More people renting DVD and Blu-ray Discs?

I just noticed a New York Times blog post about the sales trends of DVD and Blu-ray discs. While numbers for DVD and Blu-ray weren't broken out, overall sales for discs were down big in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Here's the key quote from the article:

In last year's fourth quarter, usually a big one for DVD sales...the studios' revenue from sell-through of conventional DVDs and Blu-ray discs fell 23.4 percent, to US$2.6 billion from US$3.4 billion. This drop of US$800 million, Adams Research figures, shaved fully US$500 million from the studios' operating profit because they have normally had a very high, 60 percent profit margin on sell-through revenue.

None of this is all that surprising, of course. First of all, the economy sucks, so people are trying to save more. Second, consumers are gradually transitioning from DVD to Blu-ray--or at least considering it--so there's less incentive to continue building that DVD collection. Put it all together, and you have people doing the smart thing: Renting, not buying.

Unfortunately for studios, the trend toward renting vs. buying DVD and Blu-ray discs is probably only going to get more pronounced in the coming months--and maybe even years--especially when you consider the high cost of Blu-ray discs.

As always, feel free to comment about your own personal situation.

Via CNET.com

Sony wings "W" LCDs with Yahoo widgets

At Sony's line show in Las Vegas, the company announced another new line of HDTVs with Yahoo widgets, the company's least-expensive HDTVs yet to feature the interactive doo-dads.

The KDL-W5100 series will consist of three screen sizes: The 52-inch KDL-52W5100; 46-inch KDL-46W5100; and 40-inch KDL-40W5100. Sony did not announce pricing or availability beyond "spring", and that information was not leaked along with other Sony HDTVs' price and availability.


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Sony unveils HT-CT500 sound bar/subwoofer combo

When CNET reviewed the Sony HT-CT100 in the spring of 2008, we hailed the US$300 single-speaker audio system as one of the best values in its class. For 2009, Sony will be offering a step-up version, the HT-CT500. The US$500 system retains the same basic two-part design (sound bar plus subwoofer), but supersizes it with a wider speaker unit and more powerful onboard 400W amplifier. The overall system delivers a 3.1 effect, thanks to the left/center/right speakers mounted in the sound bar.

Unlike the HDMI-only HT-CT100, the 500 supplements its three HDMI inputs with two component-video jacks and several audio inputs as well--and those analog inputs can be upconverted to HDMI output, so you'll need just a single cable running to your TV. Other niceties include an icon-based onscreen menu system and the ability to wirelessly transmit audio to other products that utilize Sony's S-AIR feature. Look for the HT-CT500 in June 2009.

Via CNET.com

Sony's BDP-S560 Blu-ray player goes wireless

Standalone Blu-ray players have finally started catching up with the Sony PlayStation 3 for Blu-ray playback, but Sony's game console is still the only Blu-ray player with built-in Wi-Fi.

Luckily, that appears to be changing in 2009, with both Samsung and LG announcing wireless Blu-ray players at CES 2009 and Sony showcasing its own wireless Blu-ray player, the BDP-S560. The BDP-S560 includes 802.11N Wi-Fi, which means you'll be able to access BD-Live features without dragging an Ethernet cord into your living room.

The wireless connection can also be used for firmware updates and accessing photos on other DLNA-enabled devices. The press release doesn't state whether music or movies can be streamed, but we assume it's limited to just photo streaming, like the company's DLNA televisions from last year. Photos can also be accessed via a front-panel USB port.


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Sony lowers price on Blu-ray HTIBs

As Blu-ray continues its meteoric progression toward commodity-hood, Sony is doing its part to speed the process by building BD players into increasingly affordable home-theater-in-a-box systems, or HTIBs.

The company announced two new systems with built-in Blu-ray players, the BDV-E300 (US$600 street) and BDV-E500W (US$800), at its 2009 Las Vegas line show. Both models incorporate full-featured Profile 2.0 Blu-ray players that can send the latest BD soundtracks, including Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio, out over the included speakers (or out an HDMI port via LPCM or bitstream). Sony's press release didn't include wattage specs for either system.


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