"A lot of people were emailing that bought a PlayStation and they were basically saying, 'When are you guys going to release Blu-ray?' They really have no preference in format yet because it's so new. When it comes down to image quality, there is no difference between the two." - Joone

Pocket-lint, 1/8/08 - Toshiba's woe's hit another low point with the announcement that another movie studio has dropped the format in favour of Sony's Blu-ray format.

Porn label Digital Playground is the latest studio to move exclusively to Blu-ray despite initially choosing HD DVD due to issues over being allowed to publish films on the Sony format.

It has now announced that it will be launching eight titles on the format next month to complement its big budget high-def porn fest "Pirates" based on Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean.

The next eight titles to be released are: “Island Fever 4,” “Babysitters,” “Island Fever 3,” “Jack’s Teen America 3,” “Jesse Jane: Sexual Freak,” “Hush,” “Contract Star” and “Jesse Jane in Pink.”

More ...

Japanese Porn Industry Using Blu-ray Disc HD Format

Washington Post, 7/31/07 - The HD DVD high-definition movie format may have the lead in the U.S. porn industry, but Japanese adult film makers have turned decisively to Blu-ray Disc, breathing new life into its bid to replace DVDs as the disc of choice for home movies.

Sony Corp. has started offering more technical support to the adult film industry in Japan, movie makers said at the Adult Treasure Expo 2007 in Chiba, Japan, and the problem of finding companies to mass produce their movies appears to be over.

It's an important step for Blu-ray Disc. HD DVD has already won over the U.S. adult film industry through its lower costs and ease-of-use. People in the industry say they've received plenty of help from backers of the format, including Microsoft Corp. and Toshiba Corp. But Blu-ray is different. Sony and one of the biggest movie makers in the world, the Walt Disney Co., object to pornography, and Disney maintains a policy against having its own movies replicated by any company working with adult movie titles.

Until now, only a handful of companies operated the stampers needed to copy thousands of Blu-ray Disc movies at a time. But the Japanese company handling most of the early Blu-ray Disc adult film releases in Japan says it has partnered with a Taiwanese company able to secure the necessary equipment from Sony.

"In Japan, there are some problems. Companies cannot press Blu-ray discs because they cannot touch adult-related contracts," said Kiyotaka Konno, director of administration at Assist Corp., a Japanese company that authors and replicates DVDs for the adult industry in Japan. "So we asked some makers in Taiwan to do the work, and then we import the discs back to Japan. The Taiwanese company was able to obtain a pressing machine from Sony and will start mass production in August."

Sony says its policy of not allowing its disc replicating subsidiary, Sony DADC, to copy adult films has not changed. But the company is offering technical support to any film makers looking for help, no matter what industry, a spokeswoman said Monday.

The adoption of Blu-ray Disc by the Japanese porn industry could make all the difference in the format war. The adult film industry has long been a first mover in using new technologies, and many analysts say the industry played a key role in making VHS the winner in the video cassette fight against Sony's Betamax video tape standard years ago. Blu-ray Disc, also a Sony technology, is now vying with HD DVD to be the high-definition disc of choice in the 21st century.

Japan's adult film industry already has ten movies out on Blu-ray Disc (BD DVD), including "JK," "Sex Vacation in Guam" and "Eroist." More are on the way, said Yoshimasa Nozu, a producer at Total Media Agency Inc. His company plans to release at least one more movie per month on Blu-ray for the rest of this year.

By contrast, only one HD DVD adult film has been made in Japan so far, "Perfect Slave Rin," by Glay'z productions.

"HD DVD is popular overseas, but it faces a tough market in Japan," said Takeshi Kobayashi, head of operations at Taisei Co. Ltd., which distributes films under the trade name Glay'z in Japan. "Sony is really pushing the industry to adopt BD DVD."

Price is one issue. HD DVD movies sell for %6,090 (US$51.37) each in Japan, while BD DVD movies cost less, %4,935. The main difference is that every HD DVD comes with a DVD as well, so users who want to buy the new format but don't yet have an HD DVD player can watch the DVD until they buy a new player.

Sony's PlayStation 3 also presents a challenge for HD DVD. The game console comes with a built in BD DVD player, giving adult film producers an incentive to put their movies on Blu-ray. Japan has long been a stronghold for Sony in the game console arena, and despite stiff competition from Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Wii, it has sold 4.3 million players worldwide. That puts at least the same number of Blu-ray Disc players in people's homes.

