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Who needs optical drives anymore?

The portable computing website Liliputing asked the question this week “Do optical disc drives matter anymore?” Judging from the comments, even those who said they need a CD/DVD drive prefer not having the extra size and weight on their laptops.

With the increasing popularity of netbooks, and the increasing ubiquity of downloads and cloud computing, optical drives have been uses less and less frequently. Personally I have used my DVD drive in my laptop only a few times this year, and usually to burn files to disc. A USB optical drive could easily have handled my needs.

With the music industry’s top-10 selling albums only reaching into the tens-of-thousands, and software being downloaded online, it seems like the CD is reaching its latter days. Do you agree or disagree?

Lexicon to release first Blu-ray player

If you work for Goldmann-Sachs you might be interested in this: Lexicon will be releasing their first Blu-ray Disc player in September for you and your high-end peers.

The Harman International company best known for their professional reverb console has also been a top-tier home theater firm for many years. Their preamp/processors have been widely acclaimed as one of the best available at any price (and at upwards of $14,000 they’d better be!).

The BD-30 isn’t the first luxury Blu-ray player (that distinction belongs to the Goldmund Eidos 20), and it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles some other players have. It does playback Blu-ray, DVD, SACD, DVD Audio, and CD. It also has a USB port that supports video and audio. It decodes all major audio codecs, including Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio, outputting 7.1 channel LPCM over HDMI. It has Anchor Bay’s VRS video processing, RS-232 two-way control, BonusView and BD-Live.

Lexicon is simultaneously releasing a firmware update to their flagship MC-12HD pre/pro to accept 7.1 channel LPCM audio. Vice-president of marketing Marc Kellom suggests decoding the audio in the player is the best course of action, citing the fact that the player can mix commentary tracks into the main track while a bitstream transmission would not have this functionality (limitation in the HDMI spec).

This might not be the player for you, but if your name rhymes with JP Morgan this player should be on the top of your list.

New media format: USB drives

Feature length films will be coming to USB “thumb drives” late 2009 from a joint effort by Sonic Solutions and Widevine. Entitled CinemaNow USB Movie Drives, they feature an integrated media player to play the included movie direct from the drive on a PC. When online, the user can connect to their Roxio CinemaNow account to add the title to their library to share up to four other networked devices such as portable media devices, Blu-ray Disc players and televisions. Each device will receive an optimized file for that specific device capabilities.

Widevine is providing a Hollywood-approved DRM and video optimization for the drives, while Sonic is providing the software and hardware. Sonic is also partnering with 250 content providers, including all major Hollywood studios and independent distributors.

The intent is to sell these drives through retail to keep brick and mortar stores in the loop while providing flexible viewing options. I imagine this should appeal to the consumer who likes the idea of streaming video, but the inconvenience of going to Best Buy to buy the product. However it does solve the desire to possess a real copy of the movie.

Toshiba to release Blu-ray player

It was previously reported that Toshiba, the backer of competing format HD DVD, was considering joining the Blu-ray market. It appears this is accurate; the Japanese company will release a Blu-ray player later this year.

With an expected 112% increase in Blu-ray player sales this year, it seems like an obvious move by Toshiba to grab their share of these sales. Other consumer electronics manufacturers are also leveraging Blu-ray to sell their HDTVs. It’s reported Toshiba will also promote Blu-ray Disc players as a value-added product, possibly throwing it in for free with the purchase of a television.

I would speculate the Blu-ray player would be a Samsung design with the Toshiba badge.

HDTV shootout 2009

Every year Value Electronics invites customers into their showroom in Scarsdale, NY to test out the latest displays from the major brands. This year they tested out LCD and plasma displays from Panasonic, Samsung, Pioneer, LG, Sony, and Toshiba.

The process includes several days of calibrating each display to meet ISF specifications for black level, color accuracy, and gray scale tracking. Each display is mounted to offer side-by-side comparisons and fed the same high-def source from the top-of-the-line Blu-ray Disc player.

It’s a little difficult to see exactly what they’re talking about though the YouTube videos, but there is some good information you can use to evaluate TVs yourself. You can watch the event here.




So who is the winner of the shootout? You can download the customer evaluation results here.

California proposes strict energy usage limits on televisions

The California Energy Commission has proposed an arbitrary limit on television electricity usage. The limits would come in two stages, in 2011 and in 2013 bringing power usage down to 0.20 watts per square inch and 0.12 watts per square inch respectively. This would effectively ban plasma televisions, most rear-projection televisions, and some LCD displays.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) recently released a report conducted in conjunction with Resolution Economics which showed the proposal would cost $50-million to California in state tax revenue loss, and 4,600 in lost jobs tied to TV sales.

If you’re not in California you should also be concerned. The Republic of California is the largest economy in the country, and sixth in the world. Most auto manufacturers in the USA build their cars to meet California’s stricter emission standards as a result, even though most states require much less. This could affect the future of home entertainment for the entire world.

Under this proposal, 83 percent of LCD televisions measuring 24-34 inches would be banned under the 2013 limitations, even though they currently meet or exceed Energy Star specifications. 80 percent of 35-39 inch LCDs, and 100 percent of plasma TVs over 60 inches would be banned under the 2011 limits.

The television industry has been working to increase energy efficiency without the pressure of government limitations, and without threats of limitations, bringing plasma televisions down considerably in just the last two years. It is possible the engineers at these firms would be able to make these goals in time, but there would more than likely be sacrifices in image quality to make it happen.

Clearly energy consumption needs to be curtailed, and televisions are estimated to use 10% of California’s energy usage, but I think the legislators need to work with the companies to develop plans that aren’t arbitrarily assigned.

Sony adding Netflix streaming to BRAVIA televisions

Sony was the first company to add streaming directly to the display, and now they’re adding Netflix streaming to their BRAVIA line of LCD televisions.

The current 2009 models BRAVIA models connect via Ethernet to the internet and stream video via the Xross Media Bar (XMB) interface. But most Sony TVs from the past two years have the ability to connect a “BRAVIA Internet Video Link” module, meaning there is a large installed base right now that can benefit from this relationship when it releases in the Autumn.

Sony has developed their own interface for the Netflix instant queue which they call “a little more elegant.” You still have to add movies via a web browser, however. I imagine the interface will look a lot like the current XMB interface.

In addition to Netflix, Sony offers video from over 25 sources, including Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Sports Illustrated, Sony Pictures, and Crackle.