As the smoke and flames have cleared from the Hindenburg-like collapse of HD DVD, what’s the worst problem now facing HD developers who are moving forward in a single-format world? The Answer: AACS. Many industry insiders feel that it is a potential industry killer, that it is excess ballast, and that the HD disc industry is going to plummet like a lead zeppelin if it isn’t cast off soon.

AACS (Advanced Access Content System) is the HD disc version of ACS copy protection. With HD DVD AACS was optional but with Blu-ray things are different. “With Blu-ray AACS is mandatory and the licensing fees are ridiculous,” says Bruce Nazarian, president of the DVD Association (DVDA). “An independent producer who wants to put out a title on Blu-ray is going to spend close to $4300 just to buy in, just to get in the gate in order to pay license fees, before they’ve even managed to replicate a single disc,” he says. “If you want to make a Blu-ray disc of any kind and replicate it, you have got to buy into this AACS licensing fee which is currently a deal breaker for most of the second-tier producers.”

At the DVD/BD production house Scope Seven, company president Duncan Wain works mostly on projects for the big Hollywood studios, to whom these licensing fees are chicken feed. So he doesn’t worry about these fees personally, but he’s seen the impact the fees have had on smaller independent producers, developers, publishers and distributors.

“If you are going to press a Blu-ray disc, you have to have an AACS key which requires an upfront fee of about $3,000 as sort of a starting fee, and then pay $1,300 per key, plus a per-disc royalty on top of that. So when you add all that up, for a first-time independent producer to put out his first BD title, it cuts really deep into his potential profit,” says Wain. “This is detrimental to a publisher whose margins are thin. They put numbers into spread sheet and look at the bottom line to see if there’s any black ink and depending on how much black ink they see they may change their minds about releasing that title.”

Larry Applegate, president and owner of Rivergate Software, the publisher of a popular development tool called DVDAfterEdit, has also seen the effects of AACS licensing fees on the smaller shops. The big studios can easily justify these fees for the commercial release of a blockbuster movie, but for independents interested in releasing special-interest discs, these fees are problematic. “That doesn’t work for a fly-tying video,” says Applegate.

But what’s wrong with copy protection? Isn’t copy protection a good thing? Well, sure, to a point. But the DVDA and many other people in this industry feel that the AACS Licensing Administrator, LCC (AACS LA) is charging excessive fees that are inhibiting industry growth.

“The Blu-ray Disc Association added AACS to the format for content protection, for piracy protection,” says Nazarian. “And in a way it makes a lot of sense. If the guardians of AACS are rigidly riding herd, that’s one way of dealing pirates out of the game. But unfortunately, if you are riding herd in such a way that people who would love to embrace it can’t afford it, you’re throwing the baby out with the bath water.”

Other industry insiders point out that AACS encryption has failed at riding herd on pirates. As Wikipedia notes, “Since appearing in devices in 2006, several AACS decryption keys have been extracted from weakly protected software players and published on the Internet.” This raises the question: Why is an industry being strangled in order to support a copy protection method that isn’t even effective?

FEARS FOR TIERS
For the big Hollywood studios (and there are only six or seven of them), AACS fees are not a big problem. But the Hollywood studios are only the tip of the iceberg that is the DVD/BD disc industry, explains Chris Brown, vice president of the DVDA. The bulk of the industry is made up of small and medium-sized companies that drive format acceptance in the marketplace, and drive technical innovation. And these are the people who are being hurt by AACS fees.

Brown explains that for analytical purposes, the DVDA divides the industry into three “tiers.” The big Hollywood studios are in tier one. In tier three are the really small guys, the “prosumers,” says Brown--“people who don’t replicate but use the technology, the one off shops, people who do wedding videos and want to use DVD to distribute.” Tier 2 is everyone else, the medium-sized guys. This huge group represents about two-thirds of the DVD market, says Brown. These are the “independents,” he says, the people who do “non-Hollywood replicated DVDs, the specialty titles, the direct to DVD non-Hollywood feature films, the corporate training videos where you have to do a replication run to get it out there.”

These Tier 2 people are really feeling the pinch, because AACS fees can “double the budget,” says Brown. “This makes the economics less feasible. A 10,000 disc run use to be viable but no longer.” AACS fees “create an artificial barrier,” says Brown. “The unfortunate thing is the independents are not going to be able to play very hard in the Blu-ray space.”

This is bad news for the entire industry, including the big Hollywood studios, says Duncan Wain, because the big guys need the little guys to make the BD market grow. “It is the independent producers who really launched the SD format,” he says, “who pushed it along with large amounts of content getting into the marketplace. Right now all we can rely on to get HD content out there is the big seven studios. And ultimately, that’s probably not going to be enough to get the Blu-ray industry really going.”

Nazarian agrees with Wain and believes the big studios and the AACS Licensing Administrator (www.aacsla.com) should be encouraging the little guys rather than discouraging them. “It’s not the most efficient way to promote a new format,” he says. “With one hand you’re motioning: come on in, the water’s fine; and then you slap them in the face.”

SIMPLE SOLUTION
The solution to this AACS fees situation is not a technological problem but a political one. Unfortunately, political problems are often the most insoluble kind.

Larry Applegate sees the solution as being rather straightforward: “If Blu-ray is to survive, they [the AACS LA group] have got to either reduce the price of AACS or make it optional.”

Nazarian doesn’t think the Blu-ray Association is going to lift the AACS mandatory requirement anytime soon, but he’s hoping for fee reductions. “Second-tier people who are looking at Blu-ray, and looking at what it costs to get in, can’t afford to replicate because there is the AACS brick wall in their way,” says Nazarian. “The only way to get around that is to figure out a way to make the AACS licensing less of an impediment, and than means reducing the cost and reducing the complexity.”