Microsoft, which is part of the HD DVD consortium, has tried to counter Blu-ray in game consoles by offering an add-on HD DVD player for the Xbox 360. But since the players aren't built in, users can opt to forego them, unlike PlayStation 3 users.

HD DVD does have an advantage in the cost of its stand-alone players. Toshiba Corp.'s HD-A2 costs just US$234.99 and comes with five free mainstream HD DVD movies, according to Amazon.com. A similar machine by Sony, the BDP-S300, costs US$499, the same as a PlayStation 3 with a 60G-byte hard drive. The two devices also include five free movies.

Several U.S. porn studios have also come out as strong supporters of HD DVD. Wicked Pictures released the first U.S. feature-length adult movie in HD DVD in January, "Camp Cuddly Pines: Powertool Massacre," while the first Blu-ray Disc title in the U.S., Vivid Entertainment Group's "Debbie Does Dallas...Again," didn't follow until nearly four months later.

Still, despite the head start, HD DVD isn't exactly taking the porn industry by storm. Several U.S. companies interviewed earlier this year have not made good on their plans to release titles in HD DVD, while Blu-ray Disc appears to be gaining ground with its new initiative to work with Japanese adult film makers. The result could be a shift in Blu-ray's favor. U.S. adult film makers said they would use whatever makes sense, and only favored HD DVD early on because the format is less expensive to make movies with and they received extensive help from HD DVD backers.

A friendlier face from the Blu-ray Disc camp appears to be working with Japan's porn industry. Perhaps it could work in the U.S. as well.

Some Porn Actresses Don't Like HD Porn

New York Times, 1/22/07- The XXX industry has gotten too graphic, even for its own tastes.

Pornography has long helped drive the adoption of new technology, from the printing press to the videocassette. Now pornographic movie studios are staying ahead of the curve by releasing high-definition DVDs.

They have discovered that the technology is sometimes not so sexy. The high-definition format is accentuating imperfections in the actors — from a little extra cellulite on a leg to wrinkles around the eyes.

Hollywood is dealing with similar problems, but they are more pronounced for pornographers, who rely on close-ups and who, because of their quick adoption of the new format, are facing the issue more immediately than mainstream entertainment companies.

Producers are taking steps to hide the imperfections. Some shots are lit differently, while some actors simply are not shot at certain angles, or are getting cosmetic surgery, or seeking expert grooming.

"The biggest problem is razor burn," said Stormy Daniels, an actress, writer and director.

Ms. Daniels is also a skeptic. "I’m not 100 percent sure why anyone would want to see their porn in HD," she said.

The technology’s advocates counter that high definition, by making things clearer and crisper, lets viewers feel as close to the action as possible.

"It puts you in the room," said the director known as Robby D., whose films include "Sexual Freak."

The pornographers’ progress with HD may also be somewhat slowed by Sony, one of the main backers of the Blu-ray high-definition disc format. Sony said last week that, in keeping with a longstanding policy, it would not mass-produce pornographic videos on behalf of the movie makers.

The decision has forced pornographers to use the competing HD-DVD format or, in some cases, to find companies other than Sony that can manufacture copies of Blu-ray movies.

The movie makers assert that it is shortsighted of Sony to snub them, given how pornography helps technologies spread.

"When you’re introducing a new format, it would seem like the adult guys can help," said Steven Hirsch, co-chief executive officer of Vivid Entertainment Group, a big player in the industry. Mr. Hirsch added that high definition, regardless of format, "is the future."

Despite the challenges, pornographers — who distributed some 7,000 new movies on DVD last year and sold discs worth $3.6 billion in the United States — are rapidly moving to high-definition.

One major company, Digital Playground, plans to release its first four HD-DVD titles this month, and plans four new ones each month. In March, Vivid plans to release "Debbie Does Dallas ... Again," its first feature for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray.

Vivid, like Digital Playground, has been shooting with high-definition cameras for two years to build up a catalog of high-definition movies. Both studios have released the movies in standard definition but plan to make the high-definition versions available as compatible disc players and televisions become more popular.

The studios said their experience using the technology gives them an advantage in understanding how to cope with the mixed blessing of hypercrisp images. Their techniques include using postproduction tools that let them digitally soften the actors’ skin tone.

