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BDA: 10 Million Blu-ray Players In 2008
Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 01:50 PM ETTags: CES 2008, Industry Forecasts (all tags)
The Blu-ray camp says that by this time next year, the format's installed base could be nearly three times its current size.
That was the headline out of last night's Blu-ray Disc Association press conference at CES.
Still riding high on Warner's announcement last Friday that it would exclusively back Blu-ray, format backers told a packed room of tech reporters that roughly 3.5 million Blu-ray players have now been sold through to consumers, including three million PlayStation 3 consoles and 500,000 standalone Blu-ray players.
The group says things are looking even more rosy for 2008, with research showing that by year's end the format's installed base will have swelled to ten million, with software sales topping the one billion dollar mark.
"It should be a year of very strong, explosive growth," said Danny Kaye, executive vice president of research for 20th Century Fox, who stated that the Blu-ray Disc business should start to see dramatic gains sometime in the middle of this year.
Though format backers stopped short of declaring immediate victory over rival format HD DVD, they said their marketing message would now shift away from the format war and instead focus on convincing mainstream consumers to make the leap to high-def disc.
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- Related links:
- Blu-ray software could hit $1 bil in '08 [Hollywood Reporter]
CES: Marantz BD8002 Blu-ray Player Due This Spring
Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 09:00 AM ETTags: CES 2008, Marantz (all tags)
This isn't the first time we've seen this "ultimate-quality" Blu-ray player from Marantz, but the pricey deck has a new release date.
First unveiled at CEDIA last summer, Marantz says its $2,099.99 player (yes, you read that right) is now due to hit stores in the second quarter of this year.
So what do you get in a $2,100 Blu-ray player? According to a company press release, the Profile 1.1 player features full 1080p output and decoding for all current high-resolution audio formats, including Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD Lossless Master Audio and uncompressed PCM, outputting both 7.1-channel analog signals and PCM audio via HDMI.
An apparent re-badge of Denon's DVD-3800BDCI Blu-ray Player, the deck is also slated to include the Realta HQV video processor, which allows for advanced video clean-up of even the best high-def signals
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- Related links:
- Marantz to Debut New BD8002 Blu-ray Player at CES [Press Release]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Denon Announces Flagship DVD-3800BDCI Blu-ray Player (Jul 24, 2007)
CES: Fox Touts BD-Live, Previews 'Alien vs. Predator: Requiem' Blu-ray
Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 06:22 PM ETTags: CES 2008, Fox (all tags)
With an eye toward merging the Blu-ray format's BD-Live capabilities with social networking, Fox touted the message "The Future is Blu, the Future is BD-Live" today at CES 2008.
Taking part in a Blu-ray interactivity conference held earlier today, Fox showcased a number of BD-Live features it plans to bring to Blu-ray in 2008, as well as hinting that the company's ownership of MySpace may play a part in expanding the networking possibilities of the format.
Fox VP Danny Kaye took the stage to show off various BD-Live-based interactive features the studio is currently developing, including the ability for users to store and retrieve information online via MySpace.
Kaye then showed how a user could download a picture from a site like MySpace, and "insert" it into a Blu-ray disc.
The exec also demonstrated the forthcoming "Alien vs. Predator vs. You" BD-Live interactive game, which can be played by multiple players across a network, and is set to be included in the forthcoming 2008 Blu-ray release of 'Alien vs. Predator: Requiem' (street date TBA).
"The whole idea is to extend the movie experience from two hours, to ten more hours of fun," said Kaye.
Fox was joined in the interactivity conference by Sony, which pushed its own BD-Live plans for 2008.
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- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- CES: Sony Highlights Blu-ray BD-Live Interactivity (Jan 07, 2008)
CES: Sony Highlights Blu-ray BD-Live Interactivity
Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 03:22 PM ETTags: CES 2008, Exclusive HD Content, Disc Announcements, Sony (all tags)
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment today kicked off its CES assault by highlighting a slew of planned BD-Live interactive features coming to Blu-ray in 2008.
During a Blu-ray interactivity demo currently underway on the show floor, Sony has unveiled a series of interactive features that will mark the studio's full-fledged support of the format's BD-Live networking capabilities.
Among the features previewed is one that would allow viewers to send ringtones to their mobile phone, including content directly from the movie itself (such as an audio excerpt or line of dialogue).
The studio said it is also planning select Blu-ray titles that would included a version of the film encoded for its PSP handheld gaming device, making for portable movies, though it stopped short of naming specific titles or street dates.
Also highlighted was Sony's first BD-Live interactive game to be playable across a network, a trivia challenge from the upcoming 2008 release of 'Men in Black' (release date TBA). The studio also previewed extras from its upcoming Blu-ray release of 1998's 'Godzilla,' which will include the participation of filmmaker Dean Devlin, who attended the demo as a guest.
Finally, Sony says it also plans in 2008 to make additional exclusive content available on select future Blu-ray titles via BD-Live.
We'll continue to keep you posted of further Sony announcements as CES continues...
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CES: Funai's Sub-$300 Blu-ray Player
Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 11:00 AM ETTags: CES 2008, Funai (all tags)
Funai has announced that it will unleash its first Blu-ray player for the North American market sometime this spring.
The discount manufacturer (which is a leading supplier to Wal-Mart) distributes products under its own name as well the brand names of Sylvania, Symphonic and Emerson.
Specs for the company's NB500 series Blu-ray player were still sketchy at press time, but a company press release promises 1080p output via HDMI 1.3, Profile 1.1 support and 5.1 Dolby Digital.
