And now DIGITIMES is reporting that China Hualu Panasonic AVC Networks, a joint venture between China-based China Hualu Group and Panasonic, has launched three Blu-ray player models for the domestic Chinese market. The three models are the BDP0801, BDP0810 and BDP0821, with retail prices of 1,999 yuan (US$292), 2,299 yuan and 2,499 yuan respectively. The BDP0801 is an entry-level BonusView/Profile 1.1 model, as is the BDP0810. The BDP0821 is a full-featured BD-Live/Profile 2.0 player.

The article says the CBHD camp still plans to launch players around the end of the year. But seeing as the article is from 12/29 they don’t have much time left to pull that off. And, of course, no western studios have pledged to support CBHD even if it does launch.

Picked up from Blu-ray.com.

Personally I don’t think the Sylvania is worth consideration. It is a Profile 1.1 deck, one of the many rebadged versions of the Funai NB500. With the Profile 2.0 Samsung less than $12 more, there is no point in considering the Sylvania. So it really comes down to the PS3 vs. the BD-P1500. They’re both Profile 2.0 / BD-Live with the latest firmware. The PS3 is generally reviewed as one of the best, if not the best, BD deck available, but the Samsung is no slouch either. So if you’ll use the PS3s other features – gaming, broadband content downloads, etc, enough to justify the extra ~$200, go with that. Otherwise the Samsung is a solid choice and a good value.

According to the offer details, it is running through December 31, 2008. Though I expect they may shuffle the products available in the bundle over the next few months.

From Blu-ray.com

While some HD DVD die hards pointed to CH-DVD as if it were some kind of phoenix in the form of which HD DVD would rise from the ashes, it looks like even those hopes have been dashed. The BDA points out that since the demise of HD DVD, Chinese manufacturers have been flocking to Blu-ray, and that while the number of members in the BDA has increased to 187, the number of members in the DVD Forum (which backs DVD and HD DVD) has decreased from 240 to 163! The BDA last fall began evaluating Chinese codecs for inclusion in the BD specification. China has made support of the codecs a requirement for any advanced format released in China, and the codecs were the main difference between HD DVD and CH-DVD. This license development could hint at progress in including those codecs to support a domestic BD release in China.

Video Business reports that high-end consumer electronics retailers expect Blu-ray players to begin outselling DVD players as early as this August, riding a wave of increased player availability and lower prices. On a dollar basis, retailer Crutchfield is already reporting that Blu-ray is outselling DVD 60:40, but that’s largely due to the higher prices on BD decks.

The current Home Media Magazine has a product guide which provides an overview and comparison of the forthcoming Blu-ray players that have been announced. It is worth checking out if you’re thinking about buying a BD deck. Personally I wouldn’t even consider a Profile 1.1/Bonus View deck at this point – stick with Profile 2.0/BD-Live – at least BD-Live Ready.

From Blu-ray.com and Blu-ray Stats.

Funai OEMs hardware for a number of brands. The NB500 is also the Sylvania NB500SL9, and is expected to appear under the Emerson, Insignia, and Pye brands as well. The owner’s manual for the Magnavox deck is available online as a PDF. According to the manual (page 14), the system is capable of bitstreaming advanced audio codecs such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD HR/MA over HDMI, but it cannot internally decode them. If LPCM output is selected instead, then Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD fall back to Dolby Digital, and DTS-HD falls back to DTS. A similar fall-back happens if you use the coaxial digital output for audio instead of HDMI. Video output is supported as 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p/60, and 1080p/24.

All in all it doesn’t seem like a bad player, if you can forgo BD-Live, for under $300.

From Blu-ray.com via EngadgetHD.

The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

This is great news. Criterion releases are fantastic, and getting them in HD will be awesome. Picked up from Blu-ray.com.

And, fulfilling the inevitable, following their earlier announcements, Paramount has stated that they’ll be re-releasing all of their back catalog Blu-ray titles. The re-releases will be identical to the original releases, down to the SKU. Basically they’re just putting them back into production as-is. Via High-Def Digest.

