Blu-ray
How to set up your surround speakers
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The world of home theater seems ever changing. New formats, new innovations and cheaper prices have made an altogether bigger audio-visual experience more accessible for everyone. Two channel systems have been common place in our lounge rooms for decades now, but you might need a few more tricks in your arsenal to get the best out of the latest multi-speaker systems. Tim LeFevre investigates. Read More
JL Audio Fathom f212 subwoofer
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Well known to car audio enthusiasts, JL Audio subwoofers set a high standard in clean, deep bass reproduction. So it’s not surprising that when they turn their attention to home audio the results are just as impressive. Enter the Fathom f212 dual 12-inch subwoofer. It employs JL Audio’s new 12W7 subwoofer drivers, boasting the most powerful and refined motor system JL Audio has ever used on a 12-inch woofer. The result is even greater output and accuracy than the single 12-inch Fathom subs in the range. Read More
Belkin's FlyWire provides wireless HD AV
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Available from January 2009, Belkin’s FlyWire wirelessly delivers uncompressed 1080p True Cinema HD content from Blu-ray players, receivers, video-game consoles, and set-top boxes to HDTVs and projectors. FlyWire operates in the open 5GHz band, and intelligently manages its own connection, adjusting frequency and power to avoid interference. Read More
Sharp AQUOS DX Series LCD TVs feature integrated Blu-ray recorders
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October 22, 2008 Sharp's new 16-model AQUOS line-up is the first series of LCD TV's in the world to be equipped with built-in Blu-ray Disc recorders. Ranging in size from 26-inch to 52-inch, the all-in-one DX Series design means there's no cords cluttering the back of your TV stand and viewing, disc-playing and recording can be simply controlled using one remote. Read More
Sony's BDP-S300 Blu-ray Disc Player reaches mass market price
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It seems that high-definition, 1080p viewing has well and truly entered the mainstream - at least when it comes to the players themselves. Our question is this: if you can pick-up a Sony BDP-S300 for under USD$250, why does it still cost $40 for a movie to feed it with? Read More
Wireless HDMI solution from Gefen
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Cords and wires are the bane of any technophile’s existence. They are a pain to set up and inevitably form an unruly tangle that's just plain messy. The introduction of HDMI went a long way to reducing the unsightly clutter running from behind the lounge room AV set up by combining high definition sound and video in one convenient cable. But now connectivity solutions company Gefen has gone one step further with their Wireless for HDMI Extender, which comprises a local sender unit which is paired to a receiver unit at a remote location. Read More
Pioneer promises most powerful Blu-ray player ever built
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August 28, 2008 Pioneer is unleashing a Blu-ray player that will out-do the PS3 – and probably outweigh it too. The US$2,200 Elite BDP-09FD is hyped as the most powerful Blu-ray player ever built, and will feature Ethernet, BD-Live playback, and 4GB of internal memory for downloads. Read More
Criterion Collection's new reference Blu-ray player: a PlayStation 3
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The PS3’s credibility as a Blu-ray player has received another boost with the news that the folks at the Criterion Collection – the distributors of “important and classic and contemporary films” – use the PS3 as their reference Blu-ray player in their new HD home theater. The news might come as a surprise to those that would assume a stand-alone player would trump a game console/Blu-ray player in the picture quality department, but the PS3 has consistently received favorable reviews of its Blu-ray playback capabilities after overcoming some early teething problems... Read More
Hitachi announces updated Blu-ray Disc Hybrid Camcorder
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Hitachi's new has Blu-ray Disc Hybrid Camcorder can record onto either Blu-ray Disc, Hard Drive or SDHC format and promises a number of notable improvements from its predecessor such as a seven megapixel CMOS image sensor, face detection, image stabilization and longer recording time. Read More
LG announce BD30 Network Blu-ray player with Netflix streaming capability
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August 4, 2008 In January, prior to the 2008 International CES, LG Electronics and Netflix announced their intention to team up and provide a set-top box for streaming movies and TV episodes from the Internet to the TV beginning in the second half of the year. Now, true to their word they’ve announced the LG BD30 - the first Blu-ray disc player that can stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix’s library of more than 12,000 choices directly to your TV. It also plays Blu-ray discs and up-converts standard DVDs to 1080p. Read More
