Fox has announced its first wave of titles on the burgeoning Blu-ray Disc format, with an initial slate of catalog titles that "targets the early adopter" and a significant day-and-date release. November 14th will see the release of <I>Behind Enemy Lines</I>, <I>Fantastic Four</I>, <I>Kingdom of Heaven</I> (Director's Cut), <I>The Omen (666)</I>, <I>The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen</I>, <I>Speed</I>, and <I>The Transporter</I>. This wave will be followed on November 21st by the day-and-date Blu-ray and DVD release of <I>Ice Age: The Meltdown</I>.

<UL CLASS="square">
<LI>$6,499</LI>
<LI>Technology: Plasma Display Panel</LI>
<LI>Resolution: 1366x768</LI>
<LI>Size: 50"</LI>
<LI>Inputs: One HDMI, two component, one each composite and S-video, one RGB on 15-Pin DSUB</LI>
<LI>Feature Highlights: CableCARD HD Tuner, AVM-II video processing, advanced color management,built-in speakers, tabletop stand</LI>
</UL>
Fujitsu plasmas cost more but have the enviable reputation for offering the kind of flexibility and improved processing that separates the premium designs from the loss leaders you see at Costco. This latest Fujitsu 50" plasma has a model number that's too long for me to repeat, but it costs $6499 and aims to justify its premium price.

The Grinch came to steal HD DVD's Christmas a little late this year, as the Internet lit up late last week with the news that a hacker calling him/herself "muslix64" had cracked HD DVD's AACS copy protection with an apparently self-written Java-based utility called "BackupHDDVD." Stories over the 'Net calimed that muslix64 had successfully used the utility to move copies of Warner's <I>Full Metal Jacket</I> (one of the worst looking HD DVDs released so far) and Universal's <I>Van Helsing</I> to his/her hard drive. On top of that, muslix64 released the code to this utility, inviting others to take a crack (pun intended) at copying their own HD DVDs.

HD DVD has missed another deadline, this time the end-of-2005 launch date for Japan. HD DVD’s main developer, Toshiba, said the reason for the delay is that the standards for the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) copy protection scheme (used in both HD DVD and Blu-ray) are not finalized yet.