Sony unveiled three new Blu-ray products to be released in the second half of this year. A Blu-ray player will be arriving in July, a Blu-ray equipped Vaio PC and after market writer for the PC later this year.
Overview :
Launch dates for nextgen DVD products are drawing near
Launch timing for the HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc optical disc formats became clearer on Friday with the disclosure by two companies of their initial sales plans.
The two formats are vying to replace current DVDs for high-definition content, such as movies, and have pitted industry giants against each other. The main backers of HD-DVD include Toshiba, NEC, and Intel, while those backing Blu-ray Disc include Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung Electronics.
Sony and Toshiba have begun unveiling their product strategies for the introduction of the first HD video generation. Toshiba will be first to market, but Sony appears to have a more comprehensive lineup: Today, the company announced a Blu-ray writer for the PC, a 1080p-capable player for the family room and pricing for Blu-ray recordable discs.
It has been known since CES that Blu-ray players will be substantially more expensive than competing HD DVD players - with prices starting at $500 for HD DVD devices versus $1000 for their Blu-ray counterparts.
Sony's BDP-S1 Blu-ray Disc Player :
The BDP-S1 will have the ability to play Blu-ray discs and has backwards compatibility with current DVD media.
The BDP-S1 is now on pre-order at SonyStyle.com for the retail price of $999.95. Amazon.com also has the unit on pre-order, but has not yet set a price for customers.
Specs and features :
1080p is dubbed "full HD" and is the highest of several video formats considered high-definition. As a concession to content providers, the full HD output will only be available via an HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) connector that supports copy protection. Owners of TV sets without an HDMI connector will be able to watch up to a 1080-line interlaced signal, which is
the second highest rank of high-definition picture.
Vaio Blu-ray PC and BWU-100A Blu-ray Drive :
Vaio PC with an integrated Blu-ray recorder than can handle write-one and rewriteable Blu-ray media. There also will be an after market PC drive BWU-100A that can record to BD-R and BD-RE discs with capacities of 25 and 50 GB.
The after market BWU-100A will be recording on BD-R (write-once) and BD-RE (rewriteable) 25 GB and 50GB discs at 2x speed, which means that a 25 GB discs can be filled in about 30 minutes. The drive will also support recording of standard single layer 4.7 GB DVD+/-R / +/-RW, double/dual Layer 8.5GB DVD+/-R, DVD-RAM and CD-R/-RW media, Sony said. The drive comes in a standard half-height computer bay form factor with a parallel ATAPI interface. Sony promised to include "comprehensive" authoring software for capturing, editing, and burning high-definition personal content. However, the highest resolution supported will be limited to 1080i.
Pricing of the Vaio PC will be about $2300; the price for the drive has not been announced, but sources at CES indicated that consumers should expect to pay around $1000 for the first generation of Blu-ray writers.
Blu-ray media :
Sony also announced pricing of recordable Blu-ray media. As with every new media generation, manufacturers will be charging a premium for the new technology and pricing for Blu-ray media apparently will be about $1 for every GB. According to Sony, 25GB BD-R and BD-RE discs will be available in April for about $20 and $25 each, respectively. The 50 GB BD-R and BD-RE dual-layer discs will come in "subsequent" months for about $48 and $60.
Rivals :
On the HD-DVD side, Warner Home Video said it will start selling HD-DVD titles on April 18. The first movies will include "Million Dollar Baby," "The Last Samurai," and "The Phantom of the Opera." The discs will cost $29 each and will be followed by 17 additional titles including "Batman Begins," "Constantine," "Training Day," and "The Matrix," the company said in a statement.
Warner's launch timing, the first HD-DVD content to get a launch date, calls into question Toshiba's plan to put HD-DVD players on sale in March.
Toshiba said Friday that it intends to synchronize the launch of its first players, the $500 HD-A1 and $800 HD-XA1, with the availability of content. The launch plans of other studios are yet to be announced but Toshiba's statement indicates its player could be delayed a month should content not be available until April.
A similar delay could hit Samsung's April launch plans since the earliest Blu-ray Disc content announced to-date is set to go on sale on May 23.
Overview :
Launch dates for nextgen DVD products are drawing near
Launch timing for the HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc optical disc formats became clearer on Friday with the disclosure by two companies of their initial sales plans.
The two formats are vying to replace current DVDs for high-definition content, such as movies, and have pitted industry giants against each other. The main backers of HD-DVD include Toshiba, NEC, and Intel, while those backing Blu-ray Disc include Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung Electronics.
