Audio Video News

In what could be a major blow to HD DVD in the format war, DVD rental giant Blockbuster announced that it will expand rental of Blu-ray Discs exclusively into 1,450 stores by mid-July. Blockbuster will continue to rent HD DVD discs online and in the 250 stores in which it has been renting both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs since late last year. For a running total, that's 1,700 exclusive Blu-ray stores and 250 stores stocking both formats.

What a difference a single dollar makes in the online DVD rental business. Blockbuster decided to take aggressive action to gain traction in the online DVD rental business, which "projections" show as increasing 43% during the 2007 according to Blockbuster's Shane Evangelist (how's that for a cool name?!). So, it is now offering a subscription plan called Blockbuster by Mail that's a whole $1 cheaper than its existing Blockbuster Total Access plans. The Blockbuster by Mail plan will be online only as opposed to the Total Access plans which is comprised of both online and in-store rentals.

Talk about news stories of ironic proportions. On Monday the HD DVD Promotional Group trumpeted record sales of standalone HD DVD players three weeks into an agressive marketing campaign that featured major advertising support and $100 in-store rebates on players. According to the press release, 150,000 standalone HD DVD players have been purchased by consumers, representing 60% of the dedicated player market.

Two up-and-coming DTV makers are in the doghouse. The Federal Communications Commission has fined them for failing to build digital tuners into their flat-panel sets

The boundary between television and the internet blurred a little further on Monday, when Hearst-Argyle Television and YouTube announced a deal that would bring local news to the popular video-sharing service.

The bitterly contested race between rival high-def disc formats has heated up with the announcement of the lowest-priced Blu-ray player yet, the Sony BDP-S300 for $499. Though the PS3 had hit the same price, this is a new low for a standalone Blu-ray player.

Sony announced nine new BRAVIA LCD flat panel HDTVs today. The new models are in screen sizes of 40", 46", and 52" in both the W and XBR series. All are full 1080p, with 10-bit panels with 10-bit processing, and, in some models, Motionflow 120Hz high frame rate technology and x.v.Color.