It's hard to believe it's actually over, but for more than two years we've followed what has come to be one of our favorite topics as Blu has faced Red in a battle to be the next physical home media format. In the end it came down to studio and consumer electronic industry support -- not to mention the PS3 -- but it was by no means an easy victory, and just because it was more popular than HD DVD, doesn't mean Blu-ray can win over the hearts of millions of DVD fans. But while we wait to see how well Blu-ray is adopted by the masses, we wanted to take a second to look back at how it all ended up working out.

We'll start this story way back in the Summer of '05 where the talks to create a unified format broke down: this is the moment most of us realized we were in for some fun. Sure, this thing got started way before that, but we have to start somewhere and this is when it really began to get interesting. As HD DVD approached the BDA to join forces and demanded too many changes to the Blu-ray disc format, the BDA told them to pound sand.

Samsung BD-P1200 owners who've utilized the Ethernet functionality to update their firmware, have been able to enjoy Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer since Wednesday, and now the rest of the owners of both the BD-P1000 and BD-P1200 can too. As promised, Samsung made the CDR image available for download, so we decided to try it out; sure enough, it works, so we can finally enjoy the latest Fox titles. As crummy as this situation is for consumers -- especially those who don't know what firmware is -- we're happy to see Samsung continue to support their first generation Blu-ray player.

Samsung has just dropped us a note to let us know that they'll be releasing an update to both their BD-P1000 and BD-P1200 this Friday, that will address the BD+ issues with the latest Fox Blu-ray titles. When first asked, Samsung said it would take a few weeks, so this is certainly good news. You can either download the update from Samsung.com or use the Ethernet port in the BD-P1200 to download the update directly. In addition to the BD+ issue, the BD-P1200 update also improves the playback in some movies, enhances performance of in-movie games, and fixes some audio noise issues. We'll let you know how it works out.

Boy did we see this one coming. Fox just came out of their hiatus and with their first two releases they opted to use Blu-ray's optional DRM, BD+ -- which has been part of the spec, but this is the first time it's been used. The problem is that all the Blu-ray players aren't ready for BD+ yet, and without a firmware update you can't play the movies at all. You'd think the problem would only plauge 1st gen hardware, but the Samsung BD-P1000 was able to play the new discs just fine after a very long delay. The newer BD-P1200 didn't fair as well, but instead you see a scary red screen instructing you to install a firmware update that doesn't exist. We've contacted Samsung to see what the deal is and we'll let you know if we hear anything. We'd tell you to avoid titles with BD+ for now, but there's no way to know just from looking at the package, so just avoid just avoid these two Fox titles for now (The Day After Tomorrow and Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer).

**UPDATE** unconfirmed reports indicate that it's a BD-J issue rather than BD+. Either way, all the latest movies won't play in all the players, even with the latest firmware update.

VideoBusiness has got a few more details on what to expect from Samsung's third generation Blu-ray player, the BD-P1400. Look for the player to make its debut on August 31 at the 2007 IFA in Berlin, with support for Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD and DTS-HD audio, as well as a built in Ethernet port. Whether it will meet the new standards for Blu-ray players released after October remains unanswered, as well as how much it will cost. With Sony's BDP-S300 and recently price-reduced PlayStation 3 both already on the market at $499, we'll soon see how much lower prices can get.

Pssst. Hey you. Yeah you buddy. Wanna cheap Blu-ray player? Amazon is selling Samsung's BD-P1000 for a mere $499. While we still don't know what side is going to walk away from this whole war thing, less then five hundard dollars seems a bit easier on the pocketbook to enjoy movies on your HDTV even if the format doesn't last forever. So if using the PS3 as a Blu-ray player doesn't interest you but you still want a cheap Blu-ray player, this offer might fit the bill.

[Thanks, Nate]

Toshiba and LG have already indicated their plans to wow us at CES, and now the first company to release a Blu-ray player -- Samsung -- has announced it will display the first second generation player next week at CES. The new player is expected to cost 20 percent less than its predecessor (the BD-P1000, pictured above), but contain more interactive functions. We hope that means this will be the first non-PlayStation 3 device to support BD Live features, although we'll have to wait and see. As far as joining LG with a hybrid player like the one it had announced and then denied last year, the company currently has "no plans" to do so, but could if the market remains divided. Other products we can expect to see next week include even larger versions of Samsung's Slim DLP HDTVs, and an all new line of plasmas going all the way up to 80 inches.

In the wake of Toshiba hinting at forthcoming price drops on its stand-alone HD DVD players at CES, Samsung has apparently figured out that it can't keep on charging a cool grand (though the price had already fallen a bit "unofficially") for its own high definition unit and remain attractive. As fence-sitters weigh their options and realize that they can get a console and Blu-ray player together for around $500, it only makes sense that we see a (somewhat) healthy price drop on Samsung's BD-P1000. Effectively immediately, the MSRP has been slashed from $999 to $899, putting wholesale prices closer to the $500-$800 range, which should help draw attention from potential buyers who were previously turned off by price. Of course, this theoretical price leveling might not last for too long if Toshiba's whispers prove to be true, but at least we're seeing the prices of stand-alone players dip down from their previous home in the stratosphere.

