Call me petty, but I’ve had it up to here with power bricks. Nearly every peripheral and mobile computer needs to have one but, frankly, they’re plain awkward, heavy, proprietary, difficult to keep track of, messy, ugly, and an all-around nuisance.

Thankfully, Sunland International (SLI) has come to the rescue with its new Digistor Self-Powered Blu-ray Writer (SPW). Not your average portable Blu-ray Disc (BD) recorder, the Digistor SPW is an attractively sleek and compact USB 2.0 device that not only reads and writes every type of CD, DVD and BD but, best of all, does so without the aid of an external power supply!

Sunland International (SLI) is a well-established distributor and seller of Panasonic’s industrial OEM optical drives and blank media, as well as commercial and embedded solutions that solve tricky power, connection, mounting and other integration issues. Available through its website, partners and its direct sales efforts to medical, archiving, security and other vertical markets, SLI develops and promotes its Self-Powered Writers (SPW) and other drives through its Digistor division and brand name.

Continuing the refreshing turn, SLI offers several software choices for the Digistor Blu-ray SPW. The recorder is available by itself for $599 or can be paired with Adobe’s Creative Suite 4 Production Premium Mac or PC for an additional $1,699 (a special $1,899 bundle is available until the end of May 2009). Purchasers can also select the consumer-oriented ArcSoft Total Media Extreme for $20 extra.

At 5.43" (W) x 6.73" (D) x 0.87" (H) and weighing less than a pound, the Digistor SPW may be small but still packs a respectable punch thanks to its Panasonic mechanism. A mainstay of the Blu-ray laptop market, the Panasonic UJ-225A recorder nestled inside is a versatile slot-loader capable of reading, writing and rewriting all prerecorded (pressed), recordable and rewritable CD, DVD, and BD disc formats.

As is the case with all slimlines, the UJ-225A executes a little slower than its 5.25" half-height cousins but gets the job done burning single-layer BD-Rs at 2x and DVD±Rs and CD-Rs at 8x speeds. The more modest performance translates as well into quieter operation. To my ears, the Digistor SPW sounded perfectly sedate and thus should be at home for everything from general laptop use and video authoring to server data backup and even Home Theater PC (HTPC) playback and recording.

But it’s really the Digistor SPW’s intelligent power management system that defines the unit and sets it the apart from the crowd. Rather than relying on an external power brick, the recorder draws energy from the host computer itself (within USB specifications according to SLI) and an internal lithium polymer battery, which trickle charges when the device is idol. For ordinary operation it need be attached to only a single USB port while longer continual use (>3 hours) requires a second USB connection (a twined cable is included). On the downslide, the battery isn’t replaceable but, SLI assures me, it should last a good long time under normal conditions.

Reading and writing prowess falls in line with what can be expected from a slimline device. During comprehensive assessment using Nero’s DiscSpeed benchmarking application, I was able to record full single-layer BD-Rs and BD-REs discs in roughly 45 minutes (2x CLV), DVD±Rs in twelve minutes (8x ZCLV) and CD-Rs and CD-RWs in eleven minutes (8x CLV). Lamentably, dual-layer BD-R and BD-RE recording isn’t as brisk and, limited to 1x speed, takes as long as three hours to burn full discs (see chart 1, below).

Beyond Blu-ray, SLI offers the Digistor SPW in several alternative configurations, which replace the UJ-225A (BD/DVD/CD) innards, with either the latest Panasonic UJ-875A slot ($159) or UJ-880A tray-loading ($135) 24x CD/8x DVD multi recorders. These too were sent to me for testing, but as bare drives, so for the sake of thoroughness, I ran them through the mill and was impressed by their solid journeymen-like demeanor (see chart 2, below). For example, full DVD±R SLs recorded in roughly eleven minutes and CD-Rs in an efficient five minutes. Be aware, however, that as with the UJ-225A (BD/DVD/CD), neither the UJ-875A nor UJ-880A (DVD/CD) includes a direct disc labeling feature such as LightScribe, LabelFlash or LabelTag.

With its uncluttered and liberating power system, diminutive size, competent performance, and quiet operation, the Digistor Blu-ray Self-Powered Writer is an all around pleaser. It’s further evidence that good things often do come in small packages and it should prove an attractive solution for those needing a portable, desktop or specialized BD recorder.

For more information:
Sunland International (SLI): www.slidirect.com

Hugh Bennett (hugh_bennett at compuserve.com), an EMedialive and EventDV contributing editor, is president of Forget Me Not Information Systems (www.forgetmenot.ca), a reseller, systems integrator and industry consultant based in London, Ontario, Canada. Hugh is the author of The Authoritative Blu-ray Disc (BD) FAQ and The Authoritative HD DVD FAQ, available on EMedialive.com as well as Understanding Recordable & Rewritable DVD and Understanding CD-R & CD-RW, published by the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA).

