Community Q&A: Ask the Blu-ray Disc Association

Are existing players able to be upgraded to use the new Blu-Ray specifications/features? Yes/No/Some?

What is your expection for the Blu-ray product lifecycle? Example: DVD was released 1996 in Japan and 1997 in USA. Dvd has been with us 11 years, maybe 10 years mainstream. Judging from sales figures DVD will remain popular for 1-2 more years. Giving it a 11-12 years of being a mainstream product.

Why would anyone buy a set-top Blu-Ray player that is not upgradeable to the latest profile, instead of a PS3, which *is* upgradeable? Especially give that the cost of a PS3 is around the same price as most non-upgradeable Blu-Ray players. Even if they don't play games, it is a better deal than a set-top Blu-Ray player.

Thanks Jan for going about this as well as the cdfreaks staff that will be involved as well.

Lets face it BR will be a niche market. Do you honestly think BR will ever be as mainstream as DVD is/was? DVD has been mainstream for 10 years now. BR WILL NEVER do that. Selling rougly 300k of the most popular title does not bold well for BR or HD DVD. BR has millions and millions of players in the market place (thanks to the PS3) does that concern you that they can not reach atleast 500K movies on new release's with all the BR players out there? Are their plans for more bogo's like you had pretty much every month last year?

Yeah, I have a few questions for the BDA. Question # 1 How can you live with yourselves knowing you killed off, using unscrupulous tactics, the better format? Question # 2 Knowing that Sony is one of your members, how will you keep them from putting root kits on all the discs? Question # 3 Knowing that Sony is one of your members, how will you keep Blu-ray discs from overheating and exploding? Question # 4 Now that HD DVD is almost tits-up in the ground, how will your association address our fair use rights? Rights. Rights. R-I-G-H... Just Google the word. :r

How will support for the new organic BD discs be? Will it be possible, and in how many cases, that recorders and readers can be upgraded to read/write these newer, cheaper discs?

Please post your questions below in this thread. Next week, all questions will be collected. We pick the best ones and report the answers back on CD Freaks.com! http://club.cdfreaks.com/f142/cd-freaks-interviews-digital-storage-reps-time-blu-ray-disc-association-237889/

I can answer DukeNukem's ?s: 1: Blu-ray didn't kill the superior format; Blu-ray *is* the superior format. 2: Sony BMG was already fined for the rootkit thing; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment had nothing to do with that. Most sub-departments of major companies are run separately. 3: Discs rarely overheat, and I think you're confusing Sony with Toshiba and Microsoft there, fanboy. 4: Condescending the guest, yea that's real smooth. But to answer: Blu-ray discs play when you put them in. Like DVDs, they have piracy protection, but that won't affect store-bought movies. Now for my ? to the chairman: Where can I get detailed information on which companies own patents on Blu-ray technology?

@ Musashi 1. Well, I guess our opinions differ. 2. Sony is Sony. Big deal if it's in pieces. They all serve the Dark Side. 3. No, I'm thinking of $ony. http://www.news.com/Dell-Exploding-batteries-are-Sonys-fault/2100-1005_3-6115710.html http://news.softpedia.com/news/Sony-Exploding-Batteries-Chronicles-37848.shtml 4. Yeah, I know how they're *supposed* to play. But with all that extra DRM I'm worried the extra weight might spin the disc outta control. I have a 1 year old and I will want to make copies of my legally owned movies in the years to come so he doesn't destroy them. I can do that now with my DVDs but will have a harder time with DRM and HDCP.

1. In Sony's aim of world domination, how do you think you will fare in the overall master plan? 2. If I put a Bluray disc on a record player and tried to play it that way, will my disc get scratched or will the protective coating save the disc? 3. Following question #2, will I be able to get 7.1HD Audio from record player? 4. How come you named it Bluray and not Smurfray? They are both blue you know, duh. 5. If I look at a Bluray disc closely in intense light, will I be able to see my reflection or will it blind me? 6. If my child puts peanut butter in a Bluray player and I insert a Bluray disc, will it clean it? 7. If I slept with my Bluray disc, would I get subliminal messages from Sony? 8. Following question #7, if Sony does talk to me in my sleep, will it be in Japanese or English? I am sorry but I don't speak any Japanese. :c 9. If I rolled a Bluray disc on its side, lets say down asphalt, how far would it roll? 10. Can you use Bluray discs as Frisbees or just car ornaments? Inquiring minds want to know!!!