It’s a simple solution, says Nazarian; just as there is a tiered market, there should also be a tiered fee structure for AACS. The licensing group should switch to a graduated fee/royalty system based on volume of discs sold.

But as the cynics note, the AACS LA consortium seems to be dominated by its big studio members: Disney, Sony, and Warner Bros. The big studios seem to have little motivation to change the rules. Nazarian and others, however, believe the studios should revise their attitude, because resolving this problem is in their self interest.

“Someone has got to beat the AACS licensing authority over the head diplomatically and somehow get them to understand that these extreme restrictions are impinging on the second tier producers’ ability to embrace the Blu-ray format the way the BDA would like people to,” says Nazarian.

THE FUTURE IS BLEAK
Will Blu-ray ultimately be a hugely successful media format like its predecessor DVD? Or is it a flash-in-the-pan media that is too little too late? Well, lots of people at the DVDA feel the answer to that question will depend on whether or not the “AACS brick wall” is removed or not. The format needs to grow quickly before it’s too late. The Tier 1 big guys need the Tier 2 little guys, whether they realize it or not.

At this point the ultimate success of Blu-ray is far from guaranteed. The consolidation from two competing formats to a single standard will help the market, but just because Blu-ray no longer faces competition from HD DVD doesn’t mean it is without competition. Larry Applegate looks at all the flash drives on the market and wonders if any disc media can long compete in the marketplace.

“Optical discs are becoming less favorable, because you can get a flash drive now that holds 8 gigabytes. It won’t be much longer until you can get one that holds as much as a Blu-ray disc.” He also sees movie downloading getting easier and more popular. “Blu-ray could fall flat on its face as consumers go after internet downloads instead. I don’t know how long BD is going to last; it may be destined for failure.”

Chris Brown is more optimistic about Blu-ray’s fate: “I see opportunity, because I think Blu-ray is going to be the first real interactive living room application. The interactivity and web connection will lead to some actual killer apps, George Jetson stuff. So I believe a fixed medium product will remain competitive with the whole online interactive stuff. Why go to an extra step to put something on disc? Well, because it will be appealing. And the studios are going to have to work to make them appealing.”

PIPE DREAMS?
But Brown also admits that his optimism is predicated on the assumption that the AACS problem will be resolved in a timely manner. Unfortunately, that’s an even bigger leap of faith than Brown’s intrinsic faith in the medium.

His colleague Nazarian is perhaps a bit more fearful. He feels certain the AACS issue, in time, will be resolved, but he fears it may be resolved too late for the wellbeing of the industry. He’s watching the wheels of bureaucracy slowly grind and is praying for some lubrication. While some people might compare the rate of the resolution process to the flow of molasses in January, Navarian has a more colorful and appropriate comparison. “This problem will be resolved via a process similar to sludge moving through a narrow pipe,” he says.

Mark Fritz (markfritz at intergrafix.net) is a contributing editor to EMedialive and Streaming Media and a freelance writer based in Bloomsburg, Pa.

Two weeks ago we reported the release of the first Qflix DVD burner, which theoretically makes it possible to download and burn Hollywood movies to DVD with Hollywood-approved CSS copy protection. Released by Dell through a partnership with Sonic Solutions, the company primarily responsible for developing Qflix technology, the drive hit the streets with the right kind of partnership behind it--that is, a major PC retailer/system integrator with the potential to sneak it into the computing technology mainstream by making it a de facto component of various consumer PC models. That's no guarantee the market will take to a DVD burning technology that requires special drives and media to make it work, but it's a promising start.

Though it's too soon to gauge the market's response, even in this era of instant polling (Zogby and Rasmussen Reports have been too busy tracking the presidential campaigns to get us any hard data on Qflix), the same day the drive debuted I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a review unit and test its performance. You'd think there would be little new to say about a DVD burner's performance these days, and as a general-purpose 16X DVD/CD burner, the PLDS-manufactured Qflix drive does all you'd hope it would--well, everything except copy a Qflix DVD. But we'll get to that.

Although I see the real potential in Qflix's success on a hardware level coming via internal burners that arrive as factory-installed components of Dell laptops and desktops (in much the way my last three laptops have come with LightScribe drives, even though I don't recall asking forthem), the first Qflix drive is an external USB 2.0 model that lists for $120. My unit shipped with three blank single-side, single-layer Ritek-branded Qflix discs with the CSS Video logo, certified for 2X-8X recording; and a Roxio Venue software suite including Venue, CinePlayer, and CinemaNow Media Manager, all of which installed without incident. My review drive didn't come with any general-purpose DVD burning application, but Sonic says the bundle Dell sells will include the typical limited OEM version of Roxio Easy Media Creator, which is welcome news. Since part of the pitch is that this drive doubles as an everyday DVD burner, it makes sense to ship it with some software that handles everyday burning tasks--especially at that $120 price point, which is well on the high side for an external DVD/CD recorder.

The heart of the Qflix-specific part of the suite is Roxio Venue 1.1, which launches right into the Download to DVD interface (see below). It's straightforward and easy-to-use, and much more like browsing a movie-rental website like Netflix than navigating a DVD recording interface. Truth be told it's hard to tell where Roxio Venue ends and CinemaNow Media Manager begins; you're working with the CinemaNow catalog right away and moving right into the movie selection process from the moment you open the Venue application. The first thing you see are "Newest Releases"; if you don't see what you want there, you can browse by genre (Comedy, Drama, Action, Thriller, Family). You can also sort your own library of films purchased.