Their re-entry into the Blu-ray market will begin with Face/Off, Next, and Bee Movie on May 20th. Following those, two weeks later on June 3rd Cloverfield and There Will Be Blood hit. And then on June 24th their first day-and-date title, The Spiderwick Chronicles, streets.

I am a little surprised that their announcement didn’t mention bringing their existing Blu-ray titles back into production, but I would expect that to follow fairly quickly since the authoring work is done.

Picked up from High-Def Digest.

EDIT: Catching up on some more blogs (I’ve been busy with work the past couple of days) I see that after making their first announcement, Paramount made another one announcing the return of many legacy titles. Blades of Glory, which was pulled at the last minute when Paramount went HD DVD, so late that some copies still found their way to shelves, finally streets on May 20th. In addition many of the titles previously released on BD also hit May 20th: Aeon Flux, Babel, Black Snake Moan, Coming to America, Disturbia, Dreamgirls, Four Brothers, The Italian Job, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Sleepy Hollow, Trading Places, The Untouchables: Special Collector’s Edition, The Warriors: Ultimate Director’s Cut, U2: Rattle and Hum, We Were Soldiers, and World Trade Center.

Via Blu-ray.com.

Their press release:

PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT’S FANTASTICAL HIT THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES LAUNCHES DAY-AND-DATE WORLDWIDE ON BLU-RAY

There Will Be Blood, Cloverfield, Bee Movie, Face/Off and Next Also Released in Time for Memorial Day and Father’s Day; Focus Remains On Immersive High-Def Home Entertainment Experiences

LOS ANGELES (April 29, 2008) — Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE), a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA), today announced its first day-and-date Blu-ray release, The Spiderwick Chronicles on June 24 and rolling out in key international markets beginning in July. Continuing its commitment to offer the best possible movie experiences for consumers, the studio will deliver the highest quality picture, sound and special features available with these upcoming Blu-ray releases. In the U.S., There Will Be Blood, Cloverfield, Bee Movie, Face/Off and Next will begin arriving May 20 to capitalize on Memorial Day and Father’s Day. Internationally, The Spiderwick Chronicles will be followed by Cloverfield and the Academy award-winner for Best Picture, No Country for Old Men beginning in August.

“Paramount Home Entertainment continues to focus on the consumer and to explore avenues that allow fans to get more out of their home entertainment experience,” said Kelley Avery, President of Worldwide Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures. “We will have a strong slate of titles for Blu-ray release throughout the year worldwide and are enthusiastic about expanding the format’s offerings for a broad consumer audience while delivering an experience that goes beyond what viewers love about DVD.”

The Spiderwick Chronicles launches PHE’s day-and-date new release strategy. Based on the best-selling series of books, The Spiderwick Chronicles takes viewers on a fantastical journey into the unseen world all around us and the Blu-ray disc will include behind-the-scenes featurettes, an exploration of the Spiderwick world, an exclusive peek inside Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide and much more.

PHE’s 2008 Blu-ray titles debut on May 20 in the U.S. with two sensational action-adventures: a Special Collector’s Edition of Face/Off , the mind-blowing crime-drama starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, with special features such as multiple commentaries, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, the Making Of Face/Off and more; and the sci-fi thriller Next , which stars Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel in an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story. The Next Blu-ray includes a Making Of featurette, “Visualizing the Next Move,” “The Next Grand Idea” and “Two Minutes in the Future with Jessica Biel.”

DreamWorks Animation’s smash hit Bee Movie also will buzz onto Blu-ray on May 20. The hilarious animated adventure from renowned comedian Jerry Seinfeld took audiences by swarm and earned approximately $287 million in worldwide box office. The Bee Movie Blu-ray features a wealth of bonus materials including “Barry’s Trivia Track” with fun pop-up trivia, changeable menus, a Build-A-Bee feature to allow viewers to create their own avatar, lost scenes, alternate endings and much, much more.

