According to the manual for JVC’s first Blu-ray player to hit the United States, the XV-PB1 supports the Matroska (MKV) multimedia container. It’s manual states it supports MPEG-4/AVC content up to 1080p (from file on USB, or streamed), making the MKV container support even better. MKV is a very flexible multimedia container format that is used widely for High-definition content.
This might push the player slightly up the list of Blu-ray players currently available, even though it has been largely ignored since its unveiling at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year. It supports BD-Live and network streaming from PCs, and reportedly has a very fast booting time.
Result for: blu ray players
According to industry sources in Taiwan, OEM Blu-ray manufacturers have been hit with “seriously stagnant sales” due to Sony, Samsung and Sharp’s decision to drop prices of standalone Blu-ray players to under $200 USD.
The manufacturers began shipping players out in October and November aimed “at the $199 to $299 price range” which became nearly impossible to sell at profit after the bigger brand name companies began selling the players at under $200.
The companies should be okay now however, as brand name Blu-ray player prices have crept up to their average prices before the special holiday cuts.
Digitimes noted that U.S. buyers bought almost exclusively from big name companies such as Samsung and Sony during the holiday season, leaving less reputable OEM brands out to dry.
Result for: blu ray players
The large Canadian retailer FutureShop has announced that anyone who bought a now obsolete HD DVD player now has the option to trade it in for a $100 CAD discount on the purchase of one of two hybrid HD players, the Samsung BD-UP5000 or the LG BH200. The hybrid players will play both HD DVD titles and Blu-ray titles. Any HD DVD player is up for the deal no matter how much they cost to begin with.
The new deal, which will last until April 3rd, will see all the received HD DVD players donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada.
A similar deal was made recently by the giant US retailer Circuit City to allow users to return their HD DVD players within 3 months or trade them in for Blu-ray players.
