First Bluray Player

[Courtland Boland]

TheSony BDP-S1 is a first generation Blu-ray Disc (BD) player and is the first such player released in North America. It was originally scheduled for release in the United States on August 18, 2006 with a MSRP of $999.95. Sony had postponed the release date of this player several times and it was released on December 4, 2006.

On November 30, 2006 Sony announced that the player began shipping to major consumer electronics retailers and specialty dealers nationwide. It became available at retailers on December 2, 2006. The player has received firmware updates since its release, the most recent one being released in 2012.

During its initial release, there were reported issues with certain BD-ROM movie discs, namely BD-J functionality. The discs played incorrectly or would not play at all. Sony resolved this issue with a firmware update and the player is now compatible with all BD-J (Blu-Ray Disc Java) standard discs once upgraded to it.

The player is capable of decoding Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus,[a] Dolby TrueHD,[a] LPCM, and DTS core. Currently, the player is not capable of decoding DTS-HD High Resolution Audio or DTS-HD Master Audio.

Audio is sent out of the player through TOSLINK, HDMI, or composite 5.1 analog surround sound jacks. The player will gives the option to output Dolby Digital or DTS via the Toslink (optical or coax), or selectively downmix either independently to PCM. However the digital output is not necessarily compatible with other surround system decoders. Even standard DVD soundtracks cannot be guaranteed to be correctly decoded by Toslink input equipped decoders. There is a disclaimer in the supplied owners manual to this effect. The player will save the user's selections allowing for customization of your outputs. The supplied HDMI connection is version 1.2 and does not support Deep Color or Bitstream out for Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD and DTS-HD Master Audio. This feature is not capable of being added later.

The BDP-S1's analog composite and component video outputs differentiate it from most Blu-ray Disc players manufactured since the early 2010s, as all Blu-ray Disc players manufactured after 2013 no longer come equipped with analog composite and or component video outputs in order to deter video piracy.[2][3][4]

The BDP-S1, being one of the earliest of the first generation Blu-ray Disc players, has much longer load times than later model BD players, around two to three minutes from the initial system power up to actual video playback. When the unit is fully powered up, playback is faster, taking approximately fifty to seventy seconds from disc insertion. However, this is not as fast as the PlayStation 3. Loading times are improved from the original version when updated to later firmware versions.[5]

The player is not compatible with any audio disc format, as a BD-only drive is used. However, playback of Compact Discs (CD) is possible when using the Asia-Pacific version of the BDP-S1, known as the BDP-S1E.[6] A re-branded derivative version of the BDP-S1E with CD playback capability was later released in North American region, with the model number, BDP-S2000ES.[7][8]

Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-definition video (HDTV 720p and 1080p). The main application of Blu-ray is as a medium for video material such as feature films and for the physical distribution of video games for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The name refers to the blue laser (actually a violet laser) used to read the disc, which allows information to be stored at a greater density than is possible with the longer-wavelength red laser used for DVDs.

The BD format was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association, a group representing makers of consumer electronics, computer hardware, and motion pictures. Sony unveiled the first Blu-ray Disc prototypes in October 2000, and the first prototype player was released in Japan in April 2003. Afterward, it continued to be developed until its official worldwide release on June 20, 2006, beginning the high-definition optical disc format war, where Blu-ray Disc competed with the HD DVD format. Toshiba, the main company supporting HD DVD, conceded in February 2008,[9] and later released its own Blu-ray Disc player in late 2009.[10] According to Media Research, high-definition software sales in the United States were slower in the first two years than DVD software sales.[11] Blu-ray's competition includes video on demand (VOD) and DVD.[12] In January 2016, 44% of U.S. broadband households had a Blu-ray player.[13]

The information density of the DVD format was limited by the wavelength of the laser diodes used. Following protracted development, blue laser diodes operating at 405 nanometers became available on a production basis, allowing for development of a denser storage format that could hold higher-definition media, with prototype discs made with diodes at a slightly longer wavelength of 407 nanometers in October 1998.[14][15] Sony commenced two projects in collaboration with Panasonic, Philips, and TDK,[16] applying the new diodes: UDO (Ultra Density Optical),[17] and DVR Blue (together with Pioneer),[18] a format of rewritable discs that would eventually become Blu-ray Disc (more specifically, BD-RE). The core technologies of the formats are similar. The first DVR Blue prototypes were unveiled by Sony at the CEATEC exhibition in October 2000.[19] A trademark for the "Blue Disc" logo was filed on February 9, 2001.[20] On February 19, 2002, the project was officially announced as Blu-ray Disc,[21][22] and Blu-ray Disc Founders was founded by the nine initial members.

