Ulead, who was going to include a bunch of Blu-ray Disc (BD) authoring functionality in their DVD Movie Factory 5 software, has backpedaled the decision. It looks like the BD component isn’t quite ready yet, so they won’t be including it after all. They hope to include it in a future version.

“We remain committed to providing customers the best video experience no matter the next generation disc format they choose and look forward to re-instating support for Blu-ray Disc when the current verification process is complete”, Eldon C. M. Liu, president of Ulead said.

Ulead and InterVideo are confident that the testing process will conclude smoothly and that Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5 will earn the distinction of being the first Application Software to receive full Blu-ray Disc verification.

Retail customers who purchase Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5 online or through traditional channels during the Blu-ray Disc Verification Program will be offered a download the BD DiscRecorder module at no cost from the Ulead Website after testing is complete.

Pocket-lint - Ulead ditch Blu-ray support in DVD authoring software news story in Home entertainment

You might not find a Toshiba HD DVD player on your local store’s shelves in North America, though not for the lack of trying. But the HD DVD format has seen delays here and now won’t be coming out until the middle of April.

Not so in Japan! It goes on sale to in Japan for 110,000 yen, or about $940. If you buy the player before April 27th, your get a bundled HD DVD copy of Resident Evil and another Japanese movie, Moonlight Jellyfish.

This player will retail for $799 when it hits North America - it’s nice to see we’re getting a price break. Though not so nice for the Japanese, I guess.

Sony’s competing BD player will hit stores in July. Samsung’s BD player is due May 23rd, though there have been rumours of a delay. (I’ve seen no official word about the delay, however.)

Reuters - Toshiba launches world’s first HD DVD player

The holy grail of DLP projectors is a 3-chip design. With 3 DLP chips in the projector, there is no need for a colour wheel. And therefore no rainbows. Just clear unadultered DLP imagery. The InFocus ScreenPlay 777 is one such projector (there are only a few around) and it’s MSRP is enough to pop you a third eye: $15k. It has a resolution of 1280 x 720, 2000 lumens of brightness, and a contrast ratio of 5000:1. It has both horizontal and vertical lens shift (yay!). The zoom lens is a 1.25:1 affair, not the most flexible, but better than nothing. But you can buy different lenses in varying throw distances or zoom abilities for many more thousands of dollars.

The projector uses a weird M1 connector, compatible with DVI/HDCP. They provide a short conversion cable for you, but really - why doesn’t this projector just include an HDMI input? Weird.

But what about the picture quality? Excellent flesh tones. Impressive blacks (though not quite as good as the SIM2 C3X 3-chip DLP projector). Though the InFocus does a better job with shadow detail, which is excellent. Dynamic range is good, but the SIM2 outshines the InFocus in this area as well.

According to the people at Projector Reviews, though, the InFocus was more forgiving than the SIM2 when the source material isn’t so great.

Conclusion?

The InFocus 777 will provide a first class home theater image that should blow you and your friends away - even the most critical ones. Overall, it handles just about everything beautifully. […] The SIM2 may be the projector with ultimately the better of the two in overall picture quality, but the InFocus may be the easier to enjoy on most content. Taking that and some other factors into consideration, I would have to pick the SIM2 if the C3X was the same price, as the 777, but considering the $5000 difference, the InFocus is the slightly better value.

InFocus ScreenPlay 777 Projector Review

Ben Drawbaugh over at HD Beat got a chance to see a BD (Blu-ray Disc) player demo recently, and he was favourably impressed. The demo was done on a Sony WPL-VW100 projector.

They had a demo of “Lawrence of Arabia” and half the screen was DVD and the other half was HD. It was obviously a better picture quality and it was a more actuate demo than the HD-DVD demo which looked more like SD analog cable vs HD. The only other clip was the “Spider Man 2″ preview. The clarity was awesome and I sat through the demo about 10 times and still wished I could take it home.

I’m pretty sure that any demo of HD DVD or BD players will be quite impressive. They’re both HD formats that use the same compression algorithms. (Though supposedly Sony says that MPEG2 is better just now because people haven’t learned to get the best out of MPEG4 just yet.) So the picture quality better be good! But I’d still have liked to have seen the demo anyway…

HD Beat - Blu-Ray Demo impressions

The bad news (regarding delays) and good news (regarding ICT) keeps pouring in these days. This time it’s more of the latter. Universal Studios has said that they will not be using the Image Constraint Token (ICT) on their HD titles. This is in addition to the previously mentioned Sony, Fox, Disney, and Paramount.

Currently, Universal is only supporting HD DVD. But this decision is good either way, because ICT causes HD movies to be down-rezzed to 960 x 540 on a player’s analog outputs. This kind of consumer shafting should be opposed wherever it happens.

