~ StorDigital’s LightScribe duplicators offer easy disc burning & labelling ~

New from StorDigital the LightScribe duplicator supports silkscreen-quality disc label printing direct from a DVD and CD duplication tower.

Burning and printing large volumes of discs has never been easier, thanks to a new range of DVD and CD duplication towers from StorDigital. The new standalone LightScribe duplicators are available in configuration from 1 to 15 targets and allow users to burn and label their discs in a traditional-style standalone tower copier. This is the perfect solution for any company or individual who wants to make the best impression with their disc.

StorDigital LightScribe duplicators feature patented HP LightScribe disc labeling technology. By utilising a special disc, LightScribe duplicator operators are able to burn their discs, then flip them and then burn a label or image on to the top of the disc. By offering duplicators featuring this enhanced functionality StorDigital Systems are revolutionising the traditional in-house production process.

Nic Ranshaw (MD of CD-writer.com and CEO of StorDigital Systems) had this to say: “The introduction of our LightScribe duplicators really does represent a turning point in the way people approach disc publishing. Traditionally if a tower duplicator customer wished to produce a disc that is both copied and labeled they would have to purchase a separate printer. We have transformed the process, making production simpler and reducing expenditure.“

He added, “We don’t consider that the LightScribe system is perfect for everybody. It won’t replace our automated inkjet printers, but having a tower duplicator that can also label your discs is a strong selling point”.

StorDigital LightScribe duplicators featuring HP LightScribe technology are available now from CD-writer.com Ltd and StorDigital Systems on 0208 293 0777. To register for a CD-writer.com trade account log on to http://reseller.cd-writer.com.

Retail customers can get more information and buy online at www.cd-writer.com

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Taipei, Taiwan—June 20, 2008—CyberLink Corp., innovative solutions provider for the connected digital lifestyle, announced today that PowerDVD receives certification by DTS for the support of DTS-HD Master Audio technology.

The combination of CyberLink PowerDVD and DTS’s latest technology enables the ultimate entertainment experience when playing high-definition content and Blu-ray discs movies on PCs. DTS-HD Master Audio allows bit-for-bit reproduction of the original studio master soundtrack and supports up to 7.1-channel output, for a lifelike audio performance.

“We are pleased to work with DTS in enabling superior high definition video and audio experience on PCs,” said Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink. “PowerDVD users can now enjoy lossless compression audio quality when watching their latest high definition Blu-ray discs.”
CyberLink PowerDVD’s main features include:

• Playback of Blu-ray Disc and high-definition videos;
• Optimized performance for playing high-definition video content through graphics cards featuring NVIDIA PureVideo, ATI Avivo, and Intel Clear Video chipsets;
• Support for next-generation disc features like Picture-in-Picture movie mode, networking, interactive BD-J, bookmarks, and advanced disc navigation.

CyberLink PowerDVD featuring DTS-HD Master Audio support will be available as an upgrade to existing users in in July 2008. An HDMI 1.3a-enabled audio system is necessary to enjoy the high-definition DTS-HD Master Audio.

For more information about CyberLink’s high-definition solutions, visit www.cyberlink.com

Osaka, Japan (June 18, 2008) — Panasonic, the leading brand by which Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is known, announced today that it has developed the world’s first Write-Once Blu-ray Discs(BD-R) with 6X writing speed*. The new discs will be available in Japan with both 25GB and 50GB capacities in July.

Panasonic, which introduced the world’s first dual-layer 1X BD-RE Blu-ray Disc in 2004**, 2X BD-R/RE Discs in 2006, and 4X BD-R Disc in 2007, is now launching the world’s first 6X BD-R to meet consumer demand to write and read large amounts of data at a higher speed. The new 6X discs have a maximum data transfer speed of 216Mbps, which is 20% faster than that of 16X DVD-R discs. This transfer speed, along with the discs’ high capacity, allows consumers to use these discs for a variety of applications such as storing High Definition video or backing up PC data.

The new discs have a wide power margin at any writing speeds from 1X to 6X. This enables high-quality recording, even if the drive’s laser power fluctuates, resulting in greater overall drive compatibility.

