Click to viewThe Players : Panasonic DMP - BD30($500 ) and SonyPlayStation 3with2.1 firmware($400 to $ 500 )
The Movies : Fox ’s Sunshine and Sony Pictures’Resident Evil : extermination
The Challenge : To receive out what ’s so special aboutBlu - ray ’s BD Profile 1.1 , also known as Full Standard Profile or just merely “ pic - In - Picture enable ”
https://gizmodo.com/panasonics-dmp-bd30-is-the-500-next-gen-blu-ray-player-316903
Every new phase of technology has its first few tentative steps . Not only is Blu - beam in its earliest point , but that degree seems to be subdivided into a few mini - stage . As we talked about inThe State of Blu - ray , most Blu - ray instrumentalist today are visibility 1.0 , which means they play Blu - ray of light movies ( usually ) .
https://gizmodo.com/all-giz-wants-consumer-electronics-that-dont-act-like-337396
The two above are presently useable with visibility 1.1 , with several more , such asSamsung ’s BD - UP5000andDenon ’s DVD 3800BDCI , on the way . This profile is qualify by treble - decipherer mental picture - in - picture show — and at the moment nothing else .
https://gizmodo.com/samsungs-already-awesome-hd-disc-hybrid-bd-up5000-upgra-314480
The final visibility is often refer to as 2.0 , though the necessity is simply BD Live , that is , an Ethernet port that let internet connectivity for downloading incentive message . There are presently no player that fit this description on the market .
This calendar week , we resolve to take a pre - CES facial expression at Blu - ray 1.1 . The movies are cool enough — who does n’t care a sci - fi thriller by the guy who made 28 Days afterward ? And can you even be on Gizmodo if you do n’t think Milla Jovovich is some variety of sovereign being ? But the moving picture ’ status as the next form in Blu - shaft of light phylogeny seems to be an embarrassment for the studios . Rather than champion the 1.1 musician and the discs ’ young capabilities , they celebrate them in the finest of photographic print sizing :
For first attempts , the “ enhanced viewing ” is not unsound : In the 1980s , picture - in - motion-picture show was a halt construct create to convince married woman that the football games could go on in the corner while the soap opera took up 85 % of the screenland , but that never actually chance . Now moving picture - in - picture has been reborn as something far more useful , where you could watch a movie while seeing the shots the director see before special effects come into play , or the sketches that became the sets , or the cheek of the commenters as they goof on their faulty stunts .
The Sunshine disk care PIP with a shiny favourable console table screen that pour down up to hold the stock - def bonus commentary . There are n’t many segments , but what is show , such as walkthroughs of the sets and shooting in zero - gravity , is cool to see juxtapose with the final film .
Sweet Resident Evil place screen :
Resident Evil shows PIP videos sans fancy frame , but tip the viewer off in a different way . If the guessing is on the bottom right hand , it ’s actor or director commentary ; if the shooting appears on the top right , it ’s a storyboard sketch ; and if it ’s on the bottom lead , it ’s a behind the scenes making - of prospect .
I will admit , I am not so in sexual love with either title of respect as to spend several more hour combing through each , but functionally it ’s bang-up , and there are plausibly many Boyle - heads or fans of “ the other ” Paul Anderson who would gladly set aside a Saturday for this . I can see how a simulcast of Star Wars with Lucas ’ ugly mug would make a long ton of good sense , and all of those bonus Lord of the Rings DVDs might get watch out if the making - of footage was embedded into the original high-pitched - def movie .
The players themselves bear well . I have recently been on disk angry thattoo many CE products act like PC , but in both cases the players performed commendable . The PS3 ’s update was easy , and it took theBD Profile 1.1discs without a hitch . The Panasonic shipped with all the right microcode , and never once eliminate a saucer . We ran some tests using the HD HQV Benchmark from Silicon Optix as well as the FPD Benchmark Software , and both come out in good shape , though when it descend to processing motion , we agreed that the PS3 edged out the Panasonic by a nose .
Everybody knows that preciseness video testing requires footage of red-hot Asiatic adult female swinging on thing :
Of course , the Panasonic pound the PS3 in the role of traditional disc player . Sometimes when you hit a button on the PS3 remote control , you skip back to the primary computer menu and have to bring up up the Blu - ray disc all over again ; not so with the Panny . Speaking of remotes , the Panasonic ’s had a very ready to hand pair of buttons to call on PIP on and off , and to toggle the audio between the two .
In the end , we were glad that Blu - ray could now do whatwe’ve already seen in Warner HD DVDs such as 300 and the latest Harry Potter . PIP may yet be a wondrous creature . But we ’re a little pose by two things :
https://gizmodo.com/the-state-of-hd-dvd-330684
1 ) It ’s hard to trust that $ 1,000 + actor from Pioneer and Sony Electronics ca n’t do what these were able to do so easily .
2 ) If this is all possible , why does it take so long to just complete the goddamned profile and make all thespian capable of both picture - in - picture interactivity and on-line connectivity ?
If I had to dwell money down on one Blu - ray - only player at this hour , I ’d have to choose the PS3 . The jury is still out on the dual - format players we need to love well , but the early rumble suggest they may want some work . And any standalone Blu - electron beam actor without an Ethernet jack may be in danger of obsolescence in a few years , if not a matter of month .
We ’ll in person be looking into all of that … flop after CES . In the meantime , stay tuned for big Blu - ray andHD DVDannouncements at the show !
This feature article would not have been possible without the excellent help and admirable photography of Mr. Benny Goldman . Thanks BG !
Blu - rayhome entertainmentPanasonicPlayStation 3SiliConSonySunshine
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