Panasonic will release the LF-BD371JD SATA Blu-ray Burner this September 13th. This internal drive burns Blu-ray discs at the speed of 8x and features an 8MB buffer. The LF-BD371JD will also support formats DVD-RAM (5x), DVD-R (16x), DVD-R DL (8x), DVD-RW (6x), CD-R (48x), CD-RW(24x). The cost will be $386.
Tags: Blu-ray Drives, LF-PB371JD, Panasonic
Bluraymods.com is now offering a completely region free Panasonic DMP-BD30 and is available either pre-modified or in a Do-it-Yourself kit. This player will grant you access to all 6 DVD regions and three Blu-ray regions, and it will work with any firmware upgrades. The price has gotten cheaper than past region-free Blu-ray players and this one will set you back only €499 for the player and €69 for the DIY kit.
[Bluraymods.com] via [EngadgetHD]
Tags: Blu-ray News, Blu-ray Players, Panasonic, Panasonic DMP-BD30
Panasonic announced today they will be releasing the world’s first 6x BD-R, set for July availability in Japan. The are releasing the 6x BD-Rs in 25GB and 50GB capacities to meet consumer demand to write and read large amounts of data at a higher speed. The writing speeds will vary from 1x to 6x for high-quality recording, so even if the drive’s laser power fluctuates, it will result in greater overall drive compatibility. Blu-ray drives compatible with 6x media will be commercialized in Japan by the end of September.
Tags: Blu-ray Media, Panasonic
Panasonic has just announced that their DMR-BW500 Blu-ray recorder should now be in stock in Australian stores. It holds the distinction of being the first Blu-ray recorder to be sold outside of Japan. As we had previously announced it offers full 1080p recording on its 500GB HDD or onto Blu-ray media. It also includes a Twin HD Digital Tuner which allows you to record two programs simultaneously.
The unit is priced at $2,299 AUD ($2171.00 USD), which might seem like a lot until we compare it to the first DVD recorders to hit Australia back in 2000 which started at $6,499 AUD ($6138.31).
Tags: Blu-ray News, Blu-ray Players, Blu-ray Recorders, DMR-BW500, Panasonic, Panasonic DMR BW500
Panasonic announced the DMP-BD50 Blu-ray player at CES 2008 and said it would feature Profile 2.0 and onboard decoding for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio all for a $700 sticker price. It is the first complete Blu-ray player to get reviewed by CNET and it came away with good marks on its “excellent image quality” and “outstanding soundtrack support”. However, standard DVD performance is lackluster, with operational speed still sluggish compared to Playstation 3. So while they name it their favorite standalone player so far, they say the majority of buyers are better still much better off with a PS3.
Click the link below for the full review
[CNET]
Tags: Blu-ray News, Blu-ray Players, DMP-BD50, Panasonic, Panasonic DMP-BD50, Playstation 3, PS3
Panasonic is set to release the DMR-BW500 in Australia this June. It offers the highest recording available with full 1080p recording onto the built in 500GB HDD or Blu-ray media. The HDD holds up to 72 hours of 1080p content while a 50GB double-layer Blu-ray disc will hold 6 hours and 40 minutes in 1080p. On the audio front, it can record 5.1-channel Dolby Digital surround sound broadcasts with no deterioration in sound quality or surround effects. Other models that have been announced are the DMR-EX88, DMR-EX78 and DMR-EZ48V. Check out the link below for more info.
[SmartHouse] via [EngadgetHD]
Tags: Blu-ray Media, Blu-ray Players, DMR-BW500, Panasonic, Panasonic DMR BW500
Panasonic has developed the world’s first Blu-ray player-specific single-chip signal processing LSI. The chip is in its 3rd generation and supports all Profile 2.0 features and functions including dual-screen simultaneous video playback, high-quality audio playback, and network compatibility all on a single chip. Using cutting edge processing, the chip size was reduced by 50% and means a 25% reduction in power consumption compared to previous versions. All this will translate into higher yields and lower prices. Samples of the LSI won’t start shipping until June so don’t expect to see this in any Blu-ray players in the near future.
Tags: Blu-ray News, Blu-ray Players, Panasonic
Panasonic is now shipping its first Home Theater in a Box system that includes a Blu-ray player. Among the features of the SC-BT100 is a dock for iPods that allows charging, control via the home theater remote, and both music and video playback. It also comes with an SD card slot which allows easy viewing of hi-def videos and photos. On the audio front, this HTiB is compatible with Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD, DTS-HD, DTS-HD High Resolution, DTS-HD Master Audio, and Linear PCM. All this will set you back a cool $999.95 and is now shipping.
Tags: Blu-ray HTiB, Blu-ray Players, Panasonic, Panasonic SC-BT100, SC-BT100
