The Authoritative Blu-ray Disc (BD) FAQ Has Moved!

Hugh Bennett’s The Authoritative Blu-ray Disc (BD) FAQ has moved to its new home at Hugh’s News (www.hughsnews.ca).

It can now be found at: www.hughsnews.ca/faqs/authoritative-blu-ray-disc-bd-faq

CDROM2GO.COM has formally launched its new USB flash drive duplication service. In addition to CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs, customers can now order customized USB flash drives in large quantities.

USB flash drives, or "thumb" drives are small, portable devices that store data from 128MB to 4GB on a Flash memory chip. They are available in a variety of pocket sized configurations including keychains, lanyards, pens, and more. Custom USB flash drives display company logos to make lasting impressions on consumers and potential clients. They are excellent for distributing product demonstrations and information, video and multimedia files, and presentations. The reliability of Flash memory and the increase in consumer demand for mobile storage has prompted this move from the optical media duplication experts.

CDROM2GO.COM is currently offering silkscreen logo printing, laser engraving, heat stamping, and full color printing on select models. In addition, they can provide data preloading, data protection, custom colors, and a variety of other options. A full line of customizable packaging has also been announced.

CDROM2GO.COM is a full-service provider of DVD and CD duplication and replication services and supplies. Located in sunny Phoenix, Arizona, CDROM2GO.COM maintains a large warehouse with thousands of items in stock and ready to ship. This includes Grade-A DVD and CD media, printers and supplies, disc packaging, mailers, labels, and a huge selection of equipment from do-it-yourself to professional grade gear.

www.cdrom2go.com

ArcSoft, Inc. announces the retail availability of ArcSoft TotalMedia™ Extreme, a suite of software programs that allows users to play commercial movie discs, capture, manage, edit and share high-definition video, photos, music and documents using Blu-ray discs (BDs), HD DVDs, AVCHDs, DVDs, or CDs.

"With TotalMedia Extreme, we now offer the highest performance, best video quality and smoothest playback for new high definition movies. Also, we include everything to support BD, HD-DVD, AVCHD or even DVD and CD. All these feature-rich applications work together seamlessly, providing a fully integrated solution," said Michael Downs, ArcSoft Vice President of Marketing and Business Development.

ArcSoft® TotalMedia Extreme includes:

• ArcSoft TotalMedia™ Theatre: For playing back all movie disc formats, including BD-ROM, BD-AV, AVCHD, HD DVD, DVD-Video, VCD, and serving as a universal video/audio player. This program is also available as a stand-alone option.
• ArcSoft TotalMedia™ Studio: For creating your own high definition movie discs.
• ArcSoft TotalMedia™ VR: For creating, archiving, and editing personal video content or recorded TV shows in high definition VR format.
• ArcSoft TotalMedia™ AVCHD: For importing, editing and exporting video content from an AVCHD camcorder supporting optical discs, flash memory and hard disk drives.
• ArcSoft TotalMedia™ DVD-VR: Allows your disc to contain playlists and chapters in DVD-VR format.
• ArcSoft TotalMedia™ Backup: A complete solution for backing up multimedia and all data files.
• ArcSoft TotalMedia™ Record: Data mastering for burning multimedia or data files.
• ArcSoft Utilities: For creating a disc image and saving as a single file for future backup; burning a disc image to a disc; erasing a rewritable disc; and using as a Guide to analyze your system for compatibility with Blu-ray or HD DVD.

www.arcsoft.com

Sonnet Technologies, a leader in providing local storage systems for professional users of Macintosh®, Windows®, and UNIX® systems in the film, video, and broadcast industries, today launched the Fusion™ F2 portable RAID storage system, which provides speed, reliability, ruggedness, and convenience for on-location video capture or remote use when grid power is unavailable. Fusion F2 features 640GB of storage using two 2.5-inch drives mounted side by side in a rugged enclosure, ensuring fast and secure storage in a low-profile, compact design measuring just 5.9 by 6.2 by 0.72 inches. The diminutive Fusion F2 delivers remarkable performance with data transfer rates up to twice as fast as a pair of FireWire® 800 drives.

"Products in our Fusion line are designed to bring uncompromising performance and reliability to storage applications in film and video editing, as well as professional content capture. Fusion F2 offers the same high standard in a compact, low-power package intended for portable use," said Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet Technologies. "The ¾-inch thin unit slides easily into a case for transport, and can be used in virtually anywhere."