The only bump in the road I found working wirh Venue is that CinemaNow's current DVD selection is so small. If you don't find a movie you want after browsing through the first few screens in a given genre, it's probably not there. Sonic says many more titles will be in place by the holiday season, and given that the "download to burn" phase of CinemaNow's existence only kicked in two weeks ago, it's fair to say this business is in its infancy and assume it has quite a bit of growth ahead of it. To test the Qflix/Venue/CinemaNow download-to-burn apparatus, I sorted through the Newest Releases and selected the 2007 western 3:10 to Yuma for download. For $9.95 I was promised a movie that would play in "any DVD player and up to 3 desktops or laptops." After registering and selecting payment, followed by a confirmation page, the download began immediately. Less than 30 seconds after the download began, I received a message saying I could start watching the movie. This strikes me as a very cool feature for the instant-gratification crowd, a demographic that I'd estimate has, roughly, a 100% overlap with those consumers who might gravitate toward download-to-burn entertainment purchases.



The 3:10 to Yuma download-to-burn experience clocked in at 91 minutes, and the DVD played fine in my Sony DVD player, with video quality that appeared equivalent to a typical replicated Hollywood DVD. The disc included no menus but chapter marks every 10 minutes. In part because Qflix is currently limited to single-layer discs, Qflix movie downloads will, at least for the time being, be movie-only, with none of the extras associated with DVDs rented or purchased on replicated media. One option that seems to be offered in the Roxio Venue software but not supported by the CinemaNow site is disc-labeling, which if nothing else is a reminder that Qflix technology has kiosks and other non-single-user-PC applications in its future.

A subsequent download of The Spiderwick Chronicles yielded a near-identical result (although, with the film being 30 minutes shorter, the download/burn time was closer to 65 minutes) to the 3:10 to Yuma experience, even with the film playing simultaneously, during download, in both the Roxio Venue and CinemaNow Media Manager windows (see below), though I'm not entirely sure why anyone would want to do that. It occurred to me during the Spiderwick Chronicles download to try and burn the movie to a non-Qflix (and thus non-CSS protected) DVD+R disc. No dice.



You have three options for burning a Qflix disc: 2X, 4X, and 8X. You can also run a BurnRight test to make sure your system is up to the challenge of downloading and burning a Qflix movie (below). Apparently, my 2.2GHz DuoCore Sony laptop with 3GB of functional system RAM was deemed Qflix-worthy. (Minimum system requirements include a 2.5GHz Pentium 4+ with 1GB RAM running Windows XP or Vista with WMP 10+, IE 6.0+, Java JRE, and 5-10GB available hard disk space.)



The final test, after the burn was completed and the discs' playback performance, was to see if the discs could be copied my conventional means. We all know CSS was cracked nine years ago by a Norwegian teenager who wanted to play DVD movies on his Linux machine even though there was no Linux player available commercially at the time. Since then, CSS has been more effective at deterring copying than preventing it. Cleverly, the movie studios have been able to extend the viability of DVD copy protection by adding red herring title sets and the like that stymie some DVD rippers and keep would-be pirates playing catch-up, although it remains an ongoing game of advance and retreat.

But the key issue in the development Qflix has not been so much whether CSS is foolproof as whether it's good enough to get the major studios on board with Qflix technology, which does seem to be the case. In any event, I attempted to dupe the 3:10 to Yuma disc from the internal drive in my laptop to the Qflix drive using the Copy Disc utility in Roxio Easy Media Creator and was rebuffed exactly as I would be if I tried to copy a replicated DVD-Video title using the same application (see below).



At this very early stage in the open-for-business life of Qflix, it's safe to say that the burners, media, and software driving the technology are doing their part to make it viable. Whether consumers accept the idea that they'll need to use specific media and drives to join the Qflix club remains to be seen, as does CinemaNow's ability to get its download-to-burn catalog up to a respectable level. Is "Their World Closer Than You Think," as the Spiderwick Chronicles tagline warns? Time will tell.

Stephen Nathans-Kelly (stephen.nathans at infotoday.com) is editor-in-chief of EMedialive and EventDV.

EMedialive announces updates to The Authoritative Blu-ray Disc (BD) FAQ in the following categories: IX. Industry Support, Prices, and Availability. See details below.
0. FAQ Updates

