Panasonic's Lab Expands Blu-ray Support

Panasonic's Hollywood Lab is now expanding their Blu-ray support to include Picture-in-Picture (PIP) and web enabled features for BD-Java. They are asking filmmakers to come to their lab in order to test out these new features for future titles. Currently, they are testing an unannounced title, due out early 2008, which will feature web enabled extras like additional soundtracks or subtitles. The main difficulty with web enabled features is the discussion on who owns the distribution and the content. The extras must be placed on a server with a large amount of bandwidth, something which can cost studios a lot of money, but outsourcing the requirement means a loss of control of the content. Panasonic Hollywood Lab is also working on the implementation of BD+ for future titles.