Skip to Content

Massively looks at the best free to play games
AOL Tech

Blu-rayRecorder posts

Panasonic justifies Blu-ray recorder cost by asking "How much are memories worth to you?"

by Richard Lawler posted Jul 1st 2009 at 3:24PM


Apparently blissfully unaware of how much the Engadget staff has paid for the events of the last CES to be forgotten, Panasonic is promoting the UK launch of its FreeSat+ compatible series of Blu-ray recorders (£999 for the 500GB DMR-BS850) by promising to archive ones most valuable memories. Is that enough for you to navigate the various copy protection flags towards Blu-ray disc archival, or will you risk the family Christmas video (worth £542) on something less than a 50GB Blu-ray disc?

LG's HR400 Profile 2.0 Blu-ray recorder gets outed

by Darren Murph posted Jun 1st 2009 at 8:33AM


So, why can't Yanks get ahold of these Blu-ray recorders again? All pent-up rage aside, what we're looking at above is LG's yet-to-be-formally-announced HR400, a Blu-ray recorder that will evidently be aimed initially at the European market. Packing BD-Live (Profile 2.0) support, a built-in DVB-T TV tuner and YouTube compatibility, this deck also arrives with 160GB of internal hard drive space for holding OTA recordings. Heck, this thing can even play back DivX HD files, stream media clips from other places on your network and upscale DVDs to 1080p. Is all that worth €599 ($852)? We're saying no, but you and your wallet can make your own darn decisions.

BBC breaks down the new DRM rules for Blu-ray recorders

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 17th 2009 at 4:01PM


The reason Blu-ray recorders have migrated from Japan to the UK recently -- and why you'll likely never see them in the U.S. -- is all about the copyright holders. Danielle Nagler, head of BBC HD, hit the blogs to break down the wheres and hows of the DRM changes associated with bringing FreeSat disc HD DVRs like the Panasonic DMR-BS850 and Humax FOXSAT-HDR to market, basically meaning users are allowed one HD copy of a show, which can be played back on protected devices and connections only (transfer to portable players is planned to the future.) Follow the flow chart for the details, and figure out if it'd be worth it to make your own BD-R DVR backups so easily.

[Via Pocket-Lint]

Panasonic's Blu-ray burning FreeSat+ DVRs due in June

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 16th 2009 at 8:11AM


Blu-ray archiving DVRs have been a staple in Japan since the format was still in protective cartridges, and now we have more details on the new Panasonic HD Everything lineup launching in the UK. All three boxes can convert recorded programs into h.264 to save disc space, and beyond their FreeSat+ twin tuner DVR capability, support Panasonic's VIERA Cast internet hookups to pull in video and pictures from YouTube and Picasa. The DMR-BS850 and DMR-BS750 support BD-Live enabled Blu-ray playback and recording in HD, while the DMR-XS350 serves as an HD DVR on its hard drive, but falls back to SD for disc archiving on old school DVDs. No word on a price, but while the British ponder Panasonic vs. Humax we're already willing to trade in proposed tru2way boxes to have a shot at these.

[Via TechDigest.tv]

Update: TrustedReviews came through with some better pics, specs, and most importantly, prices for these joints - The DMR-BS850 has a 500GB HDD for £999, the DMR-BS750 has a 250GB HDD for £899 and the DMR-XS350 clocks in with a 200GB HDD for £699.

Sony's BDZ-A950 / BDZ-A750 Blu-ray recorders do the network thing

by Darren Murph posted Mar 28th 2009 at 8:08PM


By and large, one Blu-ray recorder is just the same as the another. Not so with Sony's latest duo, which both come ready to toast material to blank BD-R media and tap into the wide world of internet video. Both the BDZ-A750 (320GB) and the BDZ-A950 (500GB) are able to stream and download video from Tsutaya TV and acTVila VOD services in Japan, and moreover, they can forward that material to a PSP or other compatible DAP via USB. In case that's not enough, the duo is also DLNA compatible, and the HDMI output ensures crisp, clean 1080p output. So, ready to change your mind on that whole "would you buy a Blu-ray recorder?" question?