Date	Description
Nov. 11, 2009	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM and BD Combo drives cost?
Nov. 8, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: X. d. Who claims and who administers BD patent rights?
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
Nov. 1, 2009	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. m. What companies provide BD testing and verification services?
	Update: X: d. Who claims and who administers BD patent rights?
	Update: XI. f. Licensing, Specifications, and Standards Organizations
Oct. 23, 2009	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: II. k. How do BD, HD DVD and DVD video formats and player requirements compare?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
Oct. 18, 2009	Update: VI. l. Are HD DVD and BD compatible with each other?
	Update: VIII. c. What is HDMI?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM and BD Combo drives cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
Oct. 9, 2009	New question: IX. 1. How much do BD professional video recorders cost?
	Update: I. d. What are some notable milestones in the life of BD?
	Update: II. f. What is the BD-ROM AV format?
	Update: II. i. What is a BD9 disc?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
Oct. 2, 2009	Update: II. d. What file systems are used on BD discs?
	Update: II. f. What is the BD-ROM AV format?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: XII. a. What do common BD and related acronyms and abbreviations stand for?
Sept. 28, 2009	Update: III. a. How fast are BD discs written and read?
	Update: III. c. How much time does it take to write a BD-R and BD-RE disc?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. r. How much do computers equipped with BD drives cost?
	Update: IX. v. How much do TV/BD player combos cost?
Sept. 18, 2009	Update: III. a. How fast are BD discs written and read?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: VII. a. How many times can a BD-RE disc be rewritten?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. t. How much do BD disc changers and home entertainment servers cost?
	Update: XI. b. Technical and White Papers
Sept. 11, 2009	Update: I. d. What are some notable milestones in the life of BD?
	Update: VII. a. How many times can a BD-RE disc be rewritten?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box and Sound Bars cost?
	Update: IX. q. How much does BD computer video player software cost?
	Update: XI. b. Technical and White Papers
Sept. 4, 2009	Update: VI. g. What type of computer software is required to play BD movies?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. m. What companies provide BD testing and verification services?
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
	Update: XI. f. Licensing, Specifications, and Standards Organizations
Aug. 27, 2009	Update: VIII. c. What is HDMI?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. h. How much do BD game consoles cost?
	Update: IX. i. How much do BD duplication and publishing systems cost?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: IX. q. How much does BD computer video player software cost?
Aug. 20, 2009	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
Aug. 13, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: VIII. c. What is HDMI?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
	Update: XI. f. Licensing, Specifications, and Standards Organizations
Aug. 6, 2009	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box and Sound Bars cost?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
July 30, 2009	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. t. How much do BD disc changers and home entertainment servers cost?
July 22, 2009	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM and BD Combo drives cost?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box and Sound Bars cost?
	Update: XI. b. Technical and White Papers
July 15, 2009	New question: e. Can writable BD discs recorded at different speeds be read back at any speed?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: IX. t. How much do BD disc changers and home entertainment servers cost?
	Update: IX. u. How much do BD data storage and archiving jukeboxes cost?
July 9, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM and BD Combo drives cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
July 2, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM and BD Combo drives cost?
June 25, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM and BD Combo drives cost?
	Update: IX. q. How much does BD computer video player software cost?
	Update: IX. x. How much do BD Network-Attached Storage devices cost?
	Update: IX. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
June 18, 2009	New question: IX. z. What companies offer BD quality assurance and quality control services?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM and BD Combo drives cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
	Update: XI. b. Technical and White Papers
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
June 11, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM and BD Combo drives cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box and Sound Bars cost?
	Update: IX. v. How much do TV/BD player combos cost?
	Update: IX. w. How much do portable BD players cost?
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
May 20, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: XI. b. Technical and White Papers
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
May 13, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box and Sound Bars cost?
	Update: IX. v. How much do TV/BD player combos cost?
	Update: IX. w. How much do portable BD players cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
May 4, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM and BD Combo drives cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: IX. y. How much do BD audio encoders cost?
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
Apr. 16, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
	Update: XI. f. Licensing, Specifications, and Standards Organizations
Apr. 9, 2009	New question: II. n. Can all BD players display BD-J content?
	New question: II. o. How long does it take a BD player to load and execute BD-J content?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
Apr. 3, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM and BD Combo drives cost?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box and Sound Bars cost?
	Update: X. d. Who claims and who administers BD patent rights?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
Mar. 26, 2009	Update: I. c. What is the Blu-ray Disc Association?
	Update: II. f. What is the BD-ROM AV format?
	Update: IX. q. How much does BD computer video player software cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
Mar. 19, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. j. How much do printable BD-R discs cost?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box and Sound Bars cost?
	Update: XI. h. BD-J/BD-Live Developer Communities and Organizations
Feb. 19, 2009	New section: XII. Glossary, Acronyms, Abbreviations and Units of Measure
	New question: XII. a. What do common BD and related acronyms and abbreviations stand for?
Feb. 14, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM and BD Combo drives cost?
Feb. 6, 2009	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. e. How much do BD consumer electronics recorders cost?
Jan. 30, 2009	Update: III. c. How much time does it take to write a BD-R and BD-RE disc?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
Jan. 22, 2009	Update: I. c. What is the Blu-ray Disc Association?
	Update: III. b. What rotational schemes do BD discs employ?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM and BD Combo drives cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
	Update: XI. h. BD-J/BD-Live Developer Communities and Organizations
Jan. 15, 2009	New question: IX. x. How much do BD Network-Attached Storage devices cost?
	New question: IX. y. How much do BD audio encoders cost?
	Update:: VIII. b. What issues are raised when playing commercial BD movies over analog and digital video connections?
	Update: VIII. c. What is HDMI?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. j. How much do printable BD-R discs cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: IX. t. How much do BD disc changers and home entertainment servers cost?
Jan. 9, 2009	New question: IX. v. How much do TV/BD player combos cost?
	New question: IX. w. How much do portable BD players cost?
	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: IX. m. What companies provide BD testing and verification services?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box and Sound Bars cost?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
Dec. 30, 2008	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
Dec. 18, 2008	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX: e. How much do BD consumer electronics recorders cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. r. How much do computers equipped with BD drives cost?
Dec. 10, 2008	Update: IV. c. How far might BD disc capacity increase in the future?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. s. How much do BD video encoders and transcoders cost?
Dec. 2, 2008	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: IX. t. How much do BD disc changers and home entertainment servers cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
Nov. 20, 2008	Update: II. a. What specifications govern BD discs?
	Update: II. e. What is the BD-R/RE AV format?
	Update: V. d. What is the purpose of the hard coat on a BD disc?
	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: IX. n. How much do BD camcorders cost?
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
Nov. 13, 2008	New question: V. e. What are the weights and physical dimensions of BD discs?
	Update: II. f. What is the BD-ROM AV format?
	Update: VII. c. What is the best way to handle and store a BD disc?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
Nov. 5, 2008	New question: I. d. What are some notable milestones in the life of BD?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Updaet: XI. b. Technical and White Papers
Oct. 24, 2008	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
Oct. 17, 2008	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
Oct. 9, 2008	New question: 0. How do I know when the BD FAQ has been updated?
	New question: f. What licensing obligations exist when replicating and distributing content on prerecorded BD discs?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. r. How much do computers equipped with BD drives cost?
	Update: IX. t. How much do BD disc changers and home entertainment servers cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
Oct. 2, 2008	New question: II. m. What is the directory structure of a BD-R/RE AV disc?
	New question: X. e. What licensing obligations exist when duplicating and distributing content on writable BD discs?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: II. l. What is the directory structure of a BD-ROM AV disc?
	Update: VI. j. What type of graphics card is required to play BD movies?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. e. How much do BD consumer electronics recorders cost?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
Sept 25, 2008	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: III. c. How much time does it take to write a BD-R and BD-RE disc?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: IX. s. How much do BD video encoders and transcoders cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
Sept. 18, 2008	Update: II. d. What file systems are used on BD discs?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
Sept. 11, 2008	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. j. What type of graphics card is required to play BD movies?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
Sept. 4, 2008	New question: II. l. What is the directory structure of a BD-ROM AV disc?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Updaet: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. m. What companies provide BD testing and verification services?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box cost?
Aug. 27, 2008	New question: I. c. What is the Blu-ray Disc Association?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: IV. c. How far might BD disc capacity increase in the future?
	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: IX. a. What companies create and support BD formats?
	Update: IX. . b. What movie and music studios support BD?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: X. c. Who owns the name Blu-ray Disc and its logo?
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
Aug. 21, 2008	New question: XI. i. Anti-Piracy Education, Investigation and Compliance Organizations
	Update: II. a. What specifications govern BD discs?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. r. How much do computers equipped with BD drives cost?
	Update: X. d. Who claims and who administers BD patent rights?
