We’ve been revisiting our youth recently which coincides nicely with the DVD & CD launch of ‘The Classic Nursery Rhymes Collection’ which we recently replicated.

Your resident 24-7er happened to be walking through the office when I suddenly had a ‘lost – esque’ flashback and realised that the DVD and CD on a colleagues desk was in fact the same one that was used to pacify me and then used by myself to pacify my younger siblings, bulky VHS tapes, Farah Jeans & Rubiks Cubes spring to mind.

The collection has been re-released on DVD for the entertainment of a new generation and it seems that the classics can still work their magic!

Us 24-7ers are suffering a little in these cold times and so some of us have decided to get on the bike again and make a renewed commit to the training they promised themselves they would be doing on Jan 1st…

So in the spirit of a new year and new adventure I thought it would be a great idea to showcase one of our smaller but ever so cooool releases by presenting Fallen Idol and their recent Blu-ray/DVD release Alliance: A free running film. Lovingly shot and edited over two years with thrilling free running footage and a pumping soundtrack.

We authored the simultaneous Blu-ray & DVD production and some of the High Definition action had our techies oohing and ahhing at the sheer audacity of some of these guys – it’s one way to get the blood pumping – if you don’t fancy the more sedate bike ride…

This month we have been working on a special release from Marillion which is a collectors set in more ways than one.  The ‘Holidays in Zelande’ DVD is a five DVD deluxe set presented in a high quality digi pack and slip case.  It is delivered with the first disc and fans can collect the other discs as they are released during 2012.

The sets are available in PAL and NTSC to the band’s worldwide fan base and are available to purchase from their web site http://www.marillion.com/

Yesterday the company confirmed that the 3D-enabling 3.50 firmware update is less than a week away, dropping on September 21, and here’s proof that it works: a demonstration unit up and running at Tokyo Games Show.

Click here for fully animated evidence courtesy of Gizmondo

All six Star Wars movies will be released together on Blu-ray in 2011 for the 35th anniversary of the release of A New Hope. George Lucas personally announced the set on stage at the Celebration V event, and showed off a deleted scene from Return of the Jedi that will be included.

While the “highest picture and audio quality” and extensive special features are promised, what won’t make it to Blu-ray are the original versions of the movies; Lucas told the New York Times that only the special editions will be included, since restoring the original versions in high enough quality would cost too much. No word on price, release date or any plans to release the films individually.

This will certainly be on next year’s shopping list!!!

Source engadget

The new generation of Blu-ray players gives consumers more opportunity to enjoy the BD experience by uploading and downloading content through the Internet. Audiences are increasingly familiar with this concept and they are beginning to enjoy the wealth of possibilities for Internet-connected devices, especially with camera capability. NICK BROWN, CEO of Crossplatform Ltd, introduces an exciting new technology, capable of adding even more life to a BD-Live title – Augmented Reality.

Increasingly, there is also an appetite for more video and 3D experiences, either from user-generated content (UGC) or exclusive professionally-produced ‘snackable’ content across platforms, generating huge opportunities for both marketing and content distribution.

Augmented Reality (AR) was originally used by defence organisations to create simulated environments. Now AR is being used to entertain consumers using facial and image recognition that drives video and 3D animation. As processing power increases and software becomes more affordable, interesting applications are being revealed to the consumer for the first time.

In recent years, consumers have been exposed to ever-increasing quality through formats designed to provide an incredible in-theatre experience (big sound, true colour and depth). They have seen SD give way to Dolby 5.1 surround sound, and are now enjoying the benefits of HD, with a dawning realisation that pretty soon 3D will yet again change their experience of home entertainment.

Combine this expectation with the increasing use of broadband connections, and the way is clear for BD-Live. This is a great opportunity for studios to leverage the full combination of HDTV, broadband, casual gaming and social web trends to transform the domestic viewing experience. BD-Live adds a new dimension — online connectivity — to the high-definition video experience, turning a disc with a movie into a doorway to a virtually limitless, interactive world of content, commerce and community.

read more

ITRI’s technology will likely start being used in 3D digital photo-frames and digital billboards, some of these are already available on the market.

The glasses-free system – also known as autostereoscopic – uses parallax barrier technology to create the 3D effect on the TV. The 3D LCD TV on display from ITRI showed pictures of objects from software converted into a 3D image. The image was blurry and the technology appears to still be a long way from being ready, report IDG News.

In March, 3D Eye Solutions, a service provider and integrator for the 3D stereo and auto-stereo media industry, began beta testing for its glasses-free 3D application for video game platforms such as Nintendo Wii, Apple iPhone, Mac and PC.

Also, Singapore-based technology company Sunny Ocean Studios is currently developing the world’s first 3D cinema in which the audience will no longer require any special glasses. At CeBIT the company presented this autostereoscopic technology on a 27-inch monitor.

Sharp first released a no-glasses 3D system in 2002. Intel, among other companies, have demonstrated glasses-free 3D solutions before, but none are advanced enough to get out onto the market and rival the glasses-based solutions now.

Source DVD Intelligence

Also by Jim Taylor, this book offers an honest look at the high definition format, along with it’s strengths and weaknesses as well as ‘myth busting’ some of the perceptions which have cropped up over the years.

This book covers everything you need to know when going into Blu-ray, from the technology, it’s features and applications to essential information on Blu-ray disc production.

Unlike with DVD, copy protection was always an integral part of the Blu-ray format, and this book has a comprehensive section covering this.

Like it’s predecessor DVD Demystified, now in it’s third revision, we expect that this book will be updated regularly and become the cornerstone text within the industry – more required reading for people joining 24-7dvd!