Following the initial wave of titles, Producer J.J. Abrams’ monster hit, Cloverfield, arrives on Blu-ray on June 3. Earning over $166 million in worldwide box office to date, Cloverfield thrilled critics and audiences alike with its shocking, first-person video account of a horrifying attack on Manhattan by an unknown — and seemingly unstoppable — force. The Cloverfield Blu-ray will include an exclusive feature-length “Special Investigation Mode” with added details about the film. Additional features include a director commentary, Making Of featurettes, deleted scenes, alternate endings with commentary and more.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s critically-acclaimed epic There Will Be Blood also arrives on Blu-ray June 3. The film was named by more than 200 critics as one of the top 10 movies of 2007 and stars Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and SAG Award® winner Daniel Day-Lewis. The Blu-ray features a slideshow of vintage photos selected by the director and set to the unforgettable score by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, deleted scenes, a featurette on dailies and more.

About Paramount Home Entertainment

Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE) is part of Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment. PPC is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. PHE is responsible for the worldwide sales, marketing and distribution of home entertainment products on behalf of various parties including: Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Studios, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, CBS, PBS and Hasbro and for providing home entertainment fulfillment services for DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment.

For the week ending 2/17, the last week before Toshiba pulled the plug on HD DVD, HD DVD managed to jump back to a 27% share, with Blu-ray at 73%. That put them at 76:24 for the year, and 65:35 since inception. It was clear Toshiba’s efforts were not working, with HD DVD only clawing back to roughly 3:1, from the previous week’s 4:1, which is still a big drop from the 2:1 split it held for most of 2007. Something I found interesting. During the war, Home Media Magazine usually had the BD/HD DVD split graphs right on the cover – this week they’re on page 40. There is also a dedicated Blu-ray supplement on this issue, which includes a list of currently announced 2088 releases through May. And a little article entitled “Format War’s End Kills Bloggers Main Topic“.

Onkyo, which had previously suspended HD DVD player production, has now officially killed their HD DVD players permanently. Since they used Toshiba components it is hardly surprising. They are instead turning to Blu-ray. Development of an Onkyo Blu-ray player has been underway, but no specific announcement has yet been made. Though it seems likely we’ll see it later this year, almost certainly before the holidays. Via Blu-ray.com.

sofatronic’s announces Kaleidoscope software, which makes authoring BD-J applications easier by allowing authors to create applications via a GUI editor. EngadgetHD has a press release from sofatronic about the release. Using the tool, authors can create interacting Blu-ray menus and applications without having to write any Java code. The tool will create the Java code for BD-J automatically. This is exactly the kind of thing I like to see, and hope to see more of. The easier it is for designers and authors to exploit the power of BD-J, the more use it will get.

The release:

sofatronic releases Kaleidoscope

Hamburg/Los Angeles, Feb 22, 2008 – Commercial Release of Kaleidoscope

sofatronic is releasing Kaleidoscope, a software platform for creating interactive applications on Blu-ray Discs. Working in a visual authoring environment, users can create user interfaces and advanced interactive features using the format’s unique capabilities without having to write Java code.

Kaleidoscope’s application framework supports all available Blu-ray player models and automatically handles performance differences and compatibility issues, two of the main concerns for Blu-ray authors today .

“The sofatronic team is extremely proud of today’s release of Kaleidoscope not merely for having succeeded in providing a technical solution to the various issues facing the HD industry, but in fact exceeding all expectations of what is possible with the platform. Without a shred of programming knowledge, the in-house designers at movie studios and authoring facilities can create an exciting palette of applications for the entire range of Blu-ray players – and bring it in under budget and on time.”
Rouven Malecki, CTO sofatronic.

sofatronic’s partners receive regular updates and access to new features via the company’s Developer Portal. Newly developed Application Modules are also published here, which make use of the advanced features of the Blu-ray platform, such as internet connectivity. All this and extensive technical support can be found at www.sofatronic-dev.com.