"It takes away the blemishes and the pits and harshness and makes it look like they have baby skin," said the director known as Joone, who made "Pirates," one of the industry’s top-selling videos. It will be available this month in high-definition.

Joone does not use a last name, but he does use a number of techniques to keep his films blemish-free. They include giving out lifestyle tips.

"I tell the girls to work out more, cut down on the carbs, hit the treadmill," he said.

Within the industry, the issue seems to have created a difference in perspective that cuts roughly along gender lines. Some male actors have begun using makeup to mitigate wrinkles or facial flaws, but generally they, and the male directors, are less worried about high-definition’s glare and more enamored of the technology.

Ms. Daniels said that attitude was just so typical of men.

"Men are all about outdoing each other, being up with the times, being cool, having the latest technology," she said. "They’re willing to sacrifice our vanity and imperfections to beat each other" to high-definition, she said.

Other female actors say they generally like working with high-definition — except for the cosmetic-surgery part.

Jesse Jane, one of the industry’s biggest stars, plans to go under the knife next month to deal with one side effect of high-definition. The images are so clear that Ms. Jane’s breast implants, from an operation six years ago, can be seen bulging oddly on screen.

"I’m having my breasts redone because of HD," she said.

The stretch marks on Ms. Jane from seven years ago when she gave birth to her son are also more apparent. But she deals with those blemishes in a simpler way: by liberal use of tanning spray.

Still, Ms. Jane likes the technology, as does her close friend Kirsten Price, 25, who appeared in "Manhunters" and "Just Like That."

"HD is great because people want to see how people really look," Ms. Price said. "People just want to see what’s real."

Ms. Price is allowing them to do so, mostly. She had laser treatments to diminish tiny purple veins on her thighs that weren’t visible to viewers before.

"You can see things you cannot see with the naked eye. You see skin blemishes; you see cottage cheese," said Robbie D. "But some cellulite is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s kind of sexy."

The technology makes the experience more intimate, he said. "People look to adult movies for personal contact, and yet they’re still not getting it. HD lets them see a little bit more of the girl."

That’s not necessarily good, said Savanna Samson, an actress who last December directed her first movie, "Any Way You Want Me." During a scene in which she played a desperate housewife, she ran into a problem: the high-definition camera revealed she had a tiny ill-placed pimple.

"We kept stopping and trying to hide it. We put on makeup and powder, but there was no way," Ms. Samson said. Finally, they tried another approach: "We just changed positions," she said.

Digital Playground Will Use HD-DVD Format

Heise Magazine, 1/11/07 - Joone, founder of the company Digital Playground and director of extremely popular HD porn movies, declared that his company would from next week on be publishing movies on HD DVD on a regular basis.

This is a U-turn for Joone, who at last year's AVN event had declared his support for the Blu-ray Disc format. Asked about his change of attitude by heise online the director responded: "Sony wants me to publish my films on HD DVD." He then went on to explain that he had in fact wanted to publish his movies on Blu-ray Disc, but that all Blu-ray Disc copying facilities in the United States had refused to cooperate. The companies had unanimously declared that Sony had threatened to withdraw their Blu-ray licenses should they stoop to making HD copies of pornographic films, Joone said. Even though he would have liked to supply with his movies the predominantly male group of Playstation 3 players he had been forced by events, he declared, to switch to HD DVD. The game console has the ability to play Blu-ray Discs built into it. The director said he was puzzled by Sony's attitude, which, he noted, had also turned out to be counterproductive in the case of Betamax.

As a consequence Digital Playground now intends to release HD DVD products at a rapid rate: Thus between now and the first week of February the company, with "Island Fever 3," "Pirates," "Teen America" and "Island Fever 4," will launch onto the US market as many as four titles. Thereafter up to the end of the year the company will aim to release four HD-DVD titles a month. While "Island Fever 3" and "Pirates" are combined discs with an HD-DVD and a DVD side to them, "Teen America" and "Island Fever 4" are pure HD DVDs. Each disc will probably cost 5 US dollars more than its DVD counterpart.

The movie "Island Fever 3," which was shot on Tahiti and Bora Bora, has already been seen to run flawlessly as a WMV HD-DVD; despite a playing time of 3 hours and 20 minutes its successor, which as DVD is two-disc-edition material, is said to fit on a single HD DVD without any loss of quality. The fairly sumptuously produced "Pirates" has even received an award as the most commercially successful porn DVD of 2006. For more than a year the work, of which a G-rated version was released later, managed to hold on to a prominent position in the US porn DVD charts.

