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A Ray Disc Player Maybe?

In the format war, the Blu Ray disc by Sony has triumphed over Toshiba's HD DVDs. However, there are still many choices to make.

The Blu Ray player demand skyrocketed, driving prices well past $499, since Toshiba backed out of the formatting war and ended production of the HD-DVD player. Now you may be wondering what's next for the Blu Ray disc.

If you were an early bird buyer, then you have the original prototypical Blu Ray disc 1.0 player. "The earliest Blu-ray player, Profile 1.0, are dinosaurs already," reports The Courant's Kevin Hunt. "Consumers who dropped $1,500 on a player a year ago cannot update their players." These bare bones players offer the high-definition 1920x1080 pixels with superior coding and 7.0 surround-sound audio, but offer little in terms of extra features and menu options. Developers admit they probably should have just waited a year for the unveiling, but they were compelled to hurry up and compete in the Sony vs. Toshiba bidding war.

The bare bones players offer the high-definition 1920x1080 pixels with superior coding and 7.0 surround-sound audio, but offer little in terms of extra features and menu options. Developers admit they probably should have just waited a year for the unveiling, but they were compelled to hurry up and compete in the Sony vs. Toshiba bidding war.

But just wait! There is the new Blu Ray disc 2.0 player set to be unveiled soon. These HD DVD Bluray machines are said to have been the prototype that finally wooed major networks like Disney, Warner Brothers and Paramount to side with Blu Ray rather than HD DVDs in the format war. The next generation of Blu Ray disc players will come with a function called "BDLive," which includes an ethernet port for internet connectivity, so users can download high-def trailers and add additional language tracks or other bonus materials.

Experts say that buyers who bought the earliest version will still be able to play BR 1.1 movies, although some of the bonus features may not work. As of right now, all the Blu Ray disc releases have been in 1.0, though, so no worries. "Sunshine" is the first 1.1 release scheduled for the first quarter of 2008. Panasonic has 1.1 Blu Ray players for about $500 and market research analyst Paul Erickson says Profile 1.1 players will become the standard by next Christmas, with prices likely dropping below $200.

To offset the cost of upgrading, Blu Ray disc retailers are cutting prices to entice buyers. Sony announced that the new disc players will be priced between $400 and $500, but Best Buy is offering two free Ray discs with the purchase of a new Panasonic 1080p player and Amazon is offering 50% off select titles. There are over 500 titles currently available in Blu Ray release, with many more Blu Ray titles on the way.

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Don't be concerned over making desicions onhd dvd, or ray disc. Don't act without some basic research.

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