Thanks shaolin007, best laugh I've had all day Q: When are BR specs 2.1 and 2.5 going to be available ?

LOL. This isnt gonna end is it. #1. When you decided on the final specs for Blu (you have, riiiiiiiight?) what lead you towards the round shape of the media as opposed to other geometrical options? #2. If two discs are superglued together how many data layers will it amount to? #3. Is your scratch guard coating sufficiently tough for an average early adopter to scratch their ..backs? #4. If I accidentally run a walmart buggy a-la jackass style into a blu stand will you pay for my emotional suffering? #5. Is it true that blue leads to depression? #6. How many people by the name of Tim do you sponsor? #7. Serious one. With 10s of thousand PS3s sold in Canada what steps do you take to make sure they will be properly recycled in the end? Will you offer any cooperation in recycling of your discs should the format become obsolete? Do you consider any alternative energy sources for the future hardware? #8. and another. why on earth do you decide to spend millions on copy protections when everybody knows the real pirates will replicate discs with or without them? What part of the final product price is taken by copy protections? #9. What is your stand on baby seal hunting in northern Canada, will you sell to the Territories if it goes on and how do you rate your corporate ecological footprint in comparison? #10. Last and the second serious after #9. Will there be support for individual x.264 coded files?

Hey buggsy. You're right about PS3. It can be upgraded. It can do ....stuff. But for me, it's not an option. It use too much power. I investes in a BWU-100A Sony Blu-Ray writer. It can play BD Movies, and my PC got HDMI Out. It's a quite good investment. And you can get those for about $200 on ebay as newer model is out. That's what i recommend. Atleast to they make BD Players something with a lot of upgrade roms inside Most of my life, i liked Sony. They made only 1 mistake in my eyes. And it's no Rootkit. Because i will never see one . But they did force Lik-Sang to close Big Mistake. I'm lucky Blu-Ray is NOT Sony. It's everybody. But the PS3 is a nice push to get players out.

how can i make a blu-ray (bd-r) with menus and make sure it will play in all players? :B

They all work for the Dark Side , huh? Hey Dukey, I know this will be hard to get over, but there is no dark side. You see, Star Wars may seem real, all the explosions, ships flying and shooting, and let's face it Harrison Ford's fine acting makes Han Solo seem like a real person, but he's not. It's called make-believe. In real reality, there are no Jedi, no Sith, no Death Star, no Skywalkers, no Light Side, no dark side. And for #3: No, you are *definitely* thinking of Micro$oft and To$hiba. See here: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7892 and everyone who uses a PC knows about the old Micro$haft blue screen :r . I own a Toshiba HDTV. It's needed 2 new bulbs in the 2 years I've owned it. And finally: if you're so scared of rootkits and think any connection to Sony automatically means all the discs will have them, you're better off getting rid of every disc you own. CD is co-owned by Sony. Sony is a founding member of DVD as well. And of course they had a hand in Blu-ray along with Panasonic, Philips, and many more. And you do realize that you can just a blu-ray player from another company, right. Like Panasonic, or Samsung, maybe even Denon, Sharp, Pioneer, Philips, Hitachi. Since I've had bad experiences with Toshiba products, I'll consider ghetting an HD-DVD player from another company, like...oh wait...there are no others who make them. Nevermind.

1. Why did BDA choose to implement BD+ when it obviously adds additional costs, and is anti consumer? 2. Why did BDA release a format without finished specs? 3. Why does BR have mandatory AACS and Region coding? (HDDVD has no Region Coding and AACS is not mandatory) 4. What happened to consumer rights? Does sony and fox think we should have none?

