Blu Ray Discs Archive

  • x264 now encodes Blu-ray-compatible video

    x264 now encodes Blu-ray-compatible video

    Posted on April 27, 2010 | No Comments
    Break out a blank DVD and fire up x264! The folks behind x264, the freeware h.264 encoder, have announced Blu-ray compatibility. That means you'll be able to burn a DVD containing h.264 video that will play on your standard-issue Blu-ray player. That's good news if you still burn DVDs, something I haven't done in for something like a year, and even then it was for someone else. Go away, plastic discs.

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  • Vardia: Toshiba announces four new Blu-ray recorders and players

    Vardia: Toshiba announces four new Blu-ray recorders and players

    Posted on January 14, 2010 | No Comments
    Last summer, Toshiba decided to abandon their self-developed HD-DVD format and to go Blu-ray instead. Soon after, the company started rolling out a few Blu-ray devices here and there, but today Toshiba Japan announced [JP] a flood of new Blu-ray-powered devices. The company is ready to roll out a total of three Blu-ray recorders and one Blu-ray player in the next few weeks.

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  • Higher capacity Blu-ray discs coming soon

    Higher capacity Blu-ray discs coming soon

    Posted on December 31, 2009 | No Comments
    You might be able to squeeze a little more storage into those Blu-ray discs soon. Sony and Panasonic have been working on increasing the maximum capacity per-layer from 25 to 33.4GB, and the new version might be ready for market in the near future.

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  • Oh look, POP247 video game, Blu-ray vending machines trickle into the UK

    Oh look, POP247 video game, Blu-ray vending machines trickle into the UK

    Posted on December 16, 2009 | No Comments
    Would you buy a video game out of a vending machine? I certainly would, if only to avoid the phony human contact thrust upon me at GameStop. So these POP247 whiz-bangs are great. Too bad I've never seen one here.

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  • Buffalo announces world’s first 12x Blu-ray burner (and it’s USB 3.0, too)

    Buffalo announces world’s first 12x Blu-ray burner (and it’s USB 3.0, too)

    Posted on November 26, 2009 | No Comments
    USB 3.0 is just around the corner (kind of), and the first computer hardware manufacturers are getting ready to deliver products supporting the new standard (even though there were some backlashes along the way). Last month, Asus announced the world's first USB 3.0 + SATA 6.0 PCI-E card. In May, NEC said they're going to release the first USB 3.0 host controller.

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  • Transformers 2 sells 7.5 million DVD & Blu-ray discs. Can’t you people find a better movie to buy?

    Transformers 2 sells 7.5 million DVD & Blu-ray discs. Can’t you people find a better movie to buy?

    Posted on October 29, 2009 | No Comments
    This is just wrong. I'll admit, I didn't enjoy "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". I thought the plot was weak and contrived, and I was slightly offended by the dumbing down of the film (robot urination and racial stereotypes? give me a break). I realize that the original "Transformers" wasn't exactly the height of cinematic art, but it was better then the sequel.

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  • Best Buy drops the price on the Netflix-streaming, Blu-ray playing Insignia Blu-ray player

    Best Buy drops the price on the Netflix-streaming, Blu-ray playing Insignia Blu-ray player

    Posted on October 26, 2009 | No Comments
    Want a Blu-ray player? Want a Netflix streamer? How about both for $100? Best Buy has you covered with the Insignia NS-BRDVD3. Yeah, this player isn’t you reference quality unit, but my goodness, for $100 who cares. The unit will playback Blu-ray discs just fine, display all the BD-Live goodies and stream Netflix. What more can [...]

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  • Only the suits stand between you and 100GB Blu-ray discs

    Only the suits stand between you and 100GB Blu-ray discs

    Posted on September 11, 2009 | No Comments
    Sharp (yes Sharp, I was surprised too) is working on developing an improved version of the current technology use to read and write Blu-ray discs. By changing the way the discs are made, and improving the laser, Sharp has been able to increase the maximum capacity of the Blu-ray disc to 100GB, from the current standard of 50GB.

