Blu-ray Disc Association Launched

More than 70 companies from the consumer electronics (CE), information technology (IT), media and software industries have held the first official meeting of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). The BDA supports the continued development and promotion of the Blu-ray Disc (BD) format.

Earlier this year, membership was opened to organizations interested in promoting the Blu-ray Disc (BD) format. The growth in membership follows the recent announcement by Sony that PlayStation 3 will support the Blu-ray Disc format and by Twentieth Century Fox that it would join the Association as a member of its Board of Directors.

"We believe the BDA's growth from 13 to 73 companies over the last three months reflects the depth of industry acceptance and support for the Blu-ray Disc as the next generation optical disc format," said Maureen Weber, General Manager of HP's Optical Storage Solutions Business. "We are thrilled to welcome new partners who will help us exceed our goals and demonstrate leadership through the superior technology and capabilities that the Blu-ray Disc offers consumers and the content community."

The BD standard offers a superior capacity advantage that does not restrict content creativity, provides the best image and audio quality possible and presents an expanded consumer experience through interactivity. The addition of these 50 new members will foster greater competition and creativity in the development of new products, applications and business opportunities for BD.

Currently, the Blu-ray Disc Association's Board of Directors consists of: Dell Inc.; Hewlett Packard Company; Hitachi, Ltd.; LG Electronics Inc.; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Panasonic (Matsushita Electric); Pioneer Corporation; Royal Philips Electronics; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sharp Corporation; Sony Corporation; TDK Corporation; and Thomson.

New Members Include:
-- Board of Directors: Twentieth Century Fox.

-- Contributors: Canon Inc., CMC Magnetics Corporation, CyberLink Corp., Deluxe Media Services Inc., Digital Theater Systems Inc., Dolby Laboratories Inc., Kenwood Corporation, LITE-ON IT Corporation, MediaTek Inc., Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd., Moser Baer India Limited, MX Entertainment, Optodisc Technology Corporation, Pulstec Industrial Co., Ltd., Ricoh Co., Ltd., Sigma Designs Inc., Sonic Solutions, Texas Instruments Inc., Ulead Systems Inc., Victor Company of Japan, Ltd., Visionare Corporation, ZOOtech Ltd.

-- Members: Almedio Inc., Alpine Electronics Inc., AMC Co. Ltd., ArcSoft Inc., Asahi Kasei Microsystems Co., Ltd., ATI Technologies Inc., Ciba Specialty Chemicals Inc., D&M holdings, Inc., Daewoo Electronics Corporation, ESS Technology Inc., Expert Magnetics Corp., Funai Electric Co., Ltd., Imation Corp, Infomedia Inc., InterVideo Inc., Konica Minolta Opto Inc., Leader Electronics Corp, LINTEC Corporation, Memorex Products Inc., Mitsui Chemicals Inc., Mitsumi Electric Co., Ltd., NEXAPM Systems Technology Inc., Opt Corporation, Pixela Corporation, Pony Canyon Enterprise, Ritek Corporation, ShibaSoku Co. Ltd., Shinano Kenshi Co. Ltd., Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd., TEAC Corporation, Teijin Chemicals Ltd., Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., Unaxis Balzer AG, Yokogawa Electric Corporation.

About the Blu-ray Disc Association:
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) was formed in May 2002 to pursue broad acceptance of the Blu-ray Disc formats. Board of Director members are Dell Inc.; Hewlett Packard Company; Hitachi, Ltd.; LG Electronics Inc.; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Panasonic (Matsushita Electric); Pioneer Corporation; Royal Philips Electronics; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sharp Corporation; Sony Corporation; TDK Corporation; Thomson; and Twentieth Century Fox. More than 50 companies make up the BDA and play a role in the format creation, technology contribution and working level of BDA's operation.

Blu-ray Disc Association website: blu-raydisc.com.