WesleyTech.com: HD DVD, Blu-ray, DVD info and more

Eurocom launches Blu-ray enabled laptop

In what may be the industry’s most over-achieving laptop, Eurocom is now selling the 17″ D900C PHANTOM-X starting at $2,726USD. Packed inside this 12 pound beast is 1066MHz FSB Intel Q6700 Core 2 Quad processors, up to 4GB of DDR2-800 RAM, and up to 750GB of hard drive space in your choice of RAID 0,1, or 5 configurations.


In case you were so inclined to use this 15.8″ x 11.9″ x 2.05″ computer for your home theater, you have the options to include a Blu-ray Disc drive, and TV tuner to go with the included HDCP compliant DVI output (DVI is compatible with HDMI with an adapter). The video is handled with your choice of NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX, GeForce Go 8700 GT or NVIDIA Quadro FX1600M video cards, or you can double-up and get a pair to operate in SLI mode. If that isn’t enough to satisfy you, it also comes with a built-in UPS for up to an hour of extended battery life. You can choose from a number of different Windows XP or Vista operating systems or install your own.

Other optional features include Bluetooth, Wireless SuperG 108Mbps or 802.11agn, internal 7-in-1 card reader, and a Matrox TripleHead2Go module to support up to three external monitors. There are, of course, a myriad of other options to chose from. This thing is billed as a “mobile workstation,” so it should meet everyone’s needs. Of course most people could probably do with the $100 laptop.

Blade Runner collector’s box set to hit DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray

Some of the most exciting news to the ears of movie enthusiasts this year is the upcoming release of the 25th anniversary release of Blade Runner. All the details are now available, and it is quite the treat for fans of this cyber punk, sci-fi classic featuring Harrison Ford.

Fans of the film will be pleased to hear the collector’s set will be available on your choice of DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc on December 18, 2007. The five discs in the set will be jam packed with special features and five versions of the film.

Ridley Scott’s all-new “Final Cut” will be the premier showcase on disc one. The “Final Cut” version was scanned at 4K resolution, restored and remastered completely - so we can expect the highest quality presentation available. Ridley Scott has added never-before-seen scenes and extended cuts to this version of the film. In a somewhat controversial move, Warner has added new special effects and an all-new 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track (Blu-ray and HD DVD audio specs are TBA). I’m all for updating movies, but lets just hope they did a good job with it and the elements will not be distracting as we’ve seen with some other movies (*cough*Star Wars*cough*).


Disc two will feature an exciting feature-length documentary, Dangerous Days, directed by the award-winning Charles de Lauzirika. This three-and-a-half-hour documentary covers every aspect of the film from its production through it’s history from the perspective of over 80 crew and cast members.

On disc three we see three versions of the film. The 1982 theatrical release comes with a Harrison Ford character narration and “happy ending.” 1982 international version, which was previously released to home video, LaserDisc and on cable, is an unrated version featuring some extended action sequences. Finally the 1992 director’s cut that does away with the narration and “happy ending” but adds the “unicorn” sequence. These don’t appear to be getting the remastering treatment, and are added mostly just to have a complete collection all in one box.

An Enchantment Archive fills disc four with 90 minutes of deleted footage and never-before-seen featurettes and galleries covering the history, production, special effects, TV spots and much more. Notable pieces include Sacrificial Sheep: The Novel vs. The Film featurette, The Art of Blade Runner gallery, deleted and alternative scenes, and Deck-A-Rep: The True Nature of Rick Deckard featurette. Between the documentary and this offering, we should have everything we ever wanted to know about Blade Runner plus more.

To wrap up the box set, we’re treated with a “Workprint Version” which has never been seen outside the studio before. This version is very different than any other version of the film including an altered opening scene, no Deckard narration, no “unicorn” sequence, no “happy ending,” different dialog, music and more. This includes a Paul M. Sammon commentary and another featurette.

If all of this is not enough to satiate the collector’s desires, it comes packaged in an attractive Deckard replica briefcase. This should be the definitive Blade Runner collection. All this for the MSRP of $78.92 for the DVD version (of course it’s on pre-order from Amazon for $54.99). The Blu-ray and HD DVD versions may vary slightly from the DVD version, we haven’t got all the details on that yet, and the pricing will more than likely be closer to $100 if not more.

EDIT: The list price for the HD DVD and Blu-ray versions is confirmed at $99.98 (I was off $0.02, so sue me). It is available on Amazon for $69.95.

