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Current Blu-Ray Players Can Only Handle 50GB of Data

Bart Salisbury — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:55:02 -0500

Sharp and TDK are doubling down on Blu-ray disc storage capacity, each introducing a prototype capable of storing up to 100GB of data, up from the current standard of 50GB. The prototypes make use of a four-layer disc, up from the present maximum of two, and are capable of recording data at 72Mbps, again double the current level of 32Mbps.

While TDK hasn’t disclosed its underlying technology, Sharp’s advancements come from the substitution of dielectric film used for recording data on a Blu-ray disc with aluminum oxynitride. Sharp also makes use of a pulse operated blue-violet semiconductor laser with an optical output as high as 500mW. The laser’s oscillation wavelength of 405nm is capable of writing at 8x speed on three- and four-layered Blu-ray discs.

While the prototype technology holds promise it’s speculative at this point. The Blu-ray Disc Association, which sets the standards for Blu-ray discs, has specifications only for single- and dual-layer discs. Without an adjustment to the standards it doesn’t make economic sense for Sharp or TDK to move beyond the prototype stage. And even if they did the sad fact is current Blu-ray players aren’t able to handle anything over 50GB.

Image Credit: Blue-ray Disc Association

New Blu-ray Laser From Sharp Could Pave the way for 100GB BD-R Disks

Justin Kerr — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:22:52 -0500

Recordable Blu-ray media has been expensive, and slow to catch on, but would a bump to 100GB capacities change your mind? New developments made by Sharp could do just that by introducing a blue-violet laser which is able to read triple-layer or even quad-layer Blu-ray disks. Current BD-R single layer disks hold a mere 25GB.

The light put out by the beam is much stronger than traditional readers at 500mW, and it is made possible thanks to an aluminum oxynitride layer that is located squarely between the laser’s crystal and dielectric film which is meant to protect the laser.

In addition to capacity increases, this could also allow for writing speeds of up to 8x across all four layers, making it a much more interesting archiving option for digital packrats. Prices and availability still haven’t been announced yet, but the company describes the technology as “production ready”. At the very least it would be nice to see a new affordable disk option come along to replace those aging 4.7GB DVD’s, which frankly, just don’t cut it size wise anymore.

Are you itching for new recordable disks, or is flash the future of the sneaker net?

Sharp Mebius PC NJ70A Combines Trackpad and Secondary Display

Paul Lilly — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:02:04 -0500

At this point in the game, we can pretty much recite the core configuration of any new netbook that might appear, and it goes something like this. A 10.1-inch display (give or take an inch), Intel's Atom N270 processor (1.6GHz, 533MHz frontside bus, 512KB L2 cache), 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, three USB 2.0 ports, WiFi, Bluetooth, a mutlicard reader, and various other odds and ends. So it comes as no surprises that Sharp's Mebius PC-NJ70A follows that blueprint almost to a tee, if not for the combo trackpad / secondary display.

That's right - the PC-NJ70A's trackpad serves double duty as a secondary display with an LCD built right into the palm rest. Protected by a hard transparent material, the little LCD pushes pixels at a respectable 854 x 480 resolution, automatically adjusts brightness levels based on surrounding light, and supports handwriting recognition via the included software.

So far, street prices in Japan are hovering around ¥80,000 (about $817USD). No word yet on when, or if, Sharp plans to sell the Mebius stateside.

Image Credit: Sharp

LCD Firms Plead Guilty to Price Fixing, Ordered to Pay $585 Million

Paul Lilly — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:26:29 -0600

Sharp, LG, and Chunghwa have each agreed to plead guilty to a price-fixing conspiracy related to LCD display panels and will pay $585 million in criminal fines, the Justice Department said. The plea agreements were filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, California.

"These price-fixing conspiracies affected millions of America consumers who use computers, cell phones, and numerous other household electronics every day," said Thomas Barnett, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust at the Justice Department n Washington.

