Sony Pictures has announced that it is bringing one of the world famous Cirque Du Soleil’s performances to Blu-ray later this year.
“Cirque Du Soleil: Corteo”, by the celebrated troupe that has thrilled audiences on five continents, is due to be released on September 2nd.
Sony said disk would capture all the magic of the performance in stunning high definition. No specs or special features have been announced at this time.
The move is the latest digital venture by the circus, which has been seen by close to 80 million spectators in over 200 cities.
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Monster Cable has unveiled a transmitter that wirelessly sends HD video signals from a device such as a Blu-ray player to a high definition TV up to 10m away.
The transmitter sends the video signal using ultra-wideband, or UWB, technology from Sigma Designs Inc.
It will also upscale non-HD signals to high-def resolution before displaying on screen. A receiver plugs into a HDMI port on the back of the TV.
To back up the short-range wireless capability, the boxes can also connect via coaxial cable to reach each other in different rooms, up to 110m away.
A leading maker of adult movies is to release all new titles on Blu-ray Disc as well as on standard definition DVD.
Digital Playground says it is the first mainstream studio to opt for the “same day” treatment for HD discs.
The porn maker will also begin converting one previously released title to Blu-ray every week.
Such a move is likely to lead to a dramatic increase in the number of adult titles available on Blu-ray.
The market leader in the manufacture of optical disc production lines has upgraded its 2008 forecast for Blu-ray machines by 50% after receiving strong orders in the first three months of the year.
Along with “numerous orders” for Blu-ray lines from Europe and Asia, the company received its first major order for Blu-ray from the US.
Stefan Baustert, CEO of Singulus Technologies, said its order projections had been upped from 20 Blu-ray machines to “about 30 machines” for 2008.
He said a market share of more than 65 % was targeted for the Blu-ray segment.
With Blu-ray sales still not setting the heather alight much has been made of the high cost of HD players and continued viewer satisfaction with standard-definition DVD.
Paul Erickson, director of DVD and HD Market Research at DisplaySearch, is in no doubt these are big factors contributing to Blu-ray’s slow shift into the living room.
Adding to the picture is the emergence of online content delivery as a viable source of HD programming, something that is seen as posing a real threat to Blu-ray’s long-term survival.
High cost and a belief that standard-definition DVD is “good enough” are the main barriers to US consumers purchasing Blu-ray players.
These are the conclusions of a study by the NPD Group, which found that manufacturers still face challenges despite rising awareness of Blu-ray.
The market research company found that 45 per cent of HDTV owners in the US now claim to be familiar with Blu-ray Disc (BD), up from 35 percent in June 2007.
And, while only 6 per cent of all consumers surveyed said they plan to purchase a BD device in the next six months, NPD found purchase intent to be higher among the growing population of HDTV owners, boding well for the future of the format.
Panasonic is to roll-out sales of a range of Blu-ray recorders in Australia, making it only the second country after Japan to receive the devices.
A 500GB Twin High Definition Tuner and VIERA Link model is to go on sale this month as well as various lower-spec recorders, the first 46” plasma TV and new 37” Full HD LCD TV models.
Paul Reid, Panasonic Australia’s Director for Consumer Electronics Group, described the move as a “significant breakthrough” for Blu-ray.
Blu-ray discs and DVDs are going to survive for another 20 years even though great advances are being made in digital downloading.
That is the belief of Reed Hastings, head of NetFlix, the online rental service, who also stated that he doesn’t think a rival physical optical disc will emerge to challenge Blu-ray.
Speaking at an investors meeting, Hastings said on DVD and Blu-ray wouldn’t be replaced by digital downloads and ray Hollywood studios would continue releasing films on disc.
“Our view is that the studios are going to publish DVD and Blu-ray for another 20 years,” he said. “I don’t think there’s going to be another physical optical disc.”
Sales of high definition Blu-ray recorders are increasing rapidly in Japan as consumers take to the new generation of home movie entertainment.
Last month the more expensive Blu-ray recorders topped the old generation recorders in the value of sales for the first time.
The research firm BCN Ltd said that around a third of machines sold now carry the new format.
Panasonic has announced that it has developed the first single-chip signal processing LSI for Blu-ray Disc players that can both read the disc and decode the content.
Previously these functions were performed by separate front end and back end LSI in addition to seven external memory chips.
By combining the functionality into one chip, 50 per cent less space is required and 25 per cent energy is saved.
As a result of the single chip solution, manufacturers will be able to make smaller Blu-ray players that consume less energy.