Blu-ray Profile 1.1 makes existing players obsolete?Technical hardware requirements
HD-DVD's advantageAs Blu-ray continues to get its act together on hardware requirements, there's no denying that HD-DVD has had it right from the start. The HD-DVD specification has required every player--from Toshiba's early HD-A1 player--to include secondary audio and video decoders, 128MB of local storage, and an Ethernet jack. Because movie studios know that special features will be accessible on every HD-DVD player, several recent movies, including 300 and Blood Diamond, have picture-in-picture and Internet-enabled functionality. Of course, HD-DVD's superior hardware requirements are just one factor out of many in its fight against Blu-ray--but in this brutal high-def format war, every little bit helps.Should I wait for Profile 1.1 or 2.0?Profile 1.1 players certainly don't make older Profile 1.0 players obsolete. While movie enthusiasts lust over special features and commentary tracks, many people are completely uninterested in investing even more time in a movie. If you already have a Profile 1.0 player, it should be able to play all the new Profile 1.1 discs without a problem--you just won't be access to some of the special features. On the other hand, if you don't have a Blu-ray player yet and you have an interest in special features, then you'll need to wait for new Profile 1.1 players to become available in Asia--Panasonic has just released a player called the DMP-BD30 in the US, but local availability is as yet unknown.The same logic applies to Profile 2.0--you don't need to wait unless you want to be able to access the Internet-enabled features on the new discs. If you're still nervous about your Blu-ray player becoming obsolete, the best bet is to go with a PlayStation 3, which already has Internet connectivity and will likely be Profile 1.1 compliant after a forthcoming update.
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