Will Blu-Ray players be released,that can also record on blank Blu-ray discs ?

[FC_Dobbs]

Does anyone know if there will be any multi-regional Blu-ray players released (and if so what mdoels and when) which in addition to playing both Blu-Ray discs and standard DVD discs, can also record anything from TV onto a blank Blu-ray disc (and also record on its own digital hard drive as well, if anyone wants to use that option).

The main issue with blank, recordable Blu-ray discs of course, is the fact they're currently fairly expensive,
but in time they'll come down in price.

[rwniel]

Panasonic have recently announced (http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/2246024/index.html) two blu ray recorders with twin freeview HD tuners and hard disks (DMR-BS850 and DMR-BS750). However, as with the majority of technology when it first comes out, the prices are pretty high (- an SSP of £999 and £899 respectively). It's too early to say about multi-region capability, but I imagine they'll need to be chipped if it's possible like current blu ray players which will obviously add to the price even more. MR dvd playback may be possible though, as later blu ray standalone players have been hackable using an all-in-one style programmable remote.

Robert

[scoobyood]

The cost of blank blu-ray media will always be prohibitively expensive. At this point I can't see them getting ahead of the likes of HDD's (and even flash soon enough) for the same, or less, cost per GB. In other words it'll always be much much cheaper to pull out a 1TB drive from your PVR and pop in a new one than mess around with 40+ blank blu-rays... that's not even counting the failed disc burns and time/space suck in dealing with all that plastic.

[thescrounger]

Some people might want to store Home Movies on a disc...

[scoobyood]

So some one will use a hard drive or flash based HD camcorder... transfer that footage to a PC, then use a blu-ray burner to copy that home movie to expensive blu-ray media? That's a lot of messing around and expense when they can just put it on youtube, just burn to a DVD (a blu-ray player will play AVCHD content from a regular DVD), store it/show it on their computer, copy it to an external hard drive, copy it to a 8/16/32GB flash drive and play it on a PS3/360. 32GB flash drives are chasing 25GB blank blu-ray media on the cost front... I know which I would put my money on for winning that contest.
So, no I think there are cheaper ways right now of storing HD home movies or distributing them to friends and family... it's only going to get cheaper and easier. Blu-ray media won't be able to improve on that.
Besides most people I know make home movies on a normal digital cameras nowadays, they are used to dealing with those files like they do digital still images. It's easier to just plug the device into a TV or picture frame rather than to burn out the content to a very cheap DVD.. the extra layer of complexity and cost to burn it out to a blu-ray just seems even less likely.

[thescrounger]

So some one will use a hard drive or flash based HD camcorder... transfer that footage to a PC, then use a blu-ray burner to copy that home movie to expensive blu-ray media?

Or just plug the camera into the Blu-ray recorder and press record.

[scoobyood]

Or just plug the camera into the Blu-ray recorder and press record.

Which costs £7 a pop... if it works on the first go.

Compatibility with Blu-ray Disc players

Before the AVCHD standard was finalized, end users could master high definition content in Blu-ray format (BDMV) on either BD-R/BD-RE discs or regular DVD discs. At one point, the Blu-ray Disc Association was considering separating studio content and home-made content using different folders, namely BDMV for studios and HDMV or BDAV for home use. This idea did not seem to get a lot of traction. Instead, AVCHD is being offered as the means of distributing amateur high definition video. Compared to Blu-ray format, AVCHD discs use DVD media, simpler menus, AVC encoding only, and data rate capped at 18 Mbit/s.

As the creators of AVCHD, Sony and Panasonic are keen to support AVCHD discs in their Blu-ray players. In particular, the Sony BDP-S1, Sony BDP-S300, the Panasonic DMP-BD10, the Panasonic DMP-BD30, the Panasonic DMP-BD35, and the PLAYSTATION 3 can play AVCHD discs. Other manufacturers do not always provide reliable AVCHD support in their products. For example, the Samsung BD-P1200 Blu-ray disc player has lost AVCHD capability in the firmware update 2.3.[21] The Samsung BD-P1400 player is able to play back AVCHD content, at least as of firmware release 1.6.[22]

So you can burn a movie to a disc.. but it might not work in all blu-ray players.

[nwgarratt]

The cost of blank blu-ray media will always be prohibitively expensive. At this point I can't see them getting ahead of the likes of HDD's (and even flash soon enough) for the same, or less, cost per GB. In other words it'll always be much much cheaper to pull out a 1TB drive from your PVR and pop in a new one than mess around with 40+ blank blu-rays... that's not even counting the failed disc burns and time/space suck in dealing with all that plastic.

BD 25GB's are down to £2.50 a disc when buying more than one at a time. Whatever I was recording would still have to be special for me to spend that much.