The first consumer device arrived in stores on April 10, 2003: the Sony BDZ-S77, a US$3,800 BD-RE recorder that was made available only in Japan.[23] However, there was no standard for pre-recorded video, and no movies were released for this player. Hollywood studios insisted that players be equipped with digital rights management before they would release movies for the new format, and they wanted a new DRM system that would be more secure than the failed Content Scramble System (CSS) used on DVDs. On October 4, 2004, the name Blu-ray Disc Founders was officially changed to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), and 20th Century Fox joined the BDA's Board of Directors.[24] The Blu-ray Disc physical specifications were completed in 2004.[25] The recording layer on which the data is stored lies under a 0.1 millimeter protective layer and on top of a 1.1 millimeter substrate made of polycarbonate plastic; Sony also announced in April 2004 a version using paper as the substrate developed with Toppan Printing, with up to 25 GB storage.[26][27]

In January 2005, TDK announced that it had developed an ultra-hard yet very thin polymer coating ("Durabis") for Blu-ray Discs; this was a significant technical advance because a far tougher protection was desired in the consumer market to protect bare discs against scratching and damage compared to DVD, while technically Blu-ray Disc required a much thinner layer for the denser and higher-frequency blue laser.[28] Cartridges, originally used for scratch protection, were no longer necessary and were scrapped. The BD-ROM specifications were finalized in early 2006.[29]

Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator (AACS LA), a consortium founded in 2004,[30] had been developing the DRM platform that could be used to securely distribute movies to consumers. However, the final AACS standard was delayed,[31] and then delayed again when an important member of the Blu-ray Disc group voiced concerns.[32] At the request of the initial hardware manufacturers, including Toshiba, Pioneer, and Samsung, an interim standard was published that did not include some features, such as managed copy.[33]

The first BD-ROM players (Samsung BD-P1000) were shipped in mid-June 2006, though HD DVD players beat them to market by a few months.[34][35] The first Blu-ray Disc titles were released on June 20, 2006: 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, Underworld: Evolution, xXx (all from Sony), and MGM's The Terminator.[36] The earliest releases used MPEG-2 video compression, the same method used on standard DVDs. The first releases using the newer VC-1 and AVC formats were introduced in September 2006.[37] The first movies using 50 GB dual-layer discs were introduced in October 2006.[38] The first audio-only albums were released in May 2008.[39][40]

By June 2008, over 2,500 Blu-ray Disc titles were available in Australia and the United Kingdom, with 3,500 in the United States and Canada.[41] In Japan, over 3,300 titles had been released as of July 2010.[42]

HD DVD had a head start in the high-definition video market, as Blu-ray Disc sales were slow to gain market share. The first Blu-ray Disc player was perceived as expensive and buggy, and there were few titles available.[48]

Following these new developments, on February 19, 2008, Toshiba announced it would end production of HD DVD devices,[56] allowing Blu-ray Disc to become the industry standard for high-density optical discs. Universal Studios, the sole major studio to back HD DVD since its inception, said shortly after Toshiba's announcement: "While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray Disc."[57] Paramount Pictures, which started releasing movies only in HD DVD format during late 2007, also said it would start releasing on Blu-ray Disc. Both studios announced initial Blu-ray lineups in May 2008. With this, all major Hollywood studios supported Blu-ray.[58]

Although the Blu-ray Disc specification has been finalized, engineers continue to work on advancing the technology. By 2005, quad-layer (100 GB)[59] discs had been demonstrated on a drive with modified optics[60] and standard unaltered optics.[61] Hitachi stated that such a disc could be used to store 7 hours of 32 Mbit/s video (HDTV) or 3 hours and 30 minutes of 64 Mbit/s video (ultra-high-definition television). In April 2006, TDK canceled plans to produce 8-layer 200 GB Blu-ray Discs.[62] In August 2006, TDK announced that it had created a working experimental Blu-ray Disc capable of holding 200 GB of data on a single side, using six 33 GB data layers.[63] In 2007, Hitachi was reported to have plans to produce 200 GB discs by 2009.[64]

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