Topic: News

Japanese newspaper the Nihon Kaizai Shimbun said that Mitsubishi has mastered a technology to improve the response speed of pixels on LCDs by 100 per cent or more.

A new startup d_skin LLC is bringing out a "skin" for optical discs. This thin sheet of clear plastic grabs on to the edges of the disc and protects the playing surface. Crucially, you can leave it on when you insert the disc in the player -- the laser pickup shines right through the "skin." When you're finished playing the disc, you can leave it lying around in good conscience, saving you the 15 seconds it would take to put it back in the case.

The gap in time-to-market for 16x DVD+R/-R and 8.5GB DVD+R DL (single-sided double-layer) discs between top- and second-tier manufacturers of optical discs in Taiwan is expected to increase, compared with the existing disc market due to increasing technological barriers, local makers of optical discs indicated.

Gigabyte, a leading motherboard manufacturer in Taiwan, have unveiled a 16x DVD Dual burner, the snappily titled GO-W1608A. The burner has writing speeds of 16x for DVD+R, 8x for DVD-R, 4x for DVD+RW/-RW, 2.4x for 8.5GB DVD+R DL (single-sided double-layer), 48x for CD-R and 24x for CD-RW as well as reading speeds of 16x for DVD and 48x for CD.

For many collectors, owning DVDs is becoming more important than actually watching them. The average DVD buyer has amassed nearly 50 movies but up to 10 percent of those titles have gone unwatched, according to consumer surveys for Universal Studios Home Video. That’s an average of five movies — at least 10 hours of filmmaking, not counting all those extras — sitting on the shelf, perhaps still in their wrappers.

Now that DVD recorders and media have become almost as cheap as their CD predecessors, the newer technology is poised to dominate the market.

DVD pirates are offering a £5million 'bounty' for a bootleg copy of the sequel to Bridget Jones. Movie bosses are so concerned they've hired one of the world's biggest security firms to guard the film.

The UK Consumer Associations Computing Which? Magazine tests 18 brands of blank DVDs this month and reports that only three of them achieved an above average score.

Press Release: Microboards have announced the addition of a ten-recorder duplicator to their award-winning tower duplicator line. This affordable, professional-level CD/DVD copying system is easy-to-use and fully contained, operating without being connected to a computer.

A warning to DVD pirates: make sure your vehicle and driver registration details are up to date and accurate. The Motion Picture Ass. of America (MPAA) and the Los Angeles police this week busted a major counterfeiting operation after traffic cops were given false driver ID information.

BenQ have debuted the EW1621, its first external 16x DVD Dual burner, catering to end-users who seek the fastest-available DVD writing speeds and increased capacity in a portable unit.

Press Release: Primera, a leading developer and manufacturer of CD/DVD duplication and printing equipment, today announced its DS360 Disc Shredder. DS360 is a compact and heavy-duty shredder that ensures business and personal security by completely destroying CDs and DVDs so that they can no longer be read.

Apple continues to make a mockery of the music downloading scene, kicking off a new program today that allows partners to earn money by hawking iTunes songs.

It has taken just a year for the UK online DVD rental market to be launched, grow and consolidate and now two of the biggest proponents, Screen Select and Video Island have merged, creating a clear market leader.

Market Research firm DisplaySearch said that despite the plunge in panel prices over the last few months, the value of the LCD market in 2005 is expected to rise by 50%.

Backers of the Blu-ray DVD format are adopting Microsoft's video compression technology, giving the software giant a secure foothold in each of the two major camps battling to establish a successor to DVDs.

Sanyo has decided to adopt the HD DVD standard, developing next generation DVD players and recorders using the large capacity format, and aims to first launch in Japan HD DVD players in 2005 and recorders in 2006.

A seaside inn in Brighton, UK, is under fire for installing a DVD porn vending machine in the toilet. The Station Hotel sells titles such as Weapons Of Miss Satisfaction. Nuns at a nearby church say they are disgusted and councillors want the machine removed but the hotel says it is popular with younger visitors.

Sony has shrunk mastering units - the large factory machines used to create media - for its Blu-Ray optical discs in a bid to win over disc makers to the format. The company claims that the PTR-3000 system needs fewer processes - five rather than 11 - and only 20 per cent of the space of traditional mastering units. It can also master conventional DVD format discs as well.

Infomedia, a major producer of blank optical discs in Taiwan, on August 27 announced that it has obtained full-pass status for the Philips 8x DVD+R format.