Dan’s Tech-n-Stuff Weblog

With all the recent news about studios dropping HD DVD in favor of the Blu-ray format for high-definition discs, many are convinced that Blu-ray is the winner and HD DVD is on its deathbed.

But behind the success lies a dirty little secret that many early adopters have to face later this year: except for the Sony Playstation 3, the stand-alone Blu-ray players on the market will not be compatible with upcoming changes to the format.

Changes to the format?

Some who buy a stand-alone Blu-ray player are aware of this, some are not. When the players were initially released, they were Blu-ray Profile 1.0 compliant in order to keep hardware costs down.

(Yes, believe it or not those very expensive Blu-ray players would have been even MORE expensive if they had included compatibility with later Profile 1.1. and 2.0 specifications.)

Profile 1.0 compatible players can play high-definition content only.

Profile 1.1 compatible players add additional features like “Bonus View”, which is basically picture-in-picture extras (like what HD DVD does). Movies with this feature will have a “Bonus View” sticker to help identify them.

Profile 2.0 compatible players add Internet connectivity to support the upcoming “BD Live” feature for online downloads (like what HD DVD does). Movies with this feature will have a “BD Live” sticker to help identify them.

A feature that has been around since Profile 1.0, BD-J (Blu-ray Disc Java), allows for Java-based interactivity when playing discs. Early players may have an older, buggy implementation that may not be powerful enough to play the latest (and upcoming) films properly.

According to manufacturers BetaNews spoke with, HD DVD forced them to come to market too soon. “We should have waited another year to introduce Blu-ray to the public, but the format war changed the situation.” HD DVD was releasing so Blu-ray had to release as well or risk losing the war before even hitting the battlefield.

A BD Live developer was asked if they were concerned about possible backlash from early adopters of the format. The response? “They knew what they were getting into.”

Ouch.

From BetaNews: “Representatives at the Blu-ray booth at CES told BetaNews that the PlayStation 3 is currently the only player they would recommend, due to upcoming changes to the platform. But Pioneer, Samsung, Panasonic and Sony have all been selling standalone Blu-ray players to customers.”

Again, ouch.

If you are in the market for a Blu-ray player and can’t/don’t want to wait, do yourself and favor and get a Playstation 3.

If you’re a Blu-ray owner who has been pointing and laughing at HD DVD, please stop doing that. These spec updates give you things that HD DVD already has. Plus its not nice to tease the gravely ill.

As discs come out that support these new features and people begin to experience first-hand some of these compatibility problems, how will consumers react?

We shall see…

[Via BetaNews]