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Topic: Blue Ray specs?
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 01-09-2009 10:00 AM
quote: Claude S. Ayakawa
When the DVD format was introduced in 1997, the specs for it has been and still in place in 2009. Machines from the time the system was launched in most probability will still be able to play current DVD releases without any problem
That's not accurate. The specs for DVD may have been solidified in 1997, but that was not reflected in the players that shipped to the retail stores in the format's first couple of years.
The first DVD players sold to the public in 1997 had some serious limitations. Some had problems reading dual layer discs. None had compatibility with the DTS format. Most units were pretty buggy.
By the middle of 1999 most new DVD players featured DTS output and were better at reading dual layer discs, but some problems still persisted -like the lip sync error that plagued certain Sony DVD players (like the DVP-S530 player I bought for $450 in 1999 and replaced in 2001).
The pay per view DiVX format confused the situation with DVD even worse. I can't remember for sure if Universal, Dreamworks and Fox were backing DiVX exclusively, but I do remember seeing a lot of their titles on DiVX and not on "Open DVD."
The DVD format really wasn't properly stable, free of rivals and rid of bugs until the year 2000.
It has been an expensive pain for early adopters of the Blu-ray format. In defense of the Blu-ray forum, they were more up front with regard to changes in the format by using the profile numbering system. DVD didn't do anything like that. Additionally, the specs on Blu-ray were also set early on. But just like DVD, the first couple generations of players didn't support all the features of the format's "full profile."
At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas some manufacturers have been showing off new BD Profile 3.0 players -which are basically just audio-only devices. The profile 3.0 spec calls for Blu-ray based audio discs that automatically start playing music when the disc is loaded into the player. Apparently the BD audio format will work with any existing Blu-ray video player as long as the player supports the audio formats on the disc, be it Linear PCM, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. The format can feature 2 channel stereo in resolution as high as 24-bit 192kHz or up to 7.1 channels of 24-bit 96kHz audio. Dolby TrueHD can do 24/192 audio in 7.1. DTS-HD is limited to 24/96 in 5.1 or 7.1.
quote: Claude S. Ayakawa
I believe only Sony is calling the shots when it involves tweaking the format whenever they feel up to it.
Sony does not have sole ownership of the Blu-ray format. Matsushita has spent billions in R&D on Blu-ray and has a lot of clout in the Blu-ray Disc Association.
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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 01-12-2009 02:06 PM
My first generation Panasonic DVD player had major issues playing dual-layer discs, and I ended up working out a deal with my local retailer to upgrade to the second generation model for around $40. That player just finally got retired because it isn't recognizing discs as playable any longer.
Blu-ray as a format was rushed into production as a result of competition from HD DVD. As a result, they ended up having to do the multiple profiles for the additional features that are now called Bonus View and BD-Live.
Both formats have had their share of issues with updates being necessary, but I think that's par for the course with any sufficiently advanced technology. The positive thing about now compared to DVD's release is that the manufacturers have a way of helping consumers by releasing firmware updates. There was a firmware update that would have fixed a glitch in my Pioneer 563, but it would have taken sending it to a customer service center to be upgraded, so I never had it done. In contrast, Blu-ray players (the decent ones) can be updated automatically over the Internet, and others can be updated by using a disc sent in the mail or created from an image off the manufacturer's web site.
It's my impression that the situation with incompatibilities improved in the past couple of months, with the last playback issue being one release back in November.
Considering that many discs are programmed using Java, essentially creating a situation where the player has to run a software program (in a Java Virtual Machine) to show you the menus and load options, etc., it's surprising that there aren't more issues!
While the issues are annoying when they crop up, I'm glad that manufacturers are (to my knowledge) stepping up and fixing them quickly. I've not had any problems with playback on my PS3, but maybe other players are more prone to issues.
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