Blu-ray, DVD, HDTV, Video info and more at WesleyTech.com

Panasonic Blu-ray/VHS combo baffles

Question: What do Demi Moore, Fred Thompson, and Panasonic’s newest Blu-ray Disc player have in common? Answer: They’ve all played a VHS tape.

The Panasonic DMP-BD70V Blu-ray Disc player also plays VHS cassette tapes. This makes as much sense as recording cable shows on a VCR (as one recent client asked to do). No, it makes less sense because this VHS player won’t even record – it only plays!

As mind-blowing as this product’s mere existence is, what’s more discombobulating is the fact that Amazon is selling it for $139 with free shipping. Pretend the VHS player isn’t attached and it’s one of the best deals I’ve ever seen on a BD player … ever.


Included on the player is an SD memory card slot; USB port; upconversion to 1080p for DVD and VHS; 7.1 channel audio decoding with bitstream output over HDMI (including DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD); and, internet video streaming from Amazon, YouTube, and more. Quite a fully-featured player, with VHS to boot.

Maybe my mother-in-law can use this…

Proposed Blu-ray capacity increase

A new method for evaluating Blu-ray Disc media has been announced by Sony and Panasonic that can allow for a capacity increase on each layer from the current 25 GB to 33.4 GB.

Nothing is set in stone yet, but the method, called i-MLSE (Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation), will be proposed to the full Blu-ray Disc Association later this year. If approved, each layer can be used to store about a 33% more data.

There still isn’t a lot of information, so its not clear if existing players will be able to read the additional data.

Sony’s new Blu-ray player line

Blu-ray Disc (BD) is commonly referred to as a “Sony” format, yet they have trailed behind other manufacturers in providing cutting-edge features. This is partly because Sony in so inwardly focused they rename universal features for their products. But 2010 bodes well for the Sony BD players.

Three new players will be coming starting in March to replace the three existing models. The basic model is the $199 BDP-S370 and features a new quicker start-up, all high-definition audio codecs, DVD upscaling, SACD for the first time in a Sony BD standalone player, DLNA, Gracenote, BRAVIA internet video streaming, and is WiFi ready (requires USB device).

The next level is the $249 BDP-S570 which adds on-board WiFi, and IP video scaling.



The flagship model comes in at $299 and is the BDP-S770. This is player supports 3D content, and receives a backlit remote.

An interesting feature the new models receive is an iPhone/iPod Touch app which enables control of the player from the hand held device. This app also features the disc’s cover art and other information, plus the ability to search for internet videos.

The BRAVIA Internet Video connects to Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Slacker Internet Radio, Pandora, NPR, Sony Pictures, Sony Music, and Sony’s own online store.

Update: Here’s a video from Sony demonstrating the new BDP-S570:

How to play Blu-ray video on portable devices

If you were interested in backing up your Blu-ray Disc movies and playing them on your iPod, PSP, PS3, AppleTV, iPhone, Wii, Xbox 360, or other device, I may have found the product for you. BestHDsoft is selling BestHD Blu-ray DVD Ripper which includes all of these functions, and more.

The software – which is on sale now for under $56 – can convert high-definition Blu-ray video to standard definition video formats such as AVI, XviD, DivX, WMV, MPEG4, MOV, FLV and other various formats. The software can also convert Blu-ray movies to high-definition video formats for high-def playback.

The audio encoding is obviously part of the package, and the BestHD Blu-ray DVD Ripper software supports 5.1 surround sound audio, as well as subtitles.



Once encoded, the video can be imported into virtually any video playback device you would like.

The software is supported by Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 2000. Of course you also need a Blu-ray Disc drive, which are getting more and more affordable.

Universal to release Blu-ray/DVD flipper disc

Universal Studios was the largest exclusive HD DVD studio supporter, and one of the reasons was the HD DVD/DVD dual-sided disc with high-def on one side and standard-def on the other. Coming 19 January 2010, Universal will be the first to release a Blu-ray Disc/DVD flipper disc.

The initial movies released on this new technology will be all three Jason Bourne titles: The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum.

With a combo disc, a user can watch the high-def movie on their Blu-ray player at home, and the DVD side on their laptop, in the car, or the kid’s room. Universal also touts this as a way to “future proof” your library if you are not yet a Blu-ray player owner.

I am concerned that these new BD/DVD flippers will suffer some of the same problems that the HD DVD/DVD versions had. Toshiba (the leader of the HD DVD camp) blamed authoring, and the studios blamed firmware in the players, but the fact is some discs just had to be replaced, making it seem as though there were issues with the format itself.

And don’t forget the DualDisc with a DVD on one side and CD on the other. These often would not play in CD players.

Portable Blu-ray Disc burner coming from I-O Data

In case you bought a netbook and want to playback or burn Blu-ray Discs, I-O Data will soon be releasing the BRP-US6, an ultra-thin portable Blu-ray burner. Initially releasing in Japan later this month, the 6x burner will retail for approximately $340 USD – just a bit more than that netbook you just bought.

The drive measures approximately 5-3/8″ x 6″ x 15/16″ and weighs in at under one pound, to easily fit in a backpack or laptop case. It connects via USB 2.0 interface, making it convenient and compatible with most computers.



The Sony-Optiarc designed BRP-US6 will burn BD-R single-layer at up to 6x, BD-R dual-layer and BD-RE at up to 2x, with 6x reading of BD-ROM discs. The drive will also burn on DVD-R/+R at up to 8x, and on DVD-RW/+RW at up to 6x. DVD-RAM discs will burn at up to 5x. Finally, CD-R/RW will burn at up to 24x.

Sony CEDIA booth tour

Home Theater Forum put together a brilliant booth tour video for Sony’s new products. Highlights include:

The new XBR10 line of BRAVIA LCD televisions with LED light engine for an ultra-thin design. It uses an outboard media box and delivers video to the display itself wireless.

A new Blu-ray Disc player, the BDP-N460, which includes streaming from Netflix and other sources. It has drivers for a Linksys wireless bridge installed so if you do need wireless connectivity it’s available, although the existing BDP-S560 has WiFi built in. It will sell for $249.

Finally a 400-disc Blu-ray mega-changer is available! The BDP-CX960 and BDP-CX7000ES both have BD-Live, DVD upscaling, and decoding for all high-res audio. They will automatically pull down metadata for discs loaded in the slots from Gracenote. The interface isn’t very user-friendly, but it’s steps above the older mega-changers.