A Ray Disc Player Maybe?
July 29, 2008
If you were one of those in-the-know consumers a year ago, then you may already have a PS3 or version 1.0 Blu Ray player. With 25-50GB of storage space and the demand for a more effective medium to showcase high-definition technology, you saw the writing on the wall and probably got a great deal.
The Blu Ray player demand skyrocketed, driving prices well past $499, since Toshiba backed out of the formatting war and ended production of the HD-DVD player. Now you may be wondering what’s next for the Blu Ray disc.
If you were an early bird buyer, then you have the original prototypical Blu Ray disc 1.0 player. “The earliest Blu-ray player, Profile 1.0, are dinosaurs already,” reports The Courant’s Kevin Hunt. “Consumers who dropped $1,500 on a player a year ago cannot update their players.”
“Consumers who dropped $1,500 on a player a year ago cannot update their players.” These bare bones players offer the high-definition 1920×1080 pixels with superior coding and 7.0 surround-sound audio, but offer little in terms of extra features and menu options. Developers admit they probably should have just waited a year for the unveiling, but they were compelled to hurry up and compete in the Sony vs. Toshiba bidding war.
The Denon1730 converter can give you that 1080 resolution for less than $200. However, some argue that this patchwork cannot possibly deliver the quality of upgrading your system altogether. “Even the best upscaling DVD players are no match for genuine HD source material,” argues TechRadar.com reader Matt Hastings.
Experts say that buyers who bought the earliest version will still be able to play BR 1.1 movies, although some of the bonus features may not work. As of right now, all the Blu Ray disc releases have been in 1.0, though, so no worries. “Sunshine” is the first 1.1 release scheduled for the first quarter of 2008. Panasonic has 1.1 Blu Ray players for about $500 and market research analyst Paul Erickson says Profile 1.1 players will become the standard by next Christmas, with prices likely dropping below $200.
A lot of people call the Sony PlayStation3 a “best buy in Blu Ray players.” In addition to allowing firmware upgrades, like the other Profile 2.0 Blu Ray disc players, the PS3 can also play some of the most advanced video games ever developed, stream media over the internet, play DivX videos, send photos and video over a home network and allow BD-Live functionality. “It will be the cheapest BD-Live player by the end of the year,” predicts Paul Erickson of DisplaySearch market research. While stand-alone Blu Ray players range from $400 - $1,000, you can get a PS3, which can be upgraded, for just $399.
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