“Stagnating production volumes” for optical discs “suggest a weak market” for new Ultra HD Blu-ray disc production, Singulus said Thursday in a first-half 2016 report. The “hesitant introduction” of Ultra HD Blu-ray “in the current business year does not provide the stimulus for additional investments,” said Singulus, one of the world’s largest suppliers of disc-replication equipment. Though the first Ultra HD Blu-rays were released in April, and “nearly all Hollywood studios have started the distribution of movies” on the new format, “there is still a lack of adequate players at attractive market prices for the mass market,” it said. Singulus is in talks with “all major disc producers, but still does not see the customers’ willingness to invest into the new machine technology” called Bluline III, it said. Bluline III is equipment that can produce three-layer, 100-GB Ultra Blu-rays, but Singulus has been vague on disc production costs and yields compared with the 66-GB discs that most studios have been using for Ultra HD Blu-ray movies (see 1510140041).
While voice control continues to pop up as the interface of the future, the future of Amazon’s Dot, an Alexa-based miniature version of the Echo, remains in doubt. The Dot, a hockey-puck-shaped speaker that brings Alexa functionality to third-party speakers, sold out at Amazon this summer, leading to speculation it has been discontinued. Several Amazon customers said on an Echo support page they were told by Amazon customer service staff that the company wouldn’t be making any more of the devices. But positive reviews for the $90 Dot created the lingering impression Amazon has something up its sleeve -- whether for the original Dot that came to market in limited supply, or a tweaked upgrade that shares many of the Dot’s features. An Amazon spokeswoman told us customer response to Echo Dot has been “incredibly positive and we are surprised to have sold out so quickly.” Amazon hears daily about new use cases customers have discovered with their Dots, she said. “I expect Echo Dot will be a big hit this holiday season,” she teased, telling us to “stay tuned for more on availability.” The Amazon Tap, meanwhile, which launched at the same time as the Dot, is still available and is being discounted by some third-party retailers including Bed Bath & Beyond and B&H Photo Video (see 1608080011).
Citing a Nikkei story in Japanese, a Quartz article Thursday said the last VCR will be made at the end of the month. Funai Electronics, which manufactures AV gear under license from brands Sylvania, Emerson Radio, Magnavox, Philips and Sanyo, will produce its final VCR batch by July 30, due partly to difficulty securing parts, said Quartz. At peak VCR production, Funai sold 15 million units, Quartz said, and it reportedly sold 750,000 units last year. “Excluding hardcore fans,” said Quartz, “demand for VCRs is virtually nonexistent.” Funai didn't immediately comment.
DTS:X tools for digital media content professionals will be available worldwide the first week of August through the company’s website and via its authorized distribution partners, Jargon Technologies and Scenarist, DTS said in a news release Wednesday. The software-based tools enable professionals to create DTS:X immersive audio streams for Blu-ray Disc, Ultra HD Blu-ray and streaming media, said the company. The software suite includes the DTS:X Encoder and DTS:X MediaPlayer together for $1,495, and the DTS:X MediaPlayer is available as a standalone product for $495, it said. The DTS:X MediaPlayer enables users to check audio against video prior to final multiplexing, authoring or packaging and supports various file types and video formats, including HEVC, DTS said.
DTS and Paramount announced the first titles to release on Blu-ray with DTS:X object-based immersive audio. Titles include Daddy’s Home, The Big Short, Zoolander No. 2: The Magnum Edition and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, said the companies in a Tuesday news release. An AV receiver or soundbar with DTS:X technology is required for the full immersive audio experience, said DTS, citing Denon, Marantz, Sony, Trinnov and Yamaha as brands that have issued firmware updates to make select AV receivers compatible with DTS:X. Over the rest of the year, brands including Acurus, Anthem, Arcam, Integra, Krell, McIntosh, Onkyo, Outlaw Audio, Pioneer, Steinway Lyngdorf and Theta Digital/ATI are expected to release DTS:X firmware updates for their receivers. Yamaha will issue a firmware update to its YSP-5600 soundbar this summer, DTS said. On Daddy's Home, The Big Short, Zoolander No. 2: The Magnum Edition and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Paramount and DTS will also make a DTS Headphone:X track available via participating digital retailers, they said.
