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At CES 2008 there was no official press conference to declare that the HD war is over and Toshiba stated that it will battle on. However, nobody is fooled and the release of Blu-Ray’s spec 2.0 is an indirect confirmation that Sony et al actually now control the game. While spec 1.1 required a double decoder for PIP and 256 MB of storage, spec 2.0 goes a large step further as it requires an Internet connection and 1 GB of local storage for updates and content. Those features more or less complete the previously unfinished Blu-Ray specifications, and imply the following facts:

• Although HD-DVD had from the start a complete spec to match Blu-Ray’s spec 2.0 it did not manage to promote its advantage and future proof nature to the customer.
• Players based on spec 2.0 are a safe bet as the integrated connectivity also guarantees later spec updates.
• If you have a PS3 you have a future-proof Blu-Ray since you can get the update for spec 2.0 or later specs.
• If you have a standalone Blu-Ray player you will be unhappy to know that your reward for being an early adopter is that you must sooner or later go out and buy a new player. Prices are lower than they used to be but still it hurts…

It is sad to see that the Blu-Ray consortium is confident enough for its success to be rude to its early adopters. And that is why of course the reason behind the timing of the spec 2.0 announcement. As for the future, we can now see some clear facts:

• Sony’s battle to get -even more- in our homes is based mainly on the adoption of the PS3 which is a computer in disguise. It is much more than just a game console and although one of the first Blu-Ray players, Sony made sure that it will last for a long time to come…
• The same of course applies to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and do not be surprised if you soon see a Blu-ray device replacing its current HD-DVD player. Blu-ray integration in Windows Vista is now becoming a very possible development…
• The requirement for Blu-ray player Internet connectivity is soon to be a requirement for TV sets and any audio-video device that we will soon be buying. TV Internet connectivity will not be delayed for long, as optical discs will not be around for ever.

So are you ready for your new Blu-ray hardware and film purchases? Personally not yet, since the DVD catalogue is absolutely massive and will keep me happy for some time to come. Now what I would really love would be to have an affordable Blu-ray-ROM for my PC with cheap blanks to do my backups!

Link: Ars Technica