Sony: 27-Inch OLED TV's "Awfully Close" To Release

A couple days back at a dinner with reporters and industry analysts in San Francisco, Sony Electronics president and COO Stan Glasgow spilled all kinds of juicy details regarding the goings-on inside the company's home theater business. Perhaps most interesting was Glasgow's comment that Sony's 27-inch OLED TV is "awfully close" to becoming available commercially. First unveiled at CES back in January, the 27-inch OLED TV will be the successor to the 11-inch XEL-1, the world's first commercially available OLED television. The 27-incher is expected to be followed by a 40-inch model which will be impressive, but first Sony has to find ways to better automate OLED panel production, currently very labor intensive. With their recent $210 million investment into OLED production, we're sure this won't be an issue for too much longer.

OLED TV's weren't the only topics of interest discussed though. Here's a few more tidbits from Glasgow:

• 90% of Sony's products will be wired or wireless by 2010
• Expect more video services for Bravia LCD TV's by 2010
• In the standalone Blu-ray player market, Sony has a 46% market share in units and 44% market share in dollars without the PS3. With the PS3 included, the company's Blu-ray market share sits somewhere between 95%-98%
• Will Smith's Hancock will be offered up on Bravia TV's via the new Bravia Internet Video Link before it is released on DVD
• Sony says they are increasing production of Blu-ray players to meet demand and are having no problems acquiring parts
• To really see the difference between a Blu-ray disc and upconverted DVD you need a screen size of at least 40 inches, only improving as the screen size increases

Via Barrons

Panasonic DMP-BD30K Blu-ray Player Gets Naked

The boys over at Format War Central have decided its time to really dig into the guts and soul of some of the standalone Blu-ray players sitting on shelves right now. A new series, appropriately named "Dissected", has chosen as its first victim Panasonic's DMP-BD30K. Featuring a UniPhier processor, this Profile 1.1 player features 24p video output, Dolby TrueHD bitstream output, and DTS-HD Master Audio among those features that stand out. Interestingly, the internals of the DMP-BD30K are pretty minimal which usually signifies the device's design and engineering are super-efficient, hopefully meaning price drops in the near future.

Image Credit: Format War Central

Panasonic DMP-BD50 BD Live Blu-ray Player Now Available In United States

Panasonic's DMP-BD50 Blu-ray player, highly anticipated since CES 2008, and boasting some high-end features such as BD Live and internal DTS-HD audio decoding is finally starting to show up on shelves in the US. Nothing from any of the big box outlets yet, but it is available from 6th Ave from which you can order the DMP-BD50 through Amazon. You'll pay a high-end price for the enhanced features though. The anticipated $700 price tag was actually a little on the low end. 6th Ave has the BD Live player pinned at $749.

Via Blu-ray Stats (Photo Credit: Panasonic)

Panasonic's DMP-BD50 BD-Live Blu-ray Player Reviewed

The prolific reviewers over at CNET have put Panasonic's DMP-BD50 Blu-ray player through the ringer and were definitely impressed. In fact, they've deemed it the "most recommendable standalone Blu-ray player to date", but added the Playstation 3 is still better and cheaper. The DMP-BD50 is the first standalone Profile 2.0, or BD Live, Blu-ray player on the market so far; only the Playstation 3 offers similar features. This means you'll be able to access internet-enabled features on some Blu-ray discs, but a lack of built-in memory means you'll need an SD card to do it. It's image quality when playing Blu-ray discs is excellent and it can decode all high-res soundtrack formats, including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, plus output them in bitstream format if you want to let your AV receiver handle the decoding process.

The DMP-BD50 also has solid connectivity options including multichannel analog outputs for enjoying high-def audio with older receivers without HDMI. Speaking of HDMI, the DMP-BD50 is HDMI equipped so it'll playback 1080p picture resolution and high-def audio this route as well. It also features a component video output and and SDHC card slot that'll playback MP3s, JPEGs and even AVCHD video from high-def camcorders.

