12/05/2009 - Consumers Prefer Discs Over Downloads At Home

Watching movies and other video content on DVD and Blu-ray Disc accounts for 88 per cent of home entertainment spending - even although newer digital methods are beginning to gain a foothold in the consumer market.
The average US home video consumer reported spending an average of USD $25 per month on all types of home video purchases and rentals, according to NPD Group.

25/03/2009 - Europe's HDTVs "Starved of HD Content"

FutureSource Consulting has produced an interesting chart that highlights the gulf between HDTV ownership and the penetration of Blu-ray disc players in Europe.
It shows that there are 69 million HD-ready TV sets but just 8 million Blu-ray players,including PS3 consoles - prompting the title: "61 million TVs starved of HD content".

12/03/2009 - Panasonic's VHS/Blu-ray Combo Upconverts SD Video to 1080p

The world's first Blu-ray-VHS dual player is to go on sale in the US from next month.
Made by Panasonic, the DMP-BD70V has a multi-format playback that allows users to play VHS, CD, DVD and 1080p high definition Blu-ray Discs.

13/02/2009 - Can Blu-ray Now Be Regarded As"Mainstream"?

Sales of Blu-ray discs have climbed to such an extent in Europe that the high-def format is now officially "mainstream".
At least that's according to the cross-industry trade body, Digital Entertainment Group Europe(DEGE).

13/02/2009 - Sony Plans Movie and Game on Blu-ray Disc

Sony is planning on creating a hybrid Blu-ray - with a game and movie on the same disc.
The move is being viewed as a way to boost the appeal of the Playstation 3 in the face of falling prices for Blu-ray players and the increasing popularity of games consoles such as Wii and XBOX 360.

22/01/2009 - Sony Takes On Pirates By Opening Blu-ray Plant in China

Sony is turning its sights on the growing high-def market in China with the opening of a Blu-ray manufacturing plant in Shanghai.
The new plant will produce 500,000 of the high-def discs per month specifically for the domestic market.

10/12/2008 - Netflix Beats Blu-ray Target - Hopes High For 2009

Netflix has reached its target of 500,000 Blu-ray subscribers ahead of schedule.
The retailer's chief financial officer Barry McCarthy said subscribers had added the option of paying an extra USD $1 to receive Blu-ray Disc titles at a quicker rate than Netflix forecast in October.

10/12/2008 - Japan Grasps Blu-ray - US Starts To Get Taste

Blu-ray players bucked generally weak Black Friday sales in the US - helped considerable by average prices dropping to USD $200, according to DisplaySearch.
Stripping out sales of Sony's PlayStation 3, the researchers report that US Blu-ray Disc player revenue "more than tripled from a year earlier" during the week of Thanksgiving and Black Friday .

21/11/2008 - Blu-Ray Takes On Pirates And Old HD Rival In China

Blu-Ray discs will go on sale in China for the first time today - officially that is.
While it's been possible to buy dubious pirated version of the high-def format for some time, today marks the start of what is expected to be a major push by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment into the vast Chinese market.

17/11/2008 - HDTV Owners Prefer Blu-ray....They're Just Not Buying Them

The latest survey from SmithGeiger shows that HDTV owners would rather watch movies on Blu-ray Disc than stream content directly to their TV.
Well, hardly any surprise there. There's never been any doubt about the phenomenal quality of Blu-ray images - but that still doesn't seem to be translating into sales.
Even with price drops in the US of between USD $200 and $300, the HD players aren't rushing off the shelves.

07/10/2008 - Sanyo Laser Could Double Blu-ray Discs' Capacity

Sanyo has announced that it has developed a blue-violet semiconductor laser capable of outputting 450mW.
The company said this allows it to read and write data on discs with up to four data layers at speeds of 12X.

31/07/2008 - First Blu-ray Disc player with streaming movies

LG Electronics and Netflix are to launch the first Blu-ray Disc player that will have the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix directly to the TV.
The LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player, which is to be launched in the autumn, will play high definition Blu-ray discs and up-convert standard DVDs to 1080p.