Andre Yoskowitz
30 Jan 2008 16:19
Sonic Solutions has announced that it will be ending all sales of its popular Scenarist authoring product for HD DVD in an effort to condense operations and put emphasis on Blu-ray and digital distribution of HD content.
The company has also said it believes giving full support to Blu-ray and the Web-enabled BD-Live interactivity will give them a better "return on investment" than by splitting their investment between two formats.
Starting now, the Scenarist product will only be offered as a Blu-ray authoring product and will have an update soon with new BD-Live creation features. As an added bonus, any current Scenarist HD DVD customer has the option to exchange their product for the Blu-ray version.
HD DVD support will not completely be dropped however, as its ever popular AV application Roxio will still be compatible with both formats.
“Extending Sonic’s long history of commitment and support for the professional sector, we are aligning our professional product portfolio to address the evolving needs of our high-end customers,” said Dave Habiger, president and CEO at Sonic. “Our Professional Products Group plays a significant role in supporting the development of high-definition formats, including the contribution of core IP to HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc joint portfolio licenses. Going forward, the group will direct its considerable format expertise on helping our professional customers fulfill the richly interactive promise of Blu-ray Disc, including BD-Live, and aligning with a broader company strategy to enable the secure and efficient digital distribution of video entertainment.”
Rolf Hartley, senior VP and general manager of Sonic’s Professional Products Group added, “Our professional authoring customers are actively engaged with expanding their services in advanced interactive and online content creation. With a focus on Blu-ray Disc, we’re able to meet this demand with new entertainment experiences that consumers not only want but have also come to expect from today’s connected-content platforms.”