Blu-Ray 1.0 & 2.0
Blu-Ray is something that is capturing the public imagination with its stunning visuals and surround sound, but very few actually understand what’s going on. One of the main sticking points is the fact that when pressed, most people can’t tell you the difference between BD 1.0 and BD 2.0. Well, it’s time to shine a light on this issue, which is less obscure than you would think.
Blu-Ray 1.0 can, at this point be called the good-old-fashioned Blu-Ray, the one that you were dreaming about when you first walked into Blockbuster and saw the amazing HD PS3 display that they have. Blu-Ray 1.0 is the simplest of the simple – it allows you to tap into the disc’s every feature, but lacks that essential picture-in-picture commentary function available in later players, also, you’ll miss access to the Internet to get even more bonus features.
Can a Blu-Ray 1.0 player be upgraded to 2.0? No because the 2.0 player needs to have an Internet antenna or Ethernet port in the back. The only exception is the PS3, which started out as a Blu-Ray 1.0 player, and had an internal wireless antenna because of the gaming features – it was just recently updated to 2.0 with a Sony update.
Blu-Ray 2.0 is a marginal improvement over 1.0. It allows you to see picture-in-picture commentary, which I know is essential for those of you that enjoy commentary – I personally despise watching a commentary track while I’m trying to re-watch a good movie. The other interesting feature is access to the Internet on the player. This opens up a wider world of possibility because now you have Internet access to pull bonus features from.
One of the coolest features of the Internet access on the player was the ability to connect to another player and allow you to watch a movie with another viewing party while still communicating with them. Of course, this feature was advertised and even shown as part of Disney’s Blu-Ray repertoire, and hasn’t come to fruition yet.
The most obvious question is, “Well, which one should I buy?” The simple answer is to buy a PS3. Even if you never use the gaming features (which would be a shame), it’s still one of the cheapest and most powerful Blu-Ray players currently available. Furthermore, it offers the ability to not only play Blu-Ray, but also play games, stream media over the Internet, access movies from an online store, and add in a hard drive that’s bigger to contain all your movies and music. Essentially, for the $400, you’re getting a home entertainment PC that plays Blu-Ray and games. It may be bulky, but the PS3 is the most amazing value you’re going to get right now.
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