FAQ - Blu-ray Explained
What video formats are supported by Blu-ray?
Blu-ray supports the following types of video on any disc, and all players must decode ALL three:
MPEG-2
MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
VC-1
All three video types are supported at various resolutions up to full 1080p at 1920 x 1080 pixels. They are also supported for both primary and secondary video, although secondary video decoding requires a player that supports BD-Video Profile 1.1 or later. (See below for BD-Video profiles)
The maximum video data rate for all three video types at any resolution is 40mbps.
The following lists supported Blu-ray video resolutions:
What is BD-J and do all Blu-ray players have it?
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) chose to use Java as the programming environment for Blu-ray's advanced interactivity. As such they (imaginatively) named it BD-Java or BD-J for short. The theory is that as Java is used in many places such as IPTV and mobile phones, disc authors will be able to use existing knowledge to develop new and interesting things to entertain us with on Blu-ray discs.
Java support is mandatory on all Blu-ray players, so if you have a Blu-ray player of any sort, it supports BD-J.
What are Blu-ray profiles?
Blu-ray profiles define certain mandatory hardware features included on a player. There are three profiles defined:
BD-Video Profile 1.0 (Also known as Grace Period Profile)
64KB of persistent storage
No SD/HD decoding of PiP video
No secondary audio stream decoding (primarily for PiP sound)
No internet connectivity required
BD-Video Profile 1.1 (Also known as Final Standard Profile or Bonus View)
256MB of persistent storage
SD/HD decoding of PiP video
Secondary audio stream decoding
No internet connectivity required
BD-Live (sometimes called BD-Video Profile 2.0)
1GB of persistent storage
SD/HD decoding of PiP video
Secondary audio stream decoding
Internet connectivity required
For both profile 1.1 and 2.0, the persistent storage capability does not necessarily mean that the player has that storage built in. It seems to be the case that the player has to be capable of having that amount of storage. For standalone players this appears to be done by providing some kind of card slot on the player. An SD card or similar can then be used to store any extra content on. Whilst at first glance this may seem like something of a cop-out, the additional flexibility of using cards means you can actually store MUCH more than the mandatory persistent memory amounts by using larger cards and several different ones. It does of course put the cost back on the user to buy the cards.
Which profiles are mandatory or optional?
BD-Video profile 1.0 is the minimum profile that is mandatory for all players launched before October 31st 2007. Up until this date, BD-Video Profile 1.1 and BD-Live are optional.
After the 31st of October 2007, all new players launched must meet BD-Video Profile 1.1 as a minimum. BD-Live support remains optional.
So, any existing players that are still on sale, but were launched before the deadline, can still be sold afterwards and do not have to meet the new profile 1.1 requirements.
So buyer beware, hence one of the reasons for this FAQ.
What players support BD-Video Profile 1.1?
Details of the first official Profile 1.1 players are now emerging. Panasonic managed the first Profile 1.1 compatible player, the DMP-BD30.
For a full list of Profile 1.1 players and notes see here.
What players do NOT support BD-Video Profile 1.1?
Many of the existing standalone players are based on System on a Chip (SoC) solutions that do not have enough power, or cannot decode two audio/video streams, and therefore cannot support profile 1.1 or higher. The two main SoC's are from Sigma Designs who have the 8634 chip, and Broadcom who had the 7411 chip.
This list shows all the current players that cannot be upgraded to Profile 1.1 support.
So, if you are planning to purchase, or have already purchased one of the above players, do not expect any firmware upgrade to enable support of BD-Video Profile 1.1/2.0. (There may well be firmware upgrades to enhance compatibility with discs that use these features when they appear.)
Finally, both the PS3 AND Cyberlink's PowerDVD Ultra are both Profile 1.1 compatible and I would also expect them to become BD-Live compatible as well.
A link to BD-Live capable players will appear here shortly, only one has been officially announced so far, the Panasonic DMP-BD50.
Will a disc that uses profile 1.1 or higher features play in a Profile 1.0 player?
Yes, we believe it will. Through BD-J, a disc can query what profile a player supports and only make features supported by the player available on the disc menu.
In all instances, the main film should play on all players regardless of profile.
There may well be firmware updates required for Profile 1.0 players to fix any compatibility issues when playing either Profile 1.1 or 2.0 discs. I would be very surprised if any player could not at a minimum play the main film.
Rest assured that any such player will be listed here if that happens.
Will all Blu-ray players have similar BD-J performance?
No!
Different players use different hardware solutions to provide their BD-J capability. They may even use different BD-J implementations to provide the actual Java Virtual Machine (JVM) environment on that hardware. Therefore, BD-J performance is likely to become a very important part of the buying decision of any new Blu-ray player.
Other factors may also influence BD-J performance. Player firmware updates may well deliver improvements as the JVM code may be further optimised. As with all computer type products, newer models often have faster hardware, something that is not usually easy to upgrade.
How the BD-J features themselves are programmed may well have a large effect on the responsiveness of a disc. As studios and production houses improve their knowledge on the new platform they may well get better at delivering code that performs better.
I will try and publish a table of player performance for certain BD-J discs to help show that some players are faster than others.