Peter Faricy, vice president of movies and music at Amazon.com commented, “The high-definition landscape is rapidly changing, and consumers are looking for guidance on how to make the best high-definition buying decisions. Our customers have clearly voiced their support for the Blu-ray format. Blu-ray titles have increased from just over half of our high-definition sales to over three-quarters of our high-definition sales since early January. In order to best serve our customers, Amazon is recommending Blu-ray as the preferred digital format and will continue to carry the ‘Earth’s Largest Selection’ of Blu-ray products.”

Great to see Amazon stepping up as a leader in the market and taking a stand by making Blu-ray their ‘preferred digital format’. You know, as opposed to, say, HD DVD.

I mean, I love Amazon and all, but they could’ve just said “Me too!”

“While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray,” said Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

“The path for widespread adoption of the next-generation platform has finally become clear. Universal will continue its aggressive efforts to broaden awareness for high-def’s unparalleled offerings in interactivity and connectivity, at an increasingly affordable price. The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate.”

I’m actually a bit surprised. Not that Universal is supporting Blu-ray, that was obviously coming, but that they made the announcement before Paramount – who still hasn’t done so, from what I can tell. Since Paramount, and DreamWorks Animation, were formerly format neutral, releasing both Blu-ray and HD DVD, I kind of expected them to be the first to jump on the news. Paramount probably still has warehouses full of Blades of Glory Blu-ray discs, and other titles they’d already pressed for release on BD before their sudden shift to HD DVD exclusivity. They could start by give those discs a new street date. I’m sure they’ll announce their plans soon.

Via Blu-ray.com.

Opus Arte, a distributor specializing in ‘high-art’ titles (Swan Lake, Strauss: Die Fledermaus, and the like), has previously been exclusively HD DVD. However, they’re going neutral, adding Blu-ray Disc to their high-def releases. Their first Blu-ray title, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummers Night’s Dream, previously released on HD DVD last November, will hit in March. Via High-Def Digest.

Sharp announced a new generation of Blu-ray laser diodes which will support 4x-6x BD recording. A 3.3mm version will be used in laptop drives, and a 5.6mm version in desktop drives. Mass production begins in April, with a monthly production capacity of 700,000 diodes. Products using these new diodes should hit in the second half of the year. The Sharp press release, via I4U, by way of Blu-ray.com.

It looks like Spain is really turning Blu. Previously distributors Manga Films, Filmax and Tripictures went Blu, and now another Spanish distributor, Cameo, can be added to the list. They’re currently preparing a version of the BBC’s Planet Earth for the Spanish market. Additionally, the largest Spanish online movie retailer, DVDgo, has added a Blu-ray tab to their site. (No HD DVD tab.) From PlanetaHD, via Blu-ray.com.

Signamtek has announced a less expensive standalone Blu-ray player for the European market. The SBR-1000 is expected to retail for under €250 when it hits the street in April. That should make it the new low bar in BD player pricing for Europe. From Presence PC via Blu-ray.com.

Hollywood in High-Def has an interview with big name producer/writer Dean Devlin about why he prefers Blu-ray. Via Blu-ray.com.

Finally, The Register reports on a survey done by PriceGrabber.com about high-def player adoption. Their survey of 2185 people concluded that the main issue limiting adoption has been the high prices of BD players, with 56% of those interested in going Blu holding out for lower prices. While only 19% said the format war was holding them back. 24% said they were interested in buying Blu-ray in the next 12 months, while 21% were interested in HD DVD. 14% were interested in an “integrated video game console” – which, today, means only the PS3.

I take these results with a huge grain of salt. The methodology of the survey isn’t shared, but keep in mind PriceGrabber is a comparative shopping site used mainly by those looking for the best price on an item (I use it myself). So if this survey was of PG users, it is unsurprising that they’d cite price as their main concern. But for the market at large, this has clearly not been the case. Blu-ray continues to outsell HD DVD, despite the price advantage HD DVD enjoys. And BD sales spiked after Warner’s announcement removed most of the uncertainty from the market. Of course lower prices will attract more buyers to high-def players overall. But price does not appear to currently be the deciding factor, or HD DVD would be besting Blu-ray – and quite the opposite is happening. Also, I think this survey must have been done before Warner’s announcement. I have a hard time believing nearly equal percentages of respondents said they’re looking at BD and HD DVD post-announcement. Thanks to reader Morac for the pointer to the article.

