Blu-ray, blue riband

Blu-ray is kicking things up a notch in the high definition disc format war.

Sony this week will announce the release of its next generation Blu-ray videodisc titles. 'BD-Live' discs will hit the shops at the same time as a software update for Sony's Playstation 3, which will give it internet connectivity -- known as Profile 2.0. This means that viewers of these discs will be able to go online and access bonus features and services, such as additional materials and trailers.

A crucial factor in how the high definition market will evolve is the level of hardware support available to each format. This means BD-Live will be rolled out aggressively over the next few months as more Profile 2.0 players go on sale and studios fine tune their BD-Live software. This will lead to additional features such as peer-to-peer interactions, gaming and live virtual events, as well as revenue generating opportunities for studios, for example through sales or wallpaper and ringtone downloads, and subscription services.

Sales of these services, along with growing levels of user demand, mean that BD-Live discs and players may experience a price crash. This may eventually lead to Blu-ray superseding existing DVDs, in a similar way to the latter's overwhelming dominance over VHS.

BD-Live's success will cement Blu-ray's victory over Toshiba's HD-DVD format as the standard high definition videodisc. Even more importantly, it will make movies a more interactive experience, bringing internet connectivity into the viewing experience, and further blurring the distinction between passive movie watching and more interactive gaming. Given the widening age range of gamers as the current 'first generation' comes of age, this could lead to gaming -- already an extremely lucrative industry -- becoming a far more mainstream, widespread,activity. Hardware manufacturers and movie studios may also become progressively less 'format agnostic'.