	Update: XI. h. BD-J/BD-Live Developer Communities and Organizations
Aug. 15, 2008	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. j. What type of graphics card is required to play BD movies?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. n. How much do BD camcorders cost?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box cost?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: IX. s. How much do BD video encoders and transcoders cost?
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
July 18, 2008	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: III. c. How much time does it take to write a BD-R and BD-RE disc?
	Updaet: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: XI. f. Licensing, Specifications, and Standards Organizations
July 10, 2008	New question: IX. t. How much do BD disc changers and home entertainment servers cost?
	New question IX. u. How much do BD data storage and archiving jukeboxes cost?
	Update: III. c. How much time does it take to write a BD-R and BD-RE disc?
	Update: VII. b. How long will data on a BD disc remain readable?
	Update: VII. c. What is the best way to handle and store a BD disc?
	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: VI. j. What type of graphics card is required to play BD movies?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. i. How much do BD duplication and publishing systems cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. r. How much do computers equipped with BD drives cost?
	Update: IX. s. How much do BD video encoders and transcoders cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
July 3, 2008	Update: VI. j. What type of graphics card is required to play BD movies?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: IX. r. How much do computers equipped with BD drives cost?
	Update: IX. s. How much do BD video encoders and transcoders cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
June 26, 2008	New question: VII. c. What is the best way to handle and store a BD disc?
	New question: IX. s. How much do BD video encoders and transcoders cost?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
June 19, 2008	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. j. What type of graphics card is required to play BD movies?
	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. g. How much do blank BD discs cost?
	Update: XI. b. Technical and White Papers
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
June 12, 2008	New question: IX. r. How much do computers equipped with BD drives cost?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: IX. a. What companies create and support BD formats?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box cost?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: X. d. Who claims and who administers BD patent rights?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
June 5, 2008	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Updaet: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: X. d. Who claims and who administers BD patent rights?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
May 29, 2008	Update: II. f. What is the BD-ROM AV format?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. m. What companies provide BD testing and verification services?
	Update: X. d. Who claims and who administers BD patent rights?
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
May 22, 2008	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: X. d. Who claims and who administers BD patent rights?
May 15, 2008	New question: X. d. Who claims and who administers BD patent rights?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
May 9, 2008	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box cost?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: XI. b. Technical and White Papers
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
May 1, 2008	Update: VI. j. What type of graphics card is required to play BD movies?
	Update: IX. j. How much do printable BD-R discs cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles, Columns, and Reviews
	Update: XI. b. Technical and White Papers
Apr. 24, 2008	Update: I. a. What is Blu-ray Disc?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: X. a. What is Regional Playback Control?
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
Apr. 17, 2008	New question: X. b. Does Regional Playback Control apply to DVD-Video discs viewed on BD players?
	New question: X. c. Who owns the name Blu-ray Disc and its logo?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: V. c. How is a BD-RE disc constructed?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
Apr. 8, 2008	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. q. How much does BD computer video player software cost?
Mar. 20, 2008	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. j. What type of graphics card is required to play BD movies?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: IX. q. How much does BD computer video player software cost?
Mar. 7, 2008	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
Feb. 29, 2008	New question: II. k. How do BD, HD DVD and DVD video formats and player requirements compare?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
Feb. 22, 2008	New question: IX. q. How much does BD computer video player software cost?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. i. How much do BD duplication and publishing systems cost?
	Update: XI. g. High-Definition and Digital Television Information
Jan. 30, 2008	Update: II. f. What is the BD-ROM AV format?
	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: VI. j. What type of graphics card is required to play BD movies?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
Jan. 18, 2008	Update: II. f. What is the BD-ROM AV format?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box cost?
Jan. 8, 2008	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box cost?
Dec. 27, 2007	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. e. How much do BD consumer electronics recorders cost?
	Update: IX. h. How much do BD game consoles cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box cost?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
Nov. 30, 2007	New question: VI. l. Are HD DVD and BD compatible with each other?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. j. What type of graphics card is required to play BD movies?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. n. How much do BD camcorders cost?
Nov. 10, 2007	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
Nov. 2, 2007	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. j. What type of graphics card is required to play BD movies?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
Oct. 12, 2007	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: II. g. What is a Total Hi Def disc?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. e. How much do BD consumer electronics recorders cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
Sept. 21, 2007	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
Sept. 14, 2007	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: IX. a. What companies create and support BD formats?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. e. How much do BD consumer electronics recorders cost?
Sept. 7, 2007	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: IX. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. b. What movie and music studios support BD?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
Aug. 27, 2007	New question: IX. p. How much does BD video authoring software cost?
	Update: IX. b. What movie and music studios support BD?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
Aug. 9, 2007	New question: IX. n. How much do BD camcorders cost?
	New question: IX. o. How much do BD Home Theaters in a Box cost?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
July 25, 2007	Update II. a. What specifications govern BD discs?
	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. a. What companies create and support BD formats?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: X: a. What is Regional Playback Control?
	Update: XI: c. Presentations
July 12, 2007	New question: IX. m. What companies provide BD testing and verification services?
	Update: II. f. What is the BD-ROM AV format?
	Update: X. a. What is Regional Playback Control?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
July 9, 2007	New question: XI. h. Developer Organizations
	Update: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: XI. f. Licensing, Specifications, and Standards Organizations
June 20, 2007	New question: VI. k. What firmware updates are available for BD players, drives and recorders?
	Update: XI. f. Licensing, Specifications, and Standards Organizations
June 6, 2007	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. j. How much do printable BD-R discs cost?
	Update: XI. b. Technical and White Papers
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
May 24, 2007	Update: VI. j. What type of graphics card is required to play BD movies?
	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: VIII. c. What is HDMI?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. g. How much do blank BD discs cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
Apr. 17, 2007	New question: VI. f. What computer operating system is required to play BD movies?
	New question: VI. g. What type of computer software is required to play BD movies?
	New question: VI. h. How much computer system memory is required to play BD movies?
	New question: VI. i. What type of computer CPU is required to play BD movies?
	New question: VI. j. What type of graphics card is required to play BD movies?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
Apr. 5, 2007	Update: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	Update: VIII. d. What is HDCP?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. i. How much do BD duplication and publishing systems cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles and Columns
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
	Update: XI. f. Licensing, Specifications, and Standards Organizations
Feb. 24, 2007	New question: II. i. What is a BD9 disc?
	New question: II. j. What are BD-Video and BD-Live profiles?
	Update: I. b. Why the name Blu-ray Disc?
	Update: IX. e. How much do BD consumer electronics recorders cost?
	Update: IX. j. How much do printable BD-R discs cost?
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
Feb. 16, 2007	New question: II. h. Are double-sided BD and BD/DVD Combo discs available?
	New question: IX. l. What companies manufacture BD-ROM discs?
	Update: I. a. What is Blu-ray Disc?
	Update: I. b. Why the name Blu-ray Disc?
	Update: II. b. What BD formats are available?
	Update: XI. a. Articles and Columns
	Update: XI. b. Technical and White Papers
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
	Update: XI: e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
	Update: IX: c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX: d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX: f.  How much do commercial BD movie titles cost?
	Update: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
Jan. 20, 2007	New question: II. g. What is a Total Hi Def disc?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. j. How much do printable BD-R discs cost?
	Update: XI. a. Articles and Columns
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
Jan. 9, 2007	New question: VI. e. Does a writable BD disc contain information about its manufacture?
	New question: VI. d. Can all BD-R recorders write BD-R discs in all recording modes?
	New question: VI. c. Can all BD recorders write single and dual-layer BD discs?
	New question: IX. k. How much do BD-ROM drives cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. h. How much do BD game consoles cost?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: II. f. What is the BD-ROM AV format?
	Update: XI. b. Technical and White Papers
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
Oct. 14, 2006	New question: IX. i. How much do BD duplication and publishing systems cost?
	New question: IX. j. How much do printable BD-R discs cost?
	New question: IV. c. How far might BD disc capacity increase in the future?
	Update: X: a. What is Regional Playback Control?
	Update: IX: e. How much do BD consumer electronics recorders cost?
	Update: IX: a. What companies create and support BD formats?
	Update: III: a. How fast are BD discs written and read?
	Update: VIII: c. What is HDMI?
	Update: XI. a. Articles and Columns
	Update: XI. b. Technical and White Papers
	Update: XI. c. Presentations
	Update: XI. e. Specifications, Standards, and Government Regulations
Aug. 28, 2006	New section: 0. FAQ Updates
	New section: X. Copying Deterrents and Content Protection
	New question: X. a. What is Regional Playback Control?
	New question: IX. h. How much do BD game consoles cost?
	Update: IX. c. How much do consumer electronics BD players cost?
	Update: IX. d. How much do BD computer recorders cost?
	Update: IX. f.  How much do commercial BD movie titles cost?
	Update: IX. g. How much do blank BD discs cost?
June 6, 2006	Initial release

