Germany - Label managers, producers and directors from renowned media enterprises gathered at msm-studios in Munich on the 22 October to attend a teach-in on the new optical disc format Blu-ray. The object of the half-day event was, in the words of msm MD Stefan Bock: "to introduce our customers to the technology and the associated possibilities." To make these as palpable as possible, msm opted for a judicious blend of theory with practice.

Getting things underway, Johannes Müller, msm-studio's DVD producer, explained the advantages of the new medium over DVD: "With a storage capacity of 50 GB, the new medium offers enough space for an HDTV resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels - something like six times that of a DVD." Not only the image but also audio tracks, according to Müller, derive enormous benefit from the literally loss-free reproduction: "DVD is good, but Blu-ray is even better" was the message.

Following the introductory lecture, Frank Simonis and David Walstra of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) delivered reports on the positive market development of the medium. BDA Chairman Frank Simonis is convinced that: "Blu-ray is well on the way to becoming the high-resolution format on the world market," adding that "the most important equipment and content providers are already banking on Blu-ray."

(Jim Evans)


Latest Issue. . .