Blu-Ray Disc Gets Momentum Here
Blu-ray discs are taking an edge over HD-DVD discs in the fledgling high-definition (HD) video market with strong support from big firms such as Samsung Electronics and Korea Telecom.
Samsung said it is working together with Sony for Blu-ray movie titles and players in Seoul. Korea Telecom also forged a strategic partnership with the Japanese company, which is the leader of the Blu-ray team, to launch an Internet-based TV service based on PlayStation3 console next month.
``The local Blu-ray market is starting to heat up as the supply of Full HD TVs and Full HD projectors is increasing and more movie titles are released,'' said Jun Dong-soo, executive vice president of Samsung's audio and video division. ``We will spur the growth of the market with new players that can satisfy consumers in both price and quality.''
Neither of Blu-ray and HD-DVD gained a strong foothold in Korea or in other countries. In the beginning, they received a lot of attention from the industry, which thought they would soon replace the vernacular DVD discs. However, as of now fewer than 40 movie titles are available in Korea and none of them have sold more than 2,000 copies.
In the beginning, Samsung was one of ardent supporters of the Blu-ray group and it had downplayed the HD-DVD format, which is bolstered by Toshiba and several major movie producers in the United States. But since last year, the firm changed its position to a neutral one because the meager sales of both formats made it hard to predict which would be the eventual winner. So instead of devoting itself to Blu-ray, Samsung sold an expensive dual player that can play both Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats.
Recent moves, however, showed that the electronics giant has finally settled on the Blu-Ray side. Last week, it launched a 600000 won Blu-Ray player, far more affordable than the one-million won model first introduced last year. The following weekend, the firm held a public showcase for the P1400 player and other beam projectors at the COEX exhibition center in southern Seoul together with Sony Pictures. The event was watched by members of DVD Prime, a prominent movie society on the Internet.
Korea Telecom, the telephone and Internet line operator, made a more ambitious move to utilize the HD video fever. The company said last month that it would soon connect its Internet-based TV broadcasting service to Sony's PlayStation 3 game console for the first time in the world. This is supposed to be a win-win strategy, as consumers will be able to use the console box as a Blu-ray player and set-top box for HD TV, it said.
The Blu-ray technology uses a blue-violet laser to read and write the disc. Because of the shorter wavelength of the blue-violet laser, compared to the red laser used for DVDs and CDs, it can store up to 25 gigabytes of information on a single disk, about five times more than a DVD.
In comparison to HD-DVD, which also uses a blue laser, Blu-ray disc has more information capacity per layer, but is known to be more costly to manufacturer.
One of the two formats was thought to replace the current DVD format to become a new market standard by around next year. But so far, the transition to the HD format has been far slower than expected due to high prices and lack of content.
Market reports are showing that the Blu-ray has nevertheless taken a sharp edge over HD-DVD in the format war worldwide. According to Home Media Magazine, American consumers bought 2.6 million Blu-ray discs in the first nine months of the year and just 1.4 million HD-DVD discs.
In Korea, Warner and Sony Pictures are planning to release some 50 movie titles for either Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats by December, including blockbusters such as ``The Transformers.''
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news...tegoryCode=123