The first interactive Blu-Ray DVDs are on there way. On April 8, 2008, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and The 6th Day, will be Sony’s first Blu-Ray DVD Live (BD-Live) titles to be introduced to the high-definition DVD market. BD-Live titles will be able to connect to the internet for more bonus materials and features, including: live virtual events, wallpaper downloads, gaming ringtones and p2p interactions. I find this curious. Why not just include this material and functionality on the DVD’s initial release? Why force people to go to a website for these items and programs?
Also on April 8, the BD-Live rollout will coincide “‘with the launch of a new software update for Sony’s PlayStation 3 that makes the game console the first Blu-ray player with Internet connectivity, an ability known as ‘Profile 2.0.’” This is good news for PS3 owners who it seems will be on the cutting edge of Blu-Ray technology. Stand-alone Blu-Ray owners and future owners will not be left behind. “‘Ultimately, all Blu-ray players will be Profile 2.0. When the format launched in June 2006, Blu-ray players were of the basic Profile 1.0 kind, meaning they could offer neither picture-in-picture nor Internet connectivity, something the doomed HD DVD rival format offered from Day 1.’” Isn’t it humorous that one of the major reasons why movies studios picked Blu-Ray over HD was because of its higher level of copy-right protection but now that protection has been cracked and Blu-Ray rips are all over the internet, ready to be downloaded and burned onto blank double-layer DVDs.
Most people don’t realize though that to fully benefit for a Blu-Ray player, any Blu-Ray player, you need an HDTV with some nice SD video processing circuitry on the inside. Plus, do you really want to watch a regular television signal on your HDTV.? Hell no, so now you have to order HDTV programming from one of the cable providers. By getting a next generation DVD player, you will eventually be upgrading 75-90% of your home theater equipment.
Source: Reuters
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