posted 06-06-2008 09:49 PM                    

quote: Bobby Henderson

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If any device in the home theater setup has HDMI 1.1 connections, then true 1080p is impossible. Same goes for delivery of Dolby True HD 5.1 signals. HDMI 1.1 doesn't have a wide enough pipe to deliver all the bits of data.

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No wonder more people ignore your posts than any other single person. More mis-information from Oklahoma! Indeed according to the Resource Center at HDMI.org you are dead wrong... read the following and then you'll be in the know... and please note where it says that all previous versions of HDMI have enough bandwidth to support ALL versions of HDTV including uncompressed 1080p signals.

"Higher speed: Although all previous versions of HDMI have had more than enough bandwidth to support all current HDTV formats, including full, uncompressed 1080p signals, HDMI 1.3 increases its single-link bandwidth to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbps) to support the demands of future HD display devices, such as higher resolutions, Deep Color and high frame rates. In addition, built into the HDMI 1.3 specification is the technical foundation that will let future versions of HDMI reach significantly higher speeds."

In addition...

"Deep Color: HDMI 1.3 supports 10-bit, 12-bit and 16-bit (RGB or YCbCr) color depths, up from the 8-bit depths in previous versions of the HDMI specification, for stunning rendering of over one billion colors in unprecedented detail."

And...

"Broader color space: HDMI 1.3 adds support for “x.v.Color™” (which is the consumer name describing the IEC 61966-2-4 xvYCC color standard), which removes current color space limitations and enables the display of any color viewable by the human eye."

Just to keep things straight...

"Lip Sync: Because consumer electronics devices are using increasingly complex digital signal processing to enhance the clarity and detail of the content, synchronization of video and audio in user devices has become a greater challenge and could potentially require complex end-user adjustments. HDMI 1.3 incorporates automatic audio synching capabilities that allows devices to perform this synchronization automatically with total accuracy."

Can you hear me?

"New HD lossless audio formats: In addition to HDMI’s current ability to support high-bandwidth uncompressed digital audio and all currently-available compressed formats (such as Dolby® Digital and DTS®), HDMI 1.3 adds additional support for new lossless compressed digital audio formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio™."

So what it boils down to Bobby is that you didn't read the FAQs over at HDMI.ORG... the folks that design the standards.

P.S. Just imagine if this had been left up to SMPTE... We'd still be at Version .05

Mark

posted 06-07-2008 09:21 AM                    

quote: Darryl Spicer

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Stopped by one of our local Wal-marts (we have four of them) was disappointed to find the sticker price to be $388.95 not the earlier mentioned $348.95 for the Samsung BD-p1500. Oh well I am still keeping an eye on it.

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posted 06-07-2008 11:12 AM                    

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen

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Gee, You noticed that too... I'd be curious to know how much the Discs are out by you... both new releases and older. Since the demise of HD-DVD it seems that Sony has actually raised many of the base prices. If you wait I think till next month at least you get a $100.00 Wal-Mart gift card if you buy a Blew Ray player.

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posted 06-27-2008 08:58 AM                    

quote: Danny King, Video Business

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Blu-ray has outpaced DVD adoption
U.S., Europe sales bolstered by PlayStation 3 console
By Danny King -- Video Business, 6/23/2008

JUNE 23 | The adoption rate of Blu-ray Disc drives has outpaced that of standard-definition DVD players almost a decade ago on both sides of the Atlantic because of gamers buying Sony's PlayStation 3 consoles, which include the high-definition disc drives, according to separate estimates.

As of the end of this year, Blu-ray's third on the market, Western European consumers will have acquired Blu-ray drives at more than six times the rate buyers had bought standard disc players by the end of 1999, U.K.-based Futuresource Consulting said last week. In the U.S., customers are acquiring Blu-ray drives at three times the rate they bought DVD players nine years ago, said Michael Youn, Lionsgate’s VP of strategic planning and business development, at a Las Vegas conference yesterday.

Studios and retailers alike are hoping that a higher consumer penetration of Blu-ray players will help reverse a drop in home entertainment spending last year. U.S. customers spent $23.4 billion buying or renting DVDs in 2007, down from $24.1 billion in 2006, according to trade group the Digital Entertainment Group. Studios such as Lionsgate are forecasting about $1 billion in Blu-ray sales this year.

