Blu-ray Disc Next Gen
Dear Gary:
How long do you think it will take for Blu-ray Disc players to resolve their playback issues (slow startup, endless firmware updates, slow command response, etc.)?
Tim Candelaria, Las Vegas, Nevada
tcandelaria@kgaarchitecture.com
Managing Editor Danny Richelieu Comments:
It’s impossible to say, really. There is so much processing that needs to be done with both high-definition optical disc formats internally that slow loading times “may” be here to stay for some time. There are manufacturers who are showing players with slower loading times (the PS3 is fairly quick at loading discs right now, and Sharp’s player has a feature where it will load discs in under 15 seconds if it has already been loaded once), but these players are still essentially computers, and until their functionality can be performed by individual SoC chipsets, they are always going to be slower than the mature DVD players of today.
As for firmware updates, I can’t see those going away anytime soon either. For one, the Blu-ray Disc format itself is in a state of flux. They have finally switched over to "Profile 1.1 Final Standard Profile," but there still have not been any players released with Profile 2.0 BD-Live, which (hopefully) will be the actual final standard profile. And while firmware updates can be annoying, loading them is much better than having a faulty machine, isn’t it?
The thing is, in this “war” between the two formats and their race to the bottom, in terms of pricing, corners were cut in order to get the prices as low as they have become, so quickly. Going back to DVD, the PlayStation2 was one of the first affordable DVD players available for the masses and it sold for $300—and that was almost four years after the introduction of the DVD format in the United States! Within a year of Blu-ray Disc’s and HD DVD’s release, you could get players for $300 and lower. That’s incredible price erosion for a new technology format.
We are looking forward to the upcoming “third-party” Blu-ray Disc players from companies like Denon, Onkyo, and Marantz to see if some of these issues have been resolved (loading times, firmware updates, full functionality with all audio codecs, etc.). Yes, the players will be priced somewhere around $2,000, but because of the “race-to-the-bottom” pricing model of today’s market, they are going to have to do something extra special to justify the cost.
Dear Danny:
Thanks, Danny, so much for your detailed response.
Regarding firmware updates and not “having a faulty machine,” well, why are we forced to buy “faulty machines”? I don’t think most consumers would tolerate the need for firmware updates for their HDTV sets or 7.1 processors; why are high-definition players any different? I know that this is a new technology that requires some debugging, and I don’t mean to sound intolerant, but I can’t think of another technology where you had to cross your fingers and just hope your hardware was compatible with the latest software.
By the way, you may be interested to know that according to a Circuit City salesman I spoke with last night, the latest LG combo player (BH200) is by far the most stable and reliable as compared to Sony, Sharp, and Panasonic models (which they also sell). As you know, they have models from each of those manufacturers playing all day in their stores. Only the LG has been problem-free for them.
In any case, it will probably be at least a year or so before I enter this market.
Thanks, again, for your help. You and Gary have always been very responsive and helpful over the years.
Tim Candelaria, Las Vegas, Nevada
You can E-mail Widescreen Review @ danny@widescreenreview.com