We don't know anyone who has even gotten around to buying a first-generation Blu-Ray video recorder, which can pack up to 23GB onto each disc, but Sony is already planning to have the second-generation out by the end of the year (pictured above, their first-gen player, the BDZ-S77).
The new version can squeeze 50GB, more than double that of the first-gen recorder, onto a single Blu-Ray rewriteable disc. The new players will also support playback of pre-recorded BD-ROM discs, and Sony says they'll be releasing high-definition movies on BD-ROM discs around Christmas of next year. Which is excellent, because it means we'll have yet another high-def format out there to compete with all the other high-def discs trying to replace the DVD.
Sony has committed itself to shipping second-generation consumer-oriented Blu-Ray video recorders by the end of the year, the company said today.
The new systems will support single-side, dual-layer Blu-Ray rewriteable discs with a total capacity of 50GB. Current Blu-Ray rewriteable discs provide 23GB of storage on a single layer.
The second-generation machines will also support the so-called 'BD-ROM' format - the Blu-Ray equivalent of today's pre-recorded DVDs, Sony said. As yet, the BD-ROM specification remains incomplete, but Sony hopes to have it ready in April. Holding up the final version of the spec. is the question of what, if any, copy protection mechanism to mandate.
Sony's movie division has said it will release content on BD-ROM in time for the 2005 Christmas sales season.
The consumer electronics giant didn't say much else about the new machines, other that it will offer two products, one of which will include a hard drive and presumably a time-shift recording facility.
It is also planning to incorporate a terrestrial digital TV tuner in the machines alongside the digital tuner built into its current model, the BDZ-S77, which was released last year.
this sh*t is bannanas 