When the two-year battle between high-definition formats was finally settled in 2008, Blu-ray’s pathway to the future seemed wide open. And from the point of view of the major motion picture studios, it was. The bulk if the licensing fee structure put together by the Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator--AACS LA, which manages the copy-protection patents for the AACS technology holders including Sony, Toshiba, Disney, Warner, Microsoft, and Intel--is scaled to the kind of budgets Hollywood routinely works with: a $40,000 annual service charge as well as fees for the AACS media key that encrypts the content of the disc, an AACS content certification for that title, and finally an AACS order processing fee, at a cost of another $1,300 per title.

Non-Hollywood content developers who want to access the high-def disc are charged less--a one-time fee of $3,000 for the Content Provider License to work with certified Blu-ray (BD) replicators (replicators cannot accept an order from anyone without this license and associated license number), and the $1,300 in service fees.

However, this cohort says, if you’re a small, independent content developer already burdened with the costs associated with gearing up for a new HD format, those fees can mount up. "From where I sit, the single biggest challenge is that the mandatory AACS licensing poses a huge roadblock to enabling the large independent authoring community that wants to use BD, but cannot overcome the initial $4,500-plus AACS buy-in for the first title," says Bruce Nazarian, president of the International Digital Media Alliance (IDMA, formerly the DVD Association), as well as owner of media house Gnome Digital. "If these fees were reduced significantly, and title key generation made cheaper -- each time a BD is remastered, it costs $1,300 for a new title key [because] each key is tied to the disc's data, and when that is changed, the key is no longer valid -- then many of us believe that a huge groundswell of pent-up BD publication will take place."

In terms of Hollywood, $1,300 may not seem like a stumbling block, but in larger context it’s bigger than it looks. With basic BD authoring now available for less than $4,000 or so, and mastering and metalizing for less than $1,000, the $1,300 adds more than 25 percent to the cost of each title. Furthermore, BD is still a relatively new technology compared to other optical disc formats and remains vulnerable to pre-production glitches. If a master is unusable, the remastered version incurs another service charge, and these charges are levied both for entertainment titles intended for consumer distribution and for content developed for internal use, such as corporate presentations, many of which would benefit from access to a high-definition platform. And the use of Blu-ray file folders on red-laser media--so-called BD-5 and BD-9 discs, which can use DVD as the carrier format while still achieving higher resolution video--also incur the licensing fees.

Nazarian estimates that the several thousand users currently deterred from using Blu-ray due to the fee structure could generate as much as $21 million in additional revenues for the format if fees were substantially reduced, with a sizable portion of that going to the AACS-LA itself.

The IDMA has an online petition in progress that Nazarian says has several hundred individual and institutional signatories thus far. One of those is Media-Tech, a trade group representing facilities including mastering, authoring and replication companies. "The goal is… to strongly suggest a tiered approach to licensing fees that will enable everybody to participate [in Blu-ray], according to their means", Marianne Sernevi, president of the organization, stated in a press release. "Doing so will unleash the pent-up creativity of thousands of independent producers who are waiting to participate profitably in growing the Blu-ray format."

Randy Hudson, director of optical disc technology at DuArt, which earlier this year acquired his authoring company Broadness, points to DVD’s evolution as a template for what could happen if BD’s content licensing fee structure was attenuated. "When you look at the historical data, you clearly see that as the cost of entry, the cost of authoring and replication became lower and lower for DVD, the number of participants and titles skyrocketed," he says. "The costs [of content licensing] has come down some in recent months, but not enough to get a huge number of potential independent content developers – who fill about half the racks at video stores -- to go with Blu-ray. Combine that with the effects of the recession, which has really put the squeeze on independent content budgets, and the potential user base that can’t access Blu-ray gets bigger every day." Even the incremental fee reductions that have taken place have also created a wait-and-see attitude among indie content developers, who hold off in hopes of catching yet another reduction.

A major difference between DVD and Blu-ray in terms of professional uptake was the fact that the CSS copy-protection scheme used with DVD was not absolutely mandatory; while it’s used on virtually every conventional entertainment title in circulation, content suppliers can opt out if they felt copy protection was unnecessary, such as for corporate projects. HD DVD, the rival format that BD conquered, likewise did not make AACS mandatory except for Internet-connected discs.