“Longer term, as player prices continue to fall, title availability grows and awareness increases, Blu-ray Disc players will become the product of choice, given the fact that they also play DVD and CD media,” said Jim Bottoms, managing director of corporate development at Futuresource, which was formerly known as Understanding & Solutions. “There will come a time when the branded suppliers focus on this higher capacity drive, mirroring the trend we saw with DVD players replacing CD decks.”

With videogaming industry revenue booming, PlayStation 3’s inclusion of a Blu-ray player is likely the reason for the faster growth on both continents. Of the 15 million Blu-ray drives owned by U.S. consumers at the end of last year, 4 million were stand-alone set-top boxes, compared with 5 million standard-definition players installed by the end of 1999, said Youn. Western Europeans will have acquired 10.5 billion Blu-ray drives by the end of 2008, compared with 1.58 million standard machines by 1999, said Futuresource, which didn’t break out PlayStation or stand-alone player sales.

Blu-ray’s outpacing of standard DVD growth is expected to continue as manufacturers and retailers drop prices on both stand-alone Blu-ray players and PlayStation 3s.

Wal-Mart’s selling of its cheapest Blu-ray players at about $200 and a wider Blu-ray title inventory will help push U.S. Blu-ray disc sales to $1 billion this year and as high as $10 billion by 2013, said Youn.

In Europe, more than 30 million people will own either a Blu-ray set-top player or PlayStation 3 by the end of 2010, compared with the 17 million standard players owned there in 2001.

“The timing of the PS3 launch has clearly provided a big boost to the initial uptake of Blu-ray,” said Bottoms. “With a number of hot games titles now starting to emerge and console prices continuing to fall, we can expect to see continued strong uptake.”

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posted 06-29-2008 12:49 AM                    

quote: Danny King, Video Business

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Sony shoots for $10 billion in Blu-ray sales by 2011
Games division may return to profitability
By Danny King -- Video Business, 6/26/2008

JUNE 26 | Sony said it expects its Blu-ray Disc-related business to approach $10 billion in annual revenue within three years, while returning its games and liquid-crystal display TV operations to profitability.

The company’s goal is to add Blu-ray-related operations to its portfolio of “trillion yen businesses” ($9.27 billion), which include LCD TVs, gaming and mobile phones, by the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011, Sony said in a statement this morning. Sony also said its personal computer and semiconductor businesses would reach this threshold.

"We are very pleased with the cross-divisional cooperation that led the success of the Blu-ray format," Sony chairman and CEO Howard Stringer said on a conference call this morning. He estimated that 15 million Blu-ray players and PlayStation 3 game consoles, which include the players, have been sold worldwide. "Blu-ray Disc has positive implications for our hardware, software and game business."

Studios and entertainment analysts have predicted that Blu-ray sales would more than triple this year to about $1 billion largely because Toshiba discontinued its competing HD DVD format in February, spelling an end to the so-called “format war.” The Entertainment Merchants Assn. said this week that Blu-ray revenue would surge to about $9.5 billion in 2012, overtaking sales of standard-definition discs in the process.

Sony earlier this month said its electronics division’s operating income for the year ended March 31 more than doubled to 356 billion yen ($3.3 billion) as electronics sales rose 8.9% to 6.61 trillion yen ($61.3 billion). The company didn’t break out Blu-ray-related sales or earnings.

The company also said its games unit will be profitable for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009, because of a wider range of titles and reduced production costs for its PlayStation 3 games console. For the most recent fiscal year, Sony’s games unit had an operating loss of 124.5 billion yen ($1.15 billion) despite a 26% jump in sales.

Additionally, Sony expects its liquid-crystal-display TV business to be the world’s largest within three years. For the first quarter, Sony’s 13% market share trailed only Samsung’s 20% among global LCD TV units, though in North America, the company was leapfrogged by closely held Vizio.

"Three years ago, we had no significant presence in the LCD TV business," said Stringer. "Today, we are competing well for first place for worldwide market share due to the strength of our Bravia lineup."

Finally, the company said 90% of its electronics categories would be both network-connectable and wireless-enabled in an attempt to capitalize on its leadership position in LCD TVs, high-definition DVD players and game consoles.

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