Funai says it will begin production in the first quarter of 2008, and plans to begin selling the player at retail stores during the second quarter. The retail price is projected to be under $300.
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- Related links:
- Funai to Introduce Blu-ray Disc Player to North American Market [Press Release]
CES: Sharp Unveils Second-Gen Blu-ray Player
Sun Jan 06, 2008 at 07:54 PM ETTags: CES 2008, Sharp (all tags)
Emphasizing its commitment to the Blu-ray format , Sharp today announced its second-gen Blu-ray player, the BD-HP50U.
According to the company, the new player will be Profile 1.1 compliant and it may even support BD-Live (the fact that Sharp's press release seems to suggest that "Profile 1.1" and "BD Live" are synonymous doesn't inspire a lot of confidence on that last point).
We do know that the player will support both Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD via 7.1 channel HDMI digital output, and that it will boast Sharp’s proprietary Quick Start feature, which takes viewers from disc loading to viewing in less than 10 seconds.
Sharp says its BD-HP50U player will hit stores in May at an MSRP of $699.99.
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- Related links:
- Sharp Announces BD-HP50U Blu-ray Player [Press Release]
CES: Philips Intros $349 Blu-ray Player
Sun Jan 06, 2008 at 06:57 PM ETTags: Philips, CES 2008 (all tags)
Philips has announced its latest Blu-ray player, the BDP7200, which it says will retail for the value price of $349.
The first Profile 1.1 compliant player from Philips, the deck boasts full 1080p/24 and Deep Color support, and the ability to control connected devices using the EasyLink HDMI Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) protocols.
Although the company's press release makes no mention of audio codec support, the eagle-eyed folks over at Engadget snapped this pic from behind the demo unit, which would seem to indicate a lack of 7.1 audio support through analog.
Philips says the BDP7200 will hit store shelves this April.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
- Related links:
- Philips expands high-definition home entertainment with new Blu-ray Disc player [Press Release]
- Hands-on with the Philips BDP-7200 Blu-ray player [Engadget]
CES: Samsung Bows New Dual-Format Blu-ray/HD DVD Player
Sun Jan 06, 2008 at 06:24 PM ETTags: CES 2008, Samsung, Dual-Format Players (all tags)
Updating its recently-released BD-UP5000, Samsung says it will introduce the new BD-UP5500 Duo HD player in the second half of 2008.
Like its predecessor, the BD-UP5500 will support both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs, as well as the latest BD-Java and HDi interactivity available (including full support of Blu-ray Profile 1.1).
Samsung says the BD-UP5500 will also feature 7.1 PCM, DTS-HD High Resolution and Master audio, plus Dolby TrueHD Bistream output via HDMI 1.3.
The deck's ethernet connection will enable firmware upgrades and web-enabled features with compatible HD DVD discs. (Company reps tell us the deck will not be BD-Live compliant, meaning it will not support web-enabled features on certain Blu-ray discs.)
The BD-UP5500 is expected to retail for $599, making it the lowest-priced dual format player announced yet. (The BD-UP5000 is currently retailing at $799.)
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- Related links:
- Samsung Invites Newcomers into the World of HD Home Entertainment with New Duo HD Player [Press Release]
CES: Samsung Bows New Dual-Format Blu-ray/HD DVD Player
Sun Jan 06, 2008 at 06:24 PM ETTags: CES 2008, Samsung, Dual-Format Players (all tags)
Updating its recently-released BD-UP5000, Samsung says it will introduce the new BD-UP5500 Duo HD player in the second half of 2008.
Like its predecessor, the BD-UP5500 will support both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs, as well as the latest BD-Java and HDi interactivity available (including full support of Blu-ray Profile 1.1).
Samsung says the BD-UP5500 will also feature 7.1 PCM, DTS-HD High Resolution and Master audio, plus Dolby TrueHD Bistream output via HDMI 1.3.
The deck's ethernet connection will enable firmware upgrades and web-enabled features with compatible HD DVD discs. (Company reps tell us the deck will not be BD-Live compliant, meaning it will not support web-enabled features on certain Blu-ray discs.)
The BD-UP5500 is expected to retail for $599, making it the lowest-priced dual format player announced yet. (The BD-UP5000 is currently retailing at $799.)
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
- Related links:
- Samsung Invites Newcomers into the World of HD Home Entertainment with New Duo HD Player [Press Release]
CES: Samsung Unveils BD-P1500 Blu-ray Player
Sun Jan 06, 2008 at 05:46 PM ETTags: Samsung, CES 2008 (all tags)
Samsung has taken the wraps off its first standalone Profile 1.1 Blu-ray player, the fourth-gen BD-P1500.
Like Samsung's third-gen player (the BD-P1400, released last fall), the BD-P1500 will carry an Ethernet port for firmware upgrades, but company says it is not certified BD Live, meaning it will not support web-enabled features included on certain discs.
The BD-P1500 will also feature bitstream audio output of 7.1 PCM, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD High Resolution and Master Audio via HDMI.
Due this June, the BD-P1500 is expected to retail for $399.
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- Related links:
- Press Release: Samsung's 4th-Gen BD-P1500 Blu-ray Player [Gizmodo]
MORE BLU-RAY NEWS TAGGED "CES 2008":
- CES: Panasonic Intros First BD-Live Blu-ray Player Jan 06, 2008
- CES: Panasonic Intros First BD-Live Blu-ray Player Jan 06, 2008
- CES: 'Sleeping Beauty,' 'Finding Nemo' Headline Disney's 2008 Blu-ray Plans Jan 05, 2008
- Studios Preview CES Blu-ray, HD DVD Title Announcements Jan 03, 2008
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