Updated December 20, 2004

DVD NEWS DIGEST
(December 9, 2004)

Dec. 11 issue - Billboard: Top 10 DVD Sellers in US

1 - Elf New Line Home Entertainment
2 - The Chronicles Of Riddick (Unrated Widescreen) Universal Studios Home Video
3 - Shrek 2 (Widescreen) DreamWorks Home Entertainment
4 - Shrek 2 (Pan & Scan) DreamWorks Home Entertainment
5 - Mickey's Twice Upon Christmas Walt Disney Home Entertainment
6 - The Chronicles Of Riddick Universal Studios Home Video
7 - Shrek (Widescreen 2 Pack) DreamWorks Home Entertainment
8 - Yu-Gi-Oh: The Movie Warner Home Video
9 - Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Season 07) 20th Century Fox
10 - Smallville (Season 03) Warner Home Video

Dec. 8 - AP: New DVD Has Dual-layered Surface

Two Japanese companies have developed a DVD that can play on both existing machines and the upcoming high-definition players, raising hopes for a smooth transition as more people dump old TV sets for better screens.

For consumers, that would eliminate the potential headache of having to own two types of DVD players: Both will be able to read such discs, though only the newer equipment can take advantage of the higher-resolution technology.

The discs, which took six months to develop, will be able to hold 4.7 GB in the current format and 15 GB in high resolution, Memory-Tech spokesman Masato Otsuka said. Making the discs won't cost any more than the companies now spend on producing current DVDs, Otsuka said.

The new DVDs rely on the HD-DVD format, which has the backing of the DVD Forum.

Dec. 6 - CBS.MarketWatch.com: HD-DVD Is a Piracy Stopper

The potential pirating of movies remains a major concern which is one reason a major studio is advocating the new HD-DVD platform.

Speaking at a media forum, an executive said: "Right now, [pirates] can probably download a DVD in two, three hours. This HD-DVD product is a day's download. And that'll be a big step [for the industry], to make downloading [extremely] inconvenient [for pirates]."

The executive also indicated that his company is anxious to have Microsoft build safeguards into the new version of its Windows operating system that will prevent file sharers from being able to play back movies that have been downloaded illegally.

Dec. 1 - IDG News: HD-DVD picks up Hollywood support

Four studios - Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema - plus HBO television all have announced they will use the new HD-DVD format.

HD-DVD manufacturers are all on schedule to release hardware in 2005, while optical-disc maker Memory-Tech Corp. said it is ready to begin producing HD-DVDs.

Memory-Tech has already demonstrated test production and said it has five production lines each capable of producing 700,000 discs per month. By the beginning of 2005 it plans to add a sixth line, the company said.

____________________________________________________
Copyright© 2004, the DVD Forum | All Rights Reserved