that derived from Chinese sources, which she says is often ¡°regrind¡± based on components such as car batteries.
Meanwhile, another media packaging heavyweight, AGI Media, is readying the introduction of a disc tray made out of 100% recycled plastic, as well as board packs made entirely of recycled paper. Additionally, 10% of the paper used for its standard DVD and CD products will consist of 10% post-consumer recyclables.
¡°We have some really exciting products coming to the market this spring,¡± notes AGI chief creative officer Norm Ung, who¡¯s leading the company¡¯s eco-friendly push. ¡°I think we have a home run in the making right now.¡±

Lastest News:
November 2007 Discturnkey became a member of Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). The CSCMP is the preeminent association for individuals involved in supply chain management.

New:Princeton, NJ, USA - August 20, 2007 - The International Recording Media Association (IRMA) has formally adopted a new name, the Content Delivery & Storage Association (CDSA), with the introduction of a revised logo design that reflects the continuity of the association's membership as well as the expansion of its programs and mission to encompass all forms of consumer content delivery and storage systems.

New: The annual conference of the National Compact Disc Committee of China Audio and Video Association, has ended on 17th Aug 2007.
Discturnkey has been elected to be an executive member of the National Compact Disc Committee, and we would continue to contribute the growth and development of the audio and video industry in China.
We would also continue to strive for stronger and better protection of International Intellectual Property.

1.June 2007 Discturnkey became a member of International Disc Duplicating Association (IDDA). This has helped to disseminate our products information to an even wider audience, and thus we are reaching out to more potential clients. Discturnkey is active in promoting technologies that can lead to growth of the disc duplicating industry. And we have again demonstrated our commitment to the highest ethical standards, as IDDA Members strive to adhere to an impeccable level of ethical values and standards.

2. Its an annual event for all "whose who" in the media industry to get acquainted with the latest development and trends in the market for Entertainment Supply Chain. Participents includes giants like Sony and JVC amongst others.

3. 11th June 2007, all Discturnkey staff have selflessly contributed to the rescue efforts in flooding areas in southern China.

4. 10th Mar 2007, through UNICEF (Unite for Children of United Nations) , we have donated sports backpacks to 300 schoolchildren studying in the School of Hope, located in the remote region of Gui Zhou Province. We have also supported their Annual Sporting Meet.

5.19th Dec 2006, we are extremely honored to be the first Chinese media company, to be invited to join International Recording Media Association (IRMA).