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Debbie Galante Block is a freelance writer based in Mahopac, New York.
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Articles By Debbie Galante Block
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While the manufacturing community worries about how they will afford to get into Blu-ray replication and how they will get business, there's one area of optical discs that is booming: audiobooks.
Debbie Galante Block | Is NetBlender's BD Touch, which leverages BD-Live to connect Blu-ray to mobile devices (and now the iPhone), the first killer app for BD-Live?
Now that "second-tier" AACS licensing for mid-market titles has been more or less resolved, we can turn our attention to the other obstacles to BD delivery
Debbie Galante Block | MAM-A, producer of blank CD-Rs is now doing replication as well. That may sound like a strange move during a time when companies are getting out of the replication business. However, at a second look, it seems to be a wise, out-of the-box idea.
Debbie Galante Block | It was 25 years ago that Sony DADC started up its CD production facility in Terre Haute, Indiana. The good news--in an industry where there has been a lot of bad news lately--is that Sony DADC is still here. As am I.
Debbie Galante Block | While the failure of SACD and DVD-Audio to go mainstream dashed my hopes of high-quality audio media superseding MP3, two recent Blu-ray music-related announcements give me reason to hope that the HD disc format may still emerge as a viable platform for high-definition audio (plus video) recordings.
Debbie Galante Block | While CDSA and Media-Tech have been refocusing to incorporate changes in business, MESA’s goal is to expand the borders further
Debbie Galante Block | Part of the appeal of 3D movies to Hollywood is that you can't just download and watch a torrent of a 3D movie. So that adds value to a 3D movie since there's no downloadable equivalent. On the other hand, as soon as the 3D film is on disc, it's open season for piracy once again.
Debbie Galante Block | slotMusic, a new microSD card with pre-loaded DRM-free MP3 music that can be listened on a cell phone or MP3 device and requires no dependence on a computer or internet connection. Could this actually be a new technology for replicators to get involved in and possibly make money?
While Flexplay time-limited disposable discs debuted around 1999, market interest was limited. But after being purchased by the Convex Group in 2004, they looked at the product and the market again. Now they have a deal with the Hudson News retailer and are ready for the hard sell.
Survey after survey predicts that Blu-ray will never be as big as DVD. As for mobile news, particularly on the music side, enthusiasm is high in the press. So where is the excitement for content providers?
Debbie Galante Block | In the replication world, entertainment DVDs seem to be holding their own. CD losses are no worse than expected. And some replicators are slowly starting to invest in BD in the expectation of a decent long-term return. But what will the rest of the year and the holiday buying season bring?
Debbie Galante Block | While strides have been made in terms of disc piracy, it never really ends, particularly outside of the U.S. But the good news for replicators and content creators and others in the industry is that pirate seizures are up.
...and they don't even require new equipment.
Debbie Galante Block | Will high-def audio be a selling point for hi-def discs? Industry pundits say convenience will still trump quality where audio is concerned
In 2007, music delivered to mobile phones via operators' networks represented about 13 percent of global recorded music retail value, according to a new report from Understanding & Solutions. They forecast an almost 30 percent gain in that market by 2011.
Content Delivery and Storage Association succeeds IRMA with new members, new focus
Debbie Galante Block | Using "One-Time" technology developed by Clear-Vu, Checkpoint Systems, and Viva Magnetics, libraries have become successful early adopters for RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technologies for their DVD/CD holdings, and may help pave the way for retail to begin using RFID to increase security as well.
Debbie Galante Block | If you can't beat 'em, join 'em; the best way to jump-start CD sales that have suffered because of downloads and other web-driven ways of buying and experiencing music is to make CDs better complement and integrate with the web, and that's precisely the mission of two new, already-successful formats: CDVU+ and MVI.
Debbie Galante Block | New copy protection technology designed for videographers and other small-shop media producers with low cost-of-entry and digital and analog DVD protection.
Debbie Galante Block | Despite market confusion created by the HD DVD/Blu-ray format war, and consumer reluctance to embrace the formats, replicators say the summer sales doldrums are over and predict a reasonably strong fall.
Debbie Galante Block | For many consumers, gaming will be their first exposure to HD video delivered on disc. Will the gaming market drive one or both of the HD disc formats into the mainstream, just as the gaming market provided the widest and most appreciative adopters for surround sound?
Debbie Galante Block | Will spoken-word discs and cassettes be the last physical media standing? Here's a look at the spoken-word market thought the eyes of experts in the field, and the impact that downloading is having in this (currently) CD-dominated business.
Debbie Galante Block | With the holiday selling season five months away, manufacturers and retailers are already banking on high definition's promise for end-of-year sales. Will it just be HDTVs that sell, or will HD DVD and Blu-ray players begin to make their mark? Halfway through 2007, it's time to take a look at both formats' progress.
Debbie Galante Block | As live event video producer working in the stage, sports, or worship market whose business depends on volume sales, how do you prevent one customer from buying a single DVD and duping 100 copies? Rimage Corporation has a new solution they claim to be strong, seamless, and reasonably priced.
Debbie Galante Block | Do optical discs have a future in backup, archiving, and other storage applications? Chances are we'll be using optical discs for these purposes until 2025 and beyond.
