Blu-ray News and Updates
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Dracula (1958) 4K Blu-ray
Posted September 2, 2026 09:18 PM by Webmaster
Warner Archive, in association with Hammer Films, is preparing 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases of Terence Fisher's Dracula (1958), starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling, and Carol Marsh. The releases are scheduled to arrive on the market on October 27.
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One Night Only Collector's Edition 4K Blu-ray
Posted September 1, 2026 10:18 PM by Webmaster
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has officially announced that it will release on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray Will Gluck's romantic dramedy One Night Only (2026), starring Monica Barbaro, Callum Turner, Bobby Cannavale, Molly Ringwald, and LeVar Burton. The two releases are scheduled to arrive on the market on October 20.
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Gwendoline Limited Edition 4K Blu-ray
Posted August 31, 2026 09:16 PM by Webmaster
Severin Films has dated and detailed its upcoming Limited Edition 4K Blu-ray release of Just Jaeckin's Gwendoline (1984), starring Tawny Kitaen, Brent Huff, Zabou Breitman, Bernadette Lafont, and Jean Rougerie. The release is scheduled to arrive on the market on November 24.
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This Week on Blu-ray: August 31-September 6
Posted August 31, 2026 08:24 AM by Sean Greenwood
For the week of August 31st, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release 28 Days Later on 4K UHD. New releases include the anime series Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc (2025) from Crunchyroll and Dry Leaf from Cinema Guild. Catalog titles on Blu-ray include Ten Women in Black and The Magnificent Cuckold from Radiance Films, while catalog titles on 4K UHD include The Hot Spot from Radiance and Tekkonkinkreet from Shout Factory and GKIDS.
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Scream Factory and Shout Factory Announce November Releases
Posted August 31, 2026 06:08 AM by Webmaster
Scream Factory and Shout Factory have announced their November batch of releases. They are: The Chow Yun-Fat Collection Volume One, The Family Man (2000), Women in Prison Collection (1971-1985), and The Transformers: The Movie (1986).
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Advanced Video Codecs Added to BD-ROM Specification
Posted September 1, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) today announced which advanced video codecs will be included in the BD-ROM specification. They had previously stated that they would include at least one advanced video codec, possibly more than one. The advanced video codecs that will be mandatory are MPEG-4 AVC High Profile and Microsoft's VC-1 video codec (the proposed SMPTE standard based on WMV9). "We've been committed to adding advanced codecs to enrich the Blu-ray Disc format," said Blu-ray Disc spokesperson Maureen Weber, general manager of HP's Optical Storage Solutions Business. "We want to offer content providers a variety of compression codecs to suit their various needs."
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Blu-ray Disc Founders Approve BD-ROM Physical Specification
Posted August 11, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
The Blu-ray Disc Founders (BDF) have approved Version 1.0 of the BD-ROM physical-format specification and made it available to disc manufacturers and other interested parties. The BDF approved the BD-ROM physical specification within the general timeframe originally outlined in the BD-ROM development roadmap. The completion of the physical specification is an important step because it provides disc manufacturers with the information they need to prepare their BD-ROM disc production lines.
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PlayStation 3 to Feature Blu-ray Disc Technology
Posted August 4, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
Sony has finally confirmed that they will use Blu-ray Disc technology in their next-generation PlayStation 3 (PS3) video game console. What is more surprising is that they also have plans to equip an upcoming version of their PlayStation 2 (PSX) video game console with a Blu-ray Disc player, so that consumers can enjoy both video games and high-definition movies. Sony hopes that the move will help jump-start the market for the new storage format. The announcement came at a press conference held by the Blu-ray Disc Founders (BDF), who also announced that they are in the process of finalizing the read-only version of the Blu-ray Disc format (BD-ROM) which they expect to be finished by September 30, 2004.
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Philips Develops All-in-one Optical Pick-up Unit
Posted July 15, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
Philips announced that they have developed an optical pick-up unit (OPU) that will be able to read and write CD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW and the next- generation optical disc format Blu-ray Disc (BD). With its new OPU81, Philips has created the first important building block of the all-in-one recorder that can record and playback all popular consumer optical formats. By integrating the infrared, red and blue wavelength lasers and single detector into one single OPU concept, Philips has succeeded in developing a flexible triple- writer OPU design in a compact form factor.
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Sony to Test-Produce Blu-ray Discs in the U.S.