What video formats are supported by Blu-ray?
Blu-ray supports the following types of video on any disc, and all players must decode ALL three:
MPEG-2
MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
VC-1
All three video types are supported at various resolutions up to full 1080p at 1920 x 1080 pixels. They are also supported for both primary and secondary video, although secondary video decoding requires a player that supports BD-Video Profile 1.1 or later. (See below for BD-Video profiles)
The maximum video data rate for all three video types at any resolution is 40mbps.
The following lists supported Blu-ray video resolutions:
What is BD-J and do all Blu-ray players have it?
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) chose to use Java as the programming environment for Blu-ray's advanced interactivity. As such they (imaginatively) named it BD-Java or BD-J for short. The theory is that as Java is used in many places such as IPTV and mobile phones, disc authors will be able to use existing knowledge to develop new and interesting things to entertain us with on Blu-ray discs.
Java support is mandatory on all Blu-ray players, so if you have a Blu-ray player of any sort, it supports BD-J.
What are Blu-ray profiles?
Blu-ray profiles define certain mandatory hardware features included on a player. There are three profiles defined:
BD-Video Profile 1.0 (Also known as Grace Period Profile)
64KB of persistent storage
No SD/HD decoding of PiP video
No secondary audio stream decoding (primarily for PiP sound)
No internet connectivity required
BD-Video Profile 1.1 (Also known as Final Standard Profile or Bonus View)
256MB of persistent storage
SD/HD decoding of PiP video
Secondary audio stream decoding
No internet connectivity required
BD-Live (sometimes called BD-Video Profile 2.0)
1GB of persistent storage
SD/HD decoding of PiP video
Secondary audio stream decoding
Internet connectivity required
For both profile 1.1 and 2.0, the persistent storage capability does not necessarily mean that the player has that storage built in. It seems to be the case that the player has to be capable of having that amount of storage. For standalone players this appears to be done by providing some kind of card slot on the player. An SD card or similar can then be used to store any extra content on. Whilst at first glance this may seem like something of a cop-out, the additional flexibility of using cards means you can actually store MUCH more than the mandatory persistent memory amounts by using larger cards and several different ones. It does of course put the cost back on the user to buy the cards.
Which profiles are mandatory or optional?
BD-Video profile 1.0 is the minimum profile that is mandatory for all players launched before October 31st 2007. Up until this date, BD-Video Profile 1.1 and BD-Live are optional.
After the 31st of October 2007, all new players launched must meet BD-Video Profile 1.1 as a minimum. BD-Live support remains optional.
So, any existing players that are still on sale, but were launched before the deadline, can still be sold afterwards and do not have to meet the new profile 1.1 requirements.
So buyer beware, hence one of the reasons for this FAQ.
What players support BD-Video Profile 1.1?
Details of the first official Profile 1.1 players are now emerging. Panasonic managed the first Profile 1.1 compatible player, the DMP-BD30.
For a full list of Profile 1.1 players and notes see here.
What players do NOT support BD-Video Profile 1.1?
Many of the existing standalone players are based on System on a Chip (SoC) solutions that do not have enough power, or cannot decode two audio/video streams, and therefore cannot support profile 1.1 or higher. The two main SoC's are from Sigma Designs who have the 8634 chip, and Broadcom who had the 7411 chip.
This list shows all the current players that cannot be upgraded to Profile 1.1 support.
So, if you are planning to purchase, or have already purchased one of the above players, do not expect any firmware upgrade to enable support of BD-Video Profile 1.1/2.0. (There may well be firmware upgrades to enhance compatibility with discs that use these features when they appear.)
Finally, both the PS3 AND Cyberlink's PowerDVD Ultra are both Profile 1.1 compatible and I would also expect them to become BD-Live compatible as well.
A link to BD-Live capable players will appear here shortly, only one has been officially announced so far, the Panasonic DMP-BD50.
Will a disc that uses profile 1.1 or higher features play in a Profile 1.0 player?
Yes, we believe it will. Through BD-J, a disc can query what profile a player supports and only make features supported by the player available on the disc menu.
In all instances, the main film should play on all players regardless of profile.
There may well be firmware updates required for Profile 1.0 players to fix any compatibility issues when playing either Profile 1.1 or 2.0 discs. I would be very surprised if any player could not at a minimum play the main film.
Rest assured that any such player will be listed here if that happens.
Will all Blu-ray players have similar BD-J performance?
No!
Different players use different hardware solutions to provide their BD-J capability. They may even use different BD-J implementations to provide the actual Java Virtual Machine (JVM) environment on that hardware. Therefore, BD-J performance is likely to become a very important part of the buying decision of any new Blu-ray player.
Other factors may also influence BD-J performance. Player firmware updates may well deliver improvements as the JVM code may be further optimised. As with all computer type products, newer models often have faster hardware, something that is not usually easy to upgrade.
How the BD-J features themselves are programmed may well have a large effect on the responsiveness of a disc. As studios and production houses improve their knowledge on the new platform they may well get better at delivering code that performs better.
I will try and publish a table of player performance for certain BD-J discs to help show that some players are faster than others.