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HD DVD
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Tuesday, 08 January 2008 |
 Yesterday the Financial Times published an article stating that Paramount was considering using a clause in their contract with Toshiba that would release them from their obligation to publish exclusively on HD DVD.
AV Enthusiast did not report that news item, as there was nothing in the article by the Financial Times to substantiate the claim, and they also gave no source. Today Paramount has responded to that story, issuing a statement via email. Paramount's Brenda Ciccone stated in the email "Paramount's current plan is to continue to support the HD
DVD format''. Paramount's contract with Toshiba is rumored to contain an opt-out clause that would release Paramount from their commitment to publish exclusively on HD DVD if Warner Bros. were to abandon support of the format.
I wouldn't expect much in the way of releases from Paramount until their inevitable departure from HD DVD, but I'm also guessing they face a stiff financial penalty for jumping ship this early in the life of the contract. |
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BluRay
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Monday, 07 January 2008 |
 Panasonic is again leading the way for Blu Ray player manufacturers, announcing their new DMP-BD50 Blu Ray player, the first player to conform to Blu Ray Profile 2.0.
Profile 2.0 introduces online connectivity, tagged by Blu Ray as BD-Live, similar to what HD DVD already offers. The Panasonic DMP-BD50 also supports all advanced audio codecs, and gives users the option to output LPCM or bitstream over HDMI. 7.1 channel analog outputs are provided for users who do not have HDMI capable processors, or who feel that the DACs in the DMP-BD50 do a better job.
Previous Panasonic Blu Ray players have been unanimously hailed as the best the Blu Ray camp had to offer, so the Panasonic DMP-BD50 is hotly anticipated. No pricing details at this time. |
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BluRay
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Monday, 07 January 2008 |
 Samsung has introduced their second generation HD DVD-Blu Ray combo player, the Samsung BD-UP5500.
The Samsung BD-UP5500 will carry the same feature set as the fourth generation Samsung Blu Ray players. Onboard decoding of all advanced audio codecs is featured, as is output of an uncompressed bitstream for decoding by AV receiver or pre/pro. The BD-UP5500 is 1080p via HDMI 1.3, features 7.1 channel audio, and is Profile 1.1.
The Samsung BD-UP5500 is slated to hit stores in May, just three months on the heels of their first combo player, the Samsung BD-UP5000. The BD-UP5500 will list at $599. |
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Format War
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Saturday, 05 January 2008 |
 More fallout from Warner Bros. announcement that they are going Blu Ray exclusive: the HD DVD Promotional Group has cancelled their CES conference that was scheduled for the eve of the show on January 6.
The following was sent to press and invited guests of the conference via email late Friday (thanks to High Def Digest for posting the text):
Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today,
we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference scheduled for
Sunday, January 6th at 8:30 p.m. in the Wynn Hotel. We apologize for
any inconvenience this may cause.
We are currently discussing the potential impact of this
announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating
next steps. We believe the consumer continues to benefit from HD DVD’s
commitment to quality and affordability – a bar that is critical for
the mainstream success of any format. The HD DVD camp's surprise at the Warner move seems genuine at this point. More on this story as it continues to develop. |
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Format War
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Written by Michael Lankton
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Friday, 04 January 2008 |
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Toshiba expressed surprise at the move, and one must wonder if talks had been taking place between the three parties in the weeks leading up to CES. They cite contracts that exist between the two parties, and it is unclear at this time if this will be the beginning of a legal skirmish between Toshiba and Warner Bros. if that is the case, or if Warner will have to buy their way out of whatever arrangement they may have with Toshiba. Note that this is speculation, and more details will become clear as this story continues to develop. Toshiba goes on to say that they are disappointed, and cites that HD DVD player and HD DVD-equipped personal computers outsold rival Blu Ray in 2007.
Toshiba seems genuinely shocked by this development, and I would love to be a fly on the wall for some of the conference calls that are taking place regarding this situation. It's hard to imagine HD DVD will have anything that looks positive at CES in light of this, but we'll find out soon enough. |
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Toshiba has made a terse 
