BLU-RAY

Today, General Electric unveiled a next-generation optical storage technology that can pack as much as 20 Blu-Ray discs or a hundred DVDs' worth of data onto a single disc. The newly devised discs, which use holograms to store data in the form of bits, can hold 500 gigabytes of information, the company says.

From executive producer Steven Spielberg, Eagle Eye delivers everything PopSci.com fans could want in a cyber-thriller: unexpected plot twists and action sequences, two of Hollywood’s hottest young actors (the film stars Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monoghan), and a plot that is inextricably hinged on the use of cell phones, LED signs, and television screens.

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3-D started its comeback at CES about two years ago when Samsung first showed capable rear projection TVs. At the time, 3D was just for video games, with only the vague promise that movies would be coming. On Wednesday in Vegas, Panasonic announced plans to push for technical standards that could show up in TVs and Blu-ray discs and players in less than two years.

the Blu-ray format stores and plays movies in high definition—easy for new flicks shot digitally in HD, but what about classics like Metropolis (due out on Blu-ray next year) that were shot on film? The trick is to make a small digital file without losing too much information in the process, which could yield a poor-quality image. Here’s how it works.

February 19, 2008 is Confirm the Obvious Day. Pervez Musharraf finally had to concede that nobody in Pakistan likes him. Castro acknowledged the fact that he hasnt been running the country for over a year. And Toshiba fessed up that theyve lost the high-definition movie war.

As we reported from CES, HD-DVD's death knell as a viable high-definition disc format began to ring loudly when Warner Bros., one of the format's largest major supporters, announced that they would move exclusively to Blu-ray in early 2008. Today, Netflix and Best Buy also declared HD-DVD dead to them—the former will completely phase them out of its rental business, and the latter will now exclusively recommend Blu-ray players to its customers.

HDTV sets are stunning—until you pop in a movie and are reminded that DVDs are not recorded in high definition. At 480 lines of resolution, they don’t even begin to take advantage of a 720- or 1,080-line display. That will change later this year when Toshiba introduces the first high-def disc player for the U.S. market. Toshiba’s breakthrough box, an HD DVD player that at press time was still unnamed, will cost about $1,000 (toshiba.com).