The extent of the losses as a result of the alleged price fixing conspiracy remains unknown, but Barnett said he expected to outline the damages at the time of sentencing. According to the Justice Department, LG Phillips, who plead guilty to participating a conspiracy from 2001 to 2006 to set LCD panel pricing worldwide, will be hit the hardest and ordered to pay $400 million. That ranks as the second highest criminal fine ever imposed for price fixing.

Sharp will pay $120 for its alleged role in three separate conspiracies with unnamed partners who sold price-fixed panels to Dell for monitors and laptops, Motorola for Razr phones, and Apple for use in iPods. Chunghwa will pay $65 for participating with LG and other unnamed co-conspirators.

The Justice Department warned that the investigation is ongoing, meaning more charges could be brought against individuals from each firm or from other firms.

Image Credit: LG

Sharp to Launch World's First LCD HDTV Line with Built-In Blu-Ray Player

Paul Lilly — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:48:48 -0500

The decision of whether or not to pick up a Blu-ray player at the same time an HDTV is purchased may soon get a little easier, as the two are poised to come together in a single package. As of next month, Sharp will become the first company to offer an LCD HDTV with a built-in Blu-ray player and recorder.

26" LC-26DX1(1366x768)
32" LC-32DX1 (1366x768)
37" LC-37DX1 (1366x768)
42" LC-42DX1 (1920x1080)
46" LC-46DX1 (1920x1080)
52" LC-52DX2 (1920x1080)

Sharp's new Aquos DX series will allow viewers to watch a program on one channel while recording on another at the same time. By supporting H.264/MPEG4 AVC encoding, Sharp says its built-in recorder will be able to hold up to 11 hours of high-definition video in 720p on a single 25GB Blu-ray disc.

Pricing will start at about $1700 for the 26-inch model and run up to $5000 for the 52-inch set. Japan gets first crack at the new sets starting on November 20, with U.S. availability by the end of the year.

Image Credit: AV Watch

Opera Initiated into Symbian Forum

Pulkit Chandna — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 03:49:17 -0500

Opera Software has been formally initiated into the Symbian Foundation, the body that now oversees the development of the Symbian platform. Opera isn’t the only new initiate as some other companies including Sharp have also joined the Symbian Forum. Nokia decided to turn Symbian into an open-source platform, governed by a consortium, after it bought the remaining shares in UK-based Symbian earlier this year. More than 40 companies have joined the consortium since its inception in June, 2008. Opera Software, for its part, has also emerged as a major player in the world of mobile web browsers. It will be an important cog in the Symbian wheel.

Image Credit: Wired

Consumer Electronics Majors Form Consortium to Back WHDI

Pulkit Chandna — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:10:57 -0500

Hitachi, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and Amimon have joined forces and formed the Wireless High-Def Interface Special Interest Group (WHDI SGI), an initiative to standardize the transmission of wireless high definition content to various devices using Amimon’s promising WHDI technology. WHDI uses the exact unlicensed 5GHz band of spectrum as 802.11a but utilizes its own proprietary protocol.

Using the WHDI standard it is possible to transmit 1080p uncompressed content using two 20MHz channels and 1080i and 720p on a lone 20MHz channel. It can send high definition content ripping through walls up to 30 m, with a latency of only 1 millisecond. However, the members of the newly formed consortium are not bound to integrate the technology in their products.

Pioneer to Offer Blu-ray Recorders

Pulkit Chandna — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:52:51 -0500

Pioneer has to its credit a $145 Blu-ray player - on sale only in China, perhaps the cheapest BRD player in the world. However, it was a tad watchful during the course of the format war. Now with Blu-ray having emerged victorious, Pioneer is making a deeper commitment to it. It has announced plans to launch Blu-ray recorders by the end of the year in Japan. The recorders will be developed with some help from its minority owner Sharp (14% stake), which is amongst the six Japanese majors currently offering Blu-ray recorders.

Image Credit: Pioneer