Ohhh snap!

I had been toying with the thought of starting a new website dedicated to HD, and with one sleepless night, it was so. I present to you: High-Def Junkie

If you read this website, chances are you too are a high-def junkie. Many of us went through the transition from standard def together. I bought my first HDTV in late 2005 in preparation for the Xbox 360 launch. Then after a YEAR of relentless nagging (by yours truly), our friend Tarun went HD. And now, it has completely spoiled me. It actually pains me to watch anything in standard-def.

So I extend an invitation for you to join me over at High-Def Junkie. Since gaming is very much a part of the high-def addiction along with movies, I’m planning to in someway tie these two sites together. I’ve already set up forums over at High-Def Junkie, with a section dedicated to gaming. Perhaps I will make them the official gamerawr forums? Any input is appreciated. See you there!

I guess this news is partly bad, too, since it means to “format war” will continue to wage on. While I have both formats, I far prefer HD DVD, as I think most would who have tried both. All we need are some cheaper standalone players, and sales could easily sway back in HD DVD’s favor. Blu-ray has gotten a huge install base boost from Sony’s trojan horse PS3. A video game console can help sway a battle, but it’s ultimately up to standalone players getting into peoples houses. HD DVD already has the upper hand here, as standalone HD DVD player prices continue to drop and be cheaper than Blu-ray. Go on HD DVD, fight the good fight.

What I find most humorous is that Crank and The Descent placed two versions of the film on the disc, one with and one without PIP, to get around the limitations. Although a creative workaround, it hinders the bit rate and space for bonus features.

After October 31, 2007, picture-in-picture (via BD-J) will be mandatory for players to carry the Blu-ray logo. New specification requirements also include 256MB of persistent memory storage, and a required 1GB for players with an internet connection. This new memory requirement is also part of the BD-J picture-in-picture spec.

So what does this mean for your current Blu-ray player? A simple firmware update, right? Well, a firmware update obviously won’t give you memory that isn’t already there. Andy Parsons, senior VP of advanced product development at Pioneer Electronics, believes picture-in-picture is too complicated to be fixed with an update.

Given the nature of the PS3s hardware, it’s reasonable to assume PIP will eventually be supported. Other players wont be so lucky. What is likely to affect all Blu-ray users is the content. With such diverse hardware, it will be very tricky for content providers to provide a common user experience from one player to the next. PIP and other premium content may be skipped since it wont be usable for all customers.

Even if your Blu-ray player isn’t up to spec, it is promised you will be able to watch all Blu-ray discs in the most basic form. But come on, half of this HD marketing mumbo-jumbo is not just the superb picture quality, but the next-gen viewing experience.

There is always a price to pay for being an early adopter, but is this going a little too far? It’s not a matter of the specification changing, but it was clearly never finalized when the first players shipped. Many are now left with gimped players that won’t benefit from all of Blu-ray’s features.

I’m not trying to feed the flames, but I feel it’s worth noting that even though HD DVD shipped first, their spec was finalized. Picture-in-picture and all.

Sources: High-Def Digest & Video Business