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Consumer Blu-Ray Disc Equipment to Be Show Off in January.

Category: Storage

by Anton Shilov

[ 11/29/2005 | 11:54 PM ]

The Blu-ray disc association revealed on Tuesday that it would reveal additional details and possibly showcase mainstream consumer hardware that utilizes Blu-ray discs at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in early January, 2006. The actual products are still projected to emerge in Spring.

“We’re sticking with the spring time frame [with the launch]. At CES, you’re likely to hear some announcements from a number of companies as to when you’ll see our products on the market,” said Andy Parsons, a spokesman for Blu-ray, at a demonstration of the new high-capacity DVD format, Reuters claims.

Members of the Blu-ray camp, including executives from Disney Corp., Fox, Sony, Pioneer and Panasonic, attended the press briefing on Tuesday to show off Blu-ray’s interactive features, which enable consumers to play games, connect to the Internet and select from various functions, such as subtitles and text, while still watching a movie. Additional capabilities of BDs, or Blu-ray discs, are likely to boost revenues of content providers.

Blu-ray technology heavily competes with the HD DVD technology that also provides numerous benefits over the traditional DVD format. In case Blu-ray equipment hits stores at the same time with the HD DVD, which commercial introduction was postponed till February or March, the clash between the formats will be exceptionally fierce.

HD DVD discs can store up to 15GB on a single layer and up to 30GB on two layers. Its competitor, Blu-ray, can store up to 27GB per single layer as well as support a variety of additional features, including advanced copy-protection mechanisms, but Blu-ray discs are more expensive to produce. The HD DVD is pushed aggressively by Toshiba and NEC as well as being standardized at the DVD Forum, which represents over 230 consumer electronics, information technology, and content companies worldwide. Blu-ray is backed by Sony and Panasonic. Among Hollywood studios HD is supported by Warner Bros. Studios, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures, whereas Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox endorse Blu-ray.