As with pretty much every other optical disc out there that claims to hold a near-infinite amount of data, we're still skeptical about TDK's ability to actually bring to market the 320GB spinner you see above. But hey -- it's got ten 32GB layers and it's practically see-through. Did you really expect us to walk on by without clicking the shutter even once? Exactly.

Some think that discs are already dead, but that's because they're ignoring all the success Netflix is still having. Of course any company with a name like Netflix is obviously forward thinking -- the name isn't Discflix after all -- and on that note Reed Hastings, the CEO, told the WSJ that he expects to see significant declines in packaged media rentals in the next "four to nine years." We think that estimate is as good as any, but can't wait to see how the home media landscape changes between now and then. This is of course why Netflix is actively building it's streaming service which evidently is currently only used by 20 percent of Netflix customers.

Just in case you needed another reminder that despite some interesting developments, digital isn't quite overtaking disc just yet, as NPD's latest figures indicate 63 percent of consumer spending is still on DVD purchases. Blu-ray purchases snapped up 7 percent, rentals of DVD and Blu-ray discs together were rolled up to take 18 percent of the pie, VOD accounted for 9 percent with 3 percent of the cash left for digital downloads and online streaming. Still, all wasn't lost for internet based options, while out of the more than 11,000 surveyed only 9 percent of those with internet at home reported watching a movie via streaming that's up 4 points from last year, same for rented downloads, up to 8 percent from 4 in the previous year. The much hyped video game console marketplaces? Less than 5 percent of consumers have checked them out yet (We'll wait for one to launch on Wii.) Interestingly, but not all that surprising given the crossover, the same people into digital video are also heavy consumers of Blu-ray and DVD, but the overall indication is that packaged media still has some time in the spotlight before consumers find a reason to switch.

[Via Electronista]

Yeah, companies have been trumpeting their ability to crank out discs that will last long after Martians come and evaporate our minds here on Earth for some time, but for archive junkies out there, more is always better. On deck today is Mitsubishi's ARLEDIA DVD-Rs, which reportedly feature corrosion-resistant coatings made from gold and silver. 'Course, you can only write to these at 8x, but they are expected to last about twice as long as traditional recordable discs. Not like you'll be around to prove 'em wrong, though.

[Via Impress]

Sure, manufacturers have been cramming vanilla DVD content onto high-definition discs for some time, but aside from a few nifty features, they haven't gone out of their way to truly take advantage of all that space. Lionsgate and Marvel Enterprises are looking to change all that, as the duo plans to loose Ultimate Avengers: The Movie and Ultimate Avengers 2 on a single 50GB Blu-ray disc. Each film will reside on its own separate side, but neither will purportedly include DVD versions for use in standard players. Additionally, the flick will contain "two featurettes, a gag reel, a trivia track, and a first look at upcoming movie Dr. Strange," and should hit store shelves on April 24th for $39.99. Now, how long before we start seeing full-fledged trilogies on a single disc?

[Via TGDaily]

We already heard the Blu-ray Disc Association's opinion on the status of the format war and now we can look forward to Sony's marketing campaign pounding a single point home: The format war is over, Blu-ray has won, it's safe to get behind one high definition format. Forgetting for a moment that Universal Studios has not switched to supporting Blu-ray and the current availability of a dual-format player, the company is buoyed by the growing installed base of its PlayStation 3 console and a rising tide of Blu-ray disc sales. VideoBusiness reports HD DVD sales remain steady, and among standalone players still holds a slight lead in numbers. Still, there are a lot of buyers unwilling to buy into either camp and risk ending up with the equivalent of a Beta tape player. Is the format war over yet? Not really, but if Sony manages to convince consumers that it is then it becomes -- they hope -- a self fulfilling prophecy.

The video rental giant recently revealed it will off about 40 (each) Blu-ray and HD DVD titles for sale or rent at 250 of its locations. They're basing the rollout on customers that were early DVD adopters so good luck if you can find the discs at a store near you. Rental prices will be the same as standard DVDs, so if you're not already renting discs from Blockbuster Online or Netflix this should be a cheap way to check out those movies you've been missing...unless of course you're already downloading them directly to your Xbox 360. According to the article its good for retailers to remind customers that as they upgrade to HDTVs their local store will upgrade also, in the face of so much competition that would seem to be a very good idea. We've got so many options to get movies without leaving our houses or even couches, if a customer makes a trip to the store and they don't have something in stock, that might be the last time they bother going at all.

[Via HDBlog]

Unlike many fans of either format Criterion has so far been satisfied to sit on the sidelines and let things transpire as they may, and for the time being they will continue to. On the new Criterion Collection blog executive Peter Becker spelled out the company's view on the ongoing tiff between HD DVD and Blu-ray. Criterion benefited by moving from making well-received laserdiscs to the DVD format early on, but with the lack of a single standard, it is left with the choice of either alienating some customers, or creating two sets of inventory for all of its content. While dual releases might be feasible for larger players like Warner and Paramount, Criterion is going to let things shake themselves out before releasing HD content on disc. Since it has been mastering all of its films in HD for years one can only imagine the stockpile of content and extras waiting to be unleashed...someday.

Ever since the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player launched there have been rumors that it did not ship with the ability to read 50GB discs based on a passage in the manual which only cited 25GB compatibility.. Over at The Digital Bits, they cite unnamed sources from as recently as two weeks ago stating that dual-layer 50GB discs weren't available for testing (even though it was originally delayed for further compatibility testing) before the player launched and now that there are, they just don't work. The good news would be that this is apparently fixable via a firmware update like another BD-P1000 problem we've heard about; but this problem is figuring into the delay of not only dual-layer movies, but other upcoming standalone Blu-ray players as well. Firmware update or not, we're pretty sure early adopting Blu-ray buyers didn't spend $1000 to only be able to read 25GB discs. We'd love to confirm or deny these rumors, in fact, we'll just go grab a dual-layer movie release and put it in right now...oh. Like so many other things about this format war we'll have to wait and see.

The early impressions of Sony's initial Blu-ray releases are in and as you may have heard, they aren't so good. Many have pointed the blame at Sony's insistence on using MPEG-2 instead of the newer and more easily compressed MPEG-4. One of the reasons they cited for sticking with the older format was their insistence that the MPEG-4 authoring tools available were not of sufficient quality.

Whether that is true or not, Matsushita (Panasonic) has announced their own set of MPEG-4 Blu-ray encoder and authoring tools, which support Java (BD-J) for the interactive features Blu-ray is also capable of. According to what we can interpret of the press release, this will be available July 1st in United States yet Panasonic's (US) web site has no mention of it yet. Also no mention of cost or license fees, although this probably won't be on the shelf at CompUSA anytime soon.

Regardless, considering the apparent state of Blu-ray releases, we can't say for sure how much of the problem is the codec but one has to wonder how many discs will be released using the older technology if they continue to get poor reviews. Rumors have indicated the authoring tools made available by Sony support only MPEG-2 and for that reason all the studios have been using them. It will be interesting to see if there is any release date reshuffling of content in the same way some players have slipped, or if the other studios are able to get better results using Sony's own tools.

[Via AV Watch]

[Update] HDTV UK has more information on the MPEG-4 equipment available soon at the Panasonic Hollywood Library in California.