Posted July 14, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
Sony plans to set up test production lines for Blu-ray Discs in the United States this autumn, company officials said Wednesday. The move is aimed at promoting the use of the next-generation discs by U.S. film studios by modifying the production process and product specifications. The trial production facility will be set up in Sony's digital versatile disc plant in Indiana. It will make a single-layer Blu-ray Disc with a storage capacity of 25GB and a 50GB dual-layer type.
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Panasonic Starts Blu-ray Disc Product Verification Service
Posted May 28, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
Panasonic today announced that its Format Verification Laboratory has started offering a verification service for Blu-ray Disc blank rewritable media and Blu-ray Disc rewritable recorders. Anticipating a wave of entries of Blu-ray Disc-based products in the coming months, Panasonic has established a laboratory in Osaka to facilitate companies adopting the format and entering the market. For manufacturers, the verification service will ensure consistency with the format, expediting commercialization of Blu-ray Disc-based products.
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Blu-ray Disc Association Announced
Posted May 18, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
In response to growing industry support for the Blu-ray Disc standard, the 13 members of the Blu-ray Disc Founders (BDF) today announced plans to create the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). The Blu-ray Disc Founders will be re-incorporated into the BDA and is currently developing the membership application processes and operating procedures. The BDA will be open to companies wishing to participate in the future development of Blu-ray Disc and to help develop, promote and establish the Blu-ray Disc format as an industry standard for high-definition optical storage. Applications will be available in late summer and the first official meeting of the new BDA is planned for this fall.
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Sony Develops Single Optical Head for Blu-ray Disc, DVD and CD
Posted May 17, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
Sony has successfully developed a single three-wavelength optical head, capable of recording and playing next-generation Blu-ray Discs, as well as conventional DVDs and CDs without requiring an extra optical head for backwards compatibility. The technology requires less parts, is cheaper to produce and provides full backwards compatibility with current DVD/CD formats. Sony will target commercializing the newly developed optical head within 2 years, and will positively promote to further technology development. By doing so, in addition to further reducing the number of parts used for achieving smaller size of optical heads, enhancement of productivity and reliability will be achieved.
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Toppan and Sony Successfully Develop 25GB Paper Disc
Posted April 15, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
Toppan Printing and Sony today announced the successful development of a 25GB paper disc based on Blu-ray Disc technology. More details will be announced at the Optical Data Storage 2004 conference to be held from April 18th to April 21st at Monterey, California. Using the disc-structure of Blu-ray Disc technology, the new paper disc has a total weight that is 51% paper. "Using printing technology on paper allows a high level of artistic label printing on the optical disc.
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Blu-ray Disc Production Costs Comparable to DVD
Posted March 29, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
According to the Blu-ray Disc Founders (BDF), Blu-ray Disc will offer by far the highest capacity of any optical disc storage format ever developed for consumers, and yet the production costs of manufacturing Blu-ray Discs is expected to be comparable to current DVDs when manufactured at mass volumes. "Capacity and cost savings were the major reasons HP and other industry leaders chose to support Blu-ray Disc," said Maureen Weber, general manager of HP's Optical Storage Solutions. "The PC business revolves around volume and cost; and, the fact that the most logical cost choice also offers far better quality - as well as a smooth transition plan that is both forward- and backward-looking - is icing on the cake."
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Sony to Offer 50GB Blu-ray Disc Recorders
Posted March 26, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
Sony has committed itself to shipping second-generation consumer-oriented Blu-ray video recorders by the end of the year, the company said today. The new systems will support single-side, dual-layer rewriteable discs with a total capacity of 50GB. The second-generation machines will also support the so- called BD-ROM format, the Blu-ray equivalent of today's pre-recorded DVDs, Sony said. As yet, the BD-ROM specification remains incomplete, but Sony hopes to have it ready in April.
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TDK Joins Blu-ray Disc Founders
Posted March 18, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
The Blu-ray Disc Founders (BDF) today announced the addition of TDK, a leading manufacturer of optical discs, as its newest member. "We are pleased to support the Blu-ray Disc format, since it is the format we believe in.", said Mr. Masatoshi Shikanai, Corporate Officer of TDK. "Our new hard-coat technology is perfect for producing robust, bare Blu-ray discs in a cost- efficient way.
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Matsushita to Offer 50GB Blu-ray Disc Recorders in July
Posted March 9, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
Matsushita Electric (Panasonic) today announced that they will release a Blu-ray Disc recorder on the Japanese market in July and thereby become the second manufacturer to offer Blu-ray Disc recorders. The Matsushita Blu-ray Disc recorder uses a two-layer disc structure, which means that a single disc can hold up to 50GB of data, or 4.5 hours of HD video. U.S. consumers still have to wait a while longer for Blu-ray products, but LG Electronics has previously stated that they intend to introduce a Blu-ray Disc recorder with a 200GB hard drive in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2004.
