BD takes centre stage at busy Expo
Wednesday, 07 May 2008
[..] "The number of people here is a sure indication that the industry is alive and interest in Blu-ray is enormous," Daum told the audience. The market, he said, has embraced BD even faster than DVD, and all major studios will have BD titles by this Fall. "BD manufacturing technology is widely available with a choice of suppliers."
However, Daum warns, there is a real possibility that demand could outstrip supply if there is not sufficient investment in the format. "A supply shortage could well drive consumers online, so this industry needs to make sure that there is the right level of investment by this Fall." [..]
Quelle: oto-online.com
BD and BD50: where is demand coming from?
[..] Interestingly, Screen Digest believes that there could be a short-term dip in demand for Blu-ray Discs following the ending of the HD format war. The reasoning is that without competition from HD DVD there is less pressure to cut prices as a means of stimulating demand and increasing market share. In fact, reports from the USA show that, following Toshiba’s decision to pull out of HD DVD, the average price of a Blu-ray player jumped from $407 to $609. [..] Marubeni Techno-Systems America (MTSA) has worked closely with Origin Electric on the marketing of the Azul BD50 line – it’s now installed at Cinram’s Olyphant manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania. [..] Another factor that could inhibit growth in the short term is that those early adopters who opted for HD DVD may be disinclined to invest in another HD format so quickly. [..] Boreham believes that the potential bottleneck may occur in satisfying the studios’ requirement to move to BD50. “Replicators will have to act fast to get lines in and up and running for Q4. Also, for those with no previous BD experience, moving down the experience curve as quickly as possible is critical. Overall, we believe capacity will be tight in Q4, and some studios may again have to delay releases.We expect the situation to ease somewhat by Q4 2009.” [..] The BD50 disc gives studios and other content holders the additional capacity to add extras, such as deleted scenes and interactive functions, but is there much demand for this type of disc? “There is a demand for BD50 but this is more for the major replicators that have the contacts with the studios,” says Brown. “Localised content will most likely be released in BD25 format as this is more cost-effective and 25GB is enough for this type of content. It should be remembered that a BD25 can deliver more than four hours of HD content, which should be enough for most titles.” Arai says that the demands are high, according to the total titles being authored. “Almost all movie titles authored for Blu-ray Disc are BD50. At this time, it is questionable whether the demands are met.” [..]
Many think that BD50 will become Hollywood’s preferred format for similar reasons, even more so when production costs are reduced. “BD50 will become the format of choice for the Hollywood studios and is expected to represent 80% plus of all BD video discs produced,” says Boreham. Hitzel agrees:“Without question, BD50 will be the format of choice for the studios.” Brown thinks that BD50 discs will probably become the number one choice for new releases, where a premium can be charged, but adds: “It may be that back catalogues of older movies are released in BD25 format for economic reasons. Having the same content as a DVD-9 release in HD format on a BD25 still gives enough capacity for additional extras.” [..]
When it comes to type of technology, M2 plans to use a form of embossing for BD50 and a liquid cover layer. Singulus is focusing on the wet embossing technology supported by Sony. Origin is using 2P process. “We feel that the process is more stable and robust for mass production,” says Arai. A more contentious area concerns Blu-ray Disc cycle times and yields. Not surprisingly, many line manufacturers and replicators are reluctant to divulge such information, citing commercial confidentiality. According to Brown: “Cycle times and yields will be equal to or better than competing systems.” However, Boreham gives more specific figures: “Line suppliers typically guarantee yields of around 80% for BD25 and around 65% for BD50.” Singulus is happy to state that the cycle times for a single-layer BD disc are less than four seconds and for a BD50, less than six seconds. [..]
HDTV broadcasts are increasing, some wonder whether Blu-ray will become the successor to DVD or if it is destined to become a specialist format such as SACD. The massive Hollywood support for Blu-ray (plus the burgeoning PS3 market) suggests that Blu-ray will become a mass-market proposition.
[..]
Quelle: oto-online.com
One to One - May 2008- Page 16-21
Condemned to repeat the past Format wars are costly and time-consuming, but that didn’t stop yet another one erupting in the industry Barry Fox
[..] Logically there should be no more format wars for a few years, with all concerned learning a bitter lesson. But if Blu-ray does not take off, Hollywood will move on to downloading sales. There is no standard yet for a download format, DRM or payment. A lot of people with different systems will get greedy.Without a standard there cannot be a stand-alone box that frees consumers from the need to struggle with Windows error messages, OK. This is excellent news for replicators. It buys time for the companies behind Blu-ray to start doing a better job of educating dealers and consumers, and gives replicators [..]
Quelle: One to One - May 2008- Page 70
the last word Michael Gutowski, CEO of German replicator Infodisc Technology, tells George Cole about being an independent BD replicator and the benefits of his early backing of the format
[..]What are the challenges in producing BD50? If you are used to producing DVDs, then double the problems you’ll have when producing BD. If you then go from BD25 to BD50, your problems increase exponentially.With BD50, you’re talking about nanotechnology – you have information layers that are 25 microns away from each other and that’s pretty small. [..]
Quelle: One to One - May 2008- Page 74
See also:
Quelle: media-tech.net/expo08/events-seminars.html
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