Kahl am Main, December 13, 2006 - The high-definition entertainment era has finally started in Germany on time for Christmas: since the boom of HD-ready flat screen TVs has steadily continued since 2005, now the first movies are available in high-definition quality on optical discs (Blu-ray and HD DVD). The large retail stores offer the new HD DVD (High-Definition DVD). The first HD DVD players have also been launched. For the competing format Blu-ray the market introduction has also been announced for Germany.
A lot of the movies available are produced on SPACELINE II production machines of the SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG (SINGULUS). The Kahl am Main-based company is the leading equipment supplier for the preceding format DVD with a global market share of more than 65 %.
The first HD DVD production systems on the basis of the SINGULUS SPACELINE II have already been launched in the summer of 2005. These machines are able to produce DVD 9 as well as the new HD DVD. Therefore, SINGULUS enables its customers to respond flexibly with respect to the new format development.
With a storage capacity of up to 30 GB, a resolution of up to 1920x1080 pixels and 7.1 channel surround sound HD DVDs offer a previously unknown home cinema experience. Cineastes are able to enjoy “Peter Jackson's King Kong", “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang�, “Firewall�, “The Fugitive�, “Full Metal Jacket�, “Rumor Has It� as well as the “Mission: Impossible� trilogy with brilliantly sharp quality on the plasma or LCD sets. Additional Hollywood blockbusters will be available at MediaMarkt, Saturn & Co. very soon.
More and more viewers switch to the new television experience. According to GfK, the market for flat screen television sets is sharply increasing. Accordingly, in the first eight months of 2006 alone, nearly one million LCD and plasma displays equipped with the "HD-ready" logo necessary for displaying high-definition content have been sold. Until the end of the year GfK forecasts more than two million HDTV sets in the German market.
Moreover, market researchers expect a steady growth not only for traditional DVDs but in particular for the new high-definition formats HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Experts from Understanding & Solutions forecast a rise of the global DVD volumes from nearly 8 billion in 2006 to 8.5 billion in 2007 and even up to 9 billion by 2008. For Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD a rise is expected from 248 million discs in the next year to 623 million (2008) and 1.2 billion in 2009.