“DVD-Video was first introduced into Western Europe in 1997, and the following year some 230,000 DVD players were installed and 2 million discs were sold through,” the group said. “In comparison, Blu-ray Disc made its first tentative launch in Western Europe in 2006, and the following year some 3.2 million PlayStation 3 (PS3) consoles and 34,000 standalone players were installed, while 2.3 million Blu-ray discs sold through.”

Via Blu-ray.com.

In hardware news, What Hi-Fi? Sound And Vision reports on Harmon Kardon’s Blu-ray plans. At a product launch in Munich Harmon Kardon announced that they’ll be releasing a BD player at the IFA Show in Berlin in September, priced between £450-£500 (the site is in the UK). Details have yet to be announced, but HK also stated that they will add additional BD systems to their lineup, including an all-in-one system, next year.

More incredibly, HK says they’re working on a high-end HDD/BD recorder. The specs are pretty extreme:

Harman Kardon is also working on a Blu-ray/HDD recorder that can record up to eight channels of TV. The DVC 600 digital video entertainment centre (above) has a 1 Terabyte hard drive, twin built-in digital TV tuners and can record up to eight standard- or high-definition TV channels simultaneously.

What’s more, a ninth channel can be recorded in the background using the manual or automatic timeshift function, and a tenth channel can be viewed at the same time. Quite when you might have time to watch all your recordings is another matter.

See What HiFi? for more details. Via Blu-ray.com.

And Home Media Magazine had some kind words for Blu-ray from Lionsgate president and Co-COO Steve Beeks:

Beeks said Lionsgate Blu-ray revenue in January was about seven times higher than last year. The studio has already shipped as many BD releases this year as in entire 2007.

“We expect the industry to unite behind Blu-ray by the summer, which should drive the current HD market to triple in size from $300 million in 2007 to more than $1 billion this year,” he said. “It is exciting again to have a true growth opportunity in home entertainment as we expect Blu-ray revenue to be largely incremental in the near term.”

Things continue to look pretty good for Blu-ray.

In another blow, Scandinavian retailer Hi-Fi Klubben announced that going forward they will no longer sell HD DVD. They’re putting their existing HD DVD stock on clearance to get rid of it and will be focusing exclusively on Blu-ray going forward. Hi-Fi Klubben via Blu-ray.com.

And Michael Bay is at it again, talking up Blu-ray and slamming HD DVD. Home Media Magazine reports:

“Blu-ray’s better, and I told everyone,” Bay said at the Visual Effects Society’s sixth annual award show, where he presented the award for animated character in a motion picture. “I was very vocal about it. I knew HD [DVD] was not going to make it.”

With HD DVD being edged out of competition by sheer volume of product moving to Blu-ray, Bay is all but gloating.

“Am I thrilled? It really wasn’t my fight, but remember what I said in the press? I was kind of saying HD [DVD]’s going to lose,” he said. “No one believed me.”

Bay has always been fairly vocal about his preference for Blu-ray over HD DVD, he has to be loving the recent developments. Via Blu-ray.com.

Here in the US, independent distributor Echo Bridge has announced their initial slate of high-def releases – and they’re also exclusively Blu-ray. They’re planning to bargain price their releases at $14.95, with six titles due April 1, 2008. The titles are the theatrical releases The Last Sentinel and Artie Lange’s Beer League, TV mini-series 10.5: Apocalypse, Category 7: The End of the World, and The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb, and telefilm Blackbeard.

