HDDVD has PIP, web-enabled features, in movie menus but Blu-Ray doesn't?

Question

can't Blu-ray have the same potential?

Answer 1

Blu-Ray has those same features.  Whether or not they're implemented on a particular disc is a different question.

A better question is - who really cares about these trivial features?  Honestly, would the lack of some twiddly special feature prevent you enjoying the movie (which I assume is the primary reason you bought the disc in the first place)  Would you NOT buy a movie because it was lacking one of these stupid toys?

Answer 2

Eventually yes, but that being said the Blu-ray standards were not finalized up until a short time ago.  That is why you see a lot of variance on both Blu-ray players and Blu-ray content.

All new blu-ray players will have to have an internet connection to enable future multimedia content, if you were one of the early adopters to Blu-ray you might find that your player does not have a connection, and will need firmware update to be able to play and access that extra multimedia content.

Answer 3

Blu-ray will ... eventually.

You might find the article at the link interesting. It pretty much summarizes the situation.

The unfortunate thing is that Blu-ray is the less consumer friendly and more expensive format. Unfortunately a lot of people bought into (mainly) Sony's hype about Blu-ray.

Very clever advertizing to make the things that made HD DVD more appropriate for the average consumer either seem like disadvantages (e.g. lower storage space, optional 1080i support) or irrelevent (extras like PinP, secondary audio, Internet connectivity), while making a virtue of things that really don't matter (e.g. extra storage space, mandatory 1080p). It didn't help that HD DVD studios kept disk prices high while Blu-ray disks were subsidized to make them more attractive.

Unfortunately we'll all pay the price now since disk prices will now rise and it's overall less likely people will move away from DVDs than it would have been if HD DVD had "won". And that could mean Blu-ray will be stuck as a niche format (like SACD and DVD-A in the audio world).

The real sad thing is HD DVD came oh so close --- see the second link.

Answer 4

Yes a blu ray can..The players in the market are with profile 1.0..Only one blu ray player by panasonic has the BD profile 1.1 which allows you to play the PIP and extra contents,but still the blu ray disc has to come with the extra features in order for you to view it.

Answer 5

It has the same potential, but the current hardware was rushed out to the stores before it was completed in order to be able to compete with HD DVD. In the future Blu-Ray players will have profile 2.0 and the only current player that will have the ability to upgrade is the Playstation 3. Any one who has any other player and wants to take advantage of those features will have to buy a new Blu-Ray player.