Sonnet's Fusion F2 features two eSATA data connections and is designed for use with the Sonnet Tempo™ SATA ExpressCard/34 adapter for the MacBook® Pro and Windows notebooks. By connecting via SATA interface, Fusion F2 handily supports portable video capture in conjunction with an AJA® Video Systems' Io HD, which requires dedicated use of FireWire bandwidth. To protect priceless field footage, Fusion F2's drives can be configured in RAID 1 mirrored mode, and still can capture Apple ProRes HQ HD fed from an AJA Io HD. This protected mode also allows safe field transfer of Panasonic® P2, Sony® SxS Pro, or similar memory cards. Footage verification by a MacBook Pro/Fusion F2 system gives users the peace of mind to erase and reuse cards on location.

With its drives configured as a RAID 0 striped volume, Fusion F2 is capable of 126 MB/sec read and write data transfers (compared with 66 MB/sec connecting via FireWire 800), thus providing the ability to capture and play more streams of compressed video for portable video editing.

Fusion F2 was devised as a high-performance, high-reliability alternative to existing portable drive solutions. Each Fusion F2 drive is individually shock-isolated, not only protecting the drives during transport, but also virtually eliminating cross-coupled vibration, which, unchecked, can induce soft errors — a potential source of skipped frames. Fusion F2 is cool, quiet, and energy-efficient: side-by-side placement of its drives increases the metal case's cooling surface area, thereby eliminating the need for a fan. Although Fusion F2 communicates via eSATA, it draws power from a FireWire 400 port for truly portable operation.

Like all Sonnet products, Fusion F2 enjoys long-term support from a company with more than two decades in the computer performance enhancement business. As a provider of complete solutions, including controller cards, storage chassis, and tested hard drives, Sonnet provides a single point of support, thereby simplifying the purchase and maintenance of advanced storage systems.

The Fusion F2 (part # FUS-F2-640M5) will be available this month with a suggested price of U.S. $895. The Tempo SATA ExpressCard/34 (part # TSATAII-E342P) has a suggested retail price of U.S. $99.95.

www.sonnettech.com/product/fusionf2.html

Blastwave FX, announces the release of a new hi-def sound effects library called Revolver™. Officially the world’s first 5.1 surround sound production elements library, Revolver is the all in one collection of 1000 Hi-Def 5.1 surround sound imaging elements, compositions, drones, and trailers created in the critically acclaimed libraries – Blastwave, Radio Meltdown, Drones, and Spoilers, all on 6 DVDs.

Whether it’s film, television, radio, or video games, with Revolver, audio professionals can pack their productions with 5.1 surround elements that renders a unique signature to draw attention to their productions.

Each sound was originally recorded at 24 bit 96k to ensure the highest quality for today’s production needs then delivered as 24 bit 48k broadcast .wav files. And, as with every Blastwave FX sound collection, each file comes as an additional mp3 for quick referencing.

Revolver is a Click N’ Drag™ library. That means that the entire collection can be clicked and dragged onto any hard drive and is conveniently cataloged with embedded metadata for easy search and retrieval in Pro Tools, AVID, SoundMiner, NetMix, iTunes and other popular sound library search engines. This collection is ready to use right out of the box. No more long searches, ripping, editing, or settling for close enough. With Revolver, audio professionals can get instant access to the highest quality sound effects for any type of production.

Revolver was created by producers and sound designers from the acclaimed Detroit Chop Shop, headed up by Ric Viers, one of the largest independent producers of sound effects in the world.

Revolver will be released on January 15, 2008, and will be available through www.blastwavefx.comfor an introductory price of $999. More information on Blastwave FX and other libraries can be found at: www.blastwavefx.com.

Toshiba America Consumer Products, L.L.C. ("Toshiba") today announced that it is stepping up its successful marketing campaign for HD DVD as it experienced record-breaking unit sales in the fourth quarter of 2007. Major initiatives, including joint advertising campaigns with studios and extended pricing strategies will begin in mid- January and are designed to spotlight the superior benefits of HD DVD as well as the benefits HD DVD brings to a consumer's current DVD library by upconverting standard DVDs via the HDMI(TM) output to near high definition picture quality.

As Toshiba achieved the #1 sales volume in the next generation DVD category with an approximately 50 percent market share in 2007, HD DVD is proven to be the format of choice for consumers. Coupled with an 80 percent plus market share of all next generation DVD equipped notebooks for the 4th quarter 2007, the HD DVD format has already paved the way to a high definition digital AV solution by eliminating the boundaries between the consumer's living room and on the go.

