Home Media Magazine is reporting some statements made by a Warner Brothers VP from the two day Blu Ray Festival industry pep rally.

Dan Silverberg, VP of high definition media at Warner Home Video, was quoted Monday as saying "One thing that may be changing is our strategy. When both formats launched and hardware prices were high, we made a decision to support both formats and let the consumer decide. But now that hardware pricing is affordable for both Blu Ray and HD DVD, it appears consumers no longer want to decide, so the notion of staying in two formats for the duration is something we are re-evaluating now that we are in the fourth quarter.". Silverberg also said "We can definitely talk Blu Ray. We are commited to the format.". 

Warner abandoning either side for exclusivity would be a crushing blow to the unlucky side. Again, fourth quarter sales are going to make or break this Format War, so we'll just have to keep an eye on things and see if any more telling quotes surface. 

According to makers of AnyDVD Slysoft, a version of their disc copying software with support for BD+ encrypted Blu Ray discs will be available by year's end.

Sony and their adherents have trumpeted the impenetrability of Blu Ray's BD+ encryption asone of the major points of Blu Ray's superiority to HD DVD. It has been stated on record that it would take ten years for BD+ to be cracked. Well, much like DVD's 'uncrackable' encryption, it took the hacker community no time at all to devise a workaround. 

Didn't anyone tell Sony, Fox and Disney that going around bragging up BD+'s strengths was only going to make it fall faster? There is no uncrackable encryption and there never will be. Severe DRM schemes only make things harder on the consumer. 

Paramount has released some pre-Nielsen figures for sales of their highly anticipated Transformers HD DVD release.

In it's first week, the HD DVD version sold 190,000 copies, the most ever for a single high definition format. I say single, because Warner's 300 still holds the record, with Blu Ray and HD DVD combined sales at 250,000 in it's first week. The Blu Ray version of 300 sold approximately 165,000 copies it's first week. Of the 190,000 Transformers HD DVDs sold last week, over 100,000 were sold on the first day of sales. It's good news for both Paramount and the HD DVD format, which is still fighting an uphill battle against rival Blu Ray despite a run of good sales weeks since Paramount announced HD DVD exclusivity in August.

To keep things in perspective, the DVD version of Transformers sold 8.3 million copies in the same week.

Monitor Audio has launched a microsite for their new flagship Platinum Line of loudspeakers.

Launched in 1972, Monitor Audio is known in recent years for their outstanding Silver Line, which offers exceptional sonic performance that belies their modest price. Sparse details and images have been arising about their new flagship line of audiophile loudspeakers, and now Monitor Audio has made it official. The line consists of the PL300 floorstanders, PL100 bookshelf, PLC350 center channel and PLW15 subwoofer. Monitor's C-CAM (ceramic coated aluminum/magnesium alloy) drivers are used throughout the range. Even the ribbon tweeters shared by the line, which is a first for Monitor, utilize C-CAM design. Baffles and plinths are constructed of the same material, a polymer dubbed ARC, which stands for anti-resonance composite. The midrange driver housing in the floorstanding PL300 is also constructed of the new material. Ports in the series use a new design, Hive II, which adds a straight rifling to the port tubes that Monitor Audio claims increases velocity and decreases turbulence. The line is available in Rosewood, Ebony and Piano Black, all with leather-clad front baffles. The PL300 will retail at $8995, PL100 $4295, PLC350 $4295 and the PLW15 sub will not be available til Spring 2008.

If this new line from Monitor Audio sound half as good as they look, Monitor is about to make big waves in a second price tier. I look forward to seeing evaluations on these. If anyone from Monitor Audio reads this, I would be more than willing to provide my evaluation if you want to ship me a set. ;)

The passion that AV Enthusiast's have for their hobby is demonstrated by the members of the numerous and excellent AV web forums. It's not uncommon to find people from the AV press and AV industry contributing to the discussions. As a fan, I've always enjoyed reading and participating in discussions with the people responsible for creating the objects of my obsession.

I've always felt that there weren't enough instances of the AV press sitting down with people in the industry to provide a glimpse of who they are, what their background was, and giving them a chance to talk about their product in their own words.

In that spirit, AV Enthusiast is going to start publishing interviews with notable people in the industry. In this inaugural AV Enthusiast Interview, Jim Salk of Salk Sound was gracious enough to sit down and answer some questions for us: