Sony demonstrates 400 disc Blu-ray Mega Changer at CEDIA

Posted by Al Warmington on Fri 5 Sep 2008

Good luck finding 400 decent Blu-ray movies

Sony is showing off a prototype Blu-ray changer capable of handling up to 400 high definition movie discs at this year's Custom Electronic Design and Installation expo this year.

It isn't the first of its kind however; last year at the same event, Sony was boasting a 200 disc version. This time though, Sony has not only doubled the capacity, but has managed to reduce it down from the size of a small family hatchback to something almost manageable.

The BD Mega Changer has yet to be given the official stamp of approval and right now exists for demonstrative purposes only. However, Sony hopes to launch a proper version early next year. It will offer the latest Blu-ray standard, BD-Live, which means it can hook up to the internet and download additional content. The unit will also pack an RS-232 serial port for custom installers.

It isn't entirely clear whether system provides any means of identifying which disc is which once you've fed them into the Mega Changer's gaping maw. We hope there's something in place though - we sure as hell wouldn't want to sit through 399 anti-piracy warnings just to find our copy of Transformers.

Not that we're anywhere near a stage in Blu-ray's life where 400 discs would resemble a collection of anything decent. Fortunately you can also insert DVDs and CDs.

Picture courtesy of Gizmodo