Fox to debut Blu-ray PiP on Sunshine in January
For owners with the right hardware, 2008 is when they will see what Blu-ray Java is truly capable of. Bringing the confusion come to an end, Fox announced during the Blu-ray Festival that the first movie on the format with true picture-in-picture will be the sci-fi flick Sunshine in January. VideoBusiness also learned from Fox VP Steve Feldstein that he expects more players (aside from the PS3 and BD-UP5000) to be in the market that are equipped to handle the extra features. Tomorrow is the BDA's self-imposed deadline, after which new players have to support PiP, persistent memory, and internet connections. 
Filed under: Blu-ray
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave @ Oct 30th 2007 3:53PM
Also, if they drop Blu-Ray support, there will also be PiP in Warner titles...since HD DVD has been able to do PiP since Day 1. If BD-J is only "truly capable" of imitating features HD DVD has always had, I guess that's better than nothing.
Mike @ Oct 30th 2007 7:00PM
What about the blu ray player I bought last year? Will there be a firm ware update so I can have that too? My friend got an firm ware update on his hd dvd to allow 24 frames per sec..so I hope sony comes up with something.
TheGuy @ Oct 30th 2007 3:55PM
"Whether or not Warner Bros. drops HD DVD support, they will also plan to include PiP on Finding Nemo and other titles."
Wasn't Finding Nemo made by Disney?
h4ldol @ Oct 30th 2007 4:10PM
Uh oh... I thought only HD DUD had lame gimmicky features like PiP and interactivity... if blu-ray has those too, then I guess HD DUD *really* has no more justification to existing. Although I guess Toshiba and HD DUD do satisfy that 1080i/60, 2-channel TrueHD, 30gb capacity niche market out there. Wonder if they can still lure Joe 6-pack now that he is being educated on the many benefits of blu-ray (chief one being -- it won't become obsolete within the next year!)... farewell HD DUD, farewell...
h4Idol sucks @ Oct 30th 2007 4:30PM
Dude, shut up! There is not ONE single fact in your post. I surprised you speeled more than 3 words right
Like I said, be sure to post pictures of you're halloween costume. Im sure you'll be a cute little girl running around as a blue disc
The Jeremy @ Oct 30th 2007 4:13PM
Dave,
Get back to us when HD DVD has the same bit transfer capabilities and storage capacity as Blu-ray and still maintains backward compatibility. Oh yeah, fat chance of that, just like uncompressed audio.
HD DVD can keep their frivilous features; I'm more concerned about the previously mentioned useful features plus the scratch-resistant coating applied to the discs from the start. Blu's got them, the other proprietary platform competitor does not.
Ed @ Oct 30th 2007 4:19PM
The Jeremy,
Please teach h4Idol how to make a compelling argument against HD-DVD without sounding like a whining d-bag. People like him don't help your cause.
Dave @ Oct 30th 2007 5:03PM
@The Jeremy
I'm back to you. HD DVD can do lossless audio. Also, the scratch-resistant coating is not a feature. It's only there because the data layer on Blu-Ray is .01mm away from the surface. The coating is a necessity--not a feature. If it gets scratched, that's it--you've torn through the data. HD DVD, on the other hand, is as resilient as DVD. It's the scratch-resistant surface on BD that limits single-sided discs to around 22GB and double-sided to 45GB before yields go down the tube. Some feature.
h4Idol sucks @ Oct 30th 2007 4:39PM
spelled....damn typos
thats h4idols fault too
@ The Jeremy HDDVD DOES have the same bit transfer capabilities. And wtf is backward compatibility? DTSMA and lossless audio is available on numerous movies. I think you may have this confused with SDDVD.
JeffDM @ Oct 30th 2007 8:36PM
Actually, the bitrates each format requires is actually a little different, just not currently relevant. HDDVD requires a max of about 30Mbps, Blu-Ray maxes at about 40. For current standards, 30 appears to be more than enough, I've seen stunning video in all three codecs at around 20. The only thing that I see that might need 40 is if you do full HD video in stereo, go to full HD progressive at 60fps in real video frames or at higher resolutions, but those aren't current technologies anyway.
Kevin Murphy @ Oct 30th 2007 4:58PM
Do you ever get the feeing that all those "reports" of problems with HD DVD players are really coming from folks like h4ldol? These guys are worse than Truthers.
JeffDM @ Oct 30th 2007 6:55PM
DVD isn't that scratch resilient. It's actually kind of a pain with rentals - and that's all I do because videos aren't really worth me buying anymore.
mike @ Oct 30th 2007 5:06PM
who cares. I really dont think HD can save event horizon 2 erm I mean sunshine from becoming a good movie.
SolidOni @ Oct 30th 2007 5:35PM
sounds good and yes finding nemo is disney/pixar
Sean @ Oct 30th 2007 5:58PM
Heard this movie was horrible. And the person who told me this loves Danny Boyle's films. For BD profile 1.1, if you don't own a PS3, good luck. I have no idea what kind of things are going to happen with BD and PnP on legacy players. Hopefully, we wont get people saying "Well, I dont care about that as long as I can watch the movie". If thats going to be the attitudes of people towards not getting what they paid 30$ for, then the studios may as well save there time and money and stop adding extra content to these discs.
MasterCKO @ Oct 30th 2007 6:40PM
@SolidOni: "Save...Sunshine from becoming a good movie"? What do you mean? Sunshine was an excellent movie, dude. It's just too bad it didn't have a bigger opening than it did (no major marketing push at ALL).
MasterCKO @ Oct 30th 2007 6:41PM
whoops, I mean @mike, not SolidOni.
Dave @ Oct 30th 2007 8:43PM
I've never had a problem with rentals, Jeff. I use Netflix. Again, the data for HD DVD is at the same depth as HD DVD. There might be something wrong with your player. You should try cleaning the optics.
Dave @ Oct 30th 2007 8:47PM
@Mike
If you bought a PS3, there's a chance that it can be upgraded to Profile 1.1 and possibly 2.0. Sony has not confirmed this yet, though--so it's still unknown. If you didn't buy a PS3, you're out of luck. PiP requires a second video decoder. The hardware just isn't there.
TrentD @ Oct 31st 2007 9:00AM
No, your player has to have the secondary video audio decoder in order to be upgraded to 1.1. Sorry.
Interested Watcher @ Oct 30th 2007 7:51PM
That coating 'issue' is just about as dumb as it gets.
If the media manufacturers had any sense they'd apply the supposedly 'special' hard coating to all the discs they produce - CDs & DVDs - as a value/premium feature and do their customers a genuine favour
(IIRC one is starting to do this - TDK?).
....and profile 1.1 software?
I'll believe it when I see it.
They have announced umteen 'plans' that have come to nothing so far, why should this one be too much different?
Meantime I'll believe Denon who went public & said recently that they were still having trouble getting profile 1.1 players & discs to work properly with profile 1.0 players and discs.
My bet is there will be very very few of these discs appearing for a long time yet.
Why would anyone bother much when there are no profile 1.1 or profile 2.0 players out there and it offers nothing but potential troubles with all the profile 1.0 players?
They've even fudged the mandatory deadline.
Now Samsung can release (eventually) their delayed BDP5000 with the promise of being only 'profile 1.1 compliant after a firmware upgrade' at some unspecified point in the future.
G*d knows when the Denon will actually show up either.
....and claims that the PS3 will get some added functions isn't much substitute for it not being genuinely profile 1.1 or profile 2.0 compliant.
It's pretty obvious that if the PS3 could be upgrades via firmware to either profile 1.1 or profile 2.0 they'd have been shouting it non-stop from every rooftop going since day 1.
Smee @ Oct 30th 2007 8:21PM
I have posted this link before, but it is about the topic of conversation, BOTH SIDES SHOULD READ THIS!!
Interesting that the blu team NEVER respond to questions associated with this link!
http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/sony-blu-ray-specification-deadline
Ed @ Oct 30th 2007 9:51PM
Maybe it's just me, but I think h4Idol is wasting what little talent he or she has and should be working for the Bush administration.
But on a serious note, thanks for posting that link on the Blu-Ray profile issues.
Dave @ Oct 30th 2007 8:44PM
I meant, "...at the same depth as DVD." Seriously, EngadgetHD--let us edit comments.
TrentD @ Oct 31st 2007 9:06AM
Thank you for your meaningless political commercial.
By the way, Blue = Blu-ray = Democrat ;)
mike movie five @ Oct 31st 2007 7:49AM
This Blu-Ray 1.1 is the most annoying project ever. Picture-in-picture? Who freaking cares?! Just put out another version of the movie with a PIP head talking and watch how .. nobody .. wants it. Ethernet and a loud onboard disk drive? We want java programs with internet and disk access running on (loud) dvd players? Just wait for DVD viruses, and more "calling home to mothership" traffic hogging your ethernet. We want more DVD extra interviews where actors gush about their acting growth? And don't forget the promised Java-based games that run on blu-ray. I don't even know anyone who would enjoy that.
My 40" 1080p TV is sitting here waiting for... 1080p MOVIES and TV SHOWS. I'll pay $1.99/$.50 for one-time showings. It boggles the mind how retarded blu-ray is. hd-dvd too.
Ed @ Oct 31st 2007 1:11PM
LMAO! Look who's talking? I haven't sided with either camp. The more info on each format, for or against, the better. Besides, don't you know sarcasm when you see it?
rob @ Oct 31st 2007 12:46PM
don't bash me, cause i'm totally new to this site. i found it through tech stuff on yahoo. i'm neither a supporter of blue-ray or hd dvd... i've not made it into best buy or circuit city and looked at their demo tvs yet. i do not have either the ps3 or the xbox 360. i watch over the air hdtv on a 1994 25" TV. a new tv's on my to buy list, though, just not sure when i'll step up...why fix it if its not broken?
i wanted to know what is possible using PiP in blue-ray/hd dvd... is that like watching the movie and having the director providing commentary on camera during the movie? or is there no use of PiP yet in either hd disk format?
thanks, and just curious, rob
HDpurist @ Oct 31st 2007 1:02PM
Yes, I also don't care for this pip. As much as I support BD and the BD spec which is far superior over the out-dated HD-DVD spec, pip is a feature that is nice to have but not important. I hope the profile 1.0 BD players will have a huge price drop.
About the PS3, it should be able to be upgraded to profile 1.1 or 2 with out the need for an addition video audio decoder....it already has 6 - 8 freakn cores! ;)
stevemacer @ Nov 1st 2007 4:51AM
Wether the HD DVD lovers like it or not, Blu-Ray is outselling HD DVD by 2:1 in the U.S and by 4:1 in Europe. The statistics say it all really.
HD @ Nov 1st 2007 9:26PM
"For owners with the right hardware" the article starts with...................Well, at this point in time, that's no one1