Buying Blu-ray? Check out player's 'profile'

BD-Live may not be for everyone
If you weren’t taking advantage of Web content already available on regular DVDs, or don’t relish the idea of snaking a network cable through your living room, BD-Live may not be for you.

BD-Live players are expected from Sony, Panasonic and others starting this summer, and will gain more retail shelf space in time for the holiday season.

The Sony BDP-S550 will be priced at around $500, and Panasonic’s DMP-BD50 will be between $500 and $650. Both should be available this fall.

Sony’s ace-in-the-hole
Consumers who won’t have to worry about updating are those who own Sony’s ace-in-the-hole, the PlayStation 3, which plays Blu-ray discs and connects to the Internet.

Sony Sony's BDP-S550 Blu-ray player, available this fall, will include the BD-Live feature, which adds more memory and the capability for online content. It will cost about $500.

The March automatic update of the software, version 2.20, brings full BD-Live capabilities to the console. And, the PS3’s hard drive and wireless networking are already more than ample for cover the BD-Live hardware specifications.

The $399 PS3, with continual online updates to its firmware, is the most future-proof Blu-ray player on the market.

In theory, any other Blu-ray player with an Ethernet port can benefit from downloaded firmware updates, usually to tweak video or audio performance.

And, some Blu-ray players can run updates downloaded with a PC and burned onto a disc.

It’s worth checking with the manufacturer. You won’t be able to transform a Profile 1.0 player into a BD-Live unit, but limited upgrade options are better than none.

Panasonic Panasonic's DMP-BD30 Blu-ray player ($499) includes the newer 1.1 Bonus View standard, which allows for picture-in-picture viewing.

The real format war
Even with Blu-ray as the only high-def disc in town, consumer apprehension, if not downright indifference, remains commonplace.

Most consumers are still buying regular or upconverting DVD players, which can cost around $100. Upconverting players don’t offer a true HD experience, but do offer an improved picture.

Although industry analysts at DisplaySearch estimated U.S. sales of approximately 3 million Blu-ray players, including PS3s, by the end of 2007, that’s still doesn’t come close to the 132 million DVD players sold in the U.S. by Dec. 2007, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.

“The battle against HD-DVD was barely a minor skirmish in comparison to the fight ahead, which will be convincing apathetic consumers of the need for something better than plain DVD,” said Zyber of High-Def Digest. “That's the real format war, and it's only just started.”

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