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  • PS3 Slim: Too little, too late, or dy-no-mite!

    PS3 Slim: Too little, too late, or dy-no-mite!

    Posted on August 19, 2009 | No Comments
    Watching the news come in yesterday about the PS3 Slim, I said to myself, “Man, this is great for Sony, especially if we're still in 2006.” Harsh, perhaps, but the sentiment is spot-on: had Sony released the PS3, Slim or otherwise, at $299 back in the autumn of 2006, we could well have seen an effortless transition between the PS3 and PS3. As it turned out, three years later, we're left wondering this: Is the PS3 Slim enough to, say, re-ignite the Console Wars?

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  • The Lexicon BD-30 Blu-ray player should be able to playback everything

    The Lexicon BD-30 Blu-ray player should be able to playback everything

    Posted on August 5, 2009 | No Comments
    If you’re one of those geeks whose equipment simply must be compatible with every optical format, Lexicon has something for you. The BD-30 can play-back just about everything from Blu-ray discs, DVD, DVD-audio, SACD, CD and pretty much everything except of course  HD DVD. The presser touts the fact that the player is future-proof thanks to [...]

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  • Pre-order Battlestar Galactica Blu-ray set on Amazon for $219

    Pre-order Battlestar Galactica Blu-ray set on Amazon for $219

    Posted on July 14, 2009 | No Comments
    It's going to take a serious BSG fan to spend $219 on the complete Blu-ray set, but something tells me there are a bunch of you out there. That gets you the complete series, all the extra features, the web episodes and Capica spread over 20 Blu-ray discs. But is Battlestar Galactica worth $219? Serious. I'm asking.

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  • LaCie’s LaCinema Rugged plays 1080p video for $350

    LaCie’s LaCinema Rugged plays 1080p video for $350

    Posted on July 8, 2009 | No Comments
    If money is no issue, and you're looking to play 1080p content—alt.binaries.hdtv.h264 says hi—on your big screen TV, you really ought to look into getting a proper PC, one with one of those fancy nVidia GPU that you can use to hardware accelerate said Blu-ray rips. That being said, it looks like LaCie just came out with a stand-alone device that should play most of the HD content you “find” online. Oh, it's called the LaCinema Rugged HD, and LaCie wants $350 for it.

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  • Sony PSP, PSN has nothing to do with Google Chrome OS

    Sony PSP, PSN has nothing to do with Google Chrome OS

    Posted on July 8, 2009 | No Comments
    While we're all thrilled to see Google throw a new coat of paint onto the Linux kernel, there are, in fact, other things going on Out There, like, say, the quickly evolving PSP. Yesterday's exotic rumor suggested that Sony is working on a full-fledged PSP2, a system with Xbox1-level graphics. Today I spy an interview with a Sony so-and-so that attempts to explain the company's rationale for the PSP Go, how PSN compares to XBL these days, and so forth.

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  • CrunchDeals: A sub-$100 Blu-ray player

    CrunchDeals: A sub-$100 Blu-ray player

    Posted on June 17, 2009 | No Comments
    Disclaimer: This player is refurbished and it's a Magnavox. However, it still plays Blu-ray discs and can be had for slightly less than a 100 bones.

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  • CrunchDeals: Buy 2 Blu-rays, get 1 free at Barnes & Noble

    CrunchDeals: Buy 2 Blu-rays, get 1 free at Barnes & Noble

    Posted on June 17, 2009 | No Comments
    Fellow citizens! Please be advised that BARNES & NOBLE has a Blu-ray and DVD sale that might interest you. It follows: if you buy TWO Blu-ray discs or TWO DVDs, you will receive a THIRD ONE for free. This sale covers every single title you can find in the brick-and-mortar store, which works out to some 35,000 online.

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