But the biggest news comes from Warner. Warner is celebrating their 85th Anniversary with a large slate of releases in 2008 and 2009 and, of course, after May they’re all Blu-ray exclusive – no more HD DVD. (Well, and DVD of course. ) They’ll be (re-)releasing Special Edition DVD versions of many of their classic films, and Warner intends to release Blu-ray versions day and date with the new DVD versions. The Digital Bits covered the story extensively and Blu-ray.com compiled this nice list of known Blu-ray releases (with some tweaks from me based on The Digital Bits’ coverage):

08Q1

• Bonnie and Clyde: Ultimate Collector’s Edition (also on HD DVD)

08Q2

• Dirty Harry: Ultimate Collector’s Edition Box Set (Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact, Dead Pool, and Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows)
• Twister (also on HD DVD)

08Q3

• An American in Paris
• Batman Anthology
• Batman Begins: Ultimate Collector’s Edition
• Gigi
• How the West was Won
• The Dark Night

08Q4

• A Christmas Story: Ultimate Collector’s Edition
• Otis: Uncut

2008

• The Adventures of Robin Hood
• Casablanca
• Clash of the Titans
• Excalibur
• Forbidden Planet
• Heat
• Grand Prix
• The Matrix Trilogy
• Mutiny on the Bounty
• V for Vendetta

2009

• Ben-Hur
• Gone With the Wind
• North by Northwest
• The Wizard of Oz
• Woodstock

And note that this list is not complete, it is just the titles Warner has announced at this time. There will be more titles announced going forward. Additionally, with the movie to Blu-ray and its increased capacity, Warner will be released all of their high-def titles with lossless audio. High-Def Digest also has coverage of the story.

I bet that their 85th Anniversary played a role in Warner’s decision to go Blu-ray exclusively. Not that it had to be BD, but that continuing to support two formats when they new they’d be doing a huge push with a lot of new and catalog titles to celebrate the anniversary would be very expensive. While some of the work could be shared, there is still a lot of unique authoring costs for each format. But now that they are Blu, their big push is going to be very tough for HD DVD to match. The HD DVD camp’s current release slate is anemic at best. And this is just Warner, all the other BD studios have a number of big releases coming.

Also, Stefan Baustert, chief execturive of Germany’s Singulus Technologies AG, which produces Blu-ray pressing systems, stated that the“chance has significantly increased that we will deliver more than the previously planned 15 Blu-ray machines in 2008″. He also said that it was probably that Singulus could reach a worldwide market share for Blu-ray machines of roughly two-thirds. So it sounds like we’ll be seeing a notable increase in production capacity for Blu-ray discs over the course of 2008, and that Warner’s announcement has sparked further growth in the market. Via Forbes.com

And, on the subject of Blu-ray, independent distributor Surround Records, which releases multi-channel audio discs on DVD and HD DVD, is also adding Blu-ray to their format lineup. They’ll be starting by releasing Blu-ray versions of titles previously released on HD DVD. From High-Def Digest via Blu-ray.com.

A market leading company like Sonic walking away from the format certainly isn’t good news for HD DVD, especially on top of all the other hits they’ve been taking. This basically means Sonic doesn’t feel they’d be able to achieve a high enough return on investment to continue developing their HD DVD tools and they see more return from Blu-ray, so they’re shifting their resources appropriately.

The full press release is below:

Jan 30, 2008 06:30 ET

Sonic’s Professional Products Group to Fuel Growth of Blu-ray Disc and Digital Distribution

New Product Releases to Streamline BD-Live and DVD-on-Demand Content Production

NOVATO, Calif., Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Sonic Solutions(R) (NASDAQ:SNIC) , the leader in digital media software, today announced that its Professional Products Group will focus its research and development resources on the creation of new applications for cutting-edge authoring of Blu-ray Disc titles that encompass the interactive and connected-content capabilities of BD-Live. The group will also increase resource allocation on developing its encoding and title creation applications that streamline the process of preparing video entertainment for digital distribution. In order to address these emerging market opportunities and optimize investment return, the Professional Products Group will conclude sales of its Scenarist(R) HD DVD authoring product line.

“Extending Sonic’s long history of commitment and support for the professional sector, we are aligning our professional product portfolio to address the evolving needs of our high-end customers,” said Dave Habiger, president and CEO, Sonic Solutions. “Our Professional Products Group plays a significant role in supporting the development of high-definition formats, including the contribution of core IP to HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc joint portfolio licenses. Going forward, the group will direct its considerable format expertise on helping our professional customers fulfill the richly interactive promise of Blu-ray Disc including BD-Live, and aligning with a broader company strategy to enable the secure and efficient digital-distribution of video entertainment.”