HD DVD not only creates the ultimate high definition entertainment experience, leveraging all of the promise of the format such as superior audio/video performance, Web-enabled network capabilities and advanced interactive features - it also has a high-level of compatibility with DVD. With DVD upconversion via the HDMI output, HD DVD players instantly make a movie lover's existing DVD library look better than ever.

"HD DVD is the best way to watch movies in high definition," said Jodi Sally, Vice President of Marketing, Toshiba's Digital A/V Group. "Our HD DVD players not only play back approximately 800 HD DVD titles available worldwide and deliver an entirely new level of entertainment but also enhance the picture quality to near high definition on legacy DVD titles by all studios. In short, we added high def to DVD which already is the de facto standard format created and approved by the DVD Forum that consists of more than two hundred companies."

New Marketing Strategy for Mass Market Adoption
Taking the holiday season sales based on promotional prices into full consideration, these new manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRP) are designed to meet the potential demand for HD DVD players in the U.S. market. Effective on January 13, 2008 the MSRP of the entry-model HD-A3 will be $149.99, the HD-A30, with 1080p output, $199.99, and the high-end HD-A35, $299.99.

"While price is one of the consideration elements for the early adopter, it is a deal-breaker for the mainstream consumer," said Yoshi Uchiyama, Group Vice President Digital A/V Group. "Consumer sales this holiday season have proven that the consumer awareness of the HD DVD format has been elevated and pricing is the most critical determinant in consumers' purchase decision of the next generation HD DVD technology. The value HD DVD provides to the consumer simply cannot be ignored."

Extended Advertising Campaign
Toshiba plans to execute an extended advertising campaign that will further enhance consumer awareness of the benefits of HD DVD and drive sales to retail among potential consumers. Advertising strategies will include television, print and online media channels. Toshiba will also work with its dealers and studio partners on joint marketing and promotional initiatives to promote HD DVD. Current promotions include "The Perfect HD Offer" - a mail-in offer allowing consumers to select five HD DVD titles for free from a selection of 15 with the purchase of any Toshiba HD DVD player.

Consistent Viewing Experience and More
With advanced interactivity and Web-enabled network capabilities built into every HD DVD player through a dedicated Ethernet port as mandated by the specifications approved by the DVD Forum, Toshiba delivers on the promise of a consistent entertainment experience through firmware updates as studios launch new applications. HD DVD allows studios to flex their creative muscle in ways never before seen. The latest of these new experiences is online streaming. Now, when consumers connect their HD DVD player to the Internet, they can stream new content or trailers, as available, directly from a movie studio's server.

Universal Home Video, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG have reported that an average of 30 percent of HD DVD owners have accessed Web- enabled network features and continue to do so regularly.

www.tacp.toshiba.com

ArcSoft, Inc. announces that ArcSoft TotalMedia™ Theatre is the first PC application to support DTS Surround Sensation™, a new virtual surround sound and headphone technology from DTS that simulates 5.1 channels of sound in a two-channel environment.

"We invite you to try DTS’ new surround sound and headphone technology, supported by our PC application, TotalMedia Theatre," said Michael Downs, ArcSoft Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. "We are excited to be able to offer consumers such a superb quality of sound on their PCs."

"The PC is an ideal environment for DTS Surround Sensation, and we are pleased to be working with ArcSoft on the first implementation of it in this space," said Brian Towne, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Division at DTS. "As people migrate to the next generation optical disc formats for their home theaters and PCs, they want a high-quality surround sound experience to enhance their entertainment."

TotalMedia Theatre provides the following:

• Fully supports the next generation audio formats used in Blu-ray discs and HD DVDs
• Fine-tune your audio experience with the broad 10-band equalizer
• Choose from a variety of presets, or customize the sound to your personal taste

DTS Surround Sensation processing contains significant psycho-acoustic information that alters human perception, making one believe that sounds are occurring outside the boundaries of the two-speaker system / headphones. Developed with a critical understanding of acoustics and years of experience in dealing with the properties of sound, DTS Surround Sensation creates an optimal surround sound experience from just two speakers, creating a three-dimensional wall of sound. DTS Surround Sensation also supplements the weakened stereo image and ambience of digitally compressed audio, while keeping the monaural components (such as solo vocals) unchanged.

www.dts.com
www.arcsoft.com