You know there will be spec mods. But will backwards compatibility be maintained? People don’t like getting burned.
When Blu Ray specs were approved there was a 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0. It took awhile for the player manufacturers to get to the 2.0 spec. There is no more advanced spec at this time. Who knows what the future will bring. I cannot see anything that would happen in the near future that would not maintain backward compatibility. The specs only affect enhanced "features" that can be put on the disc like PIP. All the players play movies the same and at the same quality. However, there is also the HDMI specs that could influence the PQ. HDMI is now at 1.3 and most new players, and PS3, use this spec. The increased bandwith could be required for "deep color" and other proposed enhancements.
I hope I am not just making things murkier for you.
I don’t think you’re making it murky. Watching TV is just a lot more complex than it used to be.
Here’s a couple of practical questions I’ve got for you.
Say I buy a HDTV with a fixed-pixel, native res of 1280X768. I know the TV will de-interlace (if necessary) and re-scale any signal fed. But not all TVs can appropriately handle 1080p input, right? Or is this not right?
I also know I may choose to have this processing done by a player. Under the Blu-ray spec, is the output resolution selectable? Can I choose 720p or 1080i output, though the player is capable of putting out 1080p? And another thing. Is the video content stored on the disc in 1080p? Or does it vary depending on the content, with the player supplying the de-interlacing and re-scaling?
There’s just so much to know and think about.