Sony Electronics today announced its third generation internal Blu-ray Disc(TM) (BD) writer for the computer aftermarket, which at about $400 achieves a new level of affordability for BD enthusiasts.

The new BWU-300S model burns single and dual layer BD-R media at up to 8X speed, recording a full 25GB disc in about 15 minutes and a full 50GB disc in about 30 minutes. The 8X recording speed is achieved using 6X compatible BD-R media. The drive also records DVDs at up to 16X, CDs up to 48X, and supports DVD-RAM recording, with an eye towards data backup, making it an excellent replacement burner for a standard DVD drive while offering all the benefits of Blu-ray Disc technology.

To provide consumers with the opportunity to experience high-definition movie playback first-hand, the new drive comes bundled with a "Men in Black" Blu-ray Disc from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. "Men In Black" stars Will Smith ("Hancock") and Oscar(R)-winner Tommy Lee Jones ("The Fugitive") saving the world from a total intergalactic disaster in Barry Sonnenfeld's smash-hit sci-fi action comedy. The "Men In Black" high-definition Blu-ray Disc boasts advanced BD-Live enabled bonus features, including a multiplayer trivia game, an interactive Frank the Pug advice generator, an alien subtitle track and much more.

Also included with the drive is CyberLink's software suite for capturing, authoring, editing, burning and viewing high-definition personal content.

"Consumers are demanding a better experience," said Bob DeMoulin, marketing manager for branded storage products in Sony Electronics' IT Products Division. "Not only are we providing state of the art hardware, but also the industry's most complete software bundle and premium content."