Dell's $499 Studio Hybrid mini-PC is their smallest, greenest PC yet
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July 30, 2008 Dell's answer to the Mac Mini ups the ante with an HDMI output, optional Blu-ray drive, and some seriously green credentials. Read More
Dell shipping their 24-inch, HDMI-equipped S2409W LCD monitor
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July 30, 2008 Dell's new 24-inch LCD monitor has an HDMI input and a native resolution of 1920 x 1080, making it a perfect fit for Blu-ray and video game consoles. Read More
Sony’s new VAIO FW laptop is sexy in silver
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July 29, 2008 Sony’s upcoming VAIO range includes the FW laptop, which features a Macbook-style keyboard, built-in Blu-ray drive and a 16.4-inch display. Read More
Hitachi's DZ-BD10H Blu-ray camcorder packs 30GB hard drive, records to SDHC card
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July 25, 2008 Hitachi today announced the release of the DZ-BD10H Blu-ray camcorder, capable of recording Full HD (1920x1080) onto its 30GB hard disk, an SDHC card or a recordable Blu-ray disc. Read More
Batman Begins now available on Blu-ray
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Directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento) with Christian Bale as Batman, Batman Begins saw a much needed return to the darker feel of the comics and Tim Burton's 1989 film. This week sees the release of the film on Blu-ray, in standard and limited editions. Read More
Pioneer's 400 GB Blu-ray Disc
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Pioneer has announced a 16-layer read-only optical disc with a capacity of 400 gigabytes which it will unveil at the International Symposium on Optical Memory and Optical Data Storage 2008 (ISOM/ODS2008) on July 13. The disk’s per-layer capacity is 25 gigabytes, which is the same as that of a Blu-ray Disc and this multilayer technology will also be applicable to multilayer recordable discs. Read More
The Godfather Collection gets release date for Blu-ray
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The original Godfather film is widely regarded as one of the best films ever, with a #1 position on the top lists of both IMDB and Metacritic - and now it's coming to Blu-ray bundled with its two younger brothers. Read More
What's new in high-definition content? (July 1, 2008)
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Hard up for high-definition content? July 1 sees the release of 10 movies (and a TV series) on Blu-ray, and those of you with HD DVD players could try this list of 20 HD DVDs available for under $12 each including Aeon Flux and Tomb Raider. Read More
What's new in high-definition content?
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Hard up for high-definition content? Amazon has opened pre-orders for Transformers on Blu-ray, and knocked at least 30% off the price of the eight Blu-ray movies released this week - including Persepolis, The Spiderwick Chronicles and 10,000 B.C. Read More
Panasonic launches new Blu-ray/DVD range
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The DMR-BW500i can record up to 72 hours of Full High Definition 1080p recording onto the built in 500GB Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or 6 hours 40 min on a 50GB double layer Blu-ray Disc. In addition to video, it can record 5.1-channel Dolby Digital surround sound broadcasts and Blu-ray movies are played in studio-master quality at a frame rate of 24 frames per second. Read More
CD player design straight out of Johnny Mnemonic
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While the Compact Disc may be on its last legs, usurped by Flash based personal media players, DVDs and now Blu-Ray Discs, that hasn't stopped South Korean designer Kim Yong Seong turning out an interesting design for a portable music player that supports CDs and MP3 files. Kim has dubbed his proposed design the DMP, short for Dual Music Player, which plays MP3 files in the compact closed position and then flips open to form two arms that support a CD. MP3 files and charging would come courtesy of a USB connection and the device would also do away with messy headphone cables through Bluetooth support. Read More
Pre-order Iron Man on Blu-ray
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It's one of the best super hero movies ever, even more so for gadget enthusiasts - meaning there's a boatload of early adopters out there who will be glad to add Iron Man to their Blu-ray collections once it hits shelves. Unfortunately there's no release date set, but Amazon is now taking pre-orders for the "Special Collector's Edition" Blu-ray release. Read More
What's new in high-definition content?