Iron Man movie preview at Comicon

This year’s Comicon convention in San Diego has resulted in a flurry of high definition related news and announcements. Today, I thought I would share a newly posted video clip of the Iron Man movie preview, which will be coming to theaters in May 2008. Robert Downey Jr. stars in the lead role as Tony Stark. From viewing the preview, it looks like it is going to be one heck of an action-packed film.

For more info on the history of the Iron Man movie, check out this article on Wikipedia and don’t forget to check out the preview video embedded below.


Video removed from YouTube

Iron Man will be distributed by Paramount Studios, so we should expect to see the movie come to Blu-ray and HD DVD near the end of 2008.

UPDATE: The video has been removed from YouTube.
UPDATE2: I have posted another version of the preview found on Google video. Unfortunately, this version is a lot more shaky and darker, but at least you can view it now.
UPDATE3: Another YouTube version embedded. These keep getting taken down, but I’ll keep embedding news ones if I can find em!
UPDATE4: Well these videos keep getting taken down, so I am done trying to link up new videos. Try searching the net for “Comicon IronMan preview” if you really want to dig this up.
UPDATE5: Watch the preview in QuickTime format (.mov) at Apple.com.

Xbox 360 HD DVD Add-on price drop & 5 free HD DVD’s

The HD DVD Promotional Group announced today that Microsoft will be slashing $20 off of the price of their HD DVD add-on, which can be connected to Xbox 360 gaming systems for high definition movie playback. The price drop is set to take effect on August 1st and will bring down the MSRP to $179, keeping the Xbox 360 HD DVD Add-on as the most inexpensive high definition capable drive on the market.

In addition to the price cut, HD DVD Add-on purchasers will soon also be eligible to qualify for 5 free HD DVD’s via a mail-in program. The 5 free HD DVD offer was previously only available to purchasers of a Toshiba HD DVD standalone player.



Xbox Live to promote HD DVD

Along with the price drop and 5 free HD DVD promotion, Microsoft has also announced that they will be promoting the release of “300″ and “Heroes: Season 1″ on HD DVD through free exclusive content, which will be available on Xbox Live.

I think it is a good move by the HD DVD promotions group to extend the 5 free HD DVD offer to the Xbox 360 HD DVD Add-on drive. Along with the price-cut, this should help spur some additional growth for the HD DVD format. The corresponding Xbox Live HD DVD promotions are also a good start, but Microsoft should have been doing this type of collaboration from the get-go if they are completely dedicated to the HD DVD format. All in all, this is probably just a minor plus for the HD DVD format as a whole, so let’s hope that the HD DVD group can continue to build on this with some additional announcements in the near future. The full Microsoft press release is available here.

Microsoft XBox 360 HD DVD Add-on rebate update
The rebate form for this offer can be found here: http://thelookandsoundofperfect.com/_pdf/xbox360_offer.pdf

Target to stock only Blu-ray standalone players in store

An Associated Press article published today has revealed that Target, the United State’s 2nd largest retailer, will begin stocking Blu-ray standalone players this fall. Meanwhile, the competing HD DVD format players will not be carried inside Target stores. The Sony BDP-S300 is the standalone model that will be offered, which has a current MSRP of $499.

In addition to carrying a stock of Blu-ray players, Target will be setting up demo-stations at the end-caps of aisles in store. These demo-stations will feature the Blu-ray player along with Blu-ray Disc titles from 3 Hollywood studios, including Sony, Disney and one other studio (probably Fox).

Target would not say why it decided to sell only Blu-ray players. Sony is paying a fee to have their products featured in the end-of-aisle display, called an endcap, although Sony executives said the retailer contacted them about the decision.

“We are not proclaiming one format vs. the other as the preferred consumer technology, and software will continue to be available to our guests in both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD format,” Target spokeswoman Brie Heath said.

Target will track customer feedback and adjust offerings as necessary, Heath said.

As noted above, Target will continue to sell HD DVD titles as well as the Xbox 360 HD DVD Add-on drive. Target also sells a Toshiba HD DVD player from it’s website, but not in any physical stores.

The HD DVD response

The HD DVD camp was not fazed by the Target decision, pointing out that HD DVD players continue to outsell Blu-ray players, which are at least twice the cost. They also point out that HD DVD players and DVDs are featured in endcap displays in Circuit City and Best Buy stores.

HD DVD promoters also contend that consumers are more influenced by price than product selection.

“HD DVD players are the most affordable,” said Ken Graffeo, co-president of the North American HD DVD Promotional Group. “It’s one thing to have a player featured, but it’s another if it doesn’t sell.”

