Filed under: CES, HDTV, Storage
Forget single-layer media, that dual-layer stuff that was all the rage last year, and even the triple-layered flavor that got announced just days ago. Heck, even an eight-layer disc would be forced to bow down to the sure-to-be-outdone-soon ten-layer rendition supposedly crafted by Ritek. No sooner than we all celebrated the idea of a 51GB HD DVD, Ritek has reportedly "designed HD media with a full ten layers," not to mention the supposed three- and four-layer coasters it has laying around while working its way up. As if that weren't impressive enough, it also claims that this multi-layer process can be applied to both HD DVD and Blu-ray, a feat that Toshiba's recent creation can't quite compete with. Of course, Ritek officials were quick to point out that the "real barrier to this advancement is the lack of reader / writer laser diodes to support the additional layers," but if there really are 250GB BD discs just waiting to get spun, those ...

The porn industry picks HD-DVD over Sony's Blu-ray format. In Gadget Lab.

Blog: The deciding factor in the case of HD DVD vs. Blu-ray may be this: who will work with the porn industry?According to some bloggers,...

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Media PCs
It's already busted out a new high-end, Vista-running media center PC at CES, but the folks at Envive have also taken the opportunity to unveil its new Panorama software platform that'll be giving a boost to its E-Center line of home media servers. The company's keeping a lot of the hard details under wraps for the time being, but it has announced that there will be three separate incarnations of Panorama: the Panorama Cinema Server, Panorama Total DVR, and Panorama Complete Home. First up, the Cinema Server will let you store lossless copies of CDs and DVDs on an E-Center server and access 'em from anywhere on your home network, and while it apparently won't support it right off the bat, Envive is promising future streaming support for HD-DVD and Blu-ray movies. Next up, the Panorama Total DVR's fairly self-descriptive, giving you full ATSC and NTSC TV recording with support for up to eight tuners, as well as remotely accessible PVR funct...

Digital Playground, an adult movie producer (for those of you pretending not to know), claims that they can only release their features on HD DVD discs since Sony will not allow XXX content on Blu-ray.
I've tried my best to avoid making cheap Betamax/Blue-ray comparisons, because I thought it pigeonholed a new technology that had promise but little real world exposure.
This comparison, however, is an unavoidable direct parallel. At this point the story is still rumor...and I really can't imagine Sony making the same mistake twice. –Mark Wilson
No Porn on Sony [via digg]

Filed under: CES, Misc. Gadgets, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Laptops

We hit up Toshiba's booth yesterday and browsed the wares. With various frills like portable HD DVD drives, SD Home Audio systems, Regza 1080p sets and of course that R400 Vista flagship, there was plenty to love. Nothing really blew us away, delivering on the CES theme this year of "no alarms and no surprises," but it was a solid offering nonetheless. So jump into the gallery and prepare to be not-quite-blown-away and yet mildly-impressed.


Toshiba booth tour 
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
While Sony's certainly had its fair share of blue laser supply issues, and the current generation of HD DVD / Blu-ray burners are sluggish at best, it looks like the first step towards marginally acceptable write speeds to next generation formats has been taken. According to Nikkei, Sanyo has developed a blue laser diode which will speed up data access, and moreover, should be able to reach write speeds of "up to 6x for dual-layer discs." Similar to LG's combo unit, this diode also plays nice with both HD DVD and Blu-ray recorders, but there's no word if a hybrid writer using the laser is in our immediate future. Still, any progress towards harmony between the formats -- not to mention being able to burn a dual-layer Blu-ray disc in time for your next birthday -- is a step in the right direction, so we're expecting nothing less than a 6x burner to be hitting shelves sooner rather than later, Sanyo. [Warning: read link requires subscription]...

Filed under: Cellphones, CES, HDTV, Home Entertainment

LG's booth really was as massive as we predicted. After several hours of endless journeying, we finally extricated ourselves from the bowls of LG's labyrinthian arrangement of cellphones and oddly-named dual format Blu-ray & HD DVD players. These photos shall serve as a testament to this day, and the events that occurred. Events like seeing fast LCDs, enormous plasmas, and tiny projectors.


LG's CES Booth Tour 
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Warner Home Entertainment unveiled a demonstration of the Total Hi Def disc at CES this week promising discs that can support 30GB HD-DVD and 50GB Blu-Ray on the same disc. According to the press ...

One of Panasonic's LCDs announced at CES this year is the 32-inch TC-32LX700 LCD HDTV. It does 720p, has HDMI, 16:9 widescreen and SD slot, all of which sounds pretty normal, right? Yes, but it also includes Alpa IPS, Motion Picture Pro and a glorious 120 Hz refresh rate that will make even the most anal-retentive DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-ray watchers happy without the sloppy 30fps conversion that most TVs do, which causes ghosting. It will be available in March and there is no set price point. –Travis Hudson