New Blu-ray Test Center Allows Producers to Check Release Before Replication

For HD content producers, there’s no way to know-really know-that your Blu-ray video release is going to work properly on all consumer players before you spend the big bucks to replicate copies. That is, unless you manually test it on the Blu-ray format players from various manufacturers.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. has opened the Panasonic Hollywood Blu-ray Testing Center (PHBTC) to help. The new test center is within the existing facilities of Panasonic’s Hollywood Laboratory at Universal City.

According to Matsushita-one of the backers of the Blu-ray format along with Sony and Samsung-conducting “logical format verification of entertainment content in replicated BD-Video discs requires technical sophistication.” Until now, there has been no testing service available for content verification before disc replication.

Panasonic is inviting the member companies of the Blu-ray Disc Association to install their BD-Video playback products, including Blu-ray recorders and players, in PHBTC so that content providers and authoring studios can confirm the interoperability of their titles using these devices.

The testing services that will be provided include format-verification service for the logical format of BD Video/Live Discs; playback testing service for BD Video/Live Discs with the BD Video playback system; and rental site service for format verification and playback testing.

Panasonic Hollywood Blu-ray Testing Center is located at 10 Universal City Plaza in Universal City, CA. Phone: (818) 301-1850.