The usual downplay from the HD DVD Promotions Group

In a response that is looking all too common, the HD DVD Promotions Group is trying to down-play the significance of this announcement. With Target being the 2nd largest retailer in the USA, this news is a huge win for the Blu-ray Disc Association. And while Target has not completely ruled out carrying HD DVD players in store in the future, it seems clear that they will be a Blu-ray only store for the upcoming 2007 holiday season, which is a key time period in this high definition format war. Blu-ray continues to build momentum.

Xperinet to Add Support for Blu-ray, HD DVD

In the growing consumer market of multimedia servers, Xperinet boasts the first server capable of delivering DVD, CD and VHS content - and soon, Blu-ray and HD DVD will be available.

I am happy to learn about the new 2007 line of MIRV multimedia servers. Based on a Linux core with a fault-tollerant RAID-6 array of hot-swappable hard drives, you will be able to backup any audio/video content you can think of, including VHS and LaserDisc through the video capture card. Xperinet avoids any potentially legal DRM issues with the DVD backup software by not providing the ripping codec; instead it is a simple process of inputting an URL to a website that supplies the codec and you’re up and running. Xperinet offers instructions to get you going in the right direction here - I’ve done it a few times and it really is simple.



The older model MIRV servers look (and sound) much more like a computer than a piece of audio/video gear. The ventilation fans in the case are loud, so I don’t recommend putting the server in the same room you plan on screening movies, but the convenience of being able to bring up your entire DVD and CD collection right on your display in a well-organized menu system is a joy. However, Xperinet just released their new 2007 line of MIRV server systems in a “silent case” using heat pipes (these are now shipping to dealers). These should be much quieter than the previous models, but I haven’t had the opportunity to get my hands on one of these. You can stream high-def content across your Cat5 network to up to 20 silent, fanless clients. The clients also include a DVD drive so you can quickly watch a DVD or rip one to the server from another room.

The 2007 MIRV servers will also boast 1080p decoding and storage of high-definition content as well as HDCP compliant HDMI outputs. The HD DVD and Blu-ray drives Xperinet is working on will connect to the system via USB 2.0 and will allow the customer to store their high-def collection. The HD DVD and BD solutions will be released later in the year, but all the new 1080p capable MIRV systems will be compatible. I’m a little concerned about this considering the AACS is working up a new batch of rules concerning managed copy protection.

I have also learned that Xperinet is working on a distribution client that is extra-thin that will mount to the rear of your flat panel display that will receive 1080p content from the MIRV server. This client will not have a DVD drive in it. This item will be displayed at CEDIA Expo in September. I’m very interested to see this.

Denon unveils high-end Blu-ray player
Denon Electronics announced today that they will soon be offering a high-end Blu-ray standalone player, which will be available this fall. The new device has been dubbed the DVD-3800BDCI and it will support the playback of CD’s, DVD’s and Blu-ray Discs. This player is the world’s first announced Blu-ray device that fully supports the BD-J 1.1 specifications.

Other highlights include DTS-HD Master Audio support, dual video/audio decoders (as required by BD-J 1.1), an SD memory card slot, and the 10-bit Silicon Optix Realta chipset, which will allow for excellent DVD upscaling capabilities. The suggested retail price has been set at $1,999.

Denon DVD-3800BDCI Press Release quote

Joe Stinziano, Denon’s Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing, noted: “Denon is committed to providing our discriminating customers with a no-compromise high-end solution for enjoying next-generation high resolution media. Our new products exemplify the highest level of home theater quality. As a member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, we brought all of our design and engineering expertise to bear in the creation of these groundbreaking Blu-ray products, setting new performance standards for the format. Denon remains committed to offering our customers the most options in ultimate-quality home entertainment products and to this end, our future plans do not preclude the introduction of high-definition products in other formats.”

A $2,000 Blu-ray Player

This product will probably be the most expensive Blu-ray player available when it hits the streets, but the company is focusing on the top-of-the-line, high-end consumer. While all of the specifications announced so far do sound impressive, it is a bit surprising that this player will not include an embedded ethernet port for internet connectivity. Instead, the SD card slot is suggested as a way to transfer internet accessible features onto the player.

Nonetheless, this announcement is good news for the Blu-ray format as a whole, as it increases the available product choices for consumers and establishes a whole new level for Blu-ray standalone players. Denon also appears to be exclusively backing the Blu-ray format as suggested in the last sentence from the excerpt quoted above. The HD DVD format still has only one player manufacturer, Toshiba. The press release can be found at Gizmodo.