joshd2012

The Blu-Ray Group was nice enough to summarize what was said at CeBIT into a two page PDF file you can see here:

http://www.blu-raydisc.com/assets/do...date-13333.pdf

Some interesting points:

Two types of Blu-ray Disc video players will be available: a "BD Player" type and an Internet connected player. The most fundamental feature difference is that one supports Internet connections and the other does not. Either player type can be produced and marketed from day one.

There are two types of players because some consumers may not have convenient Internet
access where their player is located, so this feature may not be needed by everyone.

From the beginning, all models of either player type support playback of interactive BD-Java
content.

Some, but not all initial "BD Player" models may include more advanced features like picture-
in-picture. All internet-connected players will support picture-in-picture from the beginning.

digitalfreaknyc

What's the benefit of the internet player? And how much more will it cost?

Josh Z

Assuming their plans are similar to the HD-DVD group's, an internet connection may be used to load firmware upgrades to the player in the event that new features become available or copy protection updates are needed.

For what it's worth, both of Toshiba's HD-DVD players will be internet-capable at launch.

digitalfreaknyc

wouldn't those firmware upgrades be possible my burning them onto a cd-rom like regular dvd players?

Ron G

But a CD-ROM can't send information to the MPAA, telling them that you're watching an unlicensed copy of a film.

digitalfreaknyc

Exactly

Cygnet74

just wanted to quickly confirm this. i've been hard at work producing and cutting new content for the upcoming Blu-Ray releases. and this is one of the features we are utilizing for a few select titles. you can expect some, but not all, of the extras (making of's, etc) to be HD as well.

Josh Z

Toshiba says their players will work this way also. I'd assume the same for Blu-Ray.

I'm sure the studios are dreaming up other interactive features that an internet connection would be used for, such as games and whatnot.

kvrdave

Firmware upgrades seems like the obvious reason for it, and that ain't bad. Technology is complicated enough now that it is probably just a fact of life from here on out.

Fincher Fan

Thanks for the heads-up! Can we expect any new features on the discs at all?

digitalfreaknyc

I know you may not be able to answer this but how much of the old SE stuff is going to be ported over? are you working on older movies?