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page created: 1/14/09
originally posted 1/8/09
back to the CES 2009 Index
| CES Report #1 More BD Title Announcements, BD Sales Stats & a 3-D Preview Well... after a full day at CES floor, I'm exhausted. There's just so much to see and do, and so many images, sounds and people bombarding you as you walk around the convention floor, that it really saps you. It probably doesn't help that I basically try to cover everything I need to in just a day, but having covered CES for as many years as I have, the idea of doing this for several days in a row is unthinkable. I like the surgical approach - get in, get what you need, get out. Anyway, one of the most unusual things about CES this year, is that there just doesn't seem to be any one single gadget or bit of new technology that's really captivating everyone's attention. There's this thing called Yahoo Widgets (basically little software modules that will soon begin allowing you to interact with the Internet in various ways while you're watching live programming on your DTV), and there's obviously wireless everything on display on the show floor - every kind of wireless gadget you can imagine, up to and including wireless home theater components. And it seems that 3-D is looming on the horizon - perhaps a year or so away from coming to market, but several major display manufacturers had demonstrations on the show floor. More on 3-D in a minute. The other unusual thing about CES 2009, is that economy does seem to have impacted attendance. I'm told the normal attendance is between 150,000 and 170,000, and this year it's down to about 130,000 - which makes the show floor noticeably less crowded. Obviously, I came to CES to check out the latest Blu-ray developments, so let's have a quick software update first. I've already covered Sony's Ghostbusters announcement, so there's no need for an update there, though I did learn that Ghostbusters 2 is being held for a special release of its own. In talking with the folks at Sony, I learned that titles like Dr. Strangelove, Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia are all still in the works - the studio really wants to get them right, so they're taking their time. Obviously, big new release titles like Angels and Demons are in the works - no surprise there. And the studio tells me that they have plans for about 100 Blu-ray releases total in 2009, including a mix of new release and catalog titles. And the studio is working on ways to evolve and enhance their BD-Live offerings - really trying to explore the features people want and enjoy, to create the best online and advanced interactive experience. As I mentioned the other day, Walt Disney Studios did in fact announce a number of new titles here at the show. First up, the studio confirmed that they're continuing their popular Blu-ray & DVD Combo Pack idea (including both a standard DVD version of the film with the Blu-ray release, as they did with Sleeping Beauty) in 2009, with such forthcoming titles as High School Musical 3 (2/17), Pinocchio (3/10) and Snow White (TBA for October). In addition, 14 more Blu-ray titles this year will be enhanced with DisneyFile digital copy. In terms of the specific new Blu-ray titles announced at the show, here are the details from their own press release... "WDSHE North America will be releasing several new theatrical titles to Blu-ray day-and-date with the DVD including Swing Vote (Touchstone Pictures) on January 13; Miracle At St. Anna (Touchstone Pictures) on February 10; Blindness (Miramax) on February 10; High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Walt Disney Pictures) on February 17; Beverly Hills Chihuahua (Walt Disney Pictures) on March 3; Morning Light (Walt Disney Pictures) in summer of 2009; as well as an all new direct-to-video Space Buddies (Walt Disney Pictures) on February 3. In addition, WDSHE North America will also be expanding its Blu-ray catalog library with more than 30 exciting releases including such titles as Pretty Woman (Touchstone Pictures) on February 10; High School Musical Remix Edition (Walt Disney Pictures) on February 17; Monsters Inc. (Disney/Pixar); A Bugs Life (Disney/Pixar); Microcosmos (Miramax); Rounders 10th Anniversary Edition (Miramax); Lost: The Complete First and Second Seasons (ABC); Sin City (Miramax); Miracle (Walt Disney Pictures); Sling Blade (Miramax); The Greatest Game Ever Played (Walt Disney Pictures); Pulp Fiction Special Edition (Miramax); Good Will Hunting Special Edition (Miramax) and many more to follow in 2009. In Europe/Australia, WDSHE will roll-out the following Blu-ray titles beginning with Space Buddies (Walt Disney Pictures) and High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Walt Disney Pictures) in February; Pinocchio: 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition (Walt Disney Pictures) in March and Beverly Hills Chihuahua (Walt Disney Pictures) in April; and Monsters Inc. (Disney/Pixar) sometime in 2009. Japan will see the following WDSHE Blu-ray releases starting with Pinocchio: 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition (Walt Disney Pictures) in March; Tinker Bell (Walt Disney Pictures) and WALL-E (Disney/Pixar) in April; and High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Walt Disney Pictures), Monsters Inc. (Disney/Pixar) and Beverly Hills Chihuahua (Walt Disney Pictures) to follow at later dates." I was able to confirm with sources that this is going to be a big year for catalog titles with Warner, Fox and Paramount. Look for Star Trek to feature prominently in the first half of 2009, as we've reported previously, and Battlestar Galactica is indeed coming to Blu-ray later this year from Universal. As far as other software announcements, the only other key release came from Genius Products and The Weinstein Company, which revealed that Kevin Smith's Clerk II and Zack and Miri Make a Porno will arrive on Blu-ray Disc on 3/3 (Zack and Miri will also be available on DVD the same day). Soul Men will follow on 2/10. We'll have a lot more on upcoming, soon-to-be-announced BD releases here on The Bits in the next few weeks, rest assured. A couple of quick Blu-ray sales stats for you... The DEG announced that Blu-ray software sales grew from $270 million in 2007 to more than $750 million in 2008. Combined DVD and Blu-ray software sales for 2008 totaled more than $22 billion dollars, down slightly from nearly $24 billion last year. The BDA says there are now some 10.7 million Blu-ray playback devices currently in the market, including both PS3 and standalone units, this after just 2.5 years of format availability. By contrast, just 5.4 million DVD capable devices had shipped by the end of the third year of that format's availability. The Year Three U.S. market penetration of Blu-ray is set to reach about 8%, which is impressive given that the Year Three penetration of DVD was just 4.2%. The DEG reported that some 3 million players were shipped in the 4th quarter of 2008 alone. The lowest player SRP for this past holiday season was $149 for an entry level unit. This is just a quick summary of released stats - I'll have more details for you later this weekend. On the 3-D front, there were in-booth demonstrations of 3-D HD from LG, Samsung, Sony and Panasonic on the show floor. All of them were fairly impressive, though it should be noted that all were technical demonstrations, requiring special plasma and LCD displays or projectors, and also requiring the viewer to wear glasses (either shuttered or with polarized lenses). It's clear that there are a variety of technologies being explored for 3-D HD, but most of the demos were actually driven by Blu-ray Disc players. The demo material was a mix of film (U2 3D), CG animation (Bolt) and other sources. At the BDA press event yesterday, it was revealed that the BDA is currently evaluating all the different approaches to 3-D on the format, and will be working with the various manufacturers to pick the best one. It may require new processing technology to be included in players, but at least one studio executive I spoke with at the show said that there are a couple different ways it can be done on existing BD players (not including the current red/green 3-D titles we've already seen from Warner and Disney). My recommendation was to bundle a couple different versions on future 3-D releases - a version that can be viewed on all existing players, and one that will be compatible with the future, final chosen technology - so that the discs will work for everyone. Samsung plans to have at least one monitor capable of 3-D available in the U.S. at the end of 2009, but most manufacturers I spoke with said you'd probably start seeing the technology more in the first half of 2010. Obviously, a number of filmmakers are currently working on 3-D films for release in 2010, so this would coincide nicely with their eventual home video release. Some 18 different new models of Blu-ray Disc player were announced at CES this year for release later in 2009, from the likes of JVC, LG, Panasonic, Phillips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp and Vizio. (Sony is working on new models, but did not announce any at the show.) Of these, 13 are fully BD-Live/profile 2.0 compatible. I'll be back with a couple of posts over the course of the weekend, to tell you more about each of them. I'll also talk more about the BDA and DEG events, and the sales information that was revealed at each. And Sarah will post a big CES 2009 photo gallery on Monday. Stay tuned...! Bill Hunt, Editor The Digital Bits billhunt@thedigitalbits.com |
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