"Sony's new 8X Blu-ray Disc writable drive significantly improves the BD recording speed, a key feature in the optical storage technology," said Wolfgang Schlichting, research director for removable storage at IDC. "The explosion of digital media usage by consumers, whether in the form of high- definition video, music or data, continues to grow at exponential rates. Innovative products such as this next-generation drive will help fuel the acceleration of Blu-ray adoption in the years ahead with more than 100 million drives shipping worldwide by 2011."

The BWU-300S drive can record up to 50GB of data for random access storage and backup on BD-R (write once) or BD-RE (rewritable) discs, or up to 230 minutes of high-definition HDV 1080i video on a BD-R/RE 50GB disc. It also supports recording on standard single layer 4.7GB DVD+-R/+-RW/-RAM discs, 8.5GB DVD+-R double/dual layer discs, and CDs.

The internal drive features a Serial ATA (SATA) interface and standard 5.25-inch form-factor for easy installation inside a desktop PC with Microsoft(R) Windows XP or Windows Vista(R) operating systems.

The new drive is fully supported by Adobe(R) Encore(R) CS3 software, now included with Adobe Premiere(R) Pro CS3, and Sony's Vegas Pro 8 and DVD Architect Pro 5 software, providing video production professionals with another option for outputting high-definition video on a Blu-ray Disc with MPEG-2 or H.264 compression.

Availability
The BWU-300S drive will be available through select retailers, resellers and directly at sonystyle.com starting next month. Pre-orders are now being accepted by Sony on the website.

WWW.sonystyle.com

As high definition (HD) has become the new standard for video, and Blu-ray Disc has won the high-definition format war for storing HD content, it's more important than ever to be able to author professional-quality Blu-ray discs. Included with Adobe Premiere® Pro CS4 and Adobe Creative Suite® 4 Production Premium software, Adobe Encore® CS4 software makes output to a wide range of industry-standard media formats, including Blu-ray Disc, easy and efficient.

Adobe Encore CS4 software is a versatile, interactive authoring tool for video distribution that allows you to deliver your high-definition work complete with advanced functions such as pop-up menus, subtitles, and more to clients or consumers on standard-definition DVDs and high-definition Blu-ray Discs.

Save time during the authoring workflow by sending sequences directly from Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 to Adobe Encore CS4, where they open immediately without intermediate rendering, using Adobe Dynamic Link. From within Encore, open Adobe Premiere Pro sequences and then use the Edit Original command to make a change to the sequence. Any changes you make in Adobe Premiere Pro are automatically reflected in Encore. Plus, Encore reads chapter markers in the sequence. The Edit Original command is also useful when modifying a media file in Photoshop CS4 Extended.

Save even more time by eliminating intermediate rendering with Adobe Dynamic Link. Exclusively available in Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, Dynamic Link allows you to edit a composition in After Effects and view your updates instantly in Encore and Adobe Premiere Pro.

Encore simplifies production and preserves control over interactivity and output. Instead of doing manual scripting, visually drag and drop assets to create your DVD and Blu-ray Disc navigation with the visual flowchart. Design full-featured interfaces by using robust text tools, high-definition royalty-free menu templates and art, and automated menu generation.

Learn how Encore CS4 can enhance your workflow by outputting to Blu-ray discs, even if you're working with Apple's Final Cut Studio or Avid's professional editing tools.

Encore CS4 is included with the following:

• ADOBE PREMIERE PRO CS4 ($799)
• PRODUCTION PREMIUM ($1,699)

Verbatim Americas, LLC, a global leader and innovator in the digital storage industry, announced today Verbatim PhotoSave™ DVD, a recordable DVD that makes finding and saving photos absolutely effortless—even for consumers who have never burned a disc before.

Verbatim PhotoSave DVDs feature integrated software that launches automatically when the disc is inserted into a DVD-R drive. The process of searching for photos is also automated so users only need to click on the record button to save their memories from a PC. In the manual mode, PhotoSave DVDs also support “search and burn” from a digital camera connected to a PC. In addition to offering a long lifespan, each DVD disc provides a useable capacity of 4.5GB (1GB = 1 billion bytes) and can store approximately 2,000 photos.

PhotoSave DVDs combine the ultimate in photo storage simplicity with the superior reliability and compatibility that Verbatim media is known to deliver. Highly versatile, the unique discs can be used to find and save photos from a hard drive, camera, memory card or a USB drive and will recognize more than 80 different photo file formats.

The new DVDs are also cost-effective. In the manual mode, users can continue to add photo files to the discs until they are full. For added convenience, the software keeps track of the remaining capacity on the disc. Multi-disc spanning support for large file sets is also provided. With multiple PhotoSave DVDs, users can organize their photos by categories such as photos of children, vacations and family celebrations.

Verbatim PhotoSave DVDs are ideal for the growing number of novices and experienced photo enthusiasts who want a simple, no-hassle solution for protecting cherished memories. Last year, IDC estimated that more than 200 billion digital images would be captured; and the Photo Marketing Association predicted that nearly two-thirds of those images would not be printed but would be stored in digital format.

Just having photos in a digital format is not enough to ensure their safety. Photos stored on a computer can be lost due to accidental erasure, a hard drive crash or a notebook being dropped or stolen. Camera memory cards can also be accidentally erased, damaged or rendered unreadable.

Victims of fires, floods and other natural disasters report that there isn’t time to disconnect a computer and carry it to safety when there are only minutes to escape. However, photos stored on compact PhotoSave DVDs can be easily carried to a safe location.