Early adopting Blu-ray owners can now download, burn to disc, and install a patch for some of the issues that have plagued the Samsung BD-P1000 since its release -- but the "noise reduction" bug affecting picture quality is not one of them, yet. The firmware update 1.0 doesn't say exactly what it fixes, but the list of upgrades found so far is as follows:

• Fixes stuttering audio/video while viewing movies with DTS soundtracks
  
• Adds pillarboxing to 4:3 content on Blu-ray discs (instead of stretching it to widescreen),
• Improved load times
• Hourglass icon changed to colored dots
• Fixes reversed analog outs on affected players
• Adds DTS decoding for DVD content (like AVIA test disc)

Of course, if you're on the list Samsung will simply send a disc for you to put in the player and upgrade, but why wait? Another release to fix the annoying noise reduction issue is expected "soon".

[Via AVS Forum & Home Theater Blog, thanks for the tip Dave!]

Samsung has joined Toshiba in offering firmware updates for their first generation HD player. Reportedly this update will address problems with the noise filter reduction circuit, hopefully bringing HDMI up to snuff with component, as well as add support for Blu-ray Java releases expected later this year. We've heard a lot of questions about BD-J support and "full profile" players, hopefully this means BD-P1000 owners won't be missing out on any special features but we'll have to wait and see. One question answered is that yes, the BD-P1000 can play dual-layer 50GB BDs, the firmware update is not necessary for that; according to The Digital Bits, the problem was only with some BD-R test discs. Still, by the time October rolls around who knows how well even an updated BD-P1000 will compare to the incoming Blu-ray players and second-gen HD DVD players but we hope all early adopters are registered for the update.

HD DVD and Blu-ray players don't cost quite as much as they used to -- if you know where to look. Amazon and other retailers have recently slashed prices on Samsung's BD-P1000 Blu-ray player, as well as Toshiba's HD-A1 and HD-XA1 HD DVD players. VideoBusiness quotes a few smaller retailers as saying they're "just trying to stay competitive" with price adjustments, unexpected for technology that's only been out for a few months. They also mentioned that while HD DVD sales are as expected, Blu-ray sales have been less than expected. Whether it's the prospect of upcoming hardware revisions or reports of early glitches, some stores are bending over backwards to move first generation players off shelves while others (Crutchfield, Best Buy, Tweeter) see no need to. If you're confident enough to jump into the next generation of DVDs with one of the players already available, just be sure to price check first.



[Thanks, Tyler]

Considering that lower priced high definition players are pretty much exactly what we've been asking for, we're a little surprised by the stealthiness of this one. Samsung's BD-P1000 Blu-ray player launched with a price of $999 but as some of our eagle-eyed commenters have pointed out, you can find it for considerably less. Several international reports have mentioned the US retail price of the unit as $800, although no change in the MSRP has been announced by Samsung. While it did show up for only $730 on Amazon.com yesterday, today the retail price displays as $799.99, with a list price of $899.99. Circuit City's website displays an on sale price of $899. Best Buy, Tweeter and Crutchfield don't appear to have gotten the memo and still show the original price. Whatever the reason for the price difference, the fact is you can get a player that --- probably -- plays 50GB Blu-ray discs for the same price as the high end Toshiba HD-XA1 (or not, it's currently going for $687 on Amazon) HD DVD player. With improved movie releases on the way and a quickly closing price gap, Blu-ray may be ready to take the lead from HD DVD sooner than any of us thought.

Korea keeps getting the short end of the HD stick. First World Cup broadcast problems and now a bungled Blu-ray launch. While Sony Pictures Korea released movies on Friday, the BD-P1000 player did not launch at the same time as planned. The reason for the delay is apparently Samsung's desire to package them with their Mosel-brand 1080p HDTVs,and they will be on store shelves tomorrow. Also of note is that the article cites the U.S. price of the BD-P1000 as $800, while as far as we know, it is still $999 everywhere. Several international reports have quoted this lower price (in US dollars) for the Samung Blu-ray player, maybe they think we're getting a special deal (we wish). HD DVD has not yet launched in Korea so for now, Blu-ray is the only game in town.

Ever since the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player launched there have been rumors that it did not ship with the ability to read 50GB discs based on a passage in the manual which only cited 25GB compatibility.. Over at The Digital Bits, they cite unnamed sources from as recently as two weeks ago stating that dual-layer 50GB discs weren't available for testing (even though it was originally delayed for further compatibility testing) before the player launched and now that there are, they just don't work. The good news would be that this is apparently fixable via a firmware update like another BD-P1000 problem we've heard about; but this problem is figuring into the delay of not only dual-layer movies, but other upcoming standalone Blu-ray players as well. Firmware update or not, we're pretty sure early adopting Blu-ray buyers didn't spend $1000 to only be able to read 25GB discs. We'd love to confirm or deny these rumors, in fact, we'll just go grab a dual-layer movie release and put it in right now...oh. Like so many other things about this format war we'll have to wait and see.

NOTE: This is my opinion and is not necessarily the same of the rest of HD Beat.

It has been three months since I last explained why HD DVD will ultimately win this current format war. HD DVD is off to a decent start except for that early firmware update. Blu-ray is off and running, but seems to be stumbling all over with disappointment. Three months later, I still strongly believe that HD DVD will be the winner of this format war.

Click on to re-visit my original three points only three months later.