Part of Sonic’s industry-leading professional authoring solutions, Scenarist provides the specification-level control required to author BD titles of uncompromising interactivity and compatibility. In 2008, an expanded feature set will simplify the creation of highly interactive BD components, such as enabling BD-Live, which enhances on-disc content in broadband-connected players. To streamline the creation of BD-Live, Sonic will build upon its pioneering InterActual(R) technologies, which today enable millions of movie enthusiasts to benefit from a similar ‘connected content’ experience when viewing DVDs on a PC.

“Our professional authoring customers are actively engaged with expanding their services in advanced interactive and online content creation. With a focus on Blu-ray Disc, we’re able to meet this demand with new technologies and applications that leverage the growing-capabilities of the robust BD format to deliver dynamic entertainment experiences that consumers not only want, but have also come to expect from today’s connected-content platforms,” said Rolf Hartley, senior vice president and general manager of Sonic’s Professional Products Group. “Commensurate with this focus, we’re building our solutions in support of video delivery beyond professional packaged media and assisting in the enhancement of emerging platforms that provide consumers convenient, flexible access to high-quality entertainment.”

To further enable the authoring community, Sonic will offer its Scenarist HD DVD customers a special promotion to exchange their authoring system(s) for a Scenarist BD system. Sonic’s Professional Products Group will maintain its high-end support services as part of its SonicCare(TM) program for HD DVD customers who elect not to participate in the special promotion program and will provide software update releases where appropriate in keeping with its standard practice.

About Sonic’s Professional Products Group

Sonic’s Professional Products Group (PPG) develops authoring and encoding systems used in the release of a wide variety of video entertainment including major motion pictures on standard-definition and high-definition discs. Sonic’s world-renowned Scenarist(R) authoring and CineVision(TM) video and audio encoding systems are designed for highly skilled professional content creation facilities including high-end authoring and design houses, major motion picture studios, and disc replicators. Sonic’s Professional Products Group is actively involved in the development and implementation of new entertainment standards and formats.

About Sonic Solutions

Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC; http://www.sonic.com/) enables the creation, management, and enjoyment of digital media content through its Hollywood to Home(TM) products, services, and technologies. Sonic’s products range from the advanced authoring systems used to produce Hollywood DVD, and Blu-ray Disc film releases to the award-winning Roxio(R)-branded photo, video, music, and digital-media management applications. Sonic’s patented technologies and AuthorScript(R) media engine are relied upon by leading technology firms to define rich media experiences on a wide array of consumer electronics, mobile devices, set-top players, retail kiosks, and PCs. Always an innovator, Sonic has taken a leading role in helping professional and consumer markets make the successful transition to the new high-definition media formats and, through the DVD On Demand(TM) and Qflix(TM) platforms, Sonic is defining new models for the digital distribution of premium Hollywood entertainment. Sonic Solutions is headquartered in Marin County, California.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations, including the distribution and market acceptance of Sonic’s professional products. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, including those discussed in the Company’s annual and quarterly reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release should be read in conjunction with the Company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which contain a more detailed discussion of the Company’s business including risks and uncertainties that may affect future results. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements.

Sonic, the Sonic logo, Sonic Solutions, Scenarist, AuthorScript, Hollywood to Home, Sonic DVD On Demand, Qflix, and Roxio are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sonic Solutions in the United States and/or other countries. All other company or product names are trademarks of their respective owners and, in some cases, are used by Sonic Solutions under license.

Source: Sonic Solutions

CONTACT: Chris Taylor of Sonic Solutions, +1-408-367-5231,
chris_taylor@sonic.com

Web site: http://www.sonic.com/

Additionally, Blu-ray.com is reporting that ‘inside sources’ inform them that Sonic Solutions will be dropping HD DVD authoring support from their Scenarist line of professional disc authoring tools. They will continue to support existing HD DVD customers, but will focus on Blu-ray authoring going forward. There is no indication of changes in their consumer products, such as Roxio, at this time.