Panasonic’s adoption of newly-developed disc technology produces extremely level and well-balanced discs with highly precise signal grooves. This improves servo characteristics and enables the laser beam to focus to the right position even when the disc is rotating with 6X high speed, thus providing optimum reading and writing performance.

Blu-ray disc drives compatible with 6X write-once Blu-ray discs are planned to be commercialized in Japan by the end of September 2008.

*As of June 18, 2008, as 6x recordable Blu-ray disc
**The capacity of Blu-ray discs is expressed in units of 1GB=1 billion bytes, but the capacity is slightly below that after formatting, so that the actual amount area that can be used will be less.
***Introduced in Japanese market only

To find out more about the product, visit Panasonic website at http://panasonic.net/

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Analysts say landmark is a sign that the format is becoming mainstream

Blu-ray movie sales have passed the 11 million mark according to the latest figures, prompting industry analysts suggest that the format is finally beginning to gain traction amongst customers.

Research by US market analyst firm Redhill also showed that sales of the format had overtaken those of 2007 by May this year. Blu-ray movie sales only accounted for two per cent of total movie sales during 2007, however, Redhill’s figures suggest that the format may account for as much as eight and ten per cent of total sales by the end of 2008. Get more details here

As Hollywood prepares to release its latest summer blockbusters, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies proudly introduces two new stars of its own: the CinemaStar™ C5K320, a 2.5-inch hard drive with up to 320 GB capacity and the CinemaStar™ 5K500, a 3.5-inch hard drive with 500GB of storage capacity and new CoolSpin™ technology to deliver high levels of power efficiency and quiet operation for digital video applications. CoolSpin drives use a low-power motor design, which requires less power to spin up the drive than most 3.5-inch hard drives. The low-power profile of these new drives enables the use of more cost-effective power supplies, which lowers energy costs for consumers.

Hitachi’s new CinemaStar hard disk drives are optimized for use in today’s advanced home theater systems, providing high-capacity storage for set-top boxes, digital video recorders (DVRs) and media center PCs. With customized features, capacity and cool operation, the new CinemaStar drives usher in a new generation of consumer devices that store more hours of video, run more quietly and use less power.

Get more details here

The WD Scorpio Black family of hard drives is destined for use in OEM notebook systems as well as by users who want to upgrade the speed and performance of their current notebook system. As one of the fastest and most efficient hard drives on the market, WD Scorpio Black drives combine desktop-class 7200 RPM spin speed with a SATA 3 Gb/s interface and 16 MB cache to deliver maximum notebook performance.

“In today’s busy and on-the-go lifestyle, notebook systems play an increasingly pivotal role in the home office and are relied upon to efficiently run sophisticated applications,” said Jim Morris, WD’s vice president and general manager of mobile storage. “High performance, high-capacity hard drives are a key ingredient to notebooks as system manufacturers continue to add data-hungry features that allow users to fully benefit from the latest computing technologies.”

With the introduction of its latest-generation WD Scorpio drives, WD further expands the company’s portfolio of 2.5-inch hard drives and continues to offer mobile computing and portable storage customers the same outstanding quality, reliability and performance that have earned the company a leadership position in the desktop and notebook markets.

Get more details here

Following the death of its HD-DVD format, Toshiba is now looking to take control of the upscaling market

Having now had time to recover from the crippling defeat of its HD-DVD format at the hands of Sony’s hi-def Blu-Ray disc standard, Toshiba is planning a fresh charge into the HD market – this time placing upscaling at the centre of the battle, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Details on the technology, which has been produced in association with Sharp, are still sketchy at the moment, but Toshiba has says it intends to release what it calls a ‘super DVD upscaling player’ that will play regular DVDs at definitions close to Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.The player will, like Blu-Ray, be backwardly compatible with normal DVDs. At present, the market for upscaling DVD players far outweighs the Blu-Ray market.

For those unfamiliar with the technology, upscaling involves taking a standard definition image (typically 480 or 576 pixels wide), reprocessing it and outputting an HD image (either 720 or 1080 pixels wide).

Whilst no technology is able to conjure up more pixels than physically exist in the source image, a good upscaler outputting at an HD resolution can significantly improve image quality on a high definition TV or monitor.

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