HD DVD Format Edges Ahead

The social networking site Facebook has surveyed their community about the next gen DVD war and surprisingly HD DVD got 64 percent of the vote. Also Amazon.com has announced that Toshiba's HD DVD player ranks at number one for their electronics category - maybe something to do with their price reductions and their bundling of players with HDTVs.

Good news for HD DVD but not great news for the resolution of the format wars.

SKY HD Show Superman in HD

If you're lucky enough to have Sky HD then you're in for a treat with their Sky Movies Premiere service from September 8-14 showing Superman Returns, one of the first features to be shot with the Panavision Genesis HD camera.

For those not in the 'biz' this is one of the first non-film cameras to shoot a major Hollywood movie and therefore a pivotal moment in film history.

Other Sky HD highlights are :

Nick Love's Outlaw movie shot with a Sony f900 camcorder - from Sept 14
Golf Solheim Cup - from Sept 14

Blu Ray Beating HD DVD in US

From Reuters:

A recent report claimed that Blu-ray high-definition movie discs outsold films on the rival HD-DVD format by 2-to-1 in the United States in the first half of 2007.

The report said total sales of Blu-ray discs totaled 1.6 million units from January 1 through July 1, compared with 795,000 HD-DVD discs sold in that period.

Blockbuster Inc, the largest U.S. provider of home movie entertainment, in June set out plans to line its shelves with Blu-ray DVDs, saying Blu-ray rentals were "significantly outpacing" HD-DVD rentals.

Sharp Want to be World's Biggest LCD Maker

From FT.com:

Sharp plans to invest Y380bn ($3.1bn) in a tenth-generation liquid crystal display plant in Japan in an effort to gain a crucial head-start on rival Sony and Samsung.

The plant will be the world’s first to use tenth-generation glass substrates, which can yield six 60-inch or 15 40-inch LCD panels from a single sheet of glass.

Tto boost efficiency, Corning, the glass maker, will have a plant next to Sharp’s, and Dai-Nippon Printing and Kansai Electric Power will also be located on the premises.

The total investment for the LCD “park” in western Japan, will exceed Y1,000bn.

Samsung, Sony and Sharp, the industry leaders, are in a three-way race to produce the largest flat-panel televisions, which command higher margins.

LCD televisions have been hit by severe price competition. In 2006, prices dropped 30 per cent and similar declines are expected this year. Sharp, however, said the average selling price of its LCD TVs increased 4 per cent in 2006, due to sales of larger-screen and high-definition sets in Japan.

Although Sharp is the world’s third-biggest LCD TV maker, after Sony and Samsung, its new plant will give it a significant boost. Sony, which has a joint venture with Samsung to produce LCD panels, will only start production at its eighth-generation plant next month.

UK AV Shows Combine For 2008

Emap Media and VCM Events announced this week details of a major new exhibition to be held in London next year. Broadcast LIVE & VideoForum 2008 will be held from January 30th to February 1st at Earls Court 2.

The three-day exhibition will showcase technology for the entire chain of production, post, management and delivery. The event will be supported by a massive programme of seminars covering the craft, technical and business issues that everyone working in the industry is faced with. The new show will bring together the worlds of video, TV, new media and IP delivery, reflecting the convergence that is happening throughout the industry.

Event Director, Kieron Seth, said: "The whole industry has been calling with one voice for VCM and Emap to work together. Broadcast LIVE & VideoForum 2008 will deliver to the UK the kind of event that most other countries enjoy. The event team is thrilled at the prospect of delivering a big show that will give unprecedented returns to exhibitors and a fantastic learning, buying and networking opportunity for the visitors."

Conor Dignam, Publishing Director of Broadcast, said: "Emap Media wanted to bring to the market a unified exhibition that delivers exceptional value to exhibitors and an even more exciting experience for visitors over three days. The union with VideoForum makes tremendous sense for the whole industry and we are very excited about the new show."

The team behind the new event will draw on the strengths of both organisers, with key roles for Charlotte Bowskill and Kieron Seth to ensure continuity of service for all customers.

Carl Pring, Marketing Manager of Sony UK (Broadcast & B2B), who exhibits at both shows, commented: "It is fantastic to see the two biggest and most important exhibitions in the UK Broadcast & Professional industry so focused on the customer. I believe that by merging the two exhibitions Sony can now better position itself across all applications and make sure all areas of the professional industry are catered for. Great news all round!"

Avid UK & MEA General Manager, Paul Glasgow, also an exhibitor at both shows said, "The announcement to combine Broadcast LIVE and VideoForum is great news for both vendors and clients alike; I think this will result in an event that will be bigger and better than the sum of its parts."

Welcoming the new event, Roger Crompton, CEO of the IABM, stated: "This is a very positive development from the perspective of IABM members. While both events were established and respected neither had the full support of the supplier community. Hopefully the new venture will create a definitive video, broadcast and media technology event for the UK market. Our Exhibitions Group will meet shortly to consider the IABM's response to the news."