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HP and Dell Join Blu-ray Disc Founders
Posted January 30, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
HP and Dell, have joined the Blu-ray Disc Founders (BDF), adding support from the world's two largest PC manufacturers to the already broad support from the consumer electronics industry for the Blu-ray Disc format. Dell and HP announced their support for the Blu-ray Disc format at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month and have now formally joined the organization responsible for developing and promoting the revolutionary new format for high-capacity optical discs.
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Blu-ray Gains Support from HP and Dell
Posted January 8, 2004 12:00 AM by Marwin
The Blu-ray Disc Founders (BDF) welcome the support from Hewlett-Packard Company and Dell Inc., the two largest PC manufacturers, underlining the true convergence between consumer electronics and IT industry, enabled by Blu-ray Disc. The support from HP and Dell is an important step in providing the industry and consumers with one format that covers both PC as well as consumer electronics applications. In addition, the Blu-ray Disc Founders are in the process of finalizing the complete format specifications portfolio.
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New Photos from Ceatec Japan 2003
Posted October 12, 2003 12:00 AM by Marwin
Ceatec Japan 2003 was recently held and showed a lot of promise for the future of Blu-ray (not Bluray, Blueray or Blue-ray). Among the companies showcasing new prototypes at the exhibit were JVC, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sharp and Sony. The Blu-ray Disc Founders are currently working on 2x speed (72Mbps) versions of their Blu-ray disc recorders as well as finalizing the specs for v2.0 of the format which includes support for BD-R (recordable) and BD-ROM (read-only) discs. They plan to have the specification finished by the summer of 2004. Check out the image galleries for some new photos of Blu-ray Disc recorders and media displayed at the trade show.
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Mitsubishi Electric Joins Blu-ray Disc Founders
Posted May 28, 2003 12:00 AM by Marwin
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and the existing nine Blu-ray Disc Founders (BDF) today announced that Mitsubishi Electric has become a member company of BDF. Mitsubishi Electric has taken a leading role in the development of optical disc technology in the relevant industries over the years, and has been focusing on blue laser technology as an important element in establishing the next generation high density and high-grade optical disc recording technology.
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Sony Unveils World's First Blu-ray Disc Recorder
Posted March 3, 2003 12:00 AM by Marwin
Sony has taken the wraps off the first commercial consumer-use video recorder that uses blue-laser technology. The BDZ-S77 will go on sale in Japan next month. It is based on the Blu-ray optical disc format announced just over a year ago. The nine consumer electronics companies behind it are promoting it as a system for recording high-definition television broadcasts.
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The Blu-ray Disc Founders Begin Licensing the Format
Posted February 13, 2003 12:00 AM by Marwin
Hitachi, Ltd., LG Electronics Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Pioneer Corporation, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Sony Corporation, and Thomson today announced the start of licensing of the rewritable format of "Blu-ray Disc", the large capacity optical disc utilizing blue-violet laser. Licensing will commence as of February 17, 2003. The introduction of products based on "Blu-ray Disc", the first optical disc format capable of recording High Definition broadcasts, will enable the enjoyment of even greater picture quality within the home.
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Blu-ray Disc's Advantages Over DVD
Posted June 10, 2002 12:00 AM by Marwin
Wired's June issue includes an article which discusses the advantages Blu-ray technology has compared to traditional red-laser. To summarize, Blu-ray increases the recording capacity to 27 Gbytes (13 hours of standard definition TV or two to three hours of HDTV) compared to 4.7 Gbytes recordable with DVD+RW/DVD-RW while still being backward compatible with DVD.
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Blu-ray Disc Specification v1.0 Released
Posted May 20, 2002 12:00 AM by Marwin
The Blu-ray Disc Founders today announced that they will release the specification for the next-generation large capacity optical disc video recording format "Blu-ray Disc" on June 14, 2002 in accordance with their joint press conference of February 19, 2002. The nine companies (Hitachi, LG Electronics, Matsushita, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and Thomson) will together pursue broad acceptance of the "Blu-ray Disc" format.
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Blu-ray Disc Format Announced
Posted February 19, 2002 12:00 AM by Marwin
Nine leading companies today announced that they have jointly established the basic specifications for a next generation large capacity optical disc video recording format called "Blu-ray Disc". The Blu-ray Disc enables the recording, rewriting and play back of up to 27 gigabytes (GB) of data on a single sided single layer 12cm CD/DVD size disc using a 405nm blue-violet laser.