Blu-ray`s future in SA

Johannesburg, 11 Apr 2008

Blu-ray titles and players will be established by 2010 and vendors and manufacturers are going to be putting all in to compete in the space.

"We have even seen reports of talks between Sony, Microsoft and Apple for the incorporation of Blu-ray technologies into Microsoft and Apple`s hardware. I estimate that, by the end of 2008, the sale of Blu-ray titles and players will significantly increase, with general adoption happening in 2010," says Nelmari Claassens ,Sony Pictures marketing manager at SterKinekor Home Entertainment.

According to SterKinekor, there will be a general drop in price as new models, or Blu-ray versions, start trickling into the market. Claassens says there are several new features being included into videos and players that will drive the adoption of the format.

"Blu-meter, bookmarking, indexing and BDLive - a disc`s online interactivity feature - will soon be available in SA. Blu-meter feature acts as a visible timeline that allows viewers to see exactly where they are in the movie relative to the movie`s overall length."

The Blu-meter and bookmarking features are already available on Java-enhanced BD titles, while the indexing feature will be offered with only selected titles, explains Claasens.

On the write side

Sony and Drive Control Corporation (DCC) have released a second-generation Blu-ray disk writer drive, called the BWU-200S. Michael Tan, senior regional account manager for Sony applications and devices marketing, says: "PC users are storing more data like movies and photos on their computers. This content can take time to burn."

He says burning time can be reduced up to 50% in comparison to its predecessor and now could take around 45 minutes to burn a 50GB disk. The second-generation writer uses a SATA interface as opposed to the IDE interface used in the first-generation BWU-100A, he adds.

"We have seen an increasing demand for Blu-ray drives in the local market and believe that a single format will benefit both consumers and the industry, accelerating market expansion," says Jenny Rex, sales director at DCC.

The recommended retail price is R5 000, which is, according to DCC, R1 500 less than the first-generation model.