Archive for August, 2009

Firmware: Free fixes from them to you

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
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by: John Sciacca
Years ago, when you bought a product and took it home, what you had was what you got. If something didn’t work quite right, or if a new must-have feature rolled out, well that was just too bad. Your only recourse was to purchase a new piece of gear.
Today, however, most A/V components are really just purpose-built computers at heart and Internet connectivity is becoming commonplace. This means that there is hope for a product that has a little glitch or that could benefit from a new feature. The solution comes in the form of downloadable software updates and firmware revisions. Much like Microsoft routinely rolls out little patches, updates and improvements for their Windows operating system, A/V manufacturers have embraced the idea of updating their products to keep them performing their best. And best of all, these are provided absolutely free!
Some products offer upgradability to better stave off obsolescence in case a “better mousetrap” is found down the road. One example of this is the highly vaunted HQV video processing chip from Silicon Optix. This can be updated to take advantage of new processing codecs and algorithms as they are developed. Other companies have used updates to enable iPhone/iTouch control.
Sometimes, an update is needed to correct an error that went unnoticed before the product rolled out the door. This allows the manufacturer to avoid costly recalls and issue a quick in-field fix that benefits everyone. With Blu-ray discs and their constantly changing encryption schemes, updates ensure that older players can play the latest releases.
Even when a product is lacking an Internet or serial port connection, all hope isn’t lost. Yamaha recently rolled out an update that allowed installers to reassign digital audio inputs on their receivers. The update was burned as a WAV audio file and then played on a CD player connected to one of the receiver’s digital audio inputs! Sweet!
One of the best examples of a product that has received terrific, on-going updates is Sony’s Playstation3. Among many other upgrades, the PS3 has benefitted from Blu-ray improvements that made it profile 1.1 then profile 2.0 compliant, and then added the ability to decode DTS HD Master Audio soundtracks.
While there is no guarantee that a manufacturer will use updates to add a certain feature, the ability to update and improve a product after its release is very promising indeed.

Posted in Blu-Ray, Firmware | 2 Comments »

Blu-ray: The winner?

Thursday, August 13th, 2009
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blu-ray-the-winnerby: John Sciacca

Surely everyone remembers the latest format war. I happened to be at the Toshiba press conference in January 2008; the day that Toshiba’s Jodi Sally tearfully/agonizingly acknowledged that Warner would be switching allegiance to Blu-ray, effectively throwing the final tractor trailer load of dirt onto HD-DVD’s coffin, cementing Blu-ray as the “winner.”


But have they really won? Are people buying Blu-rays?


If you read the circulated numbers, you’ll see things like sales of Blu-ray titles being up 91% for the first six months of the year. “Wow! 91%! That’s huge!” Or is it?


Percentages don’t tell the whole story. I could tell you that I had a 2500% increase in funds. I could also tell you that I found a quarter. For Blu-ray, that 91% equals $407 million dollars. Compare that to the $14.5 billion that DVD pulled in last year.


From what I see, no one is buying Blu-rays. I recently vacationed in Destin, Florida and visited the Barnes & Nobles there. The girl running the video section said she’d never sold a Blu-ray disc. I go to my Super Wal-Mart about three times a week (the reality is every bit as depressing as it sounds) and I have never seen anyone even looking at the Blu-ray section, let alone buying any.


So, what’s the problem? It’s not the quality; Blu-ray looks and sounds amazing. (Please – PLEASE! – don’t try and tell me about your upconverting DVD player. It doesn’t look as good. It…doesn’t…look…as…good.) I have been a Netflix subscriber since they started, and now I shudder when I get a disc that isn’t Blu-ray. (Even though Netflix now charges a premium for the privilege. Why I oughta….) The audio/video performance is definitely not the problem.


While it took Blu-ray a while to get their players all sorted out (profile 1.0, 1.1, 2.0… WTF!?), the players are now (mostly) up to finalized spec. And the pricing is down where it needs to be with players at the sub $200 level. So it isn’t the players.


The problem is the software. The price for movies is just WAY too high. Most Blu-ray titles are marked at $34.99 and higher. And when the Blu-ray is sitting next to the double-disc-ultimate-extended-director’s cut DVD selling for $14.99, it makes it hard to get excited about plopping down the extra $20.


So, here’s a crazy idea… This is a new format. Why not, I dunno, incentivize me to support it? Instead of $20 more, why not $1 less. By God, I might actually buy two! Especially for films that are being re-released that I probably already bought. Yeah, I’m looking at you Terminator 2 and the four versions (VHS, Laser Disc and two DVDs) I already have. (And don’t get me started on George Lucas and all my versions of Star Wars…)


What do you think? Have you gone Blu? And if so, what is the magic price point that has you opening up your wallet to add discs to your collection?

Posted in Blu-Ray, Video Formats | 1 Comment »