Want Support For the New Blu-ray 2.0 Spec? Get the Sony Playstation 3

By | January 22nd, 2008 comments icon (1)Comments


sony playstation 3 black consoleNow that most everyone considers the format wars over – with Blu-ray the clear winner – a new set of questions and issues arise. Chief amongst these is support for the upcoming Blu-ray 2.0 specification. Whereas HD-DVD did a good job of specifying minimum hardware requirements up front, Blu-ray has not done as well. And as Ars Technica is pointing out, this lack of future-proofing has ended up making the Playstation 3 the most future-proof player currently on the market.

Unlike HD-DVD, Blu-ray did not require network connectivity in it’s initial 1.0 specification. Additionally, options like secondary audio and video decoders and local storage were also optional. The 1.1 spec required the secondary audio/video decoders (to support picture-in-picture) and also required 256MB of local storage for content. The 2.0 spec, though, ups the ante considerably by requiring the two secondary decoders as well as 1GB of local storage and an Internet connection. This new profile is sure to make many set-top Blu-ray players outdated the minute it is released – except for the Playstation 3.

Sony’s uber-console is uniquely positioned as the only “future-proof” Blu-ray player currently available, due to its inclusion of a built-in hard drive, ethernet port and incredible computational power. And with the entry price set at $399, it’s also one of the least expensive (with prices sure to drop in the future). The irony of this is the fact that Blu-ray was at one point considered a potential Achilles heel for the console due to the fact that it dramatically increased the cost of the console while yielding little benefit since the format wars were still raging. Now, Blu-ray may very well be the feature that puts more PS3s into homes in the coming years. In fact, my very recent purchase of a PS3 was directly impacted by the fact that the console will support future Blu-ray specs and is the least expensive player on the market. The next year will be very interesting to watch to see if the PS3 does finally live up to its heritage.





Filed in: Industry Buzz

  • SpencerAR

    As a newbie to the realm of Home Theater and to “intelligent” homes…this piece of news adds one more piece of confusion.

    I was originally planning on getting an X-Box 360 (at some point) for the Windows Media Center Extension capabilities…and throw in the add-on (if it isn’t included by that point) for the HD-DVD player.

    But now that the pundits are claiming that the standards war is almost over and that HD-DVD is on the losing side…I’m going to have to consider how a PS/3 would fit into the equation instead of the 360. Yes, the PS/3 can be hacked to run Linux (and surprisingly well, I hear)…but iirc it doesn’t play as well with a Windows network in its native OS.

    I guess I could just buy both systems…and then call a good divorce lawyer ;-)

    Spencer