That, says Rolf Hartley, senior v.p. and GM of premium content services at Sonic, which makes Blu-ray authoring toolsets, is the crux of the issue. "We have many, many users of our software who work outside of Hollywood and want to bring their high-definition content to disc," he explains. "If they could opt out of the AACS requirement, they would, but they can’t."

AACS-LA Responds
The AACS-LA’s points to the decreases in licensing fees it’s enacted since 2007, when it established a non-Hollywood licensing tier with a one-time fee of $2,500, later dropped to $1,500 and most recently to $1,300. That, says Michael Ayers, manager of AACS-LA and chair of its business group, as well as a senior attorney at Toshiba, is in comparison to the $40,000 annual fee charged major film studios. "We’re charging fees based on the level of service we have to provide for each tier," he explains. Ayers cites cost reductions by its technical service providers for services, such as the digital content certification for each master copy for a title, not pressures from non-Hollywood users, as the reason for reductions of the lower-priced license fee. Nonetheless, he says the organization is aware of the sentiment in the non-Hollywood sector. "We’ve tried to take that into account from the beginning, and we continue to," he adds, hinting at but not confirming further reductions as their operating and other costs come down. "We’re always looking at the fee structures to see how we can adjust and tweak it," he says.

The bottom line is about more than a few thousand dollars per title, fee-reduction proponents assert. At this point in time, it’s about getting Blu-ray wider traction for its ultimate deathmatch, against digital video downloads. "If Blu-ray remains the province mainly of major studios, which have the vast majority of the titles out there now, it runs the risk of the format failing in favor of a disruptive technology like downloading," says Randy Hudson. "Blu-ray is an evolutionary format, not a radical one like DVD was when it came out. So it needs have evolutionary expectations – a shorter cycle time from introduction to consumer acceptance. And the way to do that it is to lower the cost barriers. The costs for authoring software and other related processes are already coming down quickly. The patent license structure needs to do the same."

Dan Daley (danwriter at aol.com) is an experienced journalist and author, covering the business and technology of the entertainment industry for over 20 years. His work has appeared in numerous publications, both trade and general interest, including Billboard, The New York Daily News, Mix Magazine, GRAMMY Magazine, American Way, Spin, History Channel, TravelHost, International Business, USA Today, ArchiTech, and many others.

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

Primera's tests on RiDATA BD-R 4X Inkjet White discs proved to be successful with excellent results in burning and printing from their Bravo Series disc publishers. Businesses and duplicators looking for reliability and high capacity can now rely on RiDATA Blu-Ray discs when using Primera's top-selling Bravo Series inkjet white disc publishing system.

The RiDATA Inkjet White blank media family includes CDR, DVD, DVD DL and Blu-Ray BD-R discs. All are available in inkjet white hub printable (NSR).

www.ritekusa.com

Macrovision Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:MVSN) today announced that Paramount Home Entertainment has agreed to license Macrovision’s content protection products, ACP and RipGuard. ACP and RipGuard provide protection against unauthorized copying of content across packaged media such as DVD as well as electronic channels such as the Internet, cable and DBS.

The license also grants Paramount the right to use Macrovision’s advanced Blu-ray protection technology, BD+. Along with the other technologies, Macrovision’s BD+ provides an additional content protection method for content released on Blu-ray. The Blu-ray format provides consumers with high definition video, a more interactive user experience via BD-Java, and exciting new features available in the most recent Blu-ray players with BD-Live.

"We are pleased to continue our long-standing relationship with Macrovision to preserve Paramount Home Entertainment’s high-quality products," said Kelley Avery, Worldwide President of Paramount Home Entertainment. "Macrovision’s technologies cover a variety of distribution channels, providing necessary safeguards which benefit both the Studio and the consumer."

"As Macrovision continues to add valuable content protection technologies to their suite of solutions, it provides Paramount with valuable methods to protect our content when distributed on DVD and Blu-ray media," said Chris Carey, Executive Vice President Worldwide Technical Operations, Paramount Pictures.

"We are delighted that Paramount has chosen to continue its Macrovision relationship and that Macrovision can aid them in realizing full market value for their content," said Fred Amoroso, President and CEO of Macrovision. "With our solutions, we believe Paramount will be able to confidently explore a broad set of distribution channels while ensuring a consistent product to its customers."

The agreement is for a multi-year term and financial terms were not disclosed.