With reports of over 7,000,000 owners with HDTVs that can’t make the digital handshake that movie studios would like for content protection and the fear of both a class action law suit or worse – consumers not jumping on board with the new formats has Hollywood home video executives changing their tune about they way they may or may not flag their content. It is looking more and more likely that in the early days of the HD disc formats most, if not all of the studios, will be going without protection.

av revolution - Universal Changes Stance on Downresing HD Content on Analog HDTVs

Here is yet another review of the Sony VPL-VW100, this time by c|net Asia. This 1080p SXRD front projector actually accepts a 1080p signal, which is great if you plan to mate it with a BD player or the PS3. I’ll spare you all the details, because we’ve been down this road before. Suffice it to say that it has a silky smooth image with a 15,000:1 contrast ratio, thanks to its dynamic iris. The 800 lumens of light output is a little on the low side, though. Screen door effect is almost non-existant, and the fan is whisper quiet.

What about HD picture quality?

To maximize the potential of the VW100, we had a HP Media Centre PC and a Sony Blu-ray player (yeah, baby!) hooked up to the projector through DVI at 1080p and component-video at 1080i, respectively. We ran a couple of Windows Media Video-HD 1080p clips downloaded from the Web and were awestruck by the breathtaking details presented onscreen. Even better was the Blu-ray demo which was close to unreal with its razor-sharp, grain-free pictures. The experience could be best described as peeking through a giant window into the unmistakably real world.

That about sums things up, I think. If I had $10k to spend on a projector, this would be the one I’d choose. (I am in no way affiliated with Sony.)

c|net - Review: Sony VPL-VW100

Panasonic has announced some details about its upcoming BD players, though they’re keeping some secrets to themselves. Their BD (Blu-ray Disc) player will be the DMP-BD10, and it will be available in September. What exact day in September is one of those secrets I mentioned.

“With the DMP-BD10, Panasonic proves its commitment to providing the best high definition entertainment experience for the home,” said Reid Sullivan, vice president, merchandising, Panasonic’s entertainment group. “Our goal is to focus on the total solution for an uncompromised high definition experience. In addition we want to ensure that the consumer experience is as easy as possible, so we’ve added EZ-Sync HDAVI control function to make it simple to connect and control multiple products, such as a Panasonic Plasma TV, Blu-ray Disc player and receiver. Plus, with the BD10 we respect the legacy content that consumers have in their entertainment libraries, including virtually all DVD and CD formats, as well as video and image formats.”

The introduction of the DMP-BD10 is timed to coincide with Panasonic’s release of its first 1080p Plasma TVs this fall, which can make full use of Blu-ray’s high definition entertainment capabilities.

The price will be less than $1500. The exact price, though, is, again, one of those secrets. (See above!)

Panasonic - PANASONIC ANNOUNCES ITS FIRST HIGH DEFINITION BLU-RAY DISC PLAYER’S AVAILABILITY, PRICING

Don’t you hate it when people don’t give you the straight goods? I’ve read so many home theater or HDTV reviews that say something like: “Not quite as good as top-of-the line products from competing manufacturers…” or “this product is just as good as products twice the price”. The question always pops into my mind: what products? What products are the top fo the line ones? Which ones are the best? Which ones are overpriced? But no, reviewers never tell you that.

Well, I’m going to go out on a limb and tell you what the top of the line products are. If you want a plasma, it’s Panasonic or Pioneer. Simple as that. (Well, according to everything I’ve read! )

And now in June Panasonic will release two 58″ plasma display panels with a native resolution of 1366 x 768 and you just know they’re going to be a good. (Though with a weird resolution, again.) Both of the models can display nearly 29 billion colours and have a contrast ratio of 10,000:1.

“The new 58-inch plasma is the perfect complement to and rounds out Panasonic’s existing line by providing a screen size that fits nicely between our 50-inch and our soon to be delivered 65-inch 1080p plasma,” said Andrew Nelkin, Vice President of Panasonic’s Display Group.

Oooh. Nice reminder of the upcoming 1080p plasma, there.

The TH-58PX60U will go for $5499.99 and will have 2 HDMI inputs with HAVI, and NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners. The TH-58PX600U will retail for $5999.95, and will additionally include a CableCARD slot, PC Input, and TV-Guide EPG.

Panasonic - Launches World’s Most Advanced 58-Inch HD Plasma TV

Quick, who are the largest five manufacturers of LCD televisions in the US? Uh… what do you mean by “in the US”? Sold in the US? Manufactured in the US? Either way, I don’t know. I know Sony sells a lot of Bravia LCDs, though.

Well, one of the top five is a company called Westinghouse Digital Electronics. And yesterday they announced another 1080p LCD television, the 37-inch model LVM-37w3, which features a “bright flat panel, fast response time, high contrast ratio and six HD inputs, and 1920 x 1080 progressive scan (1080p) resolution”.

The LVM-37w3 offers a 16.7 million True Color display, fast 8ms response time and wide 176-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angles that make it possible to see clear images from almost anywhere in the room. The LVM-37w3 has an estimated retail price of $1,899.00.

No mention is made about whether or not this set accepts 1080p signals.

Home Theater - Westinghouse Digital Expands 1080p High-Definition LCD Monitor Line

If you’re interest in home theater, you might like my new site, HTBlog.net.

It’s not going to be a strictly news site like HDBlog.net. Rather, I want inject some personal experiences and commentary in there too. For example, today there’s an article about my own home theater and how I put it together. If you have a home theater story, I’d love to hear it. Just contact me and I’ll post it to my site.

So if you like home theater, please check it out.