Home Media Magazine - September 30 - October 6, 2007 - (Page 10)

HIGH-DEF BRIEFS I SONY TO PROMOTE PS3’S BLU-RAY PLAYBACK Many PS3 owners aren’t taking advantage of its Blu-ray capabilities. So Sony will heavily market the game system as a high-def player this holiday season in the United States, Europe and Japan, Kaz Hirai, president of Sony’s game unit, told the Financial Times of London. –Chris Tribbey www.homemediamagazine.com Best Buy Survey Prompts HD Education By Chris Tribbey I Only 11% of all consumers said t’s not the type of survey results they feel they completely underBest Buy was hoping for: Nine stand high-def, compared to only out of 10 consumers are con- 19% of HDTV owners. fused about high-definition, and Best Buy is going all out to educate more than 40% of people who al- consumers following the survey reready own an HDTV are still in the sults. The retailer has set up Askdark about HD. ABlueShirt.com, offering an HD A survey by the retailer asked a se- glossary, a Q&A for those setting up ries of high-def questions via phone to high-def, a planning and budget sec1,012 adults in the tion, and a “What continental United is HD Done States. Among the Right” feature. findings: The retailer also is I Four in 10 peosetting up an HD ple did not identihotline at fy an HDTV as 888/237-8289. necessary to enjoy AskABlueShirt.com “As more and high-def content. more people inI 44% of respondents did not know vest in new high-definition televithey needed HD programming or an sions and expand their home theHD antenna, while 52% did not aters, Best Buy wants to ensure our know they needed HD cables, and customers fully appreciate what’s 62% did not know they needed a full needed to get the most from their audio set-up. purchases,” said Mike Vitelli, SVP I More than half of respondents and GM for home solutions. “We said they had only budgeted for an want to serve as a trusted resource HDTV, thinking that would be to our customers, by helping them enough to be viewing in high-def. understand the necessary compoI52% of respondents who already own nents and how to make the right an HDTV said they would be unwilling budgeting decisions so they can to admit their HD set-up was wrong af- have a truly outstanding HD expeter showing the system to friends. rience in their home.” Research Firm Gives Edge to Blu-ray in HD Disc War By Chris Tribbey he high-definition format war is still anyone’s game, said Understanding & Solutions. In a report, Jim Bottoms, co-managing director of the research firm, said the holiday season will be crucial to consumers’ uptake of high-definition media. “Though player prices are falling across the board, there is growing concern that the consumer does not fully understand the high-definition concept,” he wrote. “It is also a crucial time for PS3, having underperformed last year in the United States due to its high price, delayed availability and the unexpected success of the Wii, as well as missing the European Christmas season completely.” Bottoms said HD DVD gained momentum when Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG dumped Blu-ray. He also listed several issues Blu-ray has to overcome, including technical standards that must be agreed on by manufacturers and high prices for set-top BD players. HD DVD made more gains when Chinese manufacturer AlcoVenturer announced a $199 HD DVD player for Q4. I T I SHARP HAS BD RECORDER Sharp will offer a Blu-ray Disc recorder with a 1-terabyte hard drive, making it the Blu-ray player with the highest storage capacity in the market. According to Reuters, the player will be available in Japan beginning Dec. 1 for 300,000 yen ($2,600) and will hold 127 hours of digital programming. The report also said Sharp will have eight more Blu-ray players in the Japanese market by year’s end. –Chris Tribbey I MICROSOFT: NO UPDATED HD DVD XBOX 360 ADD-ON Microsoft will not release an updated HD DVD add-on to its Xbox 360 in 2008, according to Personal Computer World, as the magazine previously