Category: HD DVD
Samsung pulls plug on BD-UP5500 dual-format high definition player
Samsung has announced that they won’t be releasing their second-generation HD DVD / Blu-ray combo player — the BD-UP5500 — after all.
Though Samsung have already said they favour Blu-ray, this is the first solid announcement that they’re no longer pushing their hybrid players.
HD DVD owners in Switzerland can trade for Blu-ray players, sez Sony
Bless the Swiss. Not only do they give the rest of the world chocolate, Swiss cheese, and beautiful people, but they’re also offering HD DVD owners the opportunity to trade in their obsolete format for a Blu-ray player.
Surprisingly, it’s Sony who’re offering the trade, marking Switzerland as the first country on the map to do so. When buying the BDP-S500…
Laptop specialist Rock grudgingly offers Blu-ray support
Hardcore power-laptop maker Rock has decided to dump its HD DVD-exclusive stance and let buyers stick Blu-ray drives in its range of gaming laptop beasts should they so desire.
Rock’s CEO Nick Boardman said “We’re disappointed that HD-DVD didn’t make it and we value the support Toshiba has given us. Although Blu-ray has technical advantages…
Dreamworks kills off HD DVD titles, no Blu-ray until the summer
Yesterday, over at HDTV UK, I responded to the news that Dreamworks somehow remained tied to the HD DVD format, despite Toshiba effectively killing it off.
Today, Dreamworks has announced that it’s killing off the HD DVD format, by not releasing any currently planned or future discs in the format. However, for either contractual or technical reasons — I’m not sure which — they won’t be producing Blu-ray discs until the summer.
Blu-ray bigwig: "Toshiba sealed HD DVD's fate with $99 pricing…"
The high-definition war is all over bar the shouting (and trust me, the Blu-ray camp is doing plenty of that). At least, it’s over until Blu-ray comes up against digital distribution, which may wipe the smile off their faces.
As expected, Microsoft confirms the discontinuation of the HD DVD add-on
This will come as no surprise to anyone who knows a smidgen of information regarding the events from the last two months’ worth of HD DVD/Blu-ray torment.
With Toshiba’s announcement last Tuesday that they were ceasing their involvement in the HD DVD format, all eyes were on Microsoft and their Xbox 360.
On Saturday, news leaked that the inevitable had occurred, and Microsoft would discontinue their external HD DVD drive, however they will continue to offer technical support and even repair the £99 device if needed. Don’t give up hope on all…
More Toshiba REGZA tellies, the XV series with full 1080p
Another series for Toshiba presented this week, the XV series is housed under the REGZA brand, and carries some new technology, including audio description, game mode and Active Vision LCD Picture Processing.
With the usual 32″, 37″ and 42″ models available, they’ll each have 1920 x 1080 resolution (that’s full 1080p), three HDMI sockets, a digital tuner, and contrast ratio of up to 30,000:1.
All of Toshiba’s new series debuted this week – the CV, XV and ZF, will carry the aforementioned Game Mode, which gives 1:1 pixel mapping using Exact Scan, and increases response time dramatically. Not only…
Samsung says the blindingly obvious about focussing on Blu-ray products
We’re as yet to hear a comment from fellow multi-format player manufacturer LG regarding Toshiba’s withdrawal from the hi-def race, however it’s understood Samsung is (obviously) going to “show more interests in Blu-ray products than rival HD DVDs”, according to The Korea Times’ source.
They announced the BD-UP5000…
eBay overflowing with cut-price HD DVD discs and players
Those eBay sellers are craftier than I first thought. Whilst the announcement from Toshiba that they were to cease production of HD DVD players only arrived this morning, the public has expected it since early January, when Warner battered the format into oblivion, by deciding on exclusive support of Blu-ray and finishing its contract with HD DVD.
A quick glance on eBay this morning has turned up 2,381 auctions for actual HD DVD discs, with some appallingly cheap options including a job lot of six high-profile films for £49 with 2 hours left (at HMV, this would retail for £124.92), the…
Toshiba officially announces 'discontinuation of HD DVD format'
Well, the worst-kept secret is now official, with Toshiba announcing that it will “no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders”.