Consumer ease of use, media interoperability and support for HEVC video codecs are among the new functionalities enabled by DLNA 4.0, Duncan Bees, Digital Living Network Alliance vice president-technology and strategy, told us. A test and certification program will be available late this year and a new logo will communicate that products certified to DLNA 4.0 have the highest level of interoperability, said Bees. Citing the "broad shift" in video from HD to 4K resolution, Bees said the latest DLNA version supports user-generated and premium service content, but doesn't support high dynamic range. The updated media format profile removes optional, outdated profiles that don't have enough test content, he said. Improvements in 4.0 allow interoperability between streaming and other types of devices, creating a more seamless customer experience, said Bees. Applicable products include TVs, PCs, NAS drives, media servers, tablets, mobile devices, set-top boxes and DLNA-enabled home gateways. The new requirements say a baseline or common denominator set of formats must be supported for certain types of media that will be used by rendering devices such as TVs, smartphones and tablets. “Exotic” formats can be supported but also must be accompanied by a resolution in a standard format, said Bees, allowing “most any type of rendering device to accept any video file from the server,” he said. “You can have all the formats you want,” he said, but must be able to transcode audio or video into a standardized format,” he said. Other features include more robust playback, said Bees. He cited user recorded content from a video camera or cellphone that in the past might have produced an error resulting in a black TV screen on playback. In 4.0, the server will “try again” with a lower resolution file, he said. The latest guidelines also boost power efficiency through low power modes that enable connected devices to work together to reduce energy consumption in the home. The guidelines support IPv6 to ensure DLNA 4.0-certified devices will continue to function as more networks transition to the protocol, he said.
Bang & Olufsen is adding Google Cast capability at the end of June to its BeoSound 35 all-in-one wireless music system and second-generation BeoSound Essence controller, it said by email Wednesday. To enable the technology, Bang & Olufsen users tap the Cast button on a streaming music app to play music from their systems, said the company. B&O billed Google Cast as a way for users to enjoy music from the cloud instead of playing music directly from a smartphone and risking music disruption from a text message or phone call. Google Cast also saves a phone’s battery life, it said. For B&O customers, Google Cast joins AirPlay, BeoLink Multiroom, Bluetooth and DLNA as music streaming options. Philips, Select LG and Sony audio products are Google Cast-compatible, and compatible products are due soon from Harman/Kardon, Onkyo, Raumfeld and Vizio, said the Google Cast website.
Dolby said more than 600 Dolby Atmos screens are planned or installed in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Partners including Globus Max, NOS Cinemas and Traumpalast committed to an additional 95 Atmos screens due to open through next year, said Dolby Monday. Worldwide momentum for Dolby Atmos continues to grow, said the company, with more than 1,800 Atmos screens installed or committed to in 60 countries, 130 mixing facilities and more than 465 titles announced.
Dolby is collaborating with Highfive on a meeting room AV solution combining Dolby Voice with Highfive's videoconferencing technology, it said Wednesday. Integrating Highfive’s hardware and cloud service with Dolby Voice creates a solution that “replaces noisy conference calls with a complete audio and video experience,” said Dolby CEO Kevin Yeaman in a statement. Dolby’s audio device picks up all the voices in the room and “presents them clearly to other attendees as if they are coming from distinct virtual locations,” said Dolby. Participants can more easily hear and follow conversations, with remote participants feeling like they’re in the room, it said.
About two dozen Ultra HD Blu-ray titles were introduced Q1 in the U.S. to support Samsung’s release of the industry’s only Ultra HD Blu-ray player, and consumer demand was “impressive,” the Digital Entertainment Group said in a Friday quarterly report. Consumers bought more than 80,000 Ultra HD Blu-ray discs “in their first weeks of launch,” DEG said. That’s twice the number of discs sold in the comparable period after the Blu-ray launch, it said. Samsung’s Ultra HD Blu-ray players also were “quickly purchased,” but “with only one manufacturer in the market place, the DEG cannot report sales figures,” it said in a footnote. Total U.S. spending on home entertainment content declined 1.8 percent in Q1 to $4.55 billion, DEG said. Sell-through of packaged goods fell 13.2 percent to $1.38 billion, but total spending on digital content delivery jumped 13 percent to $2.48 billion, led by the 19 percent increase in spending on subscription streaming, to $1.41 billion, DEG said.