Few Porn Producers Can afford High Definition

Red Herring, 8/14/06 - They aggressively pushed the VHS videocassette, led the change to DVDs, and were among the first to make money off the Internet.

No one could say that the adult film industry has shied away from new technology.

Nor should they have. Each new technology made it easier for porn companies to make and distribute films, first through home video and then via the Internet.

As a result, hundreds of sex film companies have popped up over the last decade, driving an estimated $4.3 billion in sales in the United States last year and making household names out of starlets like Asia Carrera and Jenna Jameson.

Adult filmmakers are once again grappling with the latest technology—high-definition DVDs. But HD video is so confusing and expensive to most sex film producers that some industry insiders suggest the technology could actually prompt a much-needed shakeout in an industry that has for decades only known robust growth.

"There will be fewer companies, fewer small budget films, and less of the riffraff operators," predicted Peter Warren, associate editor of Adult Video News, the industry’s leading trade publication.

Format Wars

Much of the confusion has centered on the looming format war between Sony’s Blu-ray standard and Toshiba’s HD-DVD technology. The two companies have been unable to agree on a common standard and are independently forging ahead in hopes they will emerge victorious in the marketplace.

That has forced many consumer electronics makers, computer companies, and Hollywood studios to pick sides, a scenario eerily reminiscent of the battle between VHS and Betamax. Some studios, like Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., have opted to hedge their bets and back both formats.

The porn industry is just as confused about which format will win. Adult filmmakers would like to exploit the extra-storage available on Blu-ray discs, but they are wary about the price of Blu-ray DVD players and the high cost of Blu-ray discs.

The industry has been unwilling to push one format over the other, leaving most producers with little choice other than to adopt a "wait and see" attitude.

"Confusion is pervasive in the adult film industry," said Tom Funk, a former IT consultant turned porn film maker. "They don’t necessarily understand the technology, and then there’s the format war."

Expensive Transition

This transition could not have come at a worse time for many in "Porn Valley," the area of the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles that has become the epicenter of the U.S. sex film industry.

Hundreds of small operators have flooded the market with low-budget films, stepping up competition and eating into profits across the board.

Given the current climate, few production companies can afford to switch. Creating true high-definition films is a complex process requiring special HD cameras that cost up to $80,000 apiece.

After filming, the material must be encoded and formatted on machines that cost as much as $20,000, equipment not needed for current DVDs. Then the film must be replicated, which can cost at least twice as much per unit as standard discs.

Not everyone is complaining. Deep-pocketed production companies like Vivid Entertainment, the industry’s largest producer, have been shooting with high-definition cameras for more than a year.

Vivid is preparing to release its first title HD title—Kink, starring Stefani Morgan—in October. Like some major Hollywood studios, Vivid will release its high-definition titles in both formats until a clear leader emerges.

‘Pro-sumer’

Industry observers predict smaller production houses that film scenes with so-called "pro-sumer" cameras will find it increasingly difficult to compete, as high-definition becomes the norm.

With the overwhelming majority of XXX films today barely selling 1,000 copies, most filmmakers will not be able to cover the cost of switching to high definition.

"We usually are pioneers, but the last thing the industry needs is a switch to another format," said Paul Ward, managing partner at Major Video Concepts, an adult film producer and distributor. "It would be insanity."

Mr. Hirsch recalls that it took about five years for the market to shift from VHS to DVD. The shift to high-definition DVDs will probably take much longer, he said, and the porn industry is not likely to be leading the way this time.

Porn May Set the Standard for High Definition DVDs

CBS News, 4/26/06 -  Like it or not, in the next few years, you're probably going to be following the lead of the porn industry. I'm not talking about wearing high heels to bed or making noises like a wounded rhino. I'm talking about video technology.

If you are into electronic home gadgets, you may already have a High Definition television in your home. Now you're probably trying to decide which of the two formats for recording and playing HD DVDs you should buy. Toshiba has the HD DVD format and Sony has the Blu-Ray format. In the spirit of corporate stupidity, the two formats are not compatible, and based on the history of the Betamax versus VHS war, only one format will survive. The porn industry recently made a commitment to Blu-Ray, so mainstream movie companies will probably be closely behind them, so to speak.

