Topic: Blu-Ray Profile 1.1 Officially Renamed "Bonus View"

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Blu-ray Disc Assn. promotes new Bonus View

OCT. 30 | LOS ANGELES—The Blu-ray Disc Assn. has branded the new profile for Blu-ray hardware ‘Bonus View.’

After Oct. 31, all launched Blu-ray players must feature advanced functionality not required of earlier players. These enhancements, previously either termed Profile 1.1 or Full Profile, include greater memory and the ability to play picture-in-picture.

During Monday’s Blu-ray Festival here, Andy Parsons, senior VP of product planning at Pioneer and chair of the BDA Promotions Committee, confirmed the new name for the specifications.

Parsons also explained that the BDA is not going to object to some Blu-ray manufacturers, such as Samsung, which are not technically abiding by the Oct. 31 deadline for advanced features in players. Samsung’s dual-format model, bowing in late December, will include ‘Bonus View’ machinery but will still require a firmware upgrade to playback such advanced interactivity as picture-in-picture. That upgrade won’t be available to consumers until January.

“The key point is to get to the transition to Bonus View,” said Parsons to VB. “The player is compatible with all the hardware. We won’t quibble over something like [the firmware upgrade]. We don’t want to get bureaucratic. The most important thing is to deliver product that meets customer expectations.”

On Monday, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment said it would bring out in January the industry’s first Blu-ray picture-in-picture title, sci-fi flick Sunshine.

The next evolution for Blu-ray players is BD Live, which is hardware that boasts Bonus View with the addition of Web connectivity. This profile remains an option for hardware manufacturers, but they are expected to soon start announcing such players.

Since launch, all HD DVD players have been able to play picture-in-picture, as well as handle Web interactivity, such as the e-commerce options within Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s HD DVD Evan Almighty.

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Blu-ray player profiles explained in detail

Originally Posted by Richard Paul
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Over the last year I have read much on the issue of Blu-ray player profiles from various insiders and based on what I have heard have made this thread about them. There is one Blu-ray spec and in it there are four profiles including an audio only profile that does not require BD-J or video playback since it was made only for audio playback. Leaving out the audio only profile from this thread there are three player profiles made for video playback. After October 31st of 2007 all new Blu-ray players must meet the requirements for at least BD-Video 1.1 though older Blu-ray players can continue to be sold. Here are the requirements for the three Blu-ray player profiles:

BD-Video 1.0:

64 KB of built in persistent memory required
no additional persistent memory capability required
no outlining support for text based subtitles required
no SD PiP decoding required
no secondary audio decoding required
no internet capability required

BD-Video 1.1:

64 KB of built in persistent memory required
256 MB of persistent memory capability required
outlining support for text based subtitles required
SD PiP decoding required
secondary audio decoding required
no internet capability required

BD-Live:

64 KB of built in persistent memory required
1 GB of persistent memory capability required
outlining support for text based subtitles required
SD PiP decoding required
secondary audio decoding required
internet capability required


Frequently Asked Questions (last updated October 30, 2007)

1. Why are there three Blu-ray player profiles?
All three player profiles for Blu-ray were originally made back at the time the Blu-ray specs were originally made. At that time it was known that to cost effectively implement certain features such as SD PiP decoding would require the development of new decoding chips that could handle dual stream video decoding. The plan was to eventually replace the BD-Video 1.0 specs with the BD-Video 1.1 specs by requiring all new players released after a certain date to meet the requirements for it. The BD-Live specs were to be optional for those who wanted to connect their Blu-ray player to the internet.

2. Is BD-J a requirement for all Blu-ray players?
Yes, all three Blu-ray player profiles require BD-J support and will be capable of normal BD-J interactivity for menus and games. Note though that certain extras might require features that are unique to BD-Video 1.1 or BD-Live.

3. Should I wait for BD-Video 1.1 or BD-Live players?
That depends. Though stand alone BD-Video 1.0 players will always be capable of playing Blu-ray movies and normal BD-J interactivity most of them will not be capable of certain extras such as PiP decoding. If you are interested in those extras than it would be best to wait for stand alone Blu-ray players to be released that are known to support them.

4. Could a BD-Video 1.0 player be updated to BD-Video 1.1 or BD-Live?
That is possible if it had the necessary hardware but none of the stand alone Blu-ray players released before October of 2007 do. The PS3 might be updated to BD-Video 1.1 or BD-Live but nothing official has been said about that.

5. Does BD-Video 1.1 require HD PiP decoding?
No, it only requires SD PiP decoding. Blu-ray and HD DVD have optional specs for HD PiP decoding but neither of them require it.

6. What is secondary audio decoding?
This allows for the mixing of two different audio tracks. For instance this would allow for the audio stream included with a PiP video stream to be mixed into the primary audio stream.

7. What is persistent memory?
Persistent memory allows for the long term storage of data on the player and depending on the capabilities of the specific player can be done using built in flash memory, a hard drive, network storage, and external flash memory. All Blu-ray players are required to have at least 64 KB of built in persistent memory. The BD-Video 1.1 profile requires the player to be capable of supporting at least 256 MB of persistent memory. The BD-Live profile requires the player to be capable of supporting at least 1 GB of persistent memory. For both BD-Video 1.1 and BD-Live this can be done with either built in memory or with user provided memory such as a memory card or a USB flash drive.

8. What is outlining support for text based subtitles?
In addition to graphic based subtitles Blu-ray also allows for the use of text based subtitles allowing for easier control of where they are placed on the screen. This can benefit 2.35 aspect ratio display setups. Text based subtitles though when directly displayed can be hard to read so outlining support, changing their color/shading based on the background, is usually done to make it easier to read them.

9. What decoding chips are known to be capable of decoding PiP?
The Sigma Designs SMP8634 Rev. C and the Broadcom BCM7440 are two decoding chips that are known to be capable of decoding SD PiP. The Horizon Hz7220 decoding chip is known to be capable of decoding SD/HD PiP.

10. Have any BD-Video 1.1 players been officially announced yet?
Yes, the following is a list of officially announced BD-Video 1.1 players:

Denon DVD-3800BDCI
Denon DVD-2500BTC
Marantz BD8002
Panasonic DMP-BD30
Samsung BD-UP5000

11. Have any BD-Live players been officially announced yet?
Yes, the following is a list of officially announced BD-Live players:

Daewoo DBP-1000
LG BH200

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High-Def FAQ: Blu-ray Profiles Explained

Blu-ray Profiles break down as follows:

The basic Profile 1.0 (also known as the Grace Period Profile) available on all Blu-ray models released before November 1st, 2007 includes neither a secondary video decoder nor an internet connection.

Profile 1.1 (also called the Final Standard Profile or "Bonus View") adds decoders for secondary PiP video and audio, plus 256 MB of local storage capability.

Finally, Profile 2.0 (or "BD-Live") includes those secondary video and audio decoders, a larger 1 GB of local storage capability, and an internet connection.

*All Profile 1.1 discs should function normally in existing Grace Period Profile players as far as movie playback and traditional bonus features go (meaning that older players will not necessarily become "obsolete"), but the new 1.1 enhanced features will not be accessible without a new player.

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