The defined BD-ROM specifications are called "profiles." These are a set of standards that players must meet to ensure full capability and functionality. These different profiles are implemented on the players that exist in the market.

 

 

Profile 1.0: Grace Period

The first basic version of the Blu-ray disc specification was released in 2006. It has the minimum requirements of HD video, surround audio, and advanced interactive menus. It was more of an open beta than an entire release. Profile 1.0 Blu-ray players were discontinued in 2007 in favor of Profile 1.1.


Profile 1.1: Bonus View

This specification required support for Picture-in-Picture (PiP) as well as Secondary Audio and the presence of the virtual file system, which must possess the capability to store at least 256 MB of data for local storage. Local storage is used to install/save content from the disc, and you can add more storage to your player if needed. Profile 1.1 is the  mandatory standard for all Blu-ray players. All other Profiles after 1.1 are optional.

If you play a Blu-ray disc with Profile 1.1 features on a Profile 1.0 player, those features will not play.

    See: BDMV Application Programming


Profile 2.0: BD-Live

This profile requires all the features from Profile 1.1 and adds the requirement for the player to have internet/LAN connectivity. Profile 2.0 also mandates that the virtual file system store at least 1 GB of data. A Blu-ray disc can be connected to the internet for additional extras such as downloadable trailers, subtitles, updates, LAN, online multiplayer, and upload high scores. The majority of Blu-ray players are BD-Live enabled. You will learn more about it in the "Network" section of the article.

    See: Networking


Profile 3.0: High-Fidelity Pure Audio

This is a separate audio-only profile for music albums. Blu-ray audio albums will work on all Blu-ray players, but Blu-ray movies will not work on a Profile 3.0 player because it is intended for screenless audio-only content and navigation. Profile 3.0 players never really took off with the general public (most likely due to avoid consumer confusion with standard players à la DVD-Audio) but are still made primarily for [luxury] automobile vehicles like the Panasonic Strada CN-F1X10BHD. Because you obviously can't watch a movie and drive at the time!

The first Blu-ray album was TrondheimSolistene: Divertimenti, released in 2008.


Profile 4.0: N/A

It's worth noting that there is no Profile 4.0. According to the Blu-ray whitepapers, it's is reserved. It's possible that the reason behind this could be related to tetraphobia or it could have been originally intended for the Sony PlayStation 3, although the latter seems unlikely.


Profile 5.0: Blu-ray 3D


For playing stereo 3D content, Profile 5.0 is used. However, standard Blu-ray players cannot play 3D content. To play 3D movies, a Blu-ray 3D player is required. You will learn more about 3D in the 3D section of the article.

    See: Stereographic 3D

 

Profile 6.0: Ultra HD Blu-ray

Unlike other profiles, Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players and intended to be Blu-ray's successor. It supports 4K UHD (3840 × 2160 pixel resolution) video at frame rates up to 60 frames per second, encoded using High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). The discs support both high dynamic range (HDR) by increasing the color depth to 10-bit per color and a more lavish color gamut than standard Blu-ray video by using the Rec. 2020 color space. Studio adoption has been slow but growing.

     See: Ultra HD Blu-ray

 

 

 

Sources

• Blu-ray Official White Paper Tech Specs and 3D specs (PDF) Version 2.5 - 2011 - Details of the BD platform standards (Up-to-date for standard BD development)
• Blu-ray Official White Paper Tech Specs and 3D specs (PDF) Version 2.4 - 2010 - Details of the BD platform standards
• White Paper Blu-ray Disc™ Format 1.C Physical Format Specifications for BD-ROM - 8th Edition December 2012 
• White Paper Blu-ray Disc™ Format 1.C Physical Format Specifications for BD-ROM - 6th Edition October, 2010
  
• Blu-ray Official White Paper Tech Specs for Ultra HD BD (PDF) Version 3.2 - 2018 
• Wikipedia Page
• Hughnews.ca - Blu-ray specs
  

Author(s) : Æ Firestone