Sony and Toshiba have begun unveiling their product strategies for the introduction of the first HD video generation. Toshiba will be first to market, but Sony appears to have a more comprehensive lineup: Today, the company announced a Blu-ray writer for the PC, a 1080p-capable player for the family room and pricing for Blu-ray recordable discs.
It has been known since CES that Blu-ray players will be substantially more expensive than competing HD DVD players - with prices starting at $500 for HD DVD devices versus $1000 for their Blu-ray counterparts.
Sony's BDP-S1 Blu-ray Disc Player :
The BDP-S1 will have the ability to play Blu-ray discs and has backwards compatibility with current DVD media.
The BDP-S1 is now on pre-order at SonyStyle.com for the retail price of $999.95. Amazon.com also has the unit on pre-order, but has not yet set a price for customers.
Specs and features :
- Full HD 1080p Video Output through HDMI connection
- DVD Upscaling to 1080p Through HDMI
- Uncompressed Multi Channel Linear PCM Output
- Build Quality with Rigid Beam Construction
- BD-Java Interactive Capability
- The BDP-S1 will support most popular video codecs, including MPEG2, MPEG4-AVC and VC1, according to Sony.
- The BDP-S1 will be compatible with DVD/DVD+/-R/ +/-RW encoded discs
- HDMI: 1 (rear)
- Component Video (Y/Pb/Pr): 1 (rear)
- S-Video: 1 (rear)
- Composite Audio Output(s): 1 (Rear)
- Optical Audio Output(s): 1 (Rear)
- Coaxial Audio Digital Output(s): 1 (Rear)
- Analog Audio Output(s): 5.1 ch; 1 (Rear)
- Analog Audio Output(s): 2 ch; 1 (Rear)
1080p is dubbed "full HD" and is the highest of several video formats considered high-definition. As a concession to content providers, the full HD output will only be available via an HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) connector that supports copy protection. Owners of TV sets without an HDMI connector will be able to watch up to a 1080-line interlaced signal, which is
the second highest rank of high-definition picture.
Vaio Blu-ray PC and BWU-100A Blu-ray Drive :
Vaio PC with an integrated Blu-ray recorder than can handle write-one and rewriteable Blu-ray media. There also will be an after market PC drive BWU-100A that can record to BD-R and BD-RE discs with capacities of 25 and 50 GB.
The after market BWU-100A will be recording on BD-R (write-once) and BD-RE (rewriteable) 25 GB and 50GB discs at 2x speed, which means that a 25 GB discs can be filled in about 30 minutes. The drive will also support recording of standard single layer 4.7 GB DVD+/-R / +/-RW, double/dual Layer 8.5GB DVD+/-R, DVD-RAM and CD-R/-RW media, Sony said. The drive comes in a standard half-height computer bay form factor with a parallel ATAPI interface. Sony promised to include "comprehensive" authoring software for capturing, editing, and burning high-definition personal content. However, the highest resolution supported will be limited to 1080i.
Pricing of the Vaio PC will be about $2300; the price for the drive has not been announced, but sources at CES indicated that consumers should expect to pay around $1000 for the first generation of Blu-ray writers.
Blu-ray media :
Sony also announced pricing of recordable Blu-ray media. As with every new media generation, manufacturers will be charging a premium for the new technology and pricing for Blu-ray media apparently will be about $1 for every GB. According to Sony, 25GB BD-R and BD-RE discs will be available in April for about $20 and $25 each, respectively. The 50 GB BD-R and BD-RE dual-layer discs will come in "subsequent" months for about $48 and $60.
Rivals :
On the HD-DVD side, Warner Home Video said it will start selling HD-DVD titles on April 18. The first movies will include "Million Dollar Baby," "The Last Samurai," and "The Phantom of the Opera." The discs will cost $29 each and will be followed by 17 additional titles including "Batman Begins," "Constantine," "Training Day," and "The Matrix," the company said in a statement.
Warner's launch timing, the first HD-DVD content to get a launch date, calls into question Toshiba's plan to put HD-DVD players on sale in March.
Toshiba said Friday that it intends to synchronize the launch of its first players, the $500 HD-A1 and $800 HD-XA1, with the availability of content. The launch plans of other studios are yet to be announced but Toshiba's statement indicates its player could be delayed a month should content not be available until April.
A similar delay could hit Samsung's April launch plans since the earliest Blu-ray Disc content announced to-date is set to go on sale on May 23.
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