“If the only copies of your photos are on your computer and something happens to the computer or you accidentally delete the file, it’s lost forever,” said Tim Clatterbuck, Verbatim Optical Storage Manager. “We’re excited about our new PhotoSave Recordable DVDs because they make photo protection so easy anyone can do it. There’s no software to install and nothing to learn. It does it all for you. And,” he emphasized, “it’s affordable, so we also recommend that consumers make more than one copy of the photos they don’t want to lose and keep them at different locations for added protection.”

Verbatim PhotoSave DVDs can be used with Windows® 2000, XP and Vista™ systems and requires a DVD-R writer.

Pricing and Availability
Packaged in 3-pack and 5-pack standard slim cases for protection and portability, the 3-pack Verbatim PhotoSave DVDs will be available at leading retailers and etailers by the end of September followed by the 5-packs in October. The suggested retail prices are US$9.99 for the 3-pack and US$14.99 for the 5-pack.

www.verbatim.com

Buffalo Technology, a global leader in the design, development and manufacturing of wired and wireless networking, storage and memory solutions today announced its new Blu-ray DVD Combo drives, the MediaStation 8x External Blu-ray Drive and MediaStation 8x Internal Blu-ray Drive. Offering unsurpassed 8x Read/Write speeds, these new MediaStation drives are the fastest on the market. They are ideal for "power PC" users who want optimal playback performance of Blu-ray discs, DVDs, or CDs on their PCs or notebooks or for those who want to archive content to optical discs.

The external MediaStation connects conveniently via USB 2.0 or eSATA, and the internal drive can be easily installed into your PC via SATA. Both devices also include CyberLink software suite for Windows with DVD Up-Sampling, which allows you to view DVDs in near HD quality. The MediaStation is a great solution to periodically backup and archive your data, preventing content from being altered or erased in the event your system is attacked by a virus or other malware.

"Everyday digital media continues to grow as an essential part of our lives," stated Ken Higgins, vice president of sales at Buffalo Technology. "By combining the ability to read, write and playback DVDs, CDs and Blu-ray discs, the two new MediaStation drives offer the best of both worlds with superior video quality and unmatched performance."

Both MediaStation devices have an easy setup process and no drivers are required to operate. Buffalo's MediaStation Blu-ray drives support the following formats: Blu-ray BD-R 8x, Blu-ray BD-RE 2x, DVD RAM 5x, DVD -R 16x, DVD +R 16x, DVD-RW 6x, DVD +RW 8x, CD-R 48x, and CD-RW 24x.

For full video editing and playback, both devices include PowerDVD for video viewing, PowerDirector for video editing, Power2Go for DVD authoring and burning, PowerBackup for archiving and backup, and PowerProducer for HD video capturing and authoring as well as burning DVDs and Blu-ray. In addition, both drives ship with InstantBurn and Medi@Show to complete any presentation. The MediaStation External drive offers the flexibility of two ports, one USB 2.0 and one eSATA. It measures 6.4" x 1.9" x 11" and weighs only 3.97 pounds. The internal drive simply slides into a standard drive bay.

Pricing and Availability
Backed by a limited one-year warranty and toll-free 24/7 technical support, the MediaStation 8x External Blu-ray Drive and MediaStation 8x Internal Blu-ray Drive will be available later this month at estimated street prices of $399.99 for the external (BR-816SU2) and $349.99 for the internal (BR-816FBS) drive.

www.buffalotech.com

Advanced Media, Inc., manufacturer and marketer of the popular Ridata brand of recordable DVD, flash media, electronic storage products, and digital accessories, is celebrating National Pet Peeve Week October 12 through 18. The company is reminding flash media users there is a solution to the annoying ‘too small/too slow’ pet peeves many of them have. The Ridata® 32GB/233x MLC Lightning CompactFlash® card boasts one of the largest capacities (32GB), fastest transfer rates (233x high-speed reading capability) available in a CF card.

“We are constantly hearing that flash media users get upset over wanting more storage and faster speeds,” remarked Harvey Liu, president of Advanced Media, Inc. “So as the nation takes note of National Pet Peeve Week during the second week of October, we are happy to point out that Ridata already has a viable, easy-on-the-budget solution: our 32GB/233x Lightning Series CompactFlash card. More data storage, faster read times. In today’s world of sophisticated mobile digital products, it makes sense.”

The Ridata 32GB/233X CF card is perfect for users of higher megapixel digital cameras, MP3 players, and PDAs. Its ultra-large 32GB capacity allows more storage while virtually eliminating the nagging wait time for data to record. Designed to work with most devices and operating systems, it can withstand extreme operating temperatures, ranging from below freezing to excessive heat.

Its 233x high-speed reading capability equates to approximately 35MB/per sec, while the 100x high-speed writing capability is about 15MB/per second. (Note: Speeds may vary depending on device used.)

The Multi Level Cell (MLC) CF card includes many superior technical features Ridata products are known for. Some of these are: controller support for Ultra DMA Mode up to Mode 4; 8 or 16-bit host transfer support with any host speed using IORDY; and embedded Error Correction Code (ECC). The card also provides forward and backward functionality.

The Ridata 32GB/233x Lightning Series CF card is an excellent choice in solid-state mass-storage cards for hand-held devices or applications that require high-environmental tolerance. It offers flash technology ruggedness, reliability, performance, and convenience. An automatic power management feature assures low power consumption.

Cost and Availability
The ‘too small/too slow’ pet-peeve-solving Ridata 32GB/233x Lightning Series CompactFlash card is competitively street priced. It is available through selected retailers, Ridata distributors, and at various online outlets, including Amazon.com. A complete listing of locations may be found on the Advanced Media/Ridata website. It carries a two-year warranty.

The Ridata website now offers a tutorial with tips on how to care and handle flash media. Some of the topics covered include formatting cards, when and how; the importance of programs such as ‘PhotoRescue’ to ensure proper image recovery; problems with over shooting cards; mixing cards between different systems, good or bad idea; and when to remove cards from a product.

For more information, visit www.ritekusa.com.