Not all Blu-ray players will be equal

Promised improved functionality will miff early adopters

PUNTERS THINKING OF buying a Blu-ray disk player should wait until November if they do not want to be saddled with a lemon.

The Blu-ray Disc Association sdays players released after October 31 should have a fuller range of features. For example they will be able to play back picture-in-picture video, as driven by BD Java interactive technology.

While lots of Blu-ray players that are on the shelves can handle BD Java to varying degrees, few can cope with the picture-in-picture capability.

Sony’s Blu-ray ‘killer application’, the PS3 can’t do it and neither can all the stand alone models from Pioneer and Philips.