[Via Akihabara News]

Gallery: Sony intros BDZ-A950 / BDZ-A750 Blu-ray recorders in Japan

Panasonic showcases UK-bound DMR-BS850 Blu-ray recorder

by Darren Murph posted Feb 25th 2009 at 6:17PM


While the results in our most recent poll were decidedly mixed, those over in Britain will soon have the option of procuring their own Blu-ray recorder thanks to Panasonic. The DMR-BS850, which was recently showcased across the pond, will sport a dual FreeSat tuner and will rival the heralded Humax FOXSAT-HDR. Details beyond that are few and far between, but we should hear more during the run-up to its late 2008 release. Check the read link for a few more looks.

Blu-ray recorders surpass 50% market share for all DVD recorders in Japan

by Darren Murph posted Dec 9th 2008 at 7:28PM


Okay, so having half of the DVD recorders in Japan be of the Blu-ray variety is pretty impressive in and of itself, but considering that this same statistic sat at 30% in late October (with players included), we can't help but be floored. Going back to October 2007, BD recorders made up just 10% of the market, and perpetually falling prices are thanked for the rapid increase over the past year and change. Additionally, new research has found that "Blu-ray Disc recorders are replacing DVD recorders 1.5 times faster than DVD recorders replaced VHS recorders," and not surprisingly, the availability of low-cost HDTVs is credited with helping to speed the transition. Just imagine these figures post-Christmas.

Mitsubishi's DVR-BF2000 Blu-ray DVR up for grabs in Japan

by Steven Kim posted Dec 8th 2008 at 10:23PM

Mitsubishi DVR-BF2000 Blu-ray DVR
With all the talk of Blu-ray stalling out, it's easy to see why Blu-ray DVRs haven't been something that manufacturers have even tried to sell the American public. Over in Japan, things are a little different -- just take Mitsubishi's DVR-BF2000 Blu-ray DVR model, for example. The hefty sum of ¥178,000 ($1900 US) nets you a DVR with a 500GB hard disk, dual tuners and a disc burner that can write out on BD-R/RE media and DVD-R/RW for when you don't need such capacious archiving. The unit also has some automatic editing features for cutting out those pesky commercials you don't need to store on your shelf. With these kind of features, we'd at least like to see these offered up here in the US -- they certainly won't get cheaper until they're available -- but we're not holding our breath.

Sharp and Nichia link up for LED patent cross-licensing deal

by Darren Murph posted Nov 21st 2008 at 1:45PM


While RPTVs teeter on a bellbottom-styled return to the mainstream, Sharp and Nichia are focused squarely on the future. The two have just entered into a LED patent cross-licensing agreement covering both LEDs and laser diodes; the deal grants each company the right to use "inventions related to LEDs and laser diodes covered by the vast number of patents owned by the respective companies in Japan and in major countries." The release gets interesting when touching on Sharp's intentions -- it states that the company is hoping to "create unique, one-of-a-kind products in the future that feature both devices [Blu-ray recorders and LED lighting] at their core." Color us very intrigued.

JVC intros stylish DR-BX500 Blu-ray / HDD recorder in Japan

by Darren Murph posted Oct 15th 2008 at 3:36AM


The Land of the Rising Sun has all the fun, doesn't it? Today, we Europeans, North Americans, et al. are being forced to lust after this here piece of electronic goodness, which goes by the sobriquet DR-BX500. The JVC-built Blu-ray recorder packs twin digital TV tuners (along with a single analog tuner), a 500GB internal hard drive and a built-in EPG to boot. You'll also find an SD card slot for loading up multimedia stored on flash cards, and the HDMI port (among other lovely sockets) ensures that your BD flicks get outputted in 1080p. Check it in Japan next month for a currently undisclosed price.

