This is the official in-store demonstration Blu-Ray disc cartridge for the 2003 Sony BDZ-S77 Blu-Ray player, notable for not only being the world's first Blu-Ray player, but the first consumer HDTV video disc recorder.
This demonstration video covers the various features of the BDZ-S77 including the HD-resolution & 5.1 audio input & output facilities, the HD digital satellite (BS) tuner & then-new HD digital terrestrial (CS) tuners, and the engineering design of the hardware. The video also covers some lesser known features including the very unique disc library functionality. Of course, having been produced in 2003, all this is shown with set & editing design derived from the very popular retrofuturism movement that was occurring around the turn of the millennium, making this demonstration a feast for both the mind and the eyes. The recording was shown in-store on an actual BDZ-S77 via pre-recorded Blu-Ray cartridges.
In 2003, Sony released the very first Blu-Ray discs and player, the BDZ-S77, marking the first time a recordable disc for HDTV was made available to the public while maintaining an extremely small form-factor. This $3,800 USD, Japan-region-only Blu-Ray system was very different to the modern Blu-Ray disc. The most notable quirk is the use of special cartridges and a different disc formulation with a 23GB capacity. Another odd design decision is that all sold discs for the format were rewriteable, even the demonstration discs. Recording was disabled (or enabled) via a "recording lock" on the cartridges like a video or audio tape. No commercial ("Hollywood") movies or entertainment were released for the format.
This first-generation Blu-Ray player system was designed to record and playback MPEG-2-compressed HD video and stereo PCM or 5.1 AAC audio tracks which perfectly matched the Japanese HD digital satellite broadcasting (ISDB-S) and terrestrial (ISDB-C) formats. In this way, the disc could store a nearly perfect "stream" of your favorite HDTV shows without additional compression or degradation. On the other hand, this meant the first-generation Blu-Ray system was largely designed only for the Japanese-market. Indeed, that's where it remained for a few years.
In 2006, Blu-Ray was released internationally; however, the first-generation Blu-Ray cartridge system was not compatible with the "new" Blu-Ray disc format. Besides the lack of the cartridge shell, the new Blu-Ray system supports additional video & audio formats such as MPEG-4 AVC & Dolby TrueHD, but most importantly, it added the AACS security encryption system that Hollywood wanted. As a result, the first-generation Blu-Ray cartridge system was quickly discontinued in the consumer space as Hollywood supported the more-secure new Blu-Ray system upon launch.
In a move reminiscent of Betamax & Betacam, the Blu-Ray cartridge system was simultaneously released into the professional market as the Professional Disc format with a slightly different shell. Professional Disc continues to be manufactured by Sony for use in their XDCAM cameras more than 20 years later.
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This was played back using a Sony BDZ-V9 Blu-Ray player.
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For even older prototype HDTV footage reaching back into the 1980's, please see my uploads in this playlist: • World's Oldest High-De...
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16 сен 2024