Sounds good so far, but what are the downsides of the DMP-BD50? A couple of performance issues include sub-par DVD playback and a slow operational speed when compared with the $400 Playstation 3. And probably the most important downside? The pricetag: $700.

Via CNET

Microsoft Finally Showing Off A Blu-ray Xbox 360 Tomorrow? (Yawn)

Bloody hell! The rumors are flying around again. CrunchGear received a tip yesterday from a "close friend" of a Microsoft employee hinting that the company is planning to issue a press release today at 9 AM PDT confirming that the "Xbox 360 will get Blu-ray before Christmas". As for pricing, it'll be supposedly "under the current Elite".

Given that these rumors have flown before, only to be denied by Microsoft each time, this is kind of tough to believe. I guess we'll find out later this morning, but judging by a SFGate article also from yesterday, if this one's true Microsoft is holding its cards close. In an interview with Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division, SFGate reports Bach as saying that the company believes Xbox Live is an effective way to deliver high-definition content to consumers and when it comes to the Blu-ray format, "most people look at it and say, "I am not going to pay extra for that."" And Blu-ray in the next-generation Xbox? "There is nothing to even talk about right now with regard to the next generation. That is so far out that there isn't anything to talk about."

I'm going to go out on a limb here and call the CrunchGear tipster a fake. Keep your eyes out for a press release at 9 AM PDT and feel free to give me a hard time if I'm wrong.

Samsung's BD-P2500 BD-Live Blu-ray Player Set For September Release

According to a post at the Les Années Laser forum, Samsung has set a September release date for its BD-P2500 Blu-ray player. This one will be a BD Live player and is reported to have a HQV video processor for DVD upconversion, decoding support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and 7.1 analog outs in case you don't have an HDMI receiver. The price, not surprisingly, is expected to be a little on the high side: about $700.

Via blu-ray.com

Blu-ray Drives Dropping To $100: Sony NEC Optiarc

Blu-ray really is a tough one. Yes the format won the war over HD DVD, but it hasn't really taken off yet, one reason being that standalone Blu-ray player prices haven't come down to the mainstream buyer realm yet. If you're willing to either watch Blu-ray discs on your computer or stream computer Blu-ray playback to your HDTV, Sony NEC Optiarc has forecasted a big breakthrough for Blu-ray this Christmas when Blu-ray combo drive prices come down to the $100 mark. Laptop drives, about $150. And if you're interested in burning disc, you'll be looking at paying about $150-$200. However, until this prediction pans out we're sticking by our recommendation to buy a PS3 if you're looking at Blu-ray.

Via Tom's Hardware

Samsung's BD-UP5000 Firmware Update v1.3 A Big Improvement On Update v1.2

Samsung's BD-UP5000 Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player has firmware update v1.3 all ready for you to download if you happen to own one, and it looks to be a big improvement on the v1.2 update which was little more than a giant fix for a bunch of compatibility issues and network connection problems inherent in the BD-UP5000 from the beginning. Update v1.3 upgrades the BD-UP5000 to Blu-ray Profile 1.1, adds an HD audio bitstream output function, changes the user interface to Profile 1.1, and improves the playback compatibility in some movies. That last point there makes it seem like v1.2 didn't fix all the problems with the Samsung player, so if you're looking for the latest fix you can download v.13 here.

Via Engadget HD

Has Blu-ray Gone Mainstream When It's Hit The Public Library?

Who would have thought Toledo, Ohio would be so ahead of its time in the high-def department. The Toledo Free Press reported today that the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library is freshly stocked with a 200 Blu-ray disc collection featuring everything from blockbuster titles to nature documentaries. Patrons can rent up to 6 titles at a time, making us wonder how long the Blu-ray offering will last. If we could offer the Toledo library some advice, it would be this: Jack up the late fees before it's too late!