[Via Impress]

Panasonic bringing Blu-ray recorder to US in 2009?

by Darren Murph posted Oct 15th 2008 at 12:39AM


Color us skeptical, but HDGuru has it that Panasonic is actually going to bring a standalone Blu-ray recorder over to US soil as early as next year. In case you haven't noticed, each and every BD recorder we see is sourced and sold exclusively overseas, but it seems Panny may be well on its way to changing that. Unfortunately, that's all the details we have for now, but we can't say we totally believe it. For starters, BD recorders are mighty expensive, and given that Blu-ray players still aren't selling out at sub-$300 price points, we can't really imagine $800+ BD recorders being the next iPod over here. At any rate, we suppose we'll see in 2009, and hopefully at CES.

[Via AfterDawn]

Pioneer launches Blu-ray recorders to Japanese market

by Steven Kim posted Sep 16th 2008 at 3:28AM

Pioneer BDR-WD900 and BDR-WD700 Blu-ray recorders
True to its word, Pioneer has introduced a pair of Blu-ray recorders in 2008, and the BDR-WD900 (1TB hard drive) and the BDR-WD700 (500GB drive) are due out on Japanese shelves in October. Both models feature H.264 encoding, dual DVB-T ISDB tuners and a "High-definition Just Copy" wizard for optimizing transfers from the hard drive to a Blu-ray disc. The Blu-ray decks are BonusView affairs (no mention of BD-Live, so we assume these are Profile 1.1) with support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA, and Kuro Link-flavored HDMI-CEC for smooth integration with all your other Kuro gear. Also getting top billing is the 0.8s "Quick Startup" feature, which has been kicking around for about a year in Sharp's AQUOS BD-HDW20 and makes us wonder how much original engineering Pioneer's done for its own model.

[Via eMediaLive]

Pioneer to launch Blu-ray recorders by year's end

by Nilay Patel posted Jul 7th 2008 at 11:52PM

Blu-ray recorders have been on the scene for a while now, but now that the format war's over, it looks like more companies are starting to commit to BD-R devices -- like Pioneer, which announced today that it'll have a Blu-ray recorder out in Japan by the end of the year. The company didn't say what model it would be or what price point it was aiming for, but the tech is being jointly developed with Sharp, so hopefully it's have a family resemblance to units like the 1TB AQUOS BD-HDW20 in everything but the $2,611 pricetag.

Japanese government to levy royalty fees on BD-Rs / Blu-ray recorders

by Darren Murph posted Jun 17th 2008 at 10:32PM


We just can't see this one going over well. Reportedly, Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry and the Education, Science and Technology Ministry have jointly decided to administer royalty fees on all blank Blu-ray Discs (BD-R / BD-RE) and Blu-ray recorders. According to the entities, such a system is necessary to "compensate copyright holders for the increase in copying by individuals due to the development of new digital technologies." It was also noted that there was some disagreement on whether all HDD-based recorders should be taxed (not to mention those oh-so-innocent portable media players), and further "discussions" could make the fees applicable to even more hardware. Tax everyone for the actions of a few -- sounds like a totally infallible plan, no?

Panasonic launches twin-tuner Blu-ray / DVD recorders in Australia

by Darren Murph posted May 28th 2008 at 2:42PM


Panasonic already dished out a slew of Blu-ray / HDD recorders in Japan (no shock there), but folks in Australia are pretty flippin' excited to be second in line to receive said goods. For whatever reason, Panny has decided to roll out a June-bound 500GB twin-tuner BD recorder along with a handful of lesser recorders in the Australia region before any other locale save for Japan. The model numbers have been gently tweaked (DMR-BW500, DMR-EX88, DMR-EX78 and DMR-EZ48V, for starters), but everything else looks to be the same. Check the links below for lots more on Panasonic's latest onslaught.

Read - Panasonic's DMR-BW500 Blu-ray recorder
Read - Panasonic DVD recorders
Read - Panasonic's SC-BT105 HTIB




AOL News

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in:

Joystiq
Download Squad
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
BloggingStocks
Joystiq Xbox
Autoblog
Big Download
Fanhouse NFL Blog