reported. “A Microsoft spokesperson also told me this morning that there will be no plans to incorporate HD DVD into the PC platform in the future,” reporter Clive Akass wrote. –Chris Tribbey “The landscape would change dramatically should Warner make a similar decision [as Paramount], or one of the BD-exclusive studios defected to HD DVD or even elected to release on both formats,” he said. While Warner has said it’s finding good business in releasing films on both formats, Bottoms said both must be authored separately, mastering costs are doubled, and video encoding the two formats may mean Blu-ray’s higher 50GB capacity isn’t being taken advantage of. In Europe, Blu-ray has some good news, Bottoms noted. Several studios are supporting both formats after releasing only on HD DVD; three replicators are adding Blu-ray lines; and BD-Java authoring tools are being simplified. “There is growing concern throughout the industry that both high-definition disc formats could be lost completely in a world of competing delivery options and viewing platforms,” Bottoms said. “As we stand today, industry support for BD across content and hardware remains the strongest grouping, and it is therefore the format with the greatest chance of market success, although its strength is being eroded. TOP 10 HIGH-DEF SELLERS TOP 10 HIGH-DEF SELLERS H I G H-D E F S E LLE R S Week ended September 23, 2007 TITLE FORMAT LABEL INDEX H I G H-D E F S E LLE R S Aggregate by Title Week ended September 23, 2007 TITLE FORMAT LABEL INDEX Ant Bully H I G H-D E F TH I S WE E K STREETING THIS WEEK A Room With a View BD & HD DVD BBC Video Street Date: 10/2 The Ant Bully BD & HD DVD Warner Street Date: 10/2 Bram Stoker’s Dracula Blu-ray Sony Pictures Street Date: 10/2 The Day After Tomorrow Blu-ray Fox Street Date: 10/2 Fantastic Four: Rise … Blu-ray Fox Street Date: 10/2 Halloween Blu-ray Starz Street Date: 10/2 Top Gun HD DVD Paramount Street Date: 10/2 PREBOOKING THIS WEEK The Aviator BD & HD DVD Warner Pre: 10/2, Street: 11/6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Troy: Director’s Cut 300 The Condemned We Are Marshall We Are Marshall 300 Planet Earth: The Complete Series Planet Earth: The Complete Series Smallville: The Complete Sixth … Casino Royale Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray HD DVD/DVD Blu-ray HD DVD/DVD Blu-ray HD DVD HD DVD Blu-ray Warner Warner Lionsgate Warner Warner Warner BBC Video BBC Video Warner Sony Pictures 100.00 98.63 78.89 61.83 52.13 49.10 44.33 34.84 32.66 30.76 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 300 Troy: Director’s Cut We Are Marshall Planet Earth: The Complete Series The Condemned Smallville: The Complete Sixth … Deliverance Casino Royale Alexander Revisited: The Final Cut The Departed BD; HD DVD/DVD Blu-ray; HD DVD BD; HD DVD/DVD Blu-ray; HD DVD Blu-ray Blu-ray; HD DVD Blu-ray; HD DVD Blu-ray Blu-ray; HD DVD BD; HD DVD/DVD Warner 100.00 Warner 88.64 Warner 77.15 BBC Video 53.60 Lionsgate 53.40 Warner 33.67 Warner 21.32 Sony Pictures 20.82 Warner 20.12 Warner 18.70 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data TOP 5 HIGH-DEF B LU-R AY D I S C Week ended September 23, 2007 LABEL INDEX TOP 5 HIGH-DEF H D DVD Week ended September 23, 2007 LABEL INDEX TITLE TITLE 1 2 3 4 5 Troy: Director’s Cut 300 The Condemned We Are Marshall Planet Earth: The Complete Series Warner Warner Lionsgate Warner BBC Video 100.00 98.63 78.89 52.13 44.33 1 2 3 4 5 We Are Marshall 300 Planet Earth: The Complete Series Smallville: The Complete Sixth Season Batman Begins Warner Warner BBC Video Warner Warner 100.00 79.41 56.35 52.81 39.13 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data 10 Home Media Magazine September 30–October 6, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://AskABlueShirt.com

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Contents News Commentary TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - September 30 - October 6, 2007

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