Warner Bros. gets exclusively on Blu-ray Disc

Warner Brothers has chosen to stick to Blu-ray rather than HD DVD.

Both the Blu-ray camp (led by Sony and Panasonic) and the HD DVD camp (led by Toshiba and Microsoft) have been shaking hands with Warner Brothers.

However, Warner Brothers' firm decision on the commitment to the Blu-ray system is intended significantly to reduce consumers' hesitation in selecting the related products such as video players/recorders.

The video players/recorders market in Japan has already been dominated by the Blu-ray system, accounting for more than 90 percent of the market.

Furthermore, in the market of films, the decision by Warner Brothers is leading to another domination where four of the six major movie companies in Hollywood will have adopted the Blu-ray system.

B-CAS card

You need to put a B-CAS card in your HDTV set to watch digital broadcasts in Japan.

The card comes with a HDTV set when you buy a new set.

Digital broadcasts are encrypted and the card is used to decrypt them.

B-CAS cards are under control of BS-Conditional Access Systems Co., Ltd. which was co-founded by the stakeholders including broadcasting companies.

Unsolicited digital broadcasts?

You would be forced to pay for your unfavorite digital TV channels in an apartment or outside the coverage.


If you move to an apartment with one or more TV wall jacks that connect to the satellite dish installed on the roof of the apartment building and plug your HDTV set into the jack, you may be charged for the NHK BS TV channels.

You would then probably be charged even though you have the BS-enabled terminal of your TV set unplugged.


If you are out of coverage of the terrestrial digital TV airwaves, that is, in a worse case scenario, you may be charged for some pay channels as well as NHK BS when you need to subscribe to a cable TV service.

You would then probably be charged even though you never watch them, because in your home the cable TV station installs a set-top box that is by default configured to display some pay channels to earn some money.


These channels should be scrambled to make them visible only to those who like to watch by paying for them.


(Also refer to Migration to Terrestrial Digital Broadcasting and Survival in digitization of TV in Japan (1).)

Survival in digitization of TV in Japan (1)

In 2011 Japan's terrestrial TV broadcasting will have shifted from analog to digital system.

Under the digital system, your existing chunk analog TV set, often with a CRT display, may remain dumb and show nothing.

To have something shown on it, you would need an adaptor that converts digital to analog signals.

The adaptor will probably be available as a pay offering.

The adaptor specifications are currently being discussed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) and the Association for Promotion of Digital Broadcasting (Dpa).

Is NHK ready to change?

The next NHK president will come from Asahi Breweries, Ltd. on January 25, 2008.

It is for the first time in nineteen years that a person from outside of NHK is appointed as president.

He is expected to face a lot challenges including the migration to terrestrial digital TV broadcasting in 2011.

Full-HDTV -- 1080 is the key

To get the best out of HDTV in Japan, keep the number “1080” in mind.
(Note that in most cases HDTV is called “Hi-Vision TV” in Japan.)

First of all, HDTV stands for High Definition TeleVision.

What is then the definition of High Definition?

High Definition (HD) refers to the standard that provides high-resolution for TV displaying. In general, it specifies video with 720 or more scanning lines.

HDTV-sets on store shelves now in Japan are usually categorized into two types - one offers video with 720 scanning lines and the other 1080. The more scanning lines, the clearer video.

The 1080-scanning-line system has been implemented in the current satellite/terrestrial digital TV broadcasting in Japan. Therefore, to enjoy HDTV to the full, make sure you get a “1080” or “Full Hi-Vision” TV set.

Copy 10 - another headache-maker for HDTV recorder

In addition to the tussle between Blu-ray and HD DVD, the undefined HDTV recording system is making you think twice about buying a TV-recorder.

Most TV-recorders now available can store a HDTV program on the hard disc and copy it to another medium (such as DVD-R disc) only once - that is called “Copy Once,” but is effectively “move.”

The “copy nine times and move one time from hard disc” system (referred to as “Copy 10”) is still on the table at a panel under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in Japan. The system therefore is unclear about implementation on TV-recorder products.

Consumers are always annoyed by the industry that sets aside the users' benefits.