#1 If movies are recorded at 24 fps, why everybody tries so hard with 30fps, 60fps, and even 120fps? TVs should be able to handle this desired format for movies already, don't they? #2 As BR can handle 50gig discs, does that mean we get artifacts to non-visible level, more error correction or more extras? #3 As BR pressing is so expensive, should we expect to see pan European releases? I mean, you have the space to put whatever audio tracks you want, don't you? I just hate the fact that with DVDs some studios promote one track versions for their UK version, while the one in Spain has two different tracks, or even more. #4 Do you see downloable content as a competitor? (Vuju, iTunes, XB Marketplace, PS Network...) People might not spend 30EUR in a movie they are going to watch only once. That ties with #5... #5 Is the quality of the movies going to improve? And I mean not the technical quality by that.

#1 with consoles typically commanding a poor attatch rate with regards to movies, do you feel your market position is unstable as the vast majority of your install base is the ps3? 2#region coding, this is a horrible idea and one that makes your competitor shine in European cutomers eyes (where we get films later or not at all), do you have plans to remove it or encourage studios to not implement it? 3#finalise the format, I wont be buying a player untill you have a final profile, the ps3 is often touted as easily upgradeable but I would rather have a hardware player, do you not feel that you have given a raw deal to your early adopters? 4# load times, poor static menu's..... if BR is to the next generation format it has to do everything DVD does and surpass it, at the moment the players are clunky, menus reminicient of dvd5 rental disks. Consumers need to be wowed with the experience not just the picture quality of the movie once it starts. 5# bribing studios, is this over now and people can buy into either format without worry of the other passing undiclosed 9 figure sums to try to seduce exclusive rights? I personally dont feel that this is good for the consumer, the war between the two has forced down prices and made studios raise the quality of releases, this was fine, but now its getting dirty and the consumer is the only one who will loose out. There are alot of each player out now, there was no quick winner so I believe there is a market for both, that means a better deal for consumers, more choice and 2 markets for the studios to sell to? what is your take on this situation?

When will 100GB RECORDABLE discs be available? What about 200GB RECORDABLES? Will they be rewritable or just write once? Movie discs have too much DRM I'll never buy them. I'm only interested in burning discs.

@ Musashi "Since I've had bad experiences with Toshiba products, I'll consider ghetting an HD-DVD player from another company, like...oh wait...there are no others who make them. Nevermind." Dude, are you on crack? http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7942216

1. How come a openly criminal company (Sony)(who should have been shutdown, not fined) is allowed to promote a format (Blueray) so cripple that is it completly useless? 2. Last time i check a 2008 DVD still play in a 1999 player. Allowing Blueray player to receive "Update" (with only goal is to provent fair use right) should simply be illegal 3. Why a company so evil such a sony is allowed to operate legally? 4. How can Sony exec can sleep at night? 5. Is Blu-Ray Disk Association is only another branch of the Digital Mafia (MPAA/RIAA)?

1. Fair use rights. Thoughts? 2. Fair use rights. Thoughts? 3. It's currently easier to download and burn a Blu-Ray image than it is to make a copy of a disk you own for personal use. Is this your intention? 4. Fair use rights. Thoughts?

will commercial software HD players be allowed to feel safe in ignoring the lack of HDCP if the content protection flag is not set? as it stands the consumer cannot play legally purchased movies with legally purchased software if their display (ie. lcd monitor) does not have the useless HDCP feature.

does blu-ray have a mandatory requirement for region coding and AACS? when will this be dropped? when will management realise that they will be richer, and customers will be happier, if they just drop all this DRM garbage?

now that the bda's cash flow is severly limited because of the warner brothers payoff, can you guarentee us that you will not put prices up for the media?...especially seeing as how on this alleged superior format there are now warning stickers regarding compatibility issues with previous half finished models? Considering that blu ray was never my or many others' choice, does the bda actually feel any guilt at having bought the market as opposed to actually winning it?... im asking this as if and when hd dvd does fall, i will be returning to sd dvd and will not be having my choice dictated to me by $ony and the like.... I still dont see why so many people think a half finished format to be superior, save for idiots like micheal bay who really needs to do some research on how movies are transcribed to hi def. Well, i dont imagine i'll get an honest response to this, after all the format war wasnt honest so i guess im a fool to expect anything else...

will BR rot also exist? will I have to buy 3 BR players on top of my 6 DVD players so I can play any zoned BR disc I might purchase when travelling?

Hi, My PC can read and write the CD but unable to read DVD so what should i do now.