Items tagged with Blu-ray
I haven't purchased an optical disc drive (ODD) for my PC since...actually, I don't even recall the last time I bought one. It's even been a minute since I owned a PC with a 5.25-inch drive bay to stick one into. Pioneer, like the honey badger, doesn't give two flips and has released a new 5.25-inch optical disc drive...
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If one thing is for sure, recent home TV and movies services market changes have been seismic. Over the years we have gone through Beta, VHS, laser discs, DVDs, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, but nothing has reshaped the home entertainment landscape like streaming video. Each time a new form factor for delivering movies in the home...
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If you own an Xbox One X and have been unhappy with some aspects of the Blu-ray playback capability, Microsoft's Mike Ybarra says that a fix is incoming. The integrated 4K Blu-ray player that the Xbox One X offers is one way that some buyers have justified the purchase of the console. $499 for a nice Blu-ray...
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It looks like Pioneer will be the first company to release a line of 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray drives for PCs. Pioneer in Japan announced two models that are expected to go on sale later this month, both of which stick to the standard half-height 5.25-inch optical disc drive form factor. However, both also require Windows...
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Sony is currently leering at DIYer’s with “Na, na, na, na, na, you can’t catch me.” The company recently unveiled its first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player. The device, however, will need to be custom installed by automation system vendors such as Control4, Crestron, and Savant. Yukio Ishikawa, Director of Home...
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If you've been salivating over the prospect of purchasing some disc-based 4K content, it looks like your dream can become a reality very soon. Samsung's UBD-K8500 4K Blu-ray player was expected to land at the end of the month, but it seems some retailers have received stock early, and better still, have begun selling...
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Samsung had lots to show off at the IFA event in Berlin, and while some of the focus was on high-def TVs as we'd expect, there was also an unveiling of a product we might not have expected: An "Ultra HD" Blu-ray player.
As hard as it might be to believe, Blu-ray content has now been available on the market for over...
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It's official -- there's a new Blu-ray specification called Ultra HD Blu-ray, and just as the name implies, the new spec represents a bump in resolution to 3840x2160, the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) announced this week. To go along with the new spec, BDA came up with a new logo to delineate Ultra HD Blu-ray...
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If it's been several years since you last upgraded your mobile device or other electronic gadgets, you may lose the ability to use the Google's YouTube app. In an updated support document, Google says that select devices manufactured in 2012 and earlier are affected, including Sony TVs and Blu-ray Discs, Panasonic TVs...
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Google's Chromecast took a big step deeper into the mainstream with its recent 27946 firmware update, adding the ability to pause and resume video playback via your television remote. No longer will users need to yank out their phone (or worse — gasp! — put fingers to computer keyboard) to affect simple Start/Stop...
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Redbox is putting the word out that it plans to hike the price of its DVD rentals by 25 percent next month, as well increase the cost of borrowing Blu-ray discs. Effective December 2, 2014, the price for DVDs will increase to $1.50 per day, up from $1.20, while Blu-Ray discs will jump $0.50 to $2. Starting January 6...
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Microsoft is rolling out a substantial update for the Xbox One and the changes are making a good initial impression on some of the Internet’s best known Xbox gurus. Some improvements, like the change to the Blu-ray player, add new functionality. Others, like the low battery notification icon and the Friends list...
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Your PlayStation 4 console supports 3D Blu-ray playback, though before that functionality becomes available, you need to install the latest firmware update, version 1.75. Sony has begun rolling out the update to PS4 users, giving them bragging rights over Xbox One owners, at least for the time being (Microsoft will...
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There was nothing wrong with Netflix’s former TV interface necessarily, but the company decided to gussy it up anyway, with the intent to give users a more immersive browsing experience. “The new design was created specifically for the big screen, featuring multiple cinematic images for each title along with a new, snappy description...
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Show of hands, how many of you care about 3D Blu-ray content? It's a question worth asking because with both Microsoft and Sony getting ready to release next-generation consoles to retail, only one has confirmed it won't support the format. No need to try and guess which one -- if you read the title, you know the Xbox One won't support playback...
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It seems like the tech industry at large has its collective head stuck in the cloud these days, but don't forget about optical storage. Though there hasn't yet been an official announcement, there's reason to believe that the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is close to revealing the next generation 4K Blu-ray Disc...
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It isn’t exactly 1,000TB on a DVD, but we’ll take it. Sony and Panasonic announced that the two companies are partnering to develop a next-generation standard for optical discs in an effort to provide another long-term data storage option for professional use. Leveraging technology owned by each company...
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Remember Kaleidescape? That's the company that attempted to give high-end cinema lovers the ability to digitize all of their DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, and clearly, enough of those folks exist to keep it afloat. While niche by nature, it's tough to knock the cool factor here, and the home movie server outfit is now...
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It's hard to believe 20 years have passed since the first Jurassic Park film debuted in movie theaters. Even more remarkable is how well the special effects in the Stephen Spielberg-directed flick have held up over time. To celebrate the franchise's 20th anniversary, Universal Studios Home Entertainment is releasing the first three films individually...
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The doors of the Las Vegas Convention Center may still be largely sealed, but the news from CES 2013 is already starting to flow. Samsung is one of the major players showing up in Las Vegas to debut new products, and a new digital audio line-up will be a huge part of that. The company's 2013 AV products feature a number of wireless connectivity...
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You can't argue with the convenience of streaming video, provided you're rocking a fast enough Internet connection to watch your favorite movies without annoying hiccups and sudden drops in picture quality. As it turns out, consumers are also finding all those video rental kiosks convenient, and combined with...
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When we first took a look at the ASRock Vision 3D 137B with NVIDIA 3DTV Play last year, we were quite impressed with the machine. It offered excellent all-around performance for a system in its class and had an extensive feature set that included Blu-Ray and 3D video playback capabilities, all wrapped up in what we considered to be an attractive...
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