CDRLabs.com

A few weeks ago we reported that the Blu-ray Disc Association had mandated new minimum specifications for players produced after October 31. With these specs requiring increased memory and support for picture-in-picture video, many people, including myself, were concerned that first gen players would become obsolete. To find out the truth, PC World talked with Andy Parsons, chair of the Blu-ray Disc Association's U.S. Promotions committee about these concerns. In their article Mr. Parsons tries to calm the waters a bit stating "your existing Blu-ray player will continue to play future titles as it does today."

All current Blu-ray Disc players support the BD-Java spec. (BD-Java is the programming language used to design the menus and present interactive content on a Blu-ray Disc.) In fact, says Parsons, this was a requirement from the get-go: "All players introduced since day one must support BD-Java."

Already, movie titles like Chicken Little and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen are taking advantage of BD-Java's capabilities; in both of those cases, the movie discs offer interactive games.

If BD-Java is shipping today, why the confusion? "This fall," explains Parsons, "is the end of a grace period. Any new Blu-ray Disc player model introduced after October 31 must now fully comply with the full range of existing Blu-ray Disc player specifications."

While first gen players will continue to play titles the same as they do today, PC World points out that they will not play on-demand picture-in-picture commentary nor can they access interactive functions via the internet. Unless you really need these features, its probably not worth upgrading to a second gen player. However, if you haven't bought one yet, I'd save my money and wait until fall. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here.