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

500GB holodisc proof of concept

General Electric Global Research is the latest company to show the holodisc. These optical discs are the same size as the CompactDisc we’ve all known for decades, and the subsequent DVD and Blu-ray formats using the same disc size, but the holographic nature crams up to 500GB of data on a single disc.

GE claims their version of the micro-holographic discs is backwards compatible with DVD, CD and Blu-ray Disc. This is a compelling feature if its true. Of course previous companies boosting holodisc priced vaporware players upwards of $20,000. Hardly a consumer-level product.

But maybe my concerns are unfounded. Brian Lawrence of GE seems to think so. He heads up the Holographic Storage program and suggests the drives are so similar to current Blu-ray technology that “our technology will pave the way for cost-effective, robust and reliable holographic drives that could be in every home.”


Photo credit: kun0me

While many people still think digital delivery is the future, I don’t know how soon this is going to be a reality for high-bandwidth content. Vudu offers 1080p/24fps movies that take hours to download for a quality quite inferior to Blu-ray. With 3D content you’re essentially using twice the video storage and bandwidth, not including data required to sync up both left and right images. Blu-ray has the capability to stream two simultaneous streams of 1080p video, but the storage is capped at 50GB currently. The holodisc offers 100-times the storage capacity. “The day when you can store your entire high definition movie collection on one disc and support high resolution formats like 3-D television is closer than you think,” says GE’s Brian Lawrence.

The future I see for some time down the road will have higher-quality video and audio delivered on physical optical discs or flash drives, with lower quality coming through digital download. There is certainly enough financial incentive to keep selling physical media for at least a few more years, and download quality will continue to lag behind in the meantime.

The new micro-holographic disc formats out there may just be a pipe dream. At the very least it is nice for a nerd like me to know there are other nerds out there making science work every day.

Read the press release at TradingMarkets.com

Panasonic brings Blu-ray to the minivan

If you’re a hip-hop mogul, or you just happen to have children, Panasonic has just the item for you. The CN-HX900D is an in-dash head unit with GPS, CD/DVD player, Bluetooth, 40GB hard drive, iPod/iPhone compatibility and a 7-inch 720p high-def display. The CY-BB1000D is an optional accessory which adds Blu-ray Disc support.

This unit will arrive in Japan by Fall 2009. There isn’t a date for the USA, but I’m sure we can expect something shortly after, even if it’s a different model.



The most popular use for in-car displays is to keep kids preoccupied with Nemo instead of punching each other. Having Blu-ray in the car allows you to take the scratch resistant disc from your home to the car and back again. Makes sense to me.

Trade-in Warner HD DVDs for Blu-ray Discs

In the most consumer-minded move since initially dropping support for HD DVD, Warner Bros. is now offering a trade-in program for some of your old HD DVD titles. Called Red2Blu, the program costs $4.95 plus shipping per disc.

This program is only for select Warner Bros. titles only, with 128 listed on the website. You pick the movie from the list, mail in the original box cover and they mail out the Blu-ray version within a few weeks.



The only poor part is shipping is $6.95. But this shipping charge will cover multiple discs, so make sure to do all of them at once if you plan to do this.

You can begin your trade-ins at Red2Blu.com

Flip Mino HD review

Pure Digital Technologies Inc was kind enough to send us a review unit of The Flip Mino HD, “The world’s smallest HD camcorder”. To prepare for this review, we tested out the pocket-sized Flip Mino HD over the last few months.

Pure Digital has revolutionized the home video camcorder market by creating simple to operate, compact digital camcorders that anyone can use. Over 1 million Flip camcorders have been sold so far and the number grows monthly.

Before we dig into the review, let’s take a look at the product details found on the manufacturers website.

Flip Mino HD review: Product Features & Specifications

Recording Time: 60 min.
Internal Memory: 4GB
MSRP: $229.99
Designable: Yes
Colors: Black, Grey
LCD Size: 1.5″ (diagonal)
LCD Type: Transflectiv TFT (for bright daylight)
Video Resolution: 1280 x 720
Sensor: 1/4.5″ HD CMOS Sensor 2.2µm pixels
Light Sensitivity: Ultra low-light sensitivity (>1.4 V/lux-sec) with automatic low light detection
Video Compression: Pure Digital Video Engine 3.0
Frame Rate: 30 fps (constant frame rate, progressive scan)
Average Bitrate: 9.0Mbps (auto-adaptive algorithm)
Video Format: H.264 video compression, AAC audio compression, MP4 file format
White Balance & Exposure: Automatic white balance and black level calibration, Automatic exposure control with dynamic exposure compensation
Lens Type: Fixed Focus (1.5m to infinity)
Aperture: f/2.4 (fast lens for great results in low-light environments)
Zoom: Smooth multi-step 2x digital
Battery type: Internal Lithium-Ion Rechargeable
Battery life: Up to 2 hrs of use between charges
Charge time: Via computer USB port – approx 3 hrs, Via Power Adapter – approx 2 hrs
Interface: Touch-sensitive capacitive buttons
Power-up Time: Less than 4 seconds
Power Saver (Auto Shut-Down): Yes
Play All Function: Yes
Pause, FF/Rewind: Yes
Set Date/Time Function: Yes
Dimensions (H x W x D): 3.94″ x 1.97″ x 0.63″
Weight: 3.3oz
PC Connection: Built-in flip-out USB arm (up to USB 2.0 speed)
Speaker: Built-in speaker
Microphone: Built-in, wide-range, omni-directional
TV-Out: NTSC (cable included)
Tripod Mount: Yes
Software: Built-in Flip Video Program
Included Accessories: Soft Case, TV cable, wrist strap, quickstart guide