While that is indeed a significant rebound for HD DVD, remember that for the week ending January 5th, which is mostly before Warner’s announcement late on the 4th, the split was 51:49 in favor of Blu-ray. This shows a shift in standalone player sales from roughly 1:1 to nearly 2:1, despite massive price cuts on HD DVD players. Toshiba has cut the MSRP of their entry level players in half – $299.99 to $149.99 for the HD-A3 and $399.99 to $199.99 for the HD-A30, as well as cutting the HD-A35 from $499.99 to $299.99, and they’re still significantly down in market share. This is bad news for HD DVD. They’ve been claiming that price will be the deciding factor, that consumers will flock to HD DVD players due to the lower pricing. However, during the holiday season, before the price cuts, Blu-ray managed to take more than half the market for standalone player sales – despite being more expensive. And now, despite Toshiba’s deep price cuts, Blu-ray has actually increased their market share without any real marketing efforts.

I realize that a few weeks of data doesn’t determine a long term trend, but there really isn’t a positive spin for HD DVD here. Sure, they regained some market share from the previous week, but that was expected. Note that these figures do not include the PlayStation3 or the Xbox 360 add-on drive, which would skew things even more for BD. (The PS3 is problematic since there is no way to know how many are used as Blu-ray players – more than none, less than all.) Even with a near equal split in standalone player sales HD DVD was losing the war, with media sales skewed strongly toward BD – 2:1 in the US and even more elsewhere. If BD sustains a strong lead in player sales that split will only increase.

Toshiba is trying to buy marker share with subsidized players. They were subsidizing HD DVD player sales before the price cuts, now those subsidizes must have increased dramatically to cover the dramatic drop in MSRP. And this is taking its toll on Toshiba’s bottom line. They’ve just posted a 25% drop in quarterly operating profit. The majority of this drop was due to a drop in market prices for flash memory chips, but some of it is also due to losses in their HD DVD business. As CNET News reports:

Toshiba, whose products range from washing machines to nuclear power plants, is also fighting losses in its HD DVD player business, he said, without detailing the size of the loss.

Toshiba slashed prices on its players by 40 to 50 percent after Time Warner’s Warner Bros. studio announced this month that it would release high-definition DVDs only in rival Sony’s Blu-ray format.

Toshiba’s tactic of buying market share with subsidies isn’t working, and hasn’t been working for several months. Despite a price advantage, HD DVD was unable to sustain the standalone player sales lead it formerly held over BD. And that gap continues to increase, quite dramatically these past couple of weeks. Toshiba’s subsidies have likely had the side effect of keeping other vendors out of the HD DVD market – it is tough to compete profitably when the main vendor in the market is selling products at a loss. Why would someone by a Venturer HD DVD player when the Toshiba is less?

What moves do HD DVD and Toshiba have left – aside from a Super Bowl ad? Their price advantage hasn’t worked. Increasing the gap with price cuts couldn’t turn the tide, it just reduced the losses. They’ve lost studio support and over the coming months the imbalance in releases will grow. Right now HD DVD’s pending releases are few and far between when compared to Blu-ray, and it gets worse once Warner turns off the HD DVD tap. So content isn’t going to drive sales. I suppose Toshiba could start giving away the HD DVD players for free. Even I’d take one for free, they do upscale DVDs decently.

On a somewhat related note, Sony is getting aggressive in Germany. They’re offering a trade-in deal on their BDP-S300 Blu-ray player for owners of HD DVD players. Trade-in your HD DVD player at German retailer Saturn and get €150 off the €499 BDP-S300. This deal is only available at Saturn stores in Germany. Picked up from HiFi Forum via Blu-ray.com. As Blu-ray.com points out, overall high-def player adoption in Germany is much lower than in the US. So offering this kind of deal there will cost Sony much less than it would here, so we’re probably not going to see a similar deal. Though it would be nice.