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Hard up for high-definition content? HD Cheaply brings news of 10 HD DVDs available for under $10, the Blu-ray Starter Set and all three seasons of Weeds available on Blu-ray starting at $20. Read More
LaCie updates d2 Blu-ray drive
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May 29, 2008 LaCie has doubled burn speeds to 4x for its d2 Blu-ray Drive and has updated the aluminum alloy case and software suite. The multi-format drive records, rewrites and reads 25GB or 50GB BD-R (recordable) and BD-RE (rewritable), as well as DVD±RW DL and CD±RW and comes fully equipped with Roxio burning software, including Easy Media Creator for Windows, and Toast Titanium for Mac, and dual FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 interfaces. Read More
Pioneer releases BonusView Blu-Ray Disc Player and Elite A/V receiver
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May 8, 2008 Pioneer has announced the Elite BDP-05FD and Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-Ray Disc players and Elite SC-07, SC-05, VSX-03TXH and VSX-01TXH A/V receivers designed to give users that true theater experience in their own homes. The Elite BDP-05FD and Pioneer BDP-51FD BonusView Blu-ray Disc players support next generation high resolution audio and video formats, feature picture-in-picture interactivity and a redesigned platform. The new players work in tandem with Pioneer’s KURO displays and new Elite A/V receivers. Read More
HP releases customizable PC lineup
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April 4, 2008 A webcam with up to 12-megapixel still photo resolution, a 17-inch diagonal flat-panel monitor and a range of customizable desktop PCs which allow consumers to mix and match options are among the highlights from HP's new line-up. Read More
Dell announces Blu-ray laptop for under $1,000
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March 31, 2008 In good news for high-def video fans, Dell has announced that its colorful Inspiron 1525 line of laptop computers is now available with optional Blu-ray disc playback starting at USD$879. Read More
Acer unveils Aspire 8920G HD home-theater laptop
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March 14, 2008 Acer is aiming to bring laptop users closer to the full HDTV experience with its new Aspire Gemstone blue range. The top-of-the-line Aspire 8920G crams in a 1920x1080 resolution, 18.4-inch Full HD LCD screen, six integrated speakers backed by Dolby Home Theater technology, an optional digital TV Tuner and an on-board Blu-Ray disc drive in a striking design that incorporates a blue, black and silver color scheme with interior and exterior lighting effects and a Holographic 3D cover. Read More
Sony’s TP2 - the living room PC
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March 6, 2008 The Sony VAIO is a fully functioning PC that integrates HDMI connectivity, a bundled HD TV tuner and Blu-ray playback capability to turn a HD TV into a high definition PC monitor and form the hub of digital entertainment in the home. Read More
It's official: HD DVD is dead
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Toshiba has officially announced what was only a matter of time - the discontinuation of their HD DVD businesses. They have already begun reducing shipments of HD DVD players and recorders, and expect the phase out to be complete by March. Read More
HD DVD vs Blu-ray: The Endgame
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The last week has seen multiple nails added to the HD DVD coffin, with official price drops, extended Amazon clearance sales, and both Netflix and Best Buy announcing they have made the decision to back Blu-ray as the HD format of choice. Read on for a brief history of the HD format war, recent developments, our advice to consumers, and more bargains. Read More
HD DVD, Blu-ray bargains at Amazon
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Amazon has launched a massive HD DVD sale
Panasonic reveals Blu-ray recorder with 1-Terabyte hard drive
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October 3, 2007 Panasonic has released a Blu-ray disc recorder with a stonking 1-terabyte hard drive built in. That’s a mind-warping 381 hours of full HD video. Read More
Sony announce 200-disc, 500GB Home Entertainment Server
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September 6, 2007 Sony has unveiled a new Home Entertainment Server featuring a full HD 1080p 200-disc changer and a 500GB hard disc drive that stores up to 137 hours of video, 40,000 songs or 20,000 digital photos. The stand-alone HES-V1000 is Sony’s first Blu-ray Disc-capable component (other than a VAIO notebook or optical PC drive) that can burn content to Blu-ray Discs as well as DVDs. Read More
Hitachi’s Blu-ray Disc Camcorders
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September 2, 2007 Officially announced just a month ago in Japan, Hitachi’s Blu-ray disc camcorders were one of the big hits at IFA this week. The camcorders use the world's highest resolution 5.3 megapixel CMOS sensor and store 1920x1080 Full HD video on 8cm Blu-ray disc media and hit stores across Europe in October. Two models will be available, both of which can output to display devices via HDMI port – one with a Blu-ray disc and Multiformat+ DVD burner drive that will store an hour of 1920x1080 footage; and the other a hybrid with the same drive plus a 30GB hard diskthat adds another four hours of full HD recording. Read More