About Macrovision Solutions Corporation
Macrovision Solutions Corporation is focused on providing a uniquely simple digital home entertainment experience by delivering solutions to businesses to protect, enhance and distribute digital goods to consumers across multiple channels. Macrovision’s technologies are deployed by companies in the entertainment, consumer electronics, cable and satellite, and online distribution markets to solve industry-specific challenges and bring greater value and a more robust user experience to their customers. The result of deploying Macrovision’s solutions is a simple end user experience for discovering, managing and enjoying digital content. Today, Macrovision provides connected middleware, media recognition, interactive programming guides, copy protection and rich media, data and metadata on music, games, movies and television programming. The company also operates entertainment portals which can be found at http://www.allmusic.com. Macrovision holds over 4,000 issued or pending patents and patent applications worldwide. Macrovision is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with numerous offices across the United States and around the world including Japan, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom. More information about Macrovision can be found at www.macrovision.com.

About Paramount Home Entertainment
Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE) is part of Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment. PPC is a unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. PHE is responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution of home entertainment products on behalf of various parties including: Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Paramount Famous Productions, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, CBS and PBS, and for providing home entertainment fulfillment services for DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment.

Software Architects, Inc. announced the release of version 1.2 of WriteBD!™ UDF Data Writer for Mac OS 10.5. WriteBD! provides the world's first UDF and HFS+ file system writer for re-writable Blu-ray Disc drives that enables true direct writing to disc. Unlike two-step data writing based on disk mastering technology, WriteBD! provides direct writing, editing and deleting of files and folders to the Blu-ray media through the standard Finder interface just as if they were writing to a hard disk drive.

Fully Integrated Use of Re-writable Blu-ray Media
The software formats, reads and writes to re-writable Blu-ray discs using the standard Mac Finder interface, including drag & drop writing to disc. The user has the option to format in native HFS, or in UDF format for reading and writing on other computer systems.
Compact, Reliable & Portable Data Storages

Now users can take advantage of the Blu-ray Disc re-writable media capacity of 25 and 50 Gbyte for data storage applications. It is ideal for file backup, archival or data distribution.

User Benefits

* Easy to use: simply drag & drop files to the disc or write files directly from your application.
* Versatile: supports writing from any Mac application.
* Compatible: UDF format is readable on Mac, Windows and most Linux systems.

System Requirements

* Any Intel based Apple system running Mac OS 10.5.
* 512 MBytes of RAM.
* BD-RE re-writable optical disc drive and media.

Pricing and Availability

* Available now.
* Introductory Price for WriteBD! v1.2 is $49.95.
* Windows version (WriteUDF!™ ) is also available.

GE Global Research, the technology development arm of the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), today announced a major breakthrough in the development of next generation optical storage technology. GE researchers have successfully demonstrated a threshold micro-holographic storage material that can support 500 gigabytes of storage capacity in a standard DVD-size disc. This is equal to the capacity of 20 single-layer Blu-ray discs, 100 DVDs or the hard drive for a large desktop computer.

GE’s micro-holographic discs will be able to be read and recorded on systems very similar to a typical Blu-ray or DVD player. Holographic storage is different from today’s optical storage formats like DVDs and Blu-ray discs. DVDs and Blu-ray discs store information only on the surface of the disc; holographic storage technology uses the entire volume of the disc material. Holograms, or three-dimensional patterns that represent bits of information, are written into the disc and can then be read out. Although GE’s holographic storage technology represents a breakthrough in capacity, the hardware and formats are so similar to current optical storage technology that the micro-holographic players will enable consumers to play back their CDs, DVDs and BDs.

The GE team successfully recorded micro-holographic marks approaching one percent reflectivity with a diameter of approximately one micron. When using standard DVD or Blu-ray disc optics, the scaled down marks will have sufficient reflectivity to enable over 500 GB of total capacity in a CD-size disc.

"GE’s breakthrough is a huge step toward bringing our next generation holographic storage technology to the everyday consumer," said Brian Lawrence, who leads GE’s Holographic Storage program. "Because GE’s micro-holographic discs could essentially be read and played using similar optics to those found in standard Blu-ray players, our technology will pave the way for cost-effective, robust and reliable holographic drives that could be in every home. 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."

GE has been working on holographic storage technology for over six years. The demonstration of materials that can support 500 gigabytes of capacity represents a major milestone in making micro-holographic discs that ultimately can store more than one terabyte, or 1,000 gigabytes of data. In addition to pushing the limits of storage capacity, GE researchers also have been very focused on making the technology easily adaptable to existing optical storage formats and manufacturing techniques.

"GE’s holographic storage program has turned the corner, and with this milestone we can now intensify our efforts in commercialization opportunities," said Bill Kernick, who leads GE’s Technology Ventures team. "We’ll continue to engage with a variety of strategic partners to create the best route from product development to introduction into the marketplace."

GE initially will be focusing on the commercial archival industry followed by the consumer market for its micro-holographic storage technology.

www.ge.com