Hollywood knows now that it would be foolish to ignore technologies used by the porn industry. Pornography customers were among the first to buy home video players so they could watch their porn on their own TVs. This was a much more comfortable environment than some seedy movie theater. Hollywood studios didn't pick up on this right away. In fact, some studios fought home video all they way to the Supreme Court before making it one of the most profitable aspects of their business. Adult entertainment fans were among the first to buy DVD players so they could watch their porn on DVDs rather than videotape. And when the mainstream studios were saying that nobody would watch movies on the Internet, the porn industry blazed the trail there, too. It's no coincidence that porn's Adult Entertainment Expo runs at the same time and place as the largest U.S. technology fair, the Consumer Electronics Show. Surprise, surprise, they're both held in Las Vegas.

Why does the porn industry have such an influence on the rest of the movie and video business? They have a huge audience, and porn fans will buy the latest equipment. In 2005, the porn business had sales of approximately $12.6 billion. That means that not only is that creepy guy who lives down the block a fan of porn, but so is that nice couple who live next door. So, when all those new HD DVD (or Blu-Ray) players are in the porn enthusiasts' homes, regular movie companies don't want to get caught with their pants down. They'll want to use a format that the vast porn audience will already be using.

So, I guess the prudent thing for consumers to do is to wait. See if the porn industry really dictates the technology, and see which format survives before purchasing those expensive new machines that will be able to record and play HD DVDs on your TV.

But I'm not betting against the porn industry. It seems to get bigger and bigger each year, just like its stars. The industry releases about 11,000 videos on DVD each year. That's 11,000 different porn movies annually. Obviously, this far exceeds the number of "legitimate" movies that are released. Forgetting the commercial aspect for a moment and just thinking about the writing and producing of these movies, 11,000 is a staggering number. Are there really 11,000 different pornographic stories? Per year? How different can each of those 11,000 videos be? How many variations can those clever porn writers think of when it comes to, "Come on in. My husband's out of town?" Since stories are secondary in pornographic movies, could there possibly be 11,000 different positions? What are the other 10,977?

I don't have HD TV, but I've seen it in stores and at friends' houses. It's great, especially for sports and movies. But I'm not sure how it would enhance watching a porn video. Will it make the siliconed breasts look even more unreal? Is it going to make that motel wallpaper look any cheaper? Do you really need to see men with pale legs and black socks in High Definition?

Apparently so. Both the adult and the tech companies are banking on viewers grabbing this technology faster than a porn star can take off her nurse's uniform.

Also ...

Lurid Specializes in HD Porn

The Inquirer, 1/7/06 - While companies waffle and debate how to screw consumers harder over high def video, the porn industry is doing HD now, with harder screwing on it, not with it. Several companies had HD titles here and there, but I only found one, Lurid, that was all HD.

Lurid specializes in HD porn, and they currently have 13 titles out and counting. There are a lot of problems with doing HD, and much of the industry is doing it basically wrong. It has come a long way from the state of affairs of last year, and HD cameras are much more available. The problem is that editing equipement is not, and most companies don't have the expertise, money, or will to do it on their own. This leads to movies shot in HD, then downsampled to be edited on normal rez machines. It is then upsampled and burnt to DVD, giving you pretty awful quality.

Lurid on the other hand does everything start to finish in HD, giving you quality that I can't use a snappy saying about for fear of angering the moral minority, but think slogans for Kentucky Fried Chicken. Needless to say it is HD all the way through, shot in 1080i, and downsampled to 720P for production and print. They are shipped on two DVDs, one in standard def, the other with a WMVHD movie on it as a file. The next thing for them to tackle is the consumers, or dumb sheep as I like to call them. They see a HD sicker on something, and assume it just works. If they buy a plasma TV and it does HD, they assume that their DVD player will do it. Wrong.

Lurid was giving away an XBox 360 on their stand because it is one of the only consumer devices out there that can do HD movies at the consumer level. Without Microsoft and the XBox 360 team, we would not have true high quality filth, thanks guys.

If trends hold, this year there are a few like Lurid at the beachhead of HD, and by AVN 2007, everyone will be there. While the big boys are making a lot of noise about standards fights, screwing consumers, and the like, porn is there now. You can buy it all day long, inexpensively and technically correct. Who is the leader again?

See Xbox Porn in High Definition

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