Via Blu-ray

DVDPlay Kiosks Offering Blu-ray Rental Next Month, Only $1.49

DVDPlay, one of the big names in the DVD rental kiosk world, is set to start renting Blu-ray discs alongside DVD's in early June making them the first rental kiosk operator to offer Blu-ray rentals. Not only is this great for HD fans looking for convenient rental options, but so is the rental price: Blu-ray rentals will carry the same $1.49 price tag as regular DVD's. Blu-ray has been facing some criticism lately for its failure to really emerge as a valid competitor to standard-def DVD's since the death of HD DVD, and this is an excellent way for the HD optical format to gain some market exposure. A couple of the early titles to keep an eye out for at DVDPlay kiosks are Untraceable, expected to be available as a Blu-ray rental June 10 and Men In Black which could be available as early as its release date of June 17.

Via The Man Room

Microsoft Says Blu-ray Sucks, Xbox Live Marketplace So Much Better

Although rumors that the next incarnation of the Xbox 360 will include a built-in Blu-ray player have started and stopped over and over again, Microsoft's Shane Kim seemingly put any chance of another rumor to rest. In fact not only has he said repeatedly that "Blu-ray is not coming to the Xbox 360 in any way shape or form", but now he's saying that "Blu-ray won't take off" at all.

I know Blu-ray provides some visual boost for people who want a physical HD format, but we're not seeing that format taking off, in general," Kim said. "The DVD format is still doing well. Eventually, the price of Blu-ray players will come down to $150 and the value proposition of a $300 or $400 PlayStation 3 as a game console and movie player will be impacted.

The above words from Kim can be interpreted to mean that Microsoft believes Blu-ray sucks so bad, the cost you would have to pay for a Blu-ray Xbox 360 isn't worth the box the game console ships in. Kim also points out the with 10 million people downloading movies from the Xbox Live Marketplace so far, Blu-ray's numbers are peanuts in comparison. Anyone want to start a rumor?

Via Format War Central

Panasonic's UniPhier 3 Blu-ray Processor Could Mean Profile 2.0 Blu-ray Player Prices Will Drop

You know Blu-ray hasn't quite reached a mainstream price point when manufacturers try to pawn off a $750 Profile 1.0 player as affordable, but Panasonic's new UniPhier 3 processor, its 3rd generation 45nm chip, could soon change that. Half the size of Panasonic's second-gen chip, the UniPhier 3 should reduce production costs ultimately resulting in lower prices for you and me when it comes time to grabbing a Blu-ray player off store shelves. More impressive is the fact that while $750 may only get you Profile 1.0 features right now, the UniPhier 3 handles all of Blu-ray's Profile 2.0 features. That includes picture-in-picture, new graphics engine, laser control, DivX 1080p, ethernet controller, DTS-HD MA, and Dolby TrueHD. Sample shipments start next month, so hopefully come the second half of 2008 we'll see the UniPhier 3 in action.

Via Engadget HD

Wooo! Hitachi Wooo DV-BH250 Blu-ray Recorder Hitting Japan In June

You know companies are running out of brand names when they start naming things Wooo and Wii, but Hitachi's new Wooo DV-BH250 caught our attention nonetheless. Landing in Japan in June, the DV-BH250 not only functions as a typical Blu-ray recorder, but has 250 GB of internal hard disk space, an HDMI output for playback on your high-def TV, and will even compress HD with AVCREC so that you can burn it onto regular DVD's. Very cool! Coming to the US in the future? Who knows.

Via TechDigest

Denon Previews "More Affordable" DVD-1800BD Blu-ray Player Priced At "Only" $749

Wow, Denon has introduced a "more affordable" Blu-ray player. Of course we have to keep affordable relative to the brand and Denon being a high-end name and all that means $749. That's what the new Denon DVD-1800BD Blu-ray player will cost you and it's not even a Profile 2.0 player. That means no ethernet connection at all although you do get picture-in-picture. If you do want some of the more interactive features found on Blu-ray discs, you can download them off the internet onto an SD card which you can then plug into the DVD-1800BD. Other than that the DVD-1800BD features HDMI 1.3a with Deep Color and Bonus View support, output of Dolby and DTS-HD audio, a 2-channel analog audio output for CD playback and standard DVD upscaling to 1080p. Look for this not-so-hot offering from Denon to hit shelves in October 2008.

Via Gizmodo