Debbie Galante Block | What have the entertainment and media packaging industries done to address sustainability and environmental friendliness in their products?
Debbie Galante Block | Kestrel Wireless uses RFID-based technology to engineer new replicator-implemented DVD copy protection scheme
Understanding & Solutions studies project future of physical media vs. online distribution
Debbie Galante Block | MOD Systems, based in Seattle, offers technology that provides solutions for digital media on three fronts: in the corporate arena, in the retail space, and for consumers, and synergistically merges digital and physical media distribution.
Debbie Galante Block | While those of us who work in or report on the optical disc business are usually knee-deep (or deeper) in the next-generation DVD hoopla, consumer awareness of the formats remains sketchy, and understanding of the differences between the two is generally pretty muddled. What do consumers need to know? And where do replicators stand?
Debbie Galante Block | Most reports say holiday spending will be up this year, and increased sales that have been building since Q3 extend to consumer electronics and even optical media. So, why aren't replicators jumping for joy?
Debbie Galante Block | Using discs as marketing tools is not a new idea, but "a new gray area is emerging," says InMOD president Ross O'Brien, "as a niche market where content owners are not looking to Madison Avenue anymore for their marketing and advertising. Our philosophy is built around quantifiable results for marketing and brand recognition."
Debbie Galante Block | If record labels want to continue to sell packaged media product, they had better offer consumers a good reason to lay down their 20 bucks. Is HD video paired with surround audio on HD DVD or Blu-ray media the answer?
Debbie Galante Block | Blu-ray launches today. Who will buy players? A few early adopters, I’m sure. However, Blu-ray won’t get its big push until PlayStation 3 (PS3) launches in November.
Debbie Galante Block | In a time when the number of large orders maybe fewer and more far between for content providers, working with project managers may be the only way for them to get quality work done on smaller orders that many larger, well-known replicators will not handle.
Despite CES hoopla, are replicators and consumers ready for Blu-Ray and HD DVD?
Debbie Galante Block | If you’re an independent replicator and you don’t know about AIMMA and the Colonial Purchasing Co-op, you should. Read on to find out more.
Debbie Galante Block | For years I've echoed the words of Video Transfer’s Karl Renwanz, “There will always be physical media as long as there is Christmas.” But this year, is there reason to doubt it?
Debbie Galante Block | One thing that’s really surprised me recently is how many complaints I’ve heard about disc quality. Here’s a look at the key contributing factors, one by one.
Debbie Galante Block | The High Definition Authoring Alliance announced by Sonic last week could be exactly what's needed to get both HD-DVD and Blu-ray off the ground.
Debbie Galante Block | Despite some playback compatibility issues, DualDisc is just what the music and replication industries need
If you've ever prayed for live CD duplication—say, to leave a concert with a CD of the show in your hands—your prayers have been answered. And it's only fitting, perhaps, that the first answer came from the church market selling take-home sermons, with the trickle-down hitting the jam band concert scene next. Live event duplication is the latest craze in CD production, and the technology is ready, prponents say, for live event DVD possibilities...and maybe it will.
DDD Group plc of Santa Monica, California has launched a 3D conversion solution capable of playing conventional DVD discs in 3D on the latest “glasses free” 3D displays.
If you attended the Henry Stewart Digital Asset Management (DAM) Symposium in New York in March in the hopes of getting a handle on emerging trends in the field, you were out of luck. What was clear, however, was that the battle between single-system proponents and advocates of a multi-system approach is going strong, with neither approach having gained a strong foothold.
For the first time in ages, it appears that all of the record labels might be playing on the same court, no pun intended. The Big Five of the recording industry released DualDisc titles in test markets in early February. But was it their product to release? Dieter Dierks, CEO and founder of Germany-based DVD Plus International, says no.
Replicators are looking for opportunities. Content providers are looking for security. Digital printing marries the two.
Project management and communication tool for filmmakers
by Debbie Galante Block
More consolidation in the replication scene.
The makers of DVD X Copy software are offering a $20 DVD burner as they continue to fight the courts and U.S. Copyright Office, which say the product violates the DMCA.
Dual-layer DVD+R debuts at CEATEC, raising questions of compatibility, rate of implementation, drive and media cost, and impact on DVD authoring.
For many intellectual property owners, the perceived potential for piracy and loss in Web- and disc-based content distribution dramatically outweighs the profit. Much of that may change as copy protection schemes grow more sophisticated, and content owners learn how to make the Web work for them. But what options are available now for keeping content safe?
As more and more videographers extend their reach to corporate and stage-event clientele, they meet a growing demand for DVD duplication in quantities that run well beyond the half-dozen-or-fewer discs produced for a typical wedding or bar mitzvah client. Which leaves them in a quandary: do I invest money and time in purchasing, mastering, and maintaining duplication equipment and do the jobs in-house, or do I outsource the work to a local service bureau and stick to what I know best?
With CD pricing at its lowest point, and DVD pricing dropping fast, there’s a law of diminishing returns at work in replicators’ traditional revenue streams. These days, it’s range of services that makes an impression—and warehousing and distribution that seal the deal.
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