News from the Digital Video world

Announcing the first free software Blu-ray encoder April 26, 2010 For many years it has been possible to make your own DVDs with free software tools. Over the course of the past decade, DVD creation evolved from the exclusive domain of the media publishing companies to something basically anyone could do on their home computer.

But Blu-ray has yet to get that treatment. Despite the “format war” between Blu-ray and HD DVD ending over two years ago, free software has lagged behind. “Professional” tools for Blu-ray video encoding can cost as much as $100,000 and are often utter garbage.

But today, things change. Today we take the first step towards a free software Blu-ray creation toolkit... Diary Of An x264 Developer

DivX: sale 50% off August 7, 2009 An interesting summertime discount, however I still don't see more value in DivX versus free open-source Xvid yet...

Jim. DivX newsletter

New VLC media player release 1.0.0 ! July 9, 2009 VLC media player 1.0.0 "Goldeneye" the new version of the cross-platform media player and streaming server has been released.

VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.

All changes are published in our forum. labDV News Forum

New VLC media player release 0.9.9 April 3, 2009 VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.

Changes: this version introduces many bugfixes (including libxml integration, RTP support, and resampling when transcoding). It also features a new decoder for Real Video 3.0 and 4.0, and a partial rewrite of Real demuxer. It includes fixes for Windows, as well as full-screen support and new translations. Videolan.org

Philips premieres the LCD TV with 21:9 Cinema format January 19, 2009 Philips breaks new ground in the realm of home entertainment with the world’s first cinema-proportioned LCD television. Cinema 21:9 lets you enjoy movies as you would in the cinema and just as the director intended. Cinema 21:9 boasts a 56” screen that is shaped in the 21:9 aspect ratio, so movies in the 2.39:1 format completely fill the screen – exactly as you experience at the cinema. Complimentary three-sided Ambilight Spectra combines with the on-screen action to completely immerse you in the movie and deliver the ultimate home cinematic viewing experience. Philips.com

CES 2009: Innovations Honorees January 9, 2009 - HP TouchSmart Desktop PC: next-generation, touch-enabled all-in-one desktop PC
- Zero Client Computer: new type of server-based computer designed to replace corporate desktop PC's
- Sony Cyber-shot T700 Digital Camera: portable photo album in your pocket with its 4GB of internal memory in a 10-megapixel camera
- Intel(R) High-Performance 80GB SATA Solid-State Drives: new generation of multi-level cell NAND SSDs
- Marantz AV8003 Networking AV Preamplifier: preamplifier, with built-in digital media player that lets users stream high-definition video and audio throughout their home via Ethernet port from a networked PC
- Yoggie's HyPC: powerful Linux-based computer on a seamless ExpressCard with 13 built-in security applications labDV.com

More headlines

- AMD launched “Dragon” platform technology for desktop PCs (January 8, 2009)
- 2009 Consumer Electronic Show, Jan 8-11 (January 8, 2009)
- New DivX 7 (January 8, 2009)
- 100% FREE award granted by Softpedia to DVDx (December 29, 2008)
- Xvid 1.2.1 released (December 22, 2008)
- Nero 9 winter offer (December 22, 2008)
- BS.Player 2.34 is out! (December 22, 2008)
- Blu-ray / DVD disk title released in Japan (December 22, 2008)
- Toshiba to give HD-DVD and Blu-ray to win the war ? (February 18, 2008)
- New Plextor Blu-ray Rewriter & HD DVD-ROM drive (February 13, 2008)

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