LOS ANGELES -- Blu-ray Disc adoption four years after introduction is tracking “slightly below” where DVD was after the same period, Billy Law, Nielsen director of home entertainment measurement, told the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy’s Edge Conference on Thursday. Still, Blu-ray “remains promising,” and its title-by-title sales share is increasing relative to DVD’s, Law said.

Sharp will ship 46-, 52- and 60-inch 3D LCD TVs in the U.S. this fall along with a Blu-ray 3D player as it joins a growing field of manufacturers supporting the technology, retailers told us.

Sales of the videogame UFC Undisputed 2010 have been “somewhat softer than we would have anticipated” since it was released last week, Chief Financial Officer Paul Pucino said Thursday at the Cowen and Company conference in New York. Two other games were released “about the same time,” making “somewhat of a crowded market,” and they're competing for consumer dollars with the latest entry in THQ’s mixed-martial-arts game franchise, he said.

Sonic Solutions’ proposed $323 million purchase of DivX will deepen its ties with movie studios and CE manufacturers while creating a portfolio of services from professional software development tools to video download platforms, industry officials said. The deal is expected to close in late September. DivX shareholders will get $3.75 per share in cash and 0.514 share of Sonic stock per DivX share, the companies said. DivX shares gained more than 26 percent Wednesday, closing at $8.79. Sonic shares fell more than 9 percent and closed at $10.71.

Challenges in demonstrating 3D TV at retail emerged this week at a 3D event that Panasonic held in Manhattan. The company offered demos to show off the benefits of its latest-generation plasma technology in the VT series of 3D TVs. It features a new fast-switching phosphor that’s said to reduce crosstalk, a new filter system that blocks out ambient light, and a no-pre-discharge control system said to produce faster illumination of the pixels for improved brightness and contrast ratio.

TV makers sought an electronic labeling alternative to physical labeling, in comments on an FTC rulemaking to extend EnergyGuide Labeling requirements to sets and other consumer electronics. They also opposed a proposal to require energy use information on packaging materials for TVs, saying it would not benefit consumers but add costs to manufacturers.

An inflection point has been reached in the cable and consumer electronics industries as companies ramp up efforts to provide more online content to video subscribers through their cable connections and via more devices, our survey of executives found. The backdrop is the introduction by Apple of the iPad, increased availability online of content from cable channels, broadcast networks and other programmers, and increasing viewing of video on devices besides TVs. Those factors and cable’s tru2way CE platform mean there likely will be more ways for cable subscribers to view over-the-top content, executives said.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, which hailed passage Friday by New York’s Legislature of the country’s 23rd state e-waste law, said it “effectively negates a nearly year-old industry lawsuit challenging New York City’s 2008 e-waste recycling law.” A statement Tuesday by CEA and ITI didn’t say whether they plan to withdraw their challenge. It also stopped short of saying whether they would support the state e-waste law.

The EPA wants to terminate the Energy Star program for external power supplies (EPS) by the end of 2010. Among the reasons the agency is citing for yanking the program which began in 2005 is that the market penetration of Energy Star qualified power supplies has crossed 50 percent. With the cancellation of the EPS program, the agency also is proposing closing a partner program for “end-use products” that rely on power supplies but aren’t otherwise covered by an Energy Star program. Such products are allowed to use a version of the Energy Star logo if they incorporate an Energy Star compliant EPS.

Toshiba has dropped U.S. plans for Cell processor-based LCD TVs, scrapping a six-model line that debuted at CES, retailers briefed by the company said. The line was to have included 45-, 55- (two models) and 65-inch (two models) LCD TVs each featuring four HDMI connectors, a Cell processor with a 3.2 GHz clock speed, built-in sound bar and 1-terabyte hard drive/Blu-ray player. The sets also were to use Toshiba’s Kira2 light guide for controlling LEDs. The technology divided the screen into 512 “zones” to allow for local dimming. Toshiba also had licensed RealD’s 3D technology and WirelessHD.