Blu-ray player profiles explained in detail - Page 7

No.

As of today, none that I'm aware of. Corel has announced that a new version of WinDVD has been certified for BD-Live (meaning it's up to the PC vendors when they make that update available); the LG and possibly Samsung dual-format players are said to have firmware updates coming providing BD-Live support, the PS3 is expected to have BD-Live support (perhaps around CES time in early January), and there are other players likely to appear in the first quarter.

Given how quickly new models are being released, I'd expect to see prices fall on older models (1.0 or not) as newer models replace them.

Yes.

How can testing be performed to ensure compatability if there are no players to test on?

There are players, just not yet commercially released. Those of us developing software have had access to players supporting 1.1 and/or 2.0 for months... They won't be released as final product until they've passed all the formal BDA tests as well as soon-to-be-released studio content.

- Talk

I think this is an exciting time for Blu-ray owners!!! Personally, I have questions about how 2.0 content will work, and whether 1.1 player owners will be able to d/l that content to load onto an SD card, but I have a (hopefully well-placed) underlying confidence that it will all work somehow.

[quote=Richard Paul;10910140] After October 31st of 2007 all new Blu-ray players must meet the requirements for at least Bonus View though older Blu-ray players can continue to be sold. Here are the requirements for the three Blu-ray player profiles:

Latest info on this topic:

http://www.betanews.com/article/Blur...nto/1199841379

HD DVD player owners are not the only consumers being screwed by the Sony/Blu-ray group.

Blu-ray may have taken a commanding lead in the next-generation format war, but the group has a big problem looming: early supporters of the format will be left out in the cold with the Blu-ray Disc Association introduction of BD Profile 2.0 and higher.

Unlike HD DVD, which mandated features such as local storage, a second video and audio decoder for picture-in-picture, and a network connection from the very beginning, the companies behind Blu-ray took a different approach. Initial hardware players lacked these capabilities in order to keep costs down.
N
one of the Profile 1.0 players can be upgraded to Profile 1.1, which was finalized recently, with the exception of the PlayStation 3 -- whose update arrived in mid-December. Likewise, Profile 2.0 is expected to arrive in October bringing Internet connectivity that Profile 1.1 players lack.
What Sony and the Blu-ray camp have chosen to do recently makes a very strong case for not buying ANY manufacturer's Blu-ray player and sticking with a simple, reliable, stable standard up-converting DVD player that can be purchased now for one SIXTH the price of a new Blu-ray player.

Just get a PS3 and avoid a lot of hassles.

ok!

So how do I take advantage of the TrueHD, DTS HD advanced features with an older receiver that does not have HDMI inputs/output?

The PS3 Blue-tooth (remote) does not work with Logitech remotes.

Now, that could be a problem regarding audio. You may need to post that it another PS3 thread or of course, upgrade your receiver.

The remote issue can be solved with various 3rd party solutions.

Or wait until summer/fall or later to get on of the new players that support all profiles and all audio formats.

I'm 100% red (for the moment), but that article just seems way off base. I've got two HD-DVD players and I've yet to watch a PIP commentary or hook either up to the internet. I bought them for high quality playback of both SD and HD-DVD disks. When I go Blu, it will be for the same purpose. I'm sure I'll shoot for at least a 1.1 (since they're readily available), but the 2.0 stuff would just be a novelty for me at best.

That is my point exactly. I have yet to meet someone that cares about all of this interactivity crap. How about making better movies that we actually want to watch?!?!

1.1 and 2.0 are useless if the movie sucks to begin with.

The PS3 WILL have DTS-HD MA decoding internally and already has Dolby TrueHD internal decoding sending uncompressed PCM to a non-1.3 HDMI receiver.

Furthermore, the PS3 will have BD 2.0 (BD-Live) and already has BD 1.1 (Bonus View).

SO your saying the current PS3 has the capability to do DTS-MA but it just needs a software update to make it active?

I'm saying it has the hardware capability to decode it and send it over HDMI as uncompressed PCM, but Sony is currently working with DTS to finish the software so they can release it as a software update. DTS said so at their booth at CES. Sony insiders are confirming that it will be coming soon.

It's political so Sony won't be releasing it until after it has been released in a standalone player. This is so they don't step of the hardware manufactures toes.

What about Profile 3.0 (audio only)? I don't see it listed and there seems to be little info to be found about it. It was part of the original profile series. Is it still part of BD specs? If so can you give any info on it's implementation, codecs, video requirement (or lack of), and player/discs requirements?

Upgrading the receiver is not a solution. You cannot get DTS HD-MA from the PS3 via any method. His point stands, there is no safe BD player to purchase at this point in time.

If you show me a link regarding this, I'll swallow my words, and likely pickup a PS3 ASAP. But I would think if it was possible to do, they would have done it already.

What does that mean? Safe?

One of the insiders over at blu-ray dot com said it and DTS confirmed it at their booth at CES.

This makes perfect sense. From my understanding, DTS' scheme with a core and extension on one track (as opposed to Dolby's always separate tracks for DD and TrueHD) requires substantial horsepower to decode. That has been the show stopper for standalone players so far, but the PS3 is a computer with gobs of processing power. It makes sense that all it needs is the software.

Just my $.02.

I agree Richard. However, Sony usually doesn't make "official" announcements of firmware features before they're actually released. Often times, they do a pretty poor job of informing us users of what the firmwares contain.

Anyway, it's a pretty sure bet that the PS3 will support DTS-HD MA decoding in Q1 or early Q2. Blu-Ray Profile 2.0 (or BD-Live) will be there definitely.

If and when the PS3 releases this firmware, then I will be confident that it's a safe purchase (meaning I won't feel like I wasted my money when version 3-F comes out). In fact, at that point I would view it as the best value BD player, considering it would offer all of the features I would want, plus gaming. I would just have to go and pick up a 60 gig on ebay to get BC and wireless (I hate them for removing those).

Ideally, it'd offer bitstream as well (just so I can see it on my 905's dot matrix), but I definitely wouldn't count on this. I'll be content with internal decoding (and for me, it's a requirement before I purchase a BD player to have one of these options).

I thought there was something that the new 40 gig deleted besides the BC.

TrueHD and DD+ get decoded in the PS3 and are outputed in PCM format (so you need a receiver that can support multichannel PCM inputs). DTS-HD (ie master audio) is still not available (yet?)

Look for the NYKO remote + USB/IR dongle. The USB/IR dongle plugs into the front of the PS3, and you can use the Logitech to learn the codes. Works slick. Only limitation is the PS3's USB ports aren't active when the player is off, so you need to manual hit the power button to first start the PS3 (but then you have to load a disc anyways...)

My only complaint about the PS3 right now is the lack of DTS-MA output. A lot of discs are only coming this way (ie. "Simpsons Movie"). So without the support, then you only get DTS (no HD sound).

I don't know if this question belongs in the media section but are media producers required to test their media on 1.0 profile players? I don't care about the features of 1.1 and 2.0 but if I buy a 1.0 player now will I have to worry about compatibility or performance using titles that contain 1.1 or 2.0 options? By performace I mean load times and by compatibility I mean glitches or lock ups.