Late this week Sony Home Entertainment’s SVP of Advanced Technology confirmed the Playstation 3 will receive an upgrade for Blu-ray later this month.A new firmware update will make Sony’s most popular Blu-ray player (or worst game console – not really sure – seems neither are they) profile 1.1 compliant. This update will allow the PS3 to play the new Blu-ray discs with the new 1.1 bonus features such as PIP. As of November 1st all new Blu-ray players must meet the 1.1 profile which means a second video and audio decoder must be included. However, it doesn’t really matter for any of you buying any Blu-ray players after November 1st. All current and future players are already obsolete with only the PS3 having the capability to upgrade to meet profile 2.0, but that’s another story. To my knowledge, thus far, Panasonic has the only profile 1.1 compliant player on the market with others due to hit later this month and through Q1 of 2008.I love my movies in high definition, but having to buy a new Blu-ray player every time Blu-ray Disc Association decides to change the spec is unacceptable. In a way I’m happy I the PS3 because it seems it will have the longest shelf life. However, that’s a rant I’ll save for another day.