Flip Mino HD review: Inside the box

Next, we take a look at what’s inside the box. The Flip Mino HD comes delivered in a sleek box packaging that includes the Flip Mino HD itself, a lanyard strap, a carrying bag that doubles as a lens cloth, a quick start guide, a warranty insert and a set of standard yellow/red/white audio/video cables for connecting to a TV.

Below are two different photos of the Flip Mino itself, with its signature flip out USB plug protruding from the top right of the device in the image on the right.

The Flip camcorders get their name from this built in USB plug, which flips out after you hit a switch on the top left side of the device.

Flip Mino HD review: Video examples

For the videos embedded in this review, we used video recorded at two different locations. The first was outdoors, at the Matsuri Festival of Japan, at Heritage park in downtown Phoenix, AZ. The second was indoors, at the Twestival Phoenix, which took place at the Half Moon Sports Grill in Phoenix. These videos can help you get a glimpse into the audio and video quality of the Flip Mino HD camcorder. Please take note that the Vimeo web service compresses the video, so the source video files are actually an even higher quality.

Flip Mino HD review: Matsuri Festival of Japan

Flip Mino HD review: Twestival Phoenix

Drawing from our experience with the Flip Mino HD over the last few months, we would like to wrap this review up with our list of positives, negatives and some final thoughts.

Flip Mino HD review Positives

Low cost HD camcorder
720p widescreen HD recording
Ultra compact size
Simple to use
Good Audio & Video quality
Integrated USB plug removes the need for cables
Tripod compatible
Lens cloth carry bag included
Simple editing & upload software included
User customizable graphics

Flip Mino HD review Negatives

No optical zoom
No image stabilization
No card slot for expanded storage
No component cables included (for HD output to TV)
Cannot be used as a webcam
No DVD Video authoring or burning software included

Flip Mino HD review Final thoughts

The Flip Mino HD camcorder has quickly become one of our favorite gadgets. Due to the compact size, it is easy to take the Flip along with you just about anywhere you go. Just drop it in your pocket and pop it out when you’re ready to capture some video. The audio & video quality are very good, vastly superior to similar compact HD camcorders made by Aiptek (we also own an Aiptek A-HD).

The few negatives that we found with the Flip Mino HD are far outweighed by its positives and its low price. The Flip Mino HD is perfect for the casual video maker, the video blogger or anyone else looking for a compact, highly portable camcorder. We can easily give the Flip Mino HD our recommendation.

Flip Mino HD Availability

At the time of this review, the Flip Mino HD can be purchased for $209 at Amazon or straight from the manufacturer at TheFlip.com.

Videos were edited using Pinnacle Studio 12 software on Windows XP.

If you’re looking for more Flip action, we also recently reviewed the Flip Mino camcorder (non-HD version).

YouTube expands repurposed content offerings

Google’s YouTube service is the internet’s ubiquitous user-generated video service. Over the past couple of years they have been toying with adding repurposed content such as television programs and motion pictures. This week they announced more partnerships in this regard, including some of the biggest players in Hollywood.

The new content providers include Sony, MGM, CBS, Starz, and Lionsgate.

Television programs will be at YouTube.com/shows, and movies will be at YouTube.com/movies. The content is the usual free online fair, including TV shows Married With Children, Happy Tree Friends, The Addams Family, and movies such a Cliffhanger, Carrie, and Inspector Clouseau.

The video quality is maybe a little better than the lower-quality versions on Hulu. I watched an episode of Harper’s Island and it didn’t look quite as good as a similar video on Hulu in 480p.

YouTube is using a similar approach to advertising as Hulu as well, breaking up the video into segments and introducing short commercials. The Harper’s Island episode I mentioned above had four commercials for the 40 minute show.

Because of the website’s popularity, YouTube is a serious contender for online video distribution. My only complaint so far with the platform is in full screen the progress bar does not disappear from view.

Buy 3-for-2 Blu-ray sale at Amazon

Amazon is really hammering out these Blu-ray sales. Right now they’re offering a buy two get one free sale.

There are over 300 titles available in this sale, including some really big sellers. Amazon already offers about a 30% discount on every title, so you’re saving quite a bit through this sale.

Region-free Blu-ray player now available from Momitsu

Momitsu has released a “Region 0″ Blu-ray Disc player claiming to play discs from all regions. The BDP-899 is for sale now at HKFlix.com for $349.95.

The player supports BD-Live, Deep Color, and BonusView, as well as upconverting DVD to 1080p over HDMI. It does not have multi-channel HDMI output, but does appear (from the logos on the front bezel) to decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS:HD Master Audio.



It does support an impressive amount of formats, including MP4 HD, WMV9, VCD, MP3 and a host of others. It has a USB port for flash drives or external hard drives, but it’s not clear if it is Divx capable.