PS3 Gets Blu-ray Profile 1.1 Firmware Update

There is some big news on the forefront of the format war today. Sony's Playstation 3 now supports the long awaited Blu-ray Profile 1.1, which includes support for Picture-in-Picture viewing as well as secondary streams of audio and video for narrative/interactive features. In addition, the firmware 2.10 update also supports DivX and VC-1(WMV). The Profile 1.1 does not include support for streaming new Internet content however the PIP features are something in which Blu-ray had seriously lagged behind HD DVD for some time now. Blu-ray is finally nearing completion and it only remains to be seen how upset consumers will be who adopted the format earlier and won't be able to take advantage of newer discs which utilize this feature. When BD-Live (Profile 2.0) comes to market, we imagine a ton of early adopters will feel the pressure to upgrade or risk missing out on even more great features.

There are currently 2.7 million Blu-ray players in North American homes today with 74% or 2 million of those Blu-ray players being PS3s. This essentially means that now 2 million Blu-ray players will now support Blu-ray Profile 1.1 (this according to the Blu-ray Disc Association and Video Business). Those with dedicated players who adopted the format early won't be able to utilize the new features. If you bought a PS3, this latest firmware update makes it one of the most up-to-date Blu-ray players on the market today.

Technical hardware requirements for Blu-ray Profiles

The first Blu-ray movies to support Blu-ray Profile 1.1 in 2008 will be Resident Evil: Extinction from Sony Pictures, Sunshine from 20th Century Fox, and War and 3:10 to Yuma from Lionsgate.

The new Resident Evil movie will also incorporate Blu-Wizard 2.0